Review essay on the book "Rites of Spring" by Modris Eksteins

HIST 2103A

MODERN THOUGHT AND CULTURE: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Fall 2014

A.B. McKillop

Suggestions for Assignment – A review essay based on Modris Eksteins, Rites

of Spring; The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age

Your assignment is to write a substantive review essay of Modris Eksteins’ book, Rites of

Spring. The suggested length, exclusive of bibliography, is 8-10 pages (assuming 12-

point Times Roman font).

The deadline for submission is November 12. The review essay should be handed to the

instructor in class following that day’s lecture. The assignment is worth 30% of the final

grade for the course.

As you undertake the assignment, you should bear in mind an important distinction

between a book review and a review essay:

A review essay contains all the elements of a book review, but aspires to accomplish more. Like a

book review, it will (i) indicate to the reader the author’s stated intentions, (ii) provide the reader

with a sense of the content of the book by conveying its general argument and the main evidence

used to sustain it, and (iii) will suggest the extent to which the author has succeeded in

accomplishing his aims.

A review essay is generally lengthier than a book