book review of Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s A Midwife’s Tale

3-4 pages, typed and double-spaced

For this assignment, you will write a 3-4 page book review of Laurel Thatcher Ulrich’s A Midwife’s Tale. This book review should represent an analysis of the arguments developed in the work.

Your review should consist of the following:
1. A relatively brief summary of the argument of the book. This should be no more than a paragraph, and should address the main argument of the work.
2. An analysis of the argument of the book. This should be the bulk of the essay. This section should involve a more detailed discussion of particular elements of Ulrich’s argument. This would not simply involve summarizing those arguments, but would develop an analysis of those arguments. This section might address:
strengths and weaknesses of the book as a whole
strengths or weaknesses of particular sections
the connections (or lack of connections) between elements of the argument
the component arguments Ulrich uses to develop her main argument
the effectiveness of her coverage of these issues
the significance of her conclusions
some discussion of why the book has this emphasis or focus
her use of sources
notable omissions, gaps or problems
a professional book review would also place the arguments of the book into the larger context of the existing historiography. For our purposes, this is not necessary. However, it might be possible to address this briefly in relation to Ulrich’s own arguments and statements in the text.
3. A conclusion, which sums up your analysis of the book as a whole.

The goal of a book review is not to indicate whether you personally liked the book or not. Instead, the purpose is to present an analysis of the effectiveness of the arguments made by the historian. Thus, the focus is on the arguments—not on the reader.

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