History 150: Is History Bunk?

The completed essay will consist of three main elements: a biography of the author, a critical discussion of the author and her or his reviewers, and a bibliography of works by and about the author.  Your main goal will be to write a summary and analysis of critical responses to the author – what the reviewers have said and what you think about it.  Think of it as a conversation.  The author’s work is a statement to which the reviewers are responding, and after you’ve listened to what they say, you add your own contribution, responding to both the author and the reviewers.  We’ll discuss these elements in more detail in class, but always keep in mind that your primary focus should be on critical, insightful analysis, interpretation, and criticism of your reading.

  • Harry G. Frankfurt, On Bullshit / Princeton, 2005 / [ISBN: 0691122946]
  • Robert Eaglestone, Postmodernism and Holocaust Denial / Icon, 2001 / [ISBN: 1840462345]
  • Anne Garrels, Naked in Baghdad / Picador, 2004 / [ISBN: 0312424191]
  • Kayla Williams, Love My Rifle More than You / Norton, 2006 / [ISBN: 0393329224]
  • Christian Parenti, The Freedom / New Press, 2004 / [ISBN: 1595580379]
  • John Crawford, The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell / Riverhead, 2006 / [ISBN: 1594482012]

Suggested Resources For This Assignment:

Academic Search Premier
Use it to find book reviews and possible feature stories about the book's author that contain biographical information.

LexisNexis Academic
Use it to find book reviews and possible feature stories about the book's author that contain biographical information.

Biography Resource Center
Use it to find biographical information for Frankfurt and Parenti. You could also see if there are book reviews for the other authors.

Google
Use it to do an Advanced Search for the author of a book, with an eye to finding a web page with biographical and bibliographical information about that author.

WorldCat
Use it to find out what other books an author might have written.