Book Review Guide

Dr Candia Mitchell Hall

IT INVOLVES READING THE
BOOK AT LEAST TWICE
THE ACCURATE USE OF THREE
TO FIVE SCHOLARLY SOURCES
ANALYZING THE BOOK WITHIN
ITS SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL
CONTEXTS
What is a
Caribbean
Civilisation
book report?
THE CARIBBEAN CIVILISATION
BOOK REVIEW IS A SCHOLARLY
PIECE OF ANALYSIS.
 Description of Book Review
Read Analyze Discuss Application
Analyze
Read the assigned Themes of the
book, Lucille Discuss the value of course:
Analyse the text within
Mathurin Mair by the book to
its social and historical understanding
Sheppard (refer to contexts
reading list for full Caribbean society (e.g. identity,
Analyse the text
And employ within the
critical
reference) gender (identity,
context
thinkingof thetothemes
skills answer and rebel woman)
topics of the course
the following question (e.g.
education(
identity, colonialism,
in 2500 words
women’s history),
resistance, etc.) politics, patriarchy
(living within a
traditional space of
male dominance &
dismantling male
hegemony
 Enable participants to interrogate the concept of “Caribbean identity” especially in relation to
Enable diverse ideas of regional (dis)integration.

Motivate participants to understand the Caribbean region as an area for development that needs
Motivate their own intellectual input.

Help the students to understand the long history of resistance of the Caribbean people in their quest
Help for equality and how the nature of resistance has shaped the contemporary Caribbean.

Provide participants with the tools necessary to engage in critical reflection on the Caribbean in the
Provide 21st century.

Course aims assessed by the review

Actively Read the Book
(Internal Criticism)
Search for themes in the book that relate to social &
historical context :
Identity( gender, education ( women’s history, rebel
woman) patriarchy etc, gender justice
As you read, pay attention to the historical and social
context
Create Outline
• Intro—Who is Mair, who is Sheppard and introduce the book( main
themes to be explored etc). Present argument/thesis.
• Body-Explore theme 1 and relate it to concepts in FOUN 1101
• Body-Explore theme 2
• Body-Explore/extend or introduce a theme
• Body Explain how themes relate to social/historical context
• Body
• Conclusion – summarise main points
Introduction

Introduce the historical

Introduce the book and context and general
author. approach to revisionism that
is reflected in the book.

Historical contexts is
explored through the
Identify how many chapters themes…these themes can
comprise the book. be clearly outlined.
WHO WAS LUCIILLE WHAT IS SHE WHO IS VERENE WHAT IS THE
MAIR ( RESEARCH) REMEMBERED FOR? SHEPPARD AND IS CARIBBEAN
THERE ANY LINK BIOGRAPHY SERIES?
BETWEEN HER AND
MAIR ( SEE
PREFACE)?
Intro

WHAT ARE THE DO RESEARCH ON

OTHER BOOKS IN HOW TO WRITE A
THE BIOGRAPHY GOOD BOOK
SERIES? REVIEW?
 After reading the book, making
notes, and conducting research on
Mair, what’s your central argument?

How to find Your central argument is your

thesis.
a thesis
Your analysis/answer must support
and extend your thesis.
 The Body
Three to four themes fully explored and supported by external
sources/research.
You will need 3-5 external sources on Mair or themes that are being
discussed.
Lucille Mathurin Mair’s
Historical & Social
Contexts

• When was she born? Jamaica
1924.
• What was happening in the
Caribbean at this time (
social/historical context)
• What does the book tell us
about her family life?
• What is the strongest theme of
Caribbean
the book---how is itMemory
explored?
project
• Una Maud Victoria Marson
was born on 6 February 1905
and died on 6 May 1965).
• She was Weactivist and
writer, producing poems,
plays and radio programmes.
• Though her work has been
under recognized, Una Maud
Marson is considered one of
the most versatile and
creative female intellectuals in
Jamaica’s literary heritage. ​
Lucille Mair’s Ed. Bio
• BA in History (London University)
• PhD in history at ( UWI)
• She made history as the first person to write a dissertation on
women.
• Her thesis, “A Historical Study of Women in Jamaica 1655-1844”
completed in 1974 influenced the research on women and gender
and was the foundation for a plethora of other work on the topic.
• Her work confronted the invisibility of women.
• Gender as a tool of historical analysis ( study on enslaved
women).
• Mair’s thesis was important in that it did not simply lump women together, but dissected the
different racial and class groups, concluding that, in plantation society, black women la
• confronted the invisibility of women in historical scholarship
• confronted the invisibility of women in historical scholarship
 • Described by Professor • For Ambassador
Descriptions Edward Baugh as being Patricia Durrant, “She
of Mair ‘made of finely combined grace,
tempered steel’. charm, wit, steely
• Professor Rex determination,
Nettleford in his tribute independence and
described Mair as a open-mindedness…”
woman with “dignified
detachment and a well-
cultivated appearance of
invincibility and
unflappable charm.”.
 • Mair’s thesis dissected the different racial and
class groups.
• It concluded that in plantation society:
▪ Black women laboured, brown women served
and white women consumed.
Importance of ▪ She wrote an The Rebel Woman in the British
West Indies During Slavery’ which highlighted
Mair’s work the resistance efforts of the enslaved black
woman.
▪ Her article dispelled the notion that black woman
were primarily victims.
▪ Mair underscored how these women were active
agents in their liberation and mitigation.
 • Mair served the university community as the first
warden of Mary Seacole Hall( 1950s and 1960s).
• She also contributed to the development of
Women and Development Studies groups (formed
in 1982).
• She was the first regional coordinator for the
Project of Cooperation in Teaching, Research and
Outreach in Women and Development Studies
from 1986-1989
Legacy/Impact/Significance
• She was a founding member of the Development
Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN)
• She was instrumental in the establishment of the
Centres for Gender and Development Studies
across the three campuses of the University of the
West Indies.
• Since 1998, the Mona campus has honoured her
with the renowned annual Lucille Mathurin Mair
Lecture.
 • She was an international diplomatic figure serving
as Assistant Secretary-General in the office of the
United Nations Secretariat in 1979.
• She performed the role of Secretary-General of
the World Conference on the United Nations
Decade for Women in 1980 in Copenhagen,
Denmark. From 1981 to 1982, she served as the
Secretary
Political role • General’s Advisor to UNICEF on Women’s
Development and between 1982 and 1987, she
was the Secretary-General of the United Nations
Conference on Palestine.
• In 1982, she was the first woman to hold the title
of Under-Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
 • Dr. Mair served locally as an advisor on
developing policies, measures and programmes
intended to advance the status of its women and
fully integrate them in the process of
development.
• She was an advisor on Women’s Affairs and head
of the Jamaican Information Service in 1974 and
Deputy Head of Jamaica’s Permanent Mission to
Political role the United Nations in 1975.
• Dr. Mair was subsequently appointed as Jamaica’s
Ambassador to Cuba.
• She was later appointed Senator and Minister of
State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in
1992 was the Permanent Representative for
Jamaica to the United Nations.
 Ask yourself Questions
To consider: Does Historical/social contexts affects
one’s identity?
Identify one model Mair examined in her
assessment of gender identity. How does the
author incorporate this model in the book? Why ?
 Deal with the themes explored by the book in
ThIdee BodIdtiy Deal relation to how it extends understanding of the
historical and social context

An example
of a theme: Gender Gender Identity---How is this theme treated in the
book?

gender
identity Return Return to chapter 1 and trace how the theme is
explored to chapter 8
 • How are these themes treated
Education and in the book? Are they
transparent or hidden?
resistance • Is Education and resistance
major themes of the book?
 • Does the book extend YOUR
knowledge/information on the historical and
Conclusion : social context.
• In a few lines state how.
Evaluate the book • If not, discuss what could have been done.
•
Three to five sources are needed.

Citations/Works Cited/Reference List/Bibliography.

Last name of author, First name, title of book or article.

Place of publication: Publisher, year of publication.

Sheppard, Verene. Lucille Mathurin Mair. Kingston, UWI

Press, 2020 Sources
Select readings entitled:
 Point-Your first sentence must state your main point/idea.
It tells the reader what the paragraph will be about. It is also
called your topic sentence.

Evidence/Examples-Support or expand your point with evidence

and examples. ( (sources) facts from the book, information from

Use PEEL to write the book.

paragraphs Explain- This is where you show your understanding by

explaining in more detail how and why your evidence supports
your point. Your explanation should interpret the evidence for
the reader.

Link
The last sentence should reinforce your original point or link
your writing to the next paragraph. The link sentence can
provide a transition to the next topic or paragraph.
How to Use Definitions……
Define or extend concepts and key terms of the paper.
Student excerpts
Example of an Introduction
• The colourful life of Beryl McBurnie represents a unique discourse to study
the Caribbean’s idiosyncratic cultural identity and its long and sordid past
with colonialism. The presentation of her story through the writings of Judy
Raymond in her book, Beryl McBurnie, illustrates the incomparable
contribution icons like McBurnie have made on the wider cultural
landscape of the Caribbean in the fields of dance and music. Born in a time
when the Caribbean experienced rapid changes caused by the
decolonisation movement, McBurnie’s life represents an inflection point
for the region. Now Caribbean people can appreciate the successful
formulation of the region’s cultural identity while also confront ghosts from
its past like its failings to sufficiently tackle discrimination, prejudice and
regional integration.
Excerpt-Student essay
• Additionally, her choice to acknowledge the Caribbean’s syncretic
religions in her musical and dance expression comments on the
Caribbean people’s strength of resistance, McBurnie’s strength of
character as a West Indian woman and her mission of “Bringing bring
back a voice – A voice that speaks of Africa.” An unfortunate echo of
the region’s colonial past is the prejudiced view associated with
indigenous Caribbean religions. Pierre (1977) states, “In the Antilles,
the policy of the masters was to force their slaves to give
Paragraph 2-Student Excerpt
• McBurnie’s life primarily highlighted the importance of culture as a catalyst
for the development of a harmonized identity. Braithwaite (1971) argues
that, “people, mainly from Britain and West Africa, who settled, lived,
worked and were born in Jamaica (and the Caribbean), contributed to the
formation of a society . . . which, in so far as it was neither purely British
nor West African, is . . . creole.” This assertion can be used to substantiates
the view that McBurnie’s life, as presented by Raymond, represents the
culmination of the process of cultural fusion. In her book, Raymond
indicated on p.57 that “McBurnie included every aspect of local culture in
her work. “When she did folk shows,” Marquez Sankeralli pointed out,
“they represented every nation that lived there: Spanish, African, French,
Portuguese.
Student essay-excerpt
• Her decision to infuse local traditions in Caribbean dance expression
reflects Beryl McBurnie’s early life and education and her lifelong
passion to research original African dance forms. The origins of her
interest in indigenous cultural expressions can be traced to her
upbringing as a young dancer. Raymond alludes to this past as she
reveals that the catalyst for this interest began after meeting folklorist
Extending paragraphs
• Another distinguishable quality of McBurnie that should be
celebrated is her unabashed support of indigenous art forms that
highlight the spirit of resilience despite the reception in her own
society. She was an early supporter of the steel band from the 1940s
even when it was not considered as an established nor respectable
cultural form of expression. As a matter of fact, McBurnie used her
theatre to provide an environment for local street bands and drama
groups to perform. There is no doubt that these safe spaces
represented incubation centres for the development of Caribbean
talent. As Raymond states on p.55, “Little Carib was more than just a
performance space for dance: it was a centre for all forms of artistic
activity.”
Conclusion-Student Excerpt
• Thus, the story of Beryl McBurnie is the story of the wider Caribbean
discovering their cultural identity in an ever-changing world. Her
involvement in Caribbean dance aesthetics represented a turning
point for societal and regional development. Her life story, while
taking place in the context of colonialism and prejudice, was
successful in the formation of cultural identity while facilitating the
decolonization of the mind. Her “blend of dance theatre” reflects the
diversity and creolization of Caribbean art forms. Judy Raymond’s
book Beryl McBurnie adeptly tackles important themes in the
studying of Caribbean Civilization including culture, resistance,
colonialism and Caribbean identity.
All the best-You will
excel at this Book
Report!!!
Deadline 12 Nov. 2021