General Instructions: For your first essay of the semester, you will write a book analysis of The Slave Ship by Marcus Rediker. Your essay should be 3 to 4 pages in length. Please use 12 point font and double-spacing. You will submit your essay by Friday, October 6 at 5PM. To do so, go to our Blackboard page, click on Assignments and then click on Slave Ship Essay. Please upload your essay as a Word document.
Essay Prompt: What do you think are the two or three most significant ways slave ships affected the lives of Africans and/or slavery in the New World and why?
Below is a general outline of how to organize your essay:
I. Introductory Paragraph #1
A. Provide a brief overview of what the book is about.
II. Introductory Paragraph #2
A. Explain the topics your paper will address and why they are significant in the lives of Africans and/or the history of slavery in the New World.
III. First Supporting Paragraph
A. Set up your first topic and explain why it is so significant.
B. Provide evidence and quotations to support your points.
IV. Second Supporting Paragraph
A. Set up your second topic and explain why it is so significant.
B. Provide evidence and quotations to support your points.
V. Third Supporting Paragraph — if necessary
A. Same as above.
B. Same as above.
VI. Conclusion
A. Reiterate your main ideas and arguments and explain again why the topics you chose are so significant.
Final Instructions: As I mentioned above, be sure to use evidence from the book, including quotations, to support your points. Here is an example of how to quote a passage from the book and how to cite the page number: “She conceived twins and soon found herself engulfed in troubles” (5). Notice that the period comes after the quotation mark and after the page number, which you place in parentheses.