Short Papers
Students are responsible for writing two short papers which are worth 30% of the course grade.
First short paper
- Pick TWO of the following events and discuss the ways in which the events might have contributed to the institution of apartheid in 1948:
- The events surroundings the Great Trek
- The mineral revolution (gold and diamond)
- The Anglo Boer War / the South African War of 1899–1902
- South African government’s interwar policies (1919–1945)
-
Trace the changing nature of Africans’ resistance to general segregation since 1652 and to the formal apartheid since 1948.
-
Discuss some of the contradictions of apartheid in South Africa.
The paper should be 800–1000 words, and is due during session 6.
Second short paper
Pick a total of 6–8 chapters from District 6. Use the chapters as primary sources from which you recreate an important characteristic(s) of life among the so-called Coloured people of District 6.
The paper should be 1300–1500 words, and is due during session 9.
Make sure both papers have a sophisticated thesis and are written clearly and eloquently.
Final Paper
Write a 2500-to-2700-word book review of one of the books listed below:
Mandela, Nelson. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. (PDF - 3.9MB) Back Bay Books, 1995. ISBN: 9780316548182. [Preview with Google Books]
Noah, Trevor. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood. One World, 2019. ISBN: 9780399588198.
Peires, J. B. The Dead Will Arise: Nongqawuse and the Great Xhosa Cattle-Killing Movement of 1856–7. Indiana University Press, 1989. ISBN: 9780253205247. [Preview with Google Books]
Magona, Sindiwe. To My Children’s Children. Interlink Books, 2006. ISBN: 9781566566490.
Crais, Clifton, and Pamela Scully. Sara Baartman and the Hottentot Venus: A Ghost Story and a Biography. Princeton University Press, 2010. [Preview with Google Books]
A successful book review will explain and evaluate, with utmost brevity, the author’s main argument(s), and also assess whether the author’s evidence convincingly supports his/her thesis. Please note that this is NOT a book report; it is a critical book review and it must have a developed thesis statement. It must relate some of the author’s main points to a theme(s) in the history of apartheid. In other words, how does apartheid look when viewed from the perspective of Noah’s Born A Crime?
For additional information, see the handout Book Reviews from the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The review is due during the final session and is worth 20% of the course grade.
