Review of Embracing Defeat History Book Review Essay
Please follow the instructions and requirements carefully. Thank you.
Grading Rubric for Review Papers
Guidelines
Length: 1,500 words +/- 250 words (approximately 6 pages double spaced)
Citations: Chicago style footnotes and bibliography. The footnotes, but not the bibliography counts toward the length.
Completion: 10 Points
Fulfils basic guidelines for length and deadline: 5 points
Papers will be penalized 1 point for every day late, rounding up
Example: Turned in December 18 at noon. <1 day late → rounds to 1 day
-1 points.
Papers will be penalized 1 point for each 10% off on length beyond the first 10%, rounding up.
Example 1: 3,000 words = 60% of 5,000 words (40% too short) → -3 points
Examples 2: 6,000 words = 120% of 5,000 pages (20% too long) → -1 point
Sources, footnotes and bibliography: 5 points
Correct format: 2 points - 1 points for footnotes, 1 point for bibliography
Completeness: 3 points
2 points for completeness of sources (are they enough to answer your question), 1 points for completeness of citations
Quality: 15 points
Each of the following 3 areas will be assessed out of 5 points, as follows:
Excellent: Your paper goes beyond the basic requirements. 5 points
Good: Your paper completely fulfils the basic requirements. 4 points
Adequate: Your paper falls short of the requirements in minor ways. 3 points
Fair: Your paper falls short of the requirements in significant ways. 2 points.
Poor. Your paper falls far short of the requirements. 1 point.
Argument: 5 points.
Your paper should answer an interpretation question, generally about how or why. This should be supported by adequate factual details (who, what, when, where) that are properly linked to your argument.
**
Structure: 5 points.
Your paper should be well-structured, with a clear introduction that frames the rest of the paper, clear thesis statement, and with each supporting point clearly structured into its own paragraph or paragraphs.
Excellent: Your paper is clearly structured around all the elements described above. The reader is able to easily grasp your overall argument from the introduction and each sub-argument from its individual paragraph(s).
Good: Your paper is structured around all the elements described above. The reader can easily grasp your argument from reading the whole paper, but some subsections could benefit from clearer structure.
Adequate: Your paper is structured around all of the elements above, but sometimes lacks clarity. The reader can grasp your argument from reading the whole paper, but may be confused by some sub-sections. This may be due to a distracting introduction or conclusion, or because some sub-points are scattered rather than placed in their own paragraphs.
Fair: Your paper lacks one or more of the elements above or has poor coherence. The reader may have to reread sections or “read between the lines” to piece together your argument.
Poor: Your paper has no apparent structure. The reader is unable to piece together a coherent argument even upon multiple rereads.
Historical Content: 5 points
While many of your papers to apply to contemporary questions, they must contain adequate historical content. This content should be used in support of your main argument.
Excellent: Makes exemplary use of historical content.
Good: Makes clear use of historical content.
Adequate: Makes use of historical content, but the history is only tenuously connected to your argument.
Fair: Makes minimal use of historical content, and the history seems like an afterthought or distraction.
Poor: Makes little to no use of historical content.
Total: 25 Points
REVIEW OF EMBRACING DEFEAT
Name
Class
Date
Review of Embracing Defeat
The book written by John Dower gives a significant insight into the history and relationship of countries such as the United States and Japan after the first and second world wars and the post-war period. The periods during and after the war led many countries across the globe into economic crisis due to the high investments made to finance the activities and also the resources destroyed in the events. Dower states that the post-war period between 1920 and 1930 leads to depression and instability. Most leaders including the Japanese ruler did not know how to restore their economies. The Japanese economy suffered retrenchment, with slow economic growth, high rates of inflation and a series of crisis due to the unsettled financial system. The citizens and subjects to the empire suffered the consequences of the instability directly from incidences like high prices for basic needs and lack of employment opportunities. However, the Japanese conquered Asia and abducted more of the country's economic resources. This event helped in the revival of the financial system in the country and enhanced economic growth. The incident marked a great time for the Japanese in history through the conquering of their great army. Hence, the Japanese revived to an excellent economic position, even after the impact of the First World War.[John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (1999)]
However, Japan lost the war to the United States. The news about the American army conquering the country came in on 15th August 1945. Although the Japanese had won over Asia in the First World war, the Second World War did not work in their favour, resulting in great loss both economic and in the social perspective of life. The country could lose resources to the victorious countries. The economy would then go through another tragic elapse leading to instability. Most of the subject working for the great Japanese empire would then lose their jobs and enter into a phase of scarcity and low living standards. On the other hand, the population of the country would decrease since the Japanese military would rather face death than defeat. Hence, most of the surviving individuals in the army would eventually commit suicide following the bitterness due to defeat in the war. What would become of the families depending on them for livelihood? Some of the people in the army had died during the war. “For three years, Aihara continued to pray for her husband's return. Only then did she learn that he had been killed in a battle with Soviet forces five days before she was summoned from the fields to hear her sovereign's voice. The war had, after all, permanently shattered her life." The life of the families of the deceased soldiers in Japanese history turned to drastic nightmares, with all blame turning to America.[Dower] [ John W. Dower, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (1999)]
While Japan suffered the loss of surrendering to America during the war, the latter nourished with excellent economic growth. However, the American government would not render the surviving Japanese soldiers the freedom to return to their hom...
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