Extensive Reading Assignments in the International Studies Classroom

Guest Blog Post:
Kimberley Brown
Portland State University

Extensive reading involves a high level of independence for the reader. Texts are assigned and students read on their own, frequently using study questions or reader-response guides. The primary purpose of this type of assignment in a typical lower division undergraduate course is to encourage students to read heavily using a text that draws them in. This post describes one extensive reading assignment used in some sections of our introductory course. The text is The Blue Sweater. It is a memoir written by a women actively engaged in numerous development ventures, who ultimately created her own outreach organization: the Acumen Fund. The title comes from her finding a sweater she had worn as a child in the US being worn by a young child in Africa. The cycle of the sweater’s travels begins her memoir.

I chose to encourage students to become familiar with an individual who chose to make a difference. Her perspective on the power of business ventures to ensure independence and self-help is less represented in many globalization texts than critiques of neo-liberal strategies and was chosen specifically for this reason.

The full APA citation is Novogratz, J. 2009. The Blue Sweater. New York: Rodale Press.

This is how the assignment was presented to the students. Please note that the course was fully online and lasted for four weeks.

You will be reading The Blue Sweater along with the course textbook. This is a first person narrative by Jaqueline Novogratz that details both her path to service to non-governmental organizations and her path to entrepreneurship. This text is roughly 260 pages long. You will be reading it using the Study Guide that follows. You will not be doing any writing until you write the Book Review which is due at the end of class. You should be reading roughly 70 pages per week for the first three weeks and a bit less Week Four so you can complete the Book Review. Directions for the Book Review are located in a separate file under The Blue Sweater tab. You will upload the Book Review to the dropbox by Thursday of Week Four. Each Wednesday, look for the assignment for the following week. For example during our first week on Wednesday, there will be a second document in The Blue Sweater tab titled Week Two, etc.

I am including key materials to scaffold this assignment below, including the review assignment, reading rubrics, and the Reading Guides for Weeks 1-3 (The fourth week was preparation for the final book review).

Students have been engaged by the book and it links well for discussion purposes back to all three chapters on globalization along with the development chapter.

Materials for this assignment:

Blue Sweater Book Review Assignment

This assignment combines elements of what is called a critical book review and standard elements of a summary book review. The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate that you have read The Blue Sweater and that you can identify crucial parts of the text that have not only been meaningful to you but also link back to the economic, political, and cultural globalization chapters as well as the development chapter.

Please submit the review to Dropbox. Make sure you have your name and the title “Blue Sweater Review” at the top of the page. Please number your pages. Approximate word length: 1000 to 1300 words (two to three pages single-spaced 12 point Times New Roman).

Please look at the attached critical book review sample. Many aspects of it are similar to what you will write. What is different is that I do NOT expect you to judge or evaluate the overall text.

Let me know if you have questions or something is not clear.

The review should be divided into the following parts:

Introduction –one paragraph

Summary– one to three paragraphs

Discussion-two to four paragraphs: 2 of Novogratz’s arguments regarding aid, development, and the local-global continuum. Use quotations from the text with page numbers.

Conclusion-one paragraph: Provide a general comment about the text, its value or problems. Identify whether her perspective on development is similar to or different from yours.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Blue Sweater Book Review Rubric:

 

Name: ____________________________________

 

Logistics

Writing

Content

Excellent

 

–  The paper is between 1000 and 1300 words.

–  The paper has a proper heading.

–  The paper includes page numbers.

–  The paper is 12 point Times New Roman.

Excellent

 

–  The paper has the proper structure given in the assignment (intro, summary, discussion, and conclusion).

–  The paper contains a minimal amount of grammatical and errors.

–  The paper clearly addresses the prompt.

–  The paper uses correct citation format, including a reference paper and proper in-text citations.

 

 

Excellent

 

– The paper clearly demonstrates an understanding of the course material and gives specific examples of the writer’s points.

– The paper links points back to the economic, political, and cultural globalization chapters as well as the development chapter in Smallman & Brown (2015).

– The discussion section contains 2 of Novogratz’s arguments.

– The conclusion gives a general statement about the text, its value or problems. It also gives a statement about her perspective on development.

 

Good

 

–  The paper is missing one of the elements in the excellent section.

 

Good

 

–  The paper has the proper structure given in the assignment handout.

–  The paper may have more than a few grammatical errors and shows that there was a lack of proofreading.

–  The paper may have slightly altered in-text citations may be missing a references page.

Good

 

–  The paper demonstrates a good understanding of the course material.

–  The paper may give examples.

– The paper links points back to the economic, political, and cultural globalization chapters as well as the development chapter in Smallman & Brown (2015).

– The discussion and conclusion sections contain the required components.

Sufficient

 

–  The paper is missing two of the elements in the excellent section.

Sufficient

 

–  The paper generally follows the structure in the given assignment, but is missing an introduction or conclusion.

–  There are frequent grammatical and editing errors.

–  In-text citations are incorrect and there is a missing reference page.

Sufficient

 

–  The paper lacks understanding of the course material.

–  The paper lacks specific examples and doesn’t tie to Smallman and Brown (2015).

–  Either the discussion or conclusion section is missing some of the required components.

Needs Improvement

 

–  The paper is missing three of the elements in the excellent section.

 

Needs Improvement

 

–  The paper lacks an introduction and conclusion.

–  The paper goes on irrelevant tangents.

–  The paper has lack of clear transitions.

–  The paper has many grammatical and editing errors.

–  The paper does not have in-text citations or a reference page.

Needs Improvement

 

–  The paper vaguely demonstrates minimal understanding of the course material.

–  The paper may give incorrect details and are missing key components.

–  The discussion and conclusion are missing the required components.

 

Weak

 

–  The paper is missing four or more elements in the excellent section.

 

Weak

 

–  The paper has a lack of organization.

–  The paper rambles and does not transition topics well.

–  The paper has many grammatical and editing errors.

–  The paper lacks an introduction and conclusion.

–  The paper does not have in-text citations or a reference page.

Weak

 

–  The paper fails to demonstrate an understanding of the course material.

–  The paper does not tie into Smallman and Brown (2015).

–  The paper lacks supporting detail.

–  The paper shows that the student has not carefully read the text.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–

The Blue Sweater Reading Guide, Week One

 

You will be reading The Blue Sweater along with the course textbook. This is a first person narrative by Jaqueline Novogratz that details both her path to service to non-governmental organizations and her path to entrepreneurship. This text is roughly 260 pages long. You will be reading it using the Study Guide that follows. You will not be doing any writing until you write the Book Review which is due at the end of class. You should be reading roughly 70 pages per week for the first three weeks and a bit less Week Four so you can complete the Book Review. Directions for the Book Review are located in a separate file under The Blue Sweater tab. You will upload the Book Review to the dropbox by Thursday of Week Four. Each Wednesday, look for the assignment for the following week. For example during our first week on Wednesday, there will be a second document in The Blue Sweater tab titled Week Two, etc.

Week One: begin by reading the Prologue, Reader Guide (at the back), Suggested Reading (at the back), Chapter 16 and then read chapters 1-3 (Innocent Abroad, A Bird on the Outside, a Tiger Within, and Context Matters. Make sure you can find all the countries mentioned on a map of Africa. You are welcome to use the map in our textbook or look under the Maps tab on D2L. Look at the following four notions from different parts of your reading. Think about what your answers would be if you were writing something.

Your main goal is to connect as a reader with what Novogratz is writing about

  1. (Prologue, p. XI): “[Acumen Fund] raise[s] charitable funds, but instead of using the money for giveaways, we make careful investments in entrepreneurs who are willing to take on some of the world’s toughest challenges. The entrepreneurs we seek have the vision to deliver essential services like affordable healthcare, safe water, housing, and alternative energy to areas where governments or charities are often failing.” How do you feel about this choice on the part of Acumen?
  2. What do you know about Rwanda? What has the source of that information been?
  3. The suggested readings focus on the role of leadership development in non-profit management. Which topics listed do you feel are the most important and why? Would you attend a leadership seminar that asked you to work through some of these readings? Why/why not?
  4. “I believe the next generation will change the world. Everywhere I go, I meet young people who are hungry and eager to contribute. University students and freshly-minted MBAs from across the globe ask me what skills they’ll need for meaningful work. They should gain skills in the financial areas of business—marketing, design, distribution, finance—as well as in medicine, law, engineering, because we need more people with tangible skills to contribute to building solutions that work for the poor. And they can be of service in this area by working for NGOs, progressive corporations, or governments.” What are your thoughts on this comment?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Blue Sweater Reading Guide Week 2

Chapters 4-7

 

Novogratz has let you see a bit of her career path. In these next chapters , you will get more of a sense of why her faith in an entrepreneurship model leads her to take a number of risks and make a number of choices in terms of how she wishes to serve as a catalyst for development in East Africa.

As you read these next four chapters, consider some of the observations and quotes listed below. Try and check in with whether you agree or disagree with her observations and reflections and why.

The book review assignment will be posted by the end of Week Two under the Blue Sweater tab.

Chapter Four: Basket Economics and Political Realities

 

  1. from Marian Wright Edelman, Founder Children’s Defense Fund: “If you don’t p.like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time. “
  2. 48: [O]nly when women control money will they have the power to walk away from being hurt.
  3. What are some of the lending issues that Novogratz describes as hindering much of Duterimbere’s initial success?
  4. . 52: The day I heard the news of Constance’s death from Ginetter may have been the day I really grew up. My time in Cote d’Ivoire had taught me about humility. I came to Rwanda ready to listen but without a critical eye. I saw only good in Rwanda’s community orientation, in the way families took care of one another, in the lack of corruption and the simplicity of life….Life was neither as easy nor as free as I had imagined.

Chapter Five: The Blue Bakery

  1. How did Jacqueline craft a plan to help the bakers become more profitable? What were some cultural factors that impeded the initial expansion of the bakery?
  2. 76: on painting the bakery walls blue instead of green:

…listening is not just having the patience to wait, it is also learning how to ask the questions themselves. People who have always been dependent on others for some kind of charity or good will often have a hard time saying what they really want because no one asks them. And if they are asked, the poor often think no one wants to hear the truth….

Chapter Six: Dancing in the Dark

 

  1. 90: …freedom is not just about political liberty, but also about economic independence and the power of choice. The women in the slums were operating under dependency not freedom. If the donor community couldn’t help these women liberate themselves, they needed to get out of the way.
  2. Much of the chapter examines failures on the part of external aid agencies. This is a good illustration of a dependency mentality fostered and maintained by western aid agencies. Make sure you can follow the reasons for the failures of many of these groups according to Novogratz.

 

Chapter Seven: Traveling Without a Road Map

 

  1. 97: As we sat in white plastic chairs under yellow umbrellas, watching children splash in the big blue pool after having just played tennis at the private club where we were coached by personal trainers, I reflected on the fact that I couldn’t have afforded this lifestyle in my own country. It is said that three kinds of people come to Africa: missionaries, mercenaries, and misfits. Regardless of labels, there was something about being part of a tiny, privileged elite that ultimately wasn’t good for anyone.
  2. Novogratz is beginning to tire of Rwanda. She has been there for more than two years in spite of her time going back and forth to Nairobi. After her home is robbed, she focuses on both formal and informal justice in the country and she reflects on it: The big question for me was how to trike a balance between the quest for order—clearly a priority in this country—with the human craving for freedom. It was this lack of freedom and of trust that permeated most parts of life in Rwanda in the 1980s. Though I couldn’t put my finger on it at the time, it was this shadow that would come to haunt the country and then feed the flames of genocide only a few years later.
  3. Note: the text will deal with what happened before and after the genocide

(1994). Many of you have seen the film Hotel Rwanda . It traces the lingering human costs of Hutu versus Tutsi. The reconciliation process is not addressed in the text.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Week Three: Blue Sweater Reading Guide Chapters 8-11

 

In these next chapters Novogratz experiences personal trauma, the Rwandan Genocide transpires in 1994, and Novogratz returns multiple times to Rwanda to see what has happened post genocide.

As you read these next four chapters, consider some of the observations and quotes listed below. Try and check in with whether you agree or disagree with her observations and reflections and why. Begin to think now about whether her notions of successful development strategies are similar to or different from yours. Page numbrers are not posted because the hard copies and paper copies do not match1

 

Chapter 8: A New Learning Curve

 

Novogratz leaves Rwanda to enter graduate school at Stanford. Because she has 9 months before she needs to start school, she accepts a short-term consulting contract with the World Bank that puts her in Gambia. She makes observations about what seems to account for the failure of a key agricultural project despite multiple year of funding.

After finishing her graduate program, she is awarded a fellowship with the Rockefeller Foundation and once again has a mentor to learn from. Her mentor there, Peter Goldmark “was a true visionary who believed deeply in our ability to solve even the toughest problems and felt that greater innovation in private philanthropy could help lead the way to public solutions. “

Chapter 9: Blue Paint in the Road

 

In this chapter Novogratz describes being attached in Tanzania and then describes the beginning of the Rwandan genocide (April, 1994). She articulates her emerging sense of what types of development programs are the most successful. She states “Programs serving the poor needed to do a better job of giving people the chance to aim high and believe in themselves—and of holding them accountable for reaching their goals. “

She then talks about the Next Generation Leadership Foundation. In reflecting on why it was a problematic failure she says “It took months for me to understand that my biggest error had been trying to defend an implausible position.”

In 1997 she returns to Kigali. She observes “Here was a country destroyed because people feared one another.” There is nothing left of the bakery when she goes back to the Blue Road. Try and imagine what she was feeling.

Chapter 10: Retribution and Resurrection

 

In this chapter we discover what happened to many of the women Novogratz had been working with in Rwanda. We are introduced to notions of retribution as well as personal resilience. Think about your reaction to this chapter compared to the other chapters.

Reflect on the quote by Gandhi at the beginning of the chapter: When I despair, I remember that all through history, the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a long time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it—always.”

Chapter 11. The Cost of Silence

 

In this chapter we meet up again with Agnes and Prudence. Their lives have been permanently changed. Novogratz observes at the end of the chapter what she believes the international community should have done to prevent the genocide. Look at the very last paragraph of this chapter and think about whether you agree or disagree with her.

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