IAH206 writing assignment

: Alex de Waal on Famines

(1)

What is Alex de Waal’s main thesis? State it as clearly as you can.

[Note: He says some things about what causes famines, and he says some things about

what we need to do about it. Since he says a number or different things (just like Sen has

different main claims about democracy, about entitlements, etc.), there is not simply one way

to describe what “the main thesis” is. However, this does not mean you can choose anything;

you should be trying to pick out some way of describing something about his main line of

thought (his main goal in writing this book).]

(2)

Explain why this main thesis of his is significant or interesting.

(3)

Say whether you think this thesis is right or not, and explain why.

Citations are required; quotations are not.

Quotations, if you have them, should not be long,

and they don’t count toward the word count. (See general description of the writing

assignments on the syllabus.)

Citations: I wouldn’t expect you to use any sources outside of the class readings. Certainly you

do have to at least cite de Waal from the course pack. The style for doing the citations? You

can just cite the page number in the following way: (de Waal, p.X)