Book Name:
Brown, Chester. Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography. Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly
Publications, 2017.
Each student is required to write a 750-word review of Chester Brown’s graphic novel about the
life of Louis Riel (see Required Textbooks).
Please keep in mind that a book review is not a book report. Its purpose is not simply descriptive,
but rather the review needs to be analytical with respect to the strengths and weaknesses of the
book. How well does the medium of a graphic novel work for imparting information? When
reading about aspects of Riel’s life, what catches your attention? Are events presented as you
would expect or are there different biases or perspectives at play? Assess the historical
importance of the work and situate it within the wider spectrum of Canadian history.
First and foremost, if you have any questions regarding any stage of the writing process, please
don’t hesitate to contact the instructor at any time.
When marking your papers I will not only be looking for the quality of your thoughts, but also
the style in which they are expressed. Please proofread your work before handing it in and do not
rely on your computer’s spellchecker alone. Your grammar should be impeccable.
Book Reviews should be submitted by email to the professor as a Microsoft Word
attachment (.doc format). If you submit a file in .pdf format I will be able to read it, but will not
be able to make specific comments throughout the body of the text.