Nieva Marie A.

Estenzo January 10, 2017

Academic Writing

Book Review

Kwame Anthony Appiah. 2014. Lines of Descent: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Emergence of Identity. Cambridge: Harvard University
Press. 227 pp.

Part of a current resurgence in interest in arguably one of the most important African-American figures of the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries, Kwame Anthony Appiah’s most recent study of Du Bois’ intellectual engagement traces the multiplicity of
historical, political, philosophical, and cultural influences that invariably shaped Du Bois’s lifelong “project of reclaiming and
redefining ‘the race concept’” at home and abroad (p. 6). In Lines of Descent: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Emergence of Identity, Appiah
examines the intersecting intellectual “matri[ces] from which Du Bois drew and to which he contributed” in a thoughtful attempt to
better place Du Bois within a larger critical framework. In this small book of just five chapters, Appiah probes Du Bois’ most seminal
works and the global ideologies that contributed to his own philosophy of history, constructed and reconstructed from the 1899
sociological study, The Philadelphia Negro, to his 1940 Dusk of Dawn: An Essay Toward an Autobiography of a Race Concept and
beyond. By tracing the conceptual influences of William James, Heinrich von Treitschke, Gustav von Schmoller, and more, Appiah is
therefore not only able to illustrate key factors in Du Bois’ intellectual awakening but also to aid readers of the present day in
“learn[ing] something about how to shape our own—no doubt, different—responses” to questions of identity and our roles in the
modern world (p. 23).

In the introduction, Appiah emphasizes the necessary intellectual challenge that Du Bois set for himself: “to come to grips with
the social reality of race in a way that both resisted scientific racism and responded to the claims of cosmopolitanism” (p. 9). Aware
of the present social and cultural prejudices that skewed the histories of African and African-American peoples, Du Bois accordingly
sought to interrogate this concept of race, offering “the first detailed scientific statistical sociological study of an American
community”—a project not just limited to The Philadelphia Negro but also inclusive of his later critical and philosophical works (p.
14). As Appiah suggests, in doing so, Du Bois “had invented a new way of writing about race” and not just in the United States (p.
15).

In chapter two, “Culture and Cosmpolitanism,” one of the book’s more pertinent chapters, Appiah expands upon his argument,
citing a movement towards more global thinking throughout Du Bois’ work. First articulated in “Of Our Spiritual Strivings,” the
opening essay of Du Bois’ most renowned work, he offers what Appiah terms, “a cosmopolitan moral idea that, whatever his duties
to the Negro, he has obligations to those outside his racial horizon” (p. 63). The studies that Du Bois produced therefore served a
dual role in the American cultural conversation: 1) to record a more complete and nuanced history of a people and 2) to educate in
hopes of transforming the racist American cultural imagination at large. Through this approach, Du Bois asserted a movement that
inevitably re-envisioned black intellectual work, connecting the issues of Jim Crow and the color line, for instance, with a larger
network of oppression overseas. Moving away from the tunnel vision of sorts that threatened the black artist and thinker—a
dilemma that Du Bois identifies in Dusk of Dawn as “group imprisonment within a group,” his works thus push for a more complete
understanding of the striving and struggling characteristic of the colored condition at home and abroad (p. 67).

In the end, Lines of Descent is best placed among the emerging body of criticism that seeks to expand the concept of the black
intellectual and probe the ideological milieus created through his work. Like Stephanie J. Shaw’s 2013 critical text, W. E. B. Du Bois
and The Souls of Black Folk—a comprehensive study of Du Bois’ engagement with Hegelian idealism in his most widely read and
heavily examined text—Lines of Descent offers its readers insight into the process and projects of Du Bois. Contrary to the
ideological stagnation that seemed to constrict the black intellectual of Harold Cruse’s 1967 work, The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual,
what Du Bois offered was a dynamism and fluidity of thought, willing to adjust and reshape his ideas based upon new discoveries
and new stimuli he encountered through active engagement with the surrounding world. Because of “Du Bois’s disciplinary
schizophrenia,” he was able to view the Negro question through multiple vantage points, perhaps the greatest lasting legacy that Du
Bois leaves behind (p. 79). In charting that journey of individual and intellectual growth, Appiah’s work is thus a valuable
contribution to Du Boisian scholarship and an asset to libraries both public and private alike.

Christopher Allen Varlack, University of Maryland

African Studies Quarterly | Volume 15, Issue 1 | December 2014

http://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/pdfs/v15i1a9.pdf
Nieva Marie A. Estenzo January 10, 2017

Professional Writing

November 2011

BBSI

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to introduce our company World Choice Education and establish a relationship with you and your college.

World Choice Education is a UK based limited company which has recruited the best experienced agents and is run by two
experienced directors who have established themselves in the UK education market working with many top universities and
language schools.

All of our staff have come from either working independently as agents or worked for other agencies in the UK or elsewhere in the
world and now work under the umbrella of World Choice Education only.

The core of our business is to introduce international students to the UK and other worldwide destinations which include, the USA,
Australia, New Zealand, Canada and China to study at a University or a Language School.

We currently work in the following countries, and have staff who divide their time between these countries and our UK office.

Europe

Middle East

South America

China

Philippines

This will be expanding as our staff expand, but its gives you an idea of where students will come from to your institution.

This means we can provide face-to-face support for students, language schools and University representatives in the UK, and also
support students in their home countries.

The Bournemouth office is led by a native British business development manager who has worked with language schools in
Bournemouth, and universities across the UK for many years. Coming from a recruitment background, they provide the relationship
building skills needed to maintain high standards when working with students, representatives and businesses, and a wealth of
experience in managing applications for language schools and Universities from A-level through to PhD levels.

Our other director is a Spanish Marketing and Sales Professional, with a solid background of work experience in different sectors,
such as Education, Tourism and Hospitality. She has been working at a language school for a year in Bournemouth, as Marketing
Manager and responsible for working with all international agents in coordinating the arrivals of the students into a local
Bournemouth Language School, as well as assisting in all areas of University and Language Schools applications through to offer,
acceptance and enrolment for the business which has a sister company being an International language school and agency in the
heart of Bournemouth. She also has previous background experience as an Event Manager and teacher of Professional courses and
has built the skills for working with the highest standards of quality for the business.

We have many other staff working for us and if you require further information on them please request this.

All of our other agents have been educated in the UK to a degree standard and we have taken them on under the umbrella of WCE
to represent their country due to their sales skill and experience of dealing with students wanting to study in the UK or other
worldwide destinations.

We also have permanent representatives in several countries to help deliver our core services.

Our mission is:

 To give students advice and guidance on the most relevant training and academic courses available in the UK and USA

 To be fully informed about our partner institutions so as to ensure students can make the best decisions on where to study in
the UK & USA

 To assist with VISA applications, clearly explaining all legal restrictions to students

 To attend and hold student and representative fairs in the UK and the countries we cover

 To arrange suitable accommodation for students when necessary

 To provide advice and guidance about studying away from home in another country.

 To ensure that all schools and Universities are kept up to date with progress on student' applications.
I do hope that this information will help you gain a clear idea of what we can offer, and that we can become a recognised agent for
your organisation.

Below I have outlined several referees for you to contact on behalf of World Choice

Education.

 Bournemouth University Andy Thompson  Capital School of English Spencer Fordham

Tel: 01202 961606 Tel: 01202 546875

E-mail: athompson@bournemouth.ac.uk E-mail: spencer@capitalschool.co.uk

 Navitas  English 2000 Kenny Rodia

Charlie Vine or Paul Johnson Tel: 02392848485 Tel: 01202 552000

E-mail - paul.johnson@icp.port.ac.uk or E-mail: kenny@english2000.com

c.vine@icws.swansea.ac.uk

I look forward to hearing from you and if you require any more information from us please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours Sincerely,

World Choice Education

http://www2.cmepius.si/files/cmepius/userfiles/leonardo/iskanje_partnerja/2013/Introduction%20letter.pdf

In the academic text at the back, the author clearly states its main idea and focuses on comparing the two books which are
correlated to one another. It’s undoubtly seen through the paragraphs and sentences that it was well written, using many
transitional devices such as and, arguably, therefore, but and accordingly. The text has fully develop its main topic which tackled
about the Appiah’s work to the work of Du Bois, which was organized well and stated out proof on its arguments. A lot of quotations
are shown in the text, which help and prompted the readers to understand the topic more, though some of the stated books are not
familiar to me, it was able to bring an understandable thought with the help of the author’s quotation of its actual content of the
book the author’s referring to. The author is straight to the point and stated out his claims and provided the evidences, the text
really showed a formal type of writing and aims to have that tone of formality in its sentences. When it comes to its technical
aspects, it has a lot of citation, it has even many page numbers, and it was pretty obvious that it followed the use of standard English
and does not have any contractions nor numbers(except for those that are direct quoted or page numbers).

Based on the structure, organization, as well as how the author presented the text, it can be concluded that it was planned
well, and the author have ample knowledge about the topic being discussed that’s why he is able to come up with this good output
he had. The author was able to look upon the things that are needed for him to come up with this paper.The author must have done
many researches about the book as well as its author, since its reflected on this text. No doubt about the structure, organization and
ideas presented for it was done well. Maybe there are few typographical errors but still the whole text was done well, though the
process of making this paper can not be seen, still everything the author must have done for this to become good must have been
really in a well mannered process.

When it comes to the components of this text as being an academic writing, it is more of a impersonal tone and has aim to
persuade its reader. It has a specific field as well as its technical words related to that field which is sociology or about social matters,
more specifically ideologies about the book mentioned. It is consistent with its language use and does not tend to be wordy and
goes directly to what it wants to point out. Though the text has many quotations, maybe for the author its needed to have those
since it can only be explained if directly quoted. And though it is not a long book review, it was able to correctly discussed its
arguments as well as the supporting details, which might be due to the proper procedure the author has done for it to have this
result.
 In the second text, which a professional writing, to be more precise a business letter, has a formal tone and is informative as
well as proper manner of stating out its purpose and underlying objectives. The text has unity and is focused on giving an
information about their company and how they would like to establish connection to with their expected audience. The letter is
understandable and has use the word and, or, currently, and but, which made it more comprehensible. Their information are
organized well, and putted many things to pique the interest of its reader to have what they wanted to for them. They are clear with
their objectives and the information was presented smoothly. The information stated are not using sexist language which is a good
thing that’s why they tend to generalize the characters being stated such as all. Same as the first text it is written in standard English
and is very understandable. There are no contractions nor numbers but tends to be personal but still keeping up with the tone of
formality. As observe it has no citation compared to the first one but consistent with it pronoun’s point of view.

The process during the formulation of this letter might have also undergone the writing process but based on this writing, it can
be seen that it had followed the company’s format of doing business letter and thus doing the preparation and modeling procedure.
Since the text tend to be informative all the ideas presented are facts about their company and their objectives so maybe they did
not have references nor formulation of ideas for these information are from the inside data they had. Still this letter shown a well
formatted and clear presentation of its information, thus it might have undergone editing process for it is structured properly and
lesser typos.

Considering it nature of being a professional writing, it is no doubt that this text has an personal tone and tends to be
informative yet in a formal way. It absolutely has establish its purpose and objectives in the text as well as their target audience can
be drawn out from their text. As observed from the way it is created, it is clearly a business letter about a company wanting to open
their doors for connections to others colleges. It stated properly its message and was explicitly seen in the text, and the tone of their
text is in a way that could draw attention to its target readers. This text probably followed the company’s format since this is created
from them also, yet it is consistent in the language used and was focused on the context rather than focusing on just informing alone.
Over all the text has correctly done it in a professional way with the consideration of its target reader with the flow of their
information.