For your second assignment, we would like you to read a memoir of either a person living with dementia or a carer of a person living with dementia, and then write a book review.
Think about how the book you have chosen engages with the concept of living well with dementia (it may or may not do). How are the ideas, concepts and themes the module has covered reflected in the book? What does the book tell you about the challenges facing people living with dementia and their carers? What does the book tell you about the process of support available after diagnosis? There are many questions you can ask about your chosen memoir in these contexts (you will, no doubt, be able to think of many more).
This is a reflective piece of work but as usual, where you use additional sources to inform your writing, they should be presented in a standard reference list.
The book being reviewed is Somebody I used to know by Wendy Mitchell.
The themes to be focused on are bereavement and loss.
Additional Guidance – Book Review
The comments below are in response to questions that have been asked over the last few weeks and should be considered alongside the assignment guidelines.
• It is a reflective piece so you can write in the 1st person, however, your ideas must be supported with evidence. You will need to take an analytical approach and include references throughout as you would do with a standard academic assignment.
• If this is a new type of assignment for you, read through a range of book reviews to get some ideas of how they are presented – although yours will be different in that most won’t include references.
• As you read the book, identify theme(s) that you will address in your review. Look at the subjects we have covered in this module which might help you to identify themes. What is the book saying to you about dementia?
• In your introduction, say what you are going to do in the assignment, what theme(s) you are going to address
• What have other authors said about that theme and dementia? What are some of the theories relating to that theme?
• You may want to offer comparison to other books written by people with dementia or offer comparison to those written by carers.
• You may want to compare what the author is saying in comparison to what research studies have shown.