Essays should be 500 words or less, contain a thesis statement—essentially a one-sentence answer to the exam prompt—and utilize at least three references to course materials to support the proposed thesis. That means you can reference the book you read for your book review, any combination of the weekly write-ups, and/or any materials used in this course or materials you have researched—just make sure you cite your work so I can determine where you’re getting your information.
This isn’t a writing-heavy course, so I won’t be grading for spelling or grammar (though both remain appreciated courtesies). However, as a history course, I will be looking for how you make connections through and between the sources to support your argument. That’s why I require you to cite your work (parenthetical is fine and probably easiest), but as long as you do so and make it clear, I’m not particularly picky about how you choose to do so. For example, if an author only has one work, you just need something like this (Last name, pg. ##). If, however, you’re citing an author with multiple works (like the course write-ups), then you will want to use something like (Last name, “Title,” pg. ##).
Finally, I know the prompt is fairly vague. That’s on purpose, but it may make it difficult to get started. That could be a good starting point in explaining how, historically, those terms changed over time and what was involved.