Home

Your assignment is to construct an essay in response to one of the following questions. The length requirement for this essay is 1250 words minimum, 1500 words max. This essay is worth 250 points, or in other words, 25% of your overall grade in this course
Your paper must be based entirely on course materials from weeks 9-13. Therefore, you are expected to utilize the podcasts and course readings (the Davidson textbook and the primary sources in The American Yawp Reader) but forbidden from using any other sources for this essay exam, with the exception of the one approved outside source, The American Yawp textbook, mentioned in the paragraph below. Papers that incorporate any other outside sources or that fail to include any references to course sources will automatically receive failing grades. For this assignment, as with all written assignments in this class, you must follow the citation guidelines listed on page 8 of the course syllabus. You do not need to include a works cited page since you are utilizing only course materials for this assignment. Your paper must be double-spaced, with standard 12-point font and normal margins. Papers must draw from a variety of course sources assigned between weeks 9-13 of this class, and are expected to incorporate close analysis of at least two primary documents from The American Yawp Reader (chapters 25-30), at least two different podcast episodes (episodes 11-19), and at least two different chapters from the Davidson textbook (chapters 27-32). If you find the need to supplement these materials with additional information, you are permitted to use The American Yawp textbook as well. Like The American Yawp Reader that is required reading in this course, the companion textbook is a free, open-access source published by Stanford University Press. It can be accessed online at: The American Yawp . The pertinent chapters for this assignment are chapters 25-30. If you choose to incorporate material from this textbook, please cite it as: (AY, ch #, section #). For example, a citation to (AY, ch 28, section VII) would point us to material in the section of chapter 28 entitled “The Politics of Love, Sex, and Gender,” which you can access here: 28. The Unraveling | THE AMERICAN YAWP . Please note that usage of The American Yawp textbook, unlike usage of The American Yawp Reader, the podcasts, or the Davidson textbook, is entirely optional. You are still expected to include the minimum number of references to the required course sources stipulated (and underlined) above. Furthermore you will not be penalized in any way if you choose not to make use of this optional textbook. It is simply being offered as an additional resource for those students who feel the need to consult an additional source.
The expectations and grading criteria for this assignment are stipulated in the grading rubric, which is the same rubric utilized for the midterm essay. This is a formal essay assignment. It will be marked based on the strength of your argument, your analysis of relevant course materials, and the quality of your writing. As with any essay you would write in university, we expect to see: a strong thesis statement which communicates your core argument; a well-structured and organized body of the paper that advances your argument via analysis of course materials; and a formal conclusion that not only ties the argument together, but elaborates on its significance. Questions (choose one):
a) The Cold War looms large in 20th century history, and especially in our understanding of American history. The Cold War impacted both the U.S. approach to the world and America’s domestic politics and culture. Which of these – U.S. foreign policy or U.S. domestic life – do you find were impacted the most by the Cold War? In other words, which changed more because of the Cold War, American foreign policy or American society? In answering this question you may elect to write about just the early Cold War era, to pick and choose other key moments during the Cold War, or to cover the entire Cold War period. Either way, be sure to consider the Cold War both as an international conflict and as a domestic affair, and to incorporate specific examples from the readings and podcasts in order to support your arguments.
b) One prominent theme in the second half of our course has been the history of American social movements, in particular the post-WW II movements for civil rights, women’s rights, and gay rights. What were the accomplishments of these movements, and in what ways did they fall short of their objectives? Ultimately do you find that these movements largely succeeded, or do you contend that their goals that have yet to be realized outweigh their accomplishments?