History 342

Devine

Fall 2014

Paper Assignment #2 Option B

This essay is due no later than 11:59 pm FRIDAY, December 5th.

If you are submitting this essay as a draft and intend to work with a writing tutor on a revision of your essay, you should aim to submit your essay by SUNDAY, November 30^th so that you will have sufficient time to complete your revisions. Regardless of when you meet with your tutor, all final versions are due by December 11^th. To make an appointment, call the History Department at 818.677.3566. Appointments may be difficult to get, so try to call as soon as you can.

All students are welcome to make an appointment with me to go over a draft before submitting a revision and the same deadline will apply.

How Long?

• Papers MUST 900 words.

Format?

• Typed, double-spaced, 12-point font with one-inch margins all around.

• Please remember to number your pages.

• Give your essay a title that indicates what the paper is about. (Something more revealing than “Paper #2”) Clever titles will be duly noted.

How to cite?

If you are quoting directly from a source, cite the author and page number in parentheses within the body of the text, i.e. (Dangarembga, 47). All direct quotes MUST be in quotation marks and must be cited. Paraphrases of ideas drawn from the readings MUST also be cited.

How will I be graded?

You will be graded on:

1)  focus (does the paper make a clear argument that answers the question posed in the prompt?)

2)  evidence (do you back up your argument with specific information from the reading and class discussion?)

3)  coherence (is your argument consistent? do all of your sentences and paragraphs make sense? do your paragraphs flow in a logical order?)

4)  scope (does your paper deal with the question in appropriate depth and breadth? or is your argument superficial and backed up only with the most obvious evidence that we went over in class?)

If you have any questions or are in any way unsure about what you are being asked to do, be sure to speak with me via email or in person. 

THE ASSIGNMENT

Answer ONE of the following questions:

1. Choose one character from Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions and diagnose his or her nervous condition. What factors (or variety of factors) has caused this condition? What are its symptoms?

[In answering, think of your “diagnosis” as your thesis and the “causes” and “symptoms” as the supporting evidence that explains and illustrates your thesis.]

2. To what extent did the context in which Azar Nafisi’s students read Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby – that is, in the midst of the Iranian revolution of 1979 – shape their interpretation of the novel and, more broadly, their views of the purpose of art itself?

[In examining the context, don’t think only about what was going on in Iran in 1979-80, consider also what the Iranian students thought about America and Western culture, what cultural values they admired and what values they despised, and what the Iranian students “dreamed” about for their own country. Then ask yourself how all these factors may have influenced their interpretation of Fitzgerald’s novel and their views regarding the purpose of art.]

3. Why is the tension that built between the two superpowers after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan a classic case study of misperception on the part of both Moscow and Washington? In what ways did each nation misconstrue the motives and behavior of the other?

[In answering, you should discuss the Soviet invasion, the U.S. reaction to the invasion, and how the Soviets interpreted the U.S. reaction. Explain what each side believed the other was doing and why it found the other side’s actions threatening. Also explain why each nation’s actions and reactions were based on misperceptions.]