History 371

Devine

Spring 2014

Paper Assignment #2 Option B; Burdick and Lederer, The Ugly American

This essay is due Monday, April 21st. You may email your essay to me as an attachment (the preferred method), turn it in to the History Department office (Sierra Tower 610) during business hours, or hand it to me in person.

If you are submitting this essay as a draft and intend to work with a writing tutor on a revision of your essay, please indicate in the subject line of your email or on the first page of the hard copy of your paper that the document you are submitting is a draft.

To take advantage of using the Writing Center, you must submit a complete 1500-word draft on April 21st. Your final version will be due ONE WEEK after your appointment with the writing tutor. To make an appointment, call the History Department at 818.677.3566.

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 be 1500 words and no more than 1900 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 “Essay #2” or “Ugly American”) Clever titles will be duly noted.

• Base your essay entirely on the assigned course reading. You do not have to (nor should you) draw on any outside sources. Don’t go to the internet to do your thinking for you. I am familiar with all the material on The Ugly American that can be found on the web, so I will know you’re just regurgitating someone else’s ideas and your grade will reflect that.

Don’t forget to put your name at the top of page 1 of the essay before emailing it. (People actually forget to do this.)

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. (Burdick and Lederer, 46). All direct quotes MUST be in quotation marks and must be cited. Paraphrases of ideas drawn from the book MUST also be cited.

How will I be graded?

You will be graded on:

1)    focus (do you have a thesis statement and does it answer the question asked?)

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

3)    coherence (is your argument consistent and understandable throughout the piece?)

4)    scope (does your paper deal with the question in appropriate depth and breadth?)

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 any TWO characters in The Ugly American and explain why they are effective or ineffective at winning the “hearts and minds” of people in Asia.

[You can take any number of approaches in answering this question. For example, you could pick the two characters you think are most effective at winning “hearts and minds” and explain why. You could do a “compare and contrast” paper that examines the character you believe is most effective and the character you believe is least effective at winning “hearts and minds” and focus on how they differ. You could choose the two characters you believe are least effective at winning “hearts and minds” and explain why this is the case. Or, you could choose the two characters you believe are most fully developed in the novel and are therefore the easiest to analyze and evaluate. Regardless of which characters you choose, you should use specific examples from the book to illustrate the reasons why they are effective or ineffective at winning “hearts and minds.” Before you begin to write, figure out exactly what traits and behaviors make your characters effective (or ineffective) at winning “hearts and minds.” Brainstorm, then write your ideas down, then decide how one idea might lead to the next. Do not simply sit down and start typing whatever comes to mind. This approach produces gibberish, not a college level paper.]

2. After reading the anecdotes recounted in The Ugly American, do you believe that Americans working in Asia – both for the US government and for the private sector – were more naïve, uninformed, and arrogant OR malicious, cruel, and racist?

[There is sufficient evidence in the book to defend either position, but in writing your essay, you must choose one or the other and then introduce enough compelling evidence to convince your reader that your choice is the better one. In answering, follow the clues given in the prompt – focus on the three specific traits and provide examples from the book that illustrate those traits. An especially thorough or persuasive essay will also indicate why the other three traits, though present in the characters, are not as prevalent or significant as the three you have chosen.]

3. Lederer and Burdick wrote this novel with a purpose in mind. What do you think it was and how effectively do you think they achieve it?

[In answering this prompt, it is especially important to think through how you plan to answer the question BEFORE you start typing. In your first paragraph you should clearly state the authors’ purpose and briefly indicate the ways they achieve (or do not achieve) their purpose.]