History 474A

Devine/Arrowsmith

Essay Assignment #2 (Option A)

 

INSTRUCTIONS

 

This essay is due Sunday, April 19th by 11:59 pm if you wish to receive the 5 extra credit points on your score.  Otherwise you may hand it in any time before May 3.  There will also be another set of questions distributed as Option B.  If you do not wish to answer one of the questions below, you can wait for the next essay assignment (Option B) which will also be due May 3.  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 complete this essay and do not do well, you may then turn in the Option B essay. I will count only the better of the two grades.

 

I prefer you email me the paper since this is the best way to ensure that it does not get lost.  When emailing, send a copy to yourself on the “cc” line and a copy to Laura. If you receive the email, it’s likely we did as well. I will send you a confirmation email when I receive your paper, however, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY (and not the email server’s) that I get it. (“But I sent it to you – didn’t you get it?” will not be a legitimate excuse for a late paper.) 

 

How Long? 

Papers MUST be 1500 words and no more than 1900 words. If you use MS Word, you can check number of words by pulling down the FILE menu, selecting PROPERTIES, and then clicking on the STATISTICS tab.

 

Format?

• Typed, double-spaced, 12-point font with one-inch margins all around.  Margins can be set by using the FILE menu in MS Word and choosing “Page set up.”

 

• Please number your pages (use the INSERT menu on MS Word and choose “Page numbers…”)

 

• Give your essay a title that indicates what the paper is about. (Something more revealing than “Essay #2” or “World War II”) 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 forget to put your name at the top of page 1 of the essay before you email 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. (Fussell, 47). All direct quotes MUST be in quotation marks and must be cited. Paraphrases of ideas drawn from the book MUST also be cited.

 

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 or Laura via email or in person.

 

THE ASSIGNMENT

 

Choose ONE of the following questions:

 

  1. In his book, Wartime, the author Paul Fussell sets out to expose many of the myths that have surrounded World War II.  Is he effective at doing so?  Explain why or why not, drawing on specific examples to demonstrate your point of view.

 

  1. Drawing on specific information from Patrick Maney’s biography of FDR, assess Roosevelt’s leadership in the realm of foreign policy. How well did he balance defending national interests with domestic political considerations? How well did he manage the process of mobilization and both strategic and military issues during the war?

 

  1. How did the experience of combat affect those Americans who fought in the Second World War?  How did it force them to change their notions about war?  How did it affect their mental health, their outlook on life, fate, and the human condition?  How did their combat experiences affect their lives once they returned from war?  In answering, be sure to draw on both Paul Fussell’s Wartime and Sloan Wilson’s The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.

 

  1. Why was it difficult for both Tom and Betsy Rath to adjust to life in suburbia and the corporate rat race in the years after World War II?  What kept them from being happy?  Was their unhappiness of their own making or were factors beyond their control to blame?