History 474B

Devine

Fall 2014

Paper Assignment #1 Option B

This essay is due by 11:59 pm SUNDAY, October 12th. You may email your essay to me as an email attachment. If you choose not to do this assignment, you may complete either Option C (due October 26).

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 that the document you are submitting is a draft. 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 1500 words and no longer 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 “Paper #1” or “Vietnam”) 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. (Farber, 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. In 1968, why did many Americans fear that their country was in a state of crisis and that the traditional sources of authority – governmental institutions like the presidency and congress, the political parties, and even the political system itself – were no longer trustworthy or responsive to the people? What had happened to lead them to this belief?

2. In the mid- to late-1960s, many young Americans were drawn to the counterculture. What did they believe was wrong with “mainstream” American culture? How did they propose to “cure” what ailed the nation? To what extent did the counterculture succeed in providing a viable alternative culture?

3. Drawing on the readings by Farber, Hamby, and Lewis, explain why Richard Nixon appealed to a “silent majority” of American voters. In answering, consider the reasons why the “silent majority” resented the noisy minority and how Nixon was able to benefit from the deep divisions between these two groups.