History 498

Devine

FIRST PAPER ASSIGNMENT (OPTION #1)

 

This essay is due Monday, October 18th by 11:59 pm.  You may email your paper to me as an attachment, turn it in to the History Department office (Sierra Tower 610), or hand it to me in person. I recommend against slipping it under my office door.  If you choose not to do this paper, Option #2 will be due Monday, November 22nd. If you do both papers, I will take the higher grade of the two.

 

Essays must be at least FOUR FULL PAGES and no more than six full pages. They should be typed in 12-point font and double-spaced with one-inch margins all around. If you are quoting directly from a source, cite the author and page number in parentheses within the body of the text, i.e. (Shogan, 47). All direct quotes MUST be in quotation marks and must be cited. Paraphrases of ideas drawn from the reading MUST also be cited. Please number your pages and give your essay an appropriate title (clever titles involving puns are always welcome).  If you have any questions or are in any way unsure about what the questions are asking, be sure to speak with me via email or in person.

 

Choose ONE (1) of the following essay questions:

 

  1. Today, presidential candidates run far more active, aggressive campaigns than they did in the nineteenth century.  What do you believe are the most significant factors that have led to this change in approach?

 

[“Factors” might include technological developments (airplanes, photography, radio, television), changes in voter attitudes about what a “good” candidate is or what is “appropriate” behavior for a candidate, changes in the importance of political parties and their role in a campaign, the emergence of presidential “handlers” and campaign advertising, or the evolution of the United States as a world power.]

 

  1. Robert Shogan writes, “Character is a double-edged sword – an instrument that can discredit presidents and destroy their credibility but also one that presidents can use to establish their political identity and mobilize support.” (Shogan, 3)  Choose ONE of the following Presidents and explain how he illustrates Shogan’s thesis: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton.

 

  1. Since 1960, race has been a significant issue in presidential campaigns and both parties have tried to use the “race issue” to their advantage. Has this relatively recent focus on race worked to the benefit or detriment of African-Americans?

 

  1. What do you believe are the most important factors in determining whether a presidential advertising campaign succeeds or fails?