History 579

Devine

Fall 2012

First Analytical Essay Assignment – Option A

 

INSTRUCTIONS

 

Your first essay is due Saturday, October 6th. I prefer you email me the paper as an attachment since this is the best way to ensure that it does not get lost. When you email me, you should also send a copy to yourself on the “cc” line. If you receive the email, it’s likely I did as well. I will send you a confirmation email when I receive your paper. Late essays will be penalized, so please turn your assignment in on time. If you do not wish to do this paper, you can wait for the next essay assignment (Option B) which will be due on Saturday, November 3rd.

 

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.

 

HOW LONG SHOULD THE PAPER BE?

 

Papers MUST be 1500 words and no more than 1900 words.

 

HOW SHOULD I FORMAT THE PAPER?

 

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

 

• Please number your pages.

 

• Give your essay a title that indicates what the paper is about. (Something more revealing than “Essay #1”) 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.

 

HOW DO I 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. (Hunt, 47). 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 and is the supporting information especially effective in making your case?)

 

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?) 

 

 

THE ASSIGNMENT

 

Answer ONE of the following questions:

 

1.    American foreign policy often reflects the nation’s “sense of mission.”

 

Choose two instances, one a foreign policy success and the other a foreign policy failure, that you believe best demonstrate the validity of this statement.

 

The key to a successful essay is making a compelling case that your two choices are the most apt. In making your case, you will also need to address how you are defining “America’s mission.”

 

 

2.    Anne Pierce’s evaluations of Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman seem decidedly more positive than Michael Hunt’s. Why is this the case?  What does Pierce find admirable?  What does Hunt criticize?  Do the two authors assess these presidents using different criteria?  Which author’s assessments do you ultimately find more persuasive?

 

3.    In What America Owes the World,  H.W. Brands chronicles how “exemplarists” and “vindicationists” have alternated in exercising dominant influence over American foreign policy. What factors help determine whether exemplarists or vindicationists exert more influence over policy? How, for example, can a specific political, economic, or diplomatic context favor one side or the other?