AMH 4512 ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS:

Overview of Assignments:

You will write two different types of essays this semester:

(1) Six short essays (1-2 pages each), due during discussion sessions.

a. Questions will focus on each week’s readings. Questions are posted below.

b. See schedule for due dates.

(2) One final project, due on December 2.

a. You will present this project to the class on December 2, 4, or 11.

b. Progress reports are due by November 8.

I. SHORT ESSAYS:

For every discussion session, you will be required to write a short essay (1-2 pages) addressing a question pertaining to that week’s readings. The questions are posted below.

Each of these essays should follow this format:

1. Begin with a short “thesis paragraph.” This states your answer to the question in a 2-4 sentences. This should not be merely a summary, but should state your argument/answer to the question clearly and succinctly.

2. Continue with a couple of body paragraphs of evidence. Here you will refer specifically to the readings, using quotes or paraphrasing, to prove that your thesis is “correct.”

3. Conclude with a short sentence or two that summarizes the main argument you just made, essentially a recap of your thesis.

A note on grading: Collectively, these essays are worth 40% of your course grade. They will be graded on a scale of 1-10 (with a seven being a “C”). To receive an “A” or “B” the essays must articulate a clear thesis and argument, and support that argument with evidence from the reading. Essays which merely summarize, without developing a clear thesis, will receive no higher than a “C.”

An important note on the short-papers and discussion: These short essays will also serve as springboards for discussion in section. Be prepared to share your essay with your classmates at least once during the semester (and possibly more than that)!

Essay Guidelines:

All papers should follow the formatting and stylistic guidelines posted on this site. Also, please see guidelines for late policy.

Essay Questions:

Question No. 1 (short essay due 9/6): Few Americans think of the United States as an “empire,” but William Weeks argues that the building of an empire was the guiding force of U.S. history from the Revolution to the Civil War. Are you convinced? Is it fair, or accurate, to call the U.S. an “empire”?

Question No. 2 (short essay due 9/18): Michael Hunt identifies three strains of thought in American ideology. Which of these strains of thought have had the greatest impact on U.S. foreign policy? Are there other main ideas that, in your view, more accurately reflect American foreign policy ideologies?

Question No. 3 (short essay due 10/3): Has American foreign policy been too “legalistic and moralistic”? Why does George Kennan think so? And what do you think?

Question No. 4 (short essay due 10/21): One of the most hotly debated issues in diplomatic history concerns the origins of the Cold War: Was the Cold War started by the Soviet Union and Stalin’s designs of world conquest? Or did the U.S. exaggerate the Soviet threat and needlessly provoke a Cold War? Where do you think Melvyn Leffler stands on these questions, and what do you think?

Question No. 5 (short essay due 11/1): Was the CIA’s operation in Guatemala a “success”? Why or why not?

Question No. 6 (short essay due 11/13): What does Tim O’Brien’s experience in Vietnam tell us about that war?

II. FINAL PROJECT

Your task is to write a hypothetical DOCUMENTARY MEMORANDUM. Imagine you are an officer in the State Department any time after 1945. The Secretary of State asks you, “What should we do about ______?” Provide a written answer advocating a particular course of action. Because you want your policy to be pursued, you should strive to make your memorandum as convincing and forceful as possible. The memorandum need not be particularly lengthy, but it must reflect a detailed and comprehensive understanding of the policy issue in question.

To prepare for this project, you need to do the following:

1. Examine relevant documents in the volumes of the U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States.

a. These documents are in the Government Documents collection of the FAU Library (Boca campus).

b. Some recent volumes available online. A complete listing of all published volumes is here.

c. An alternative source of interesting (and often controversial) declassified documents are posted on the web site of the National Security Archive. You may use sources here instead, if you like. Many of these deal with intelligence.

2. Use these documents to provide background for your paper and as “sample memoranda” to follow.

3. Consult secondary sources to establish necessary background information, such as:

a. What is the basic issue in question?

b. To whom are you writing this memorandum?

c. What options were considered at the time? Are you arguing against, or in support of, these options?

d. Who are your rivals in the government? If someone advocated a contrary position, you may want to address that position directly.

e. How might a policymaker, at that particular moment in history, have talked about that particular issue? (For example, during the Cold War concerns about communism would have suffused most policy memoranda.) Your memorandum should reflect the thinking prevalent at the time, as well as knowledge that was available “then.”

4. Prepare a bibliography of works cited, including the Foreign Relations documents, and turn that in with your memorandum.

Progress Report:

You are encouraged to email me or talk to me about your project early in the semester, in order to get some guidance. You will need to email me an official “progress report” on your final project no later than November 8.

This progress report should:

a. explain what issue you are going to examine;

b. list what sources you are going to use (and be very specific!);

c. speculate what position you think you will take.

Policy Briefing:

Congratulations! The Secretary of State thinks your ideas have merit, and he wants you to present them in person to the President and the National Security Council (NSC). During the final class meetings, you will present your memorandum to a meeting of the National Security Council. As NSC meetings involve very busy people with very busy agendas, you must make your briefing short and to-the-point, while still being convincing and persuasive. For your presentation, please bring copies of your memorandum to share with all the members of the NSC (the class!).

Grading the Final Project:

Your fill project will be graded on the persuasiveness of your memorandum and briefing. In evaluating your final project, I will ask:

1. Was this memorandum well-informed?

2. Was it formatted in accordance with other memoranda from the time?

3. Did it accurately and realistically convey the options available and choices made?

4. How well did the author of the memorandum understand the relevant issues?

5. Were the details correct?

6. Was the memorandum original, creative, and insightful?

7. How effectively was the policy course presented to the NSC?

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