Unit 2

Description

Unit 2 Essay Exam  This exam asks you to draw upon course materials to write one thesis-driven formal essay and two short informal essays according to the specifications described below. The purpose of this exam is to assess student understanding of the course material and ability to engage with major themes in US history. You should respond directly to each essay question in its entirety. You do not need to conduct independent research beyond the course material, though modest references to non-course material is acceptable if cited. The greatest part of the essay, however, should reflect engagement with the course lessons and homework assignments Due Date: November 12th (please upload a document rather than a link or textbox).   Formal Essay Instructions Compose a thesis-driven formal essay in response to one of the topic options listed below.  Length: 3-5 pages (minimum: three full pages) Typed, double spaced, 1 inch margins, either 11 or 12 point font.  Thesis: Formulate a thesis statement in response to the essay question. Underline or bold the thesis. It should be in the first paragraph.  Thesis: A direct response to the essay question that signals to the reader what your paper will discuss and/or argue. A thesis can be as simple as the essay question transformed into a statement. The key is to construct and organize the paper to support the thesis statement. Read the question carefully and address all of its parts in your paper.  Draw from the course material to provide support (examples/evidence) for the statements you make, including the thesis statement.  Formal Essay Question Options Option 1: Draw upon course material to identify and discuss the outcomes and long-term consequences of World War I, both with regard to world history and the US home-front. You should consider the manner in which the war and its aftermath set in motion major world events and geopolitical shifts. You should also consider how American mobilization and participation in the war impacted the home-front and established important precedents, including, but not limited to, civil liberties, civil rights, public information, banking and industry.    Option 2: Draw upon course materials to discuss the global crisis of capitalism that followed WWI, the dramatic polarization between fascism and socialism as reactions to this global crisis, and the manner in which the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration navigated the challenges of the 1930s and the forces that pulled the nation toward the far Right and far Left. Somewhere in your essay, you should clearly identify what socialism and fascism are and how each reacts to a crisis of capitalism. You should also consider the state of the nation when FDR took office, FDR’s vision for the United States, and the nature of the New Deal (what did it attempt to do and what precedents did it set, etc?).    Informal Short Essay Instructions Compose two informal essays in response to the topic options listed below.  Length: 3-5 paragraphs each Typed, double spaced, 1-inch margins, 11-12 point font.  Read the question carefully. Formulate a response that addresses all parts of the question. Draw from the course materials to formulate a response that summarizes the topic, as covered, and its significance in US history. Unlike the formal essay, you do not need to provide examples and evidence. Focus on providing a summery of the relevant history and consideration of what the historical topic teaches us.   Informal Short Essay Options Select two of the following four options. Option 1: Identify and discuss the complex and changing relationship between the US and Soviet Russia between WWI and the end of WWII. Among other things, you should consider when and how tensions became generated between the nations; when and how the two nations found common cause; the role of propaganda in conditioning the public mind, and the comradery and mutual respect that did materialize between Americans and Russians (You will want to include materials from Week 11 in your analysis).   Option 2: Draw upon course material to identify and discuss major transformations and realities related to Mexican American history from the late 1800s through WWII. You should consider important issues such as citizenship, race/ racial violence, class, economics, the shifting nature of the border, and war-time mobilization.    Option 3: Identify and discuss the manner in which FDR, like Lincoln and the Radical Republicans, drew upon the Declaration of Independence and early American understandings of republicanism, democracy, and the role of government to reframe, or resurrect,  the meaning of freedom and liberty as something closer to the Revolutionary promise. You should also consider how this reframing impacted party politics and the meaning of conservative and liberal in post-war American political culture.   Option 4: Identify and discuss the creation of an informal US empire beginning in the 1890s and how it evolved across the early decades of the 1900s. You should identify what the informal empire entails and how it functioned (functions). You should also revisit the major points that Americans debated regarding the desirability and dangers of becoming an empire, and upon what basis the most decorated US Marine prior to WWII (Smedley Butler) came to denounce it and war, in general.