HIS120 World War II History Essay Research Coursework

NO outside resource.Please write in your own words.Thank You!
Again, please respond to only one of the two prompts.
1. Trace the course of U.S. foreign policy from a posture of neutrality to full engagement in the war including international and domestic events.
2. Discuss various ways in which World War II can correctly be described as a total war. Include all totalizing effects you can think of, including but not limited to international law, race and genocide, and mobilization.

—1— HIS 120 WRITING GUIDE Spring 2020 Rauchway/Kelman Introduction to this guide This guide summarizes elements of a good history paper. These elements will provide the basis for grading your papers. In addition to supplying these elements, your paper must also follow all appropriate conventions in writing (including correct use of spelling and grammar and composition of clear, concise, declarative sentences using the active voice). You may benefit from acquiring and reading carefully The Elements of Style. Pay special attention to the discussions of rule II.13 (make the paragraph the unit of composition), II.14 (use the active voice), II.17 (omit needless words) and section IV (words and expressions commonly misused). Ruthlessly eliminate clichés and dead metaphors from your writing. None of the assigned books is a novel. A novel is a book-length work of fiction. Each of the assigned works is non-fiction. If you have had trouble writing papers in the past, seek help. Use the Academic Assistance and Tutoring Center, which is operating online this quarter. You pay tuition. Make the university work for you. But in any case, review this guide before you write your paper and then review it again after completing your first draft. Note that this instruction prescribes more than one draft of your paper. 1. Avoid Global Openings Do not begin your papers with statements like: "Throughout history, people have struggled with the question of whether a war can be good." Instead, lead the reader immediately into your specific argument. Ideally, address the prompt directly: "Fraser and Terkel believe the Second World War was unequivocally a good war." 2. Provide a Thesis Statement Your opening paragraph must have a thesis statement presenting the main idea of your paper. This statement should frame an argument requiring further development and evidence in the subsequent paragraphs of your paper. Your reader will take your thesis statement seriously. Suppose your thesis statement is: "The early civil rights movement was unified and effective, but the later civil rights movement was splintered and thus did not have many successes." Your reader will then expect the paper to demonstrate that the early civil rights movement was "unified" and explain how it was HIS 120 Writing Guide—2 "effective." Then the paper will also need to show how and why the later civil rights movement splintered and achieved comparatively little. If your paper covers either less or more than your thesis statement, your reader will suffer from confusion. Do not confuse your reader or make them suffer. 3. Use Topic Sentences and Write Coherent Paragraphs Begin each paragraph in your paper should with a sentence indicating the scope of the paragraph and its role in developing your argument. For example, you may begin a paragraph, "President Diem’s rule was doomed by his inflexible pride and the unbridled ambitions of his family." This paragraph should then give an example of President Diem’s pride, explain the effect of his family’s ambitions on his presidency, and might conclude by noting his murder by former aides disgruntled by his decisions and ruling style. In contrast, a less clear paragraph on the same topic might begin with "President Diem was doomed." A truly confusing paragraph would simply start talking about President Diem without any indication of the paragraph’s purpose in the broader context of the paper. Remember that each paragraph develops your overall argument. As you write, check whether the information in each paragraph is relevant to your argument. If it is not, you may want to rewrite your thesis, or consider whether you have gone off topic and should scrap the paragraph. Again: please consult Strunk and White, II.13 (make the paragraph the unit of composition). 4. Write in the Past Tense Use the past tense. You are writing about events that happened in the past. Do not write, "Fraser sees the war in racist terms." He is dead. 5. Provide Citations You must cite sources for information, paraphrases, and quotations in your papers. Because these papers require the use only of in-class sources, you may simply put either ("Lecture title") if using in-text citations or 2"Lecture title" if using footnotes. For example: "I would never say something like that," Kelman said ("Aquarela do Brasil"). Or, if using footnotes: "The president of Fredonia came to power through a coup."15 15"Aquarela do Brasil." 6. Conclude Your Paper by Stating the Significance of Your Argument The conclusion of your paper should emphasize the significance of the argument of the paper. Do not introduce a new topic in the last paragraph. Do not repeat your introduction. You may HIS 120 Writing Guide—3 want to connect your argument to contemporary debates, or you may want to emphasize how your argument can help people to think differently about the past. Remember: writers commonly realize what they mean to argue only by writing a first draft. Putting ideas into words helps us understand, clearly, what we think. When this process of reaching a revelation through writing happens to you—and it happens more frequently than not—it means it is time to re-write your paper. You must go back and change your introduction to reflect what you have learned by composing your essay. You may need to shift some components around. Do not despair. Whenever you read good writing, you can be sure it has been re-written, often extensively. Drafts make good papers. Write a draft, then take a break. Walk around. Talk to a friend. Then return and re-write your paper. Checklist for Editing Your Draft When you have written your first draft, review the following points: • Do you have an introduction that explains the scope of the paper, its structure and its argument—an argument that responds to the prompt? • Does each paragraph refer to a coherent issue and is it supported with evidence? • Have you put your paragraphs in the best order to allow the reader to follow your argument as you develop it? • Does your conclusion indicate how your paper connects to important issues in American history? • Have you cited the source of your information, ideas, paraphrases and quotations? Once you have amended your draft so that you can give an affirmative answer to all these questions, you may have a version of your paper that is ready to upload. Checklist Before Uploading to Canvas Before you upload your paper, check it one more time. • Proofread for correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar • Ensure you have numbered the pages at the top right, except the first page • Put your name, date, and a title for the paper at the upper left of the first page Then you can upload to Canvas.