HSTA 102 – American History Since 1877
Topic 11 – The Cold War and Modern World
Short Answer Questions
*Directions – After reading each of your assigned reading packets and your textbook from this topic, provide a SHORT ESSAY using details from your reading. Answer the questions with the following in mind:
· You answers should be 2-3 Pages in length (double spaced)
· Your short answer should begin with a THESIS statement that summarizes your answer to the question.
· You should use at least TWO short quotes attributed to the source to which you are responding. (EX: Faragher said, ‘quote quote quote, quote quote.”)
· Your short answer should contain numerous, SPECIFIC examples from the reading assignment.
· You should include a discussion of the source’s thesis or its impact and importance.
· You should conclude your response with a closing statement.
· Submit your responses as a PDF or Word Document to Moodle
The Devil We Knew - Respond to ONE of the following questions
1. Ch. 1 – According to H. W. Brands, what kinds of factors, events, and ideological dispositions created the early Cold War?
2. Ch. 2 – How did the Cold War change the United States domestically, or how did the Cold War affect American Civil Liberties?
3. Ch. 4 – Did American hubris bring the United States and the USSR into indirect and nearly direct conflict, or if not American hubris, then what other factors did cause this conflict?
4. Ch. 7 – Brands writes, "Most perversely, the call to arms against communism caused American leaders to subvert the principles that constituted their country's best argument against communism." Given the circumstances during the Cold War and the conclusion of the Cold War, who really won the Cold War and why?
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO (Movie) - Respond to ONE of the following questions
1. How do the lives of Malcolm, Medgar, and Martin “bang against and reveal each other” in this film? What do the portrayals of these men reveal about the people who ‘loved and betrayed’ them?
2. How did the film portray the struggle for school integration – the importance of school and access to books and learning – as well as the vitriol surrounding the effort to integrate?
3. What impact did the early representation of blacks in film have on Baldwin, specifically, Stepin Fetchit, Willie Best, Uncle Tom, and Clinton Rosemund?
4. The film touches multiple times on the idea that African-Americans are not entitled to claim part of the society that they helped build. At one point Baldwin is quoted “I am not a ward of America. I am not an object of missionary charity. I’m one of the people who built this country.” Consider this statement and evaluate in within the context of the civil rights movement – then and now.
5. There were many references to contemporary society throughout the film: a montage of young African Americans who have been killed in the past 10 years (Tamir Rice, Darius Simmons, Trayvon Martin, and others), as well as footage of riots in Los Angeles, Ferguson, and other cities. Why did the filmmakers choose to include these references, and how did they impact you as a viewer?
6. Do you think the following statement is accurate? Explain your reasoning. “You cannot lynch me and keep me in ghettos without becoming something monstrous yourselves.”
If I Die in a Combat Zone - Respond to TWO of the following questions
1. Tim O’Brien writes of the Vietnam War: “Things happened, things came to an end. There was no sense of developing drama.” What does he mean by that? Do his stories support or contradict his assertion? How does O’Brien manage to fashion a book out of events that have no developing drama?
2. What light does If I Die in a Combat Zone shed on current US military engagements? How do these conflicts differ from the Vietnam War, with regard to the US foot soldier?
3. Throughout his entire training and tour of duty, O’Brien remains engaged in in the essential question of whether he should continue to fight in the war or desert. Which arguments did you find most compelling on either side? Are they still relevant today? What prevents him from running away? Do you find his behavior heroic or cowardly, or both?
4. How does O’Brien define courage? How do his actions fall short of his ideal? Why do you think it is so important to him to be courageous? In light of his frank descriptions of his own lack of valor, how do you imagine you would behave in similar combat situations? Has this book changed your notions of bravery?
5. Has your opinion of either Vietnam veterans or those who resisted the war changed in the course of your reading? Choose examples from the text that made an impression upon you and discuss those in detail.