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Historians have written extensively on the deterioration of relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. Many have focused on the immediate post-WWII years (1945-1955) in search of the causes of the Cold War. Some historians blame the Soviets, other historians blame the Americans, while a more nuanced approach stresses the inevitability of the conflict. This discussion expects students to draw on the resources posted on the canvas Cold War module to answer the following question:
Who should historians blame for the Cold War and why?
Students should write an argumentative essay that discusses in full at least 3 pieces of evidence. That evidence should be analyzed in the context of the question—who should historians blame for the Cold War and why?
Essay Structure:
By now everyone should be understand the importance of keeping your essay tightly organized. Writing history essays is an “art,” but they also require “discipline.”
Everyone’s essay should be structured the same way.
–The introduction paragraph (about 5-7 sentences) must contain a thesis statement. The thesis statement, your argument, is the answer to the question—who should historians blame for the Cold War and why? It’s always a good idea for students, after the thesis statement in the introduction, to include tidbits of information that will help the reader understand the scope of the argument. In this case, a couple of sentences explaining the “why” part of the question. Put differently, the thesis statement needs to be more than simply “The US is to blame for the Cold War.” The thesis statement, and the sentences that follow, need to be as explanatory as possible given the limited space.
–The body paragraphs should all start with a topic sentence—the first sentence of every paragraph should explain what the point of the paragraph is and how that point relates to the thesis. Your reader should be able to understand the different parts of the argument simply by reading each topic sentence. Each body paragraph needs to focus on developing, discussing, and analyzing at least one piece of evidence—an incident, a policy, a conflict, a decision, a person—something that can be pointed to as proof of your argument. The pieces of evidence selected should be as specific as possible. You must have evidence. Without evidence there is no argument. And if there is not an argument, the objectives of the assignment are left incomplete.
–Each reason or cause for blame of the Cold War (the evidence) should be given a full analysis. Analysis is different from narrative description in the sense that analysis ties the discussion about the evidence, in this case the event/policy/decision/person that led to the Cold War, back to the argument. Analysis gives the evidence purpose by directing the discussion of the evidence back to the argument. Avoid a general narration of events.
–Be sure to avoid writing a general summary of the Cold War, instead focus on the question and argument. Try to make sentence count toward proving the argument. I always recommend that students look at each sentence and think to themselves, how does this sentence help illustrate the argument.
–Each essay should contain a short, formal conclusion (final paragraph) that restates the central themes discussed in the body paragraphs, offers broader conclusions about American history, or even tries to connect the paper to contemporary events.
Students should not to extend their analysis past the mid-1950s. Remember you only 4 pages, taking the discussion past the early 1950s would be beyond the scope and scale of the essay.
Writing Standards
The essay will be about 4 pages long, approximately 1200 words.
Standard margins.
12 point times new roman font.
In-text parenthetical citations. For example: (Foner, 3), or (Johnson, 25).
The essay needs to reference/cite at least 3 sources from the list of required resources (readings/videos). If the essay does not reference at least 3 sources, the grade will be penalized.
Every essay needs a formal works cited page. Remember to cite each individual source. MLA format for works cited page.
There is no need to consult outside sources. All of the information needed to complete this essay is found in the module.
Sources (rest will be attached as files):
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