Choose one character from the book other than Joe and George Smith. Identify the character and briefly describe their story in the book. Then, consider what is ‘under the surface’ of their story. What other historical issues and events are illuminated by the character’s story in the book.

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The Great War Project

Part 1: Initial Reflection (5 marks)

Read the again book in its entirety and write a reflection. To help guide your writing, reflect on something that stood out to you in the book, something the book made you think or wonder about, and how the book made you feel. After this reading, what is your overall impression of the book? (150-200 words

 

Part 2: Character Study. What’s beyond their story? (10 marks)

Choose one character from the book other than Joe and George Smith. Identify the character and briefly describe their story in the book. Then, consider what is ‘under the surface’ of their story. What other historical issues and events are illuminated by the character’s story in the book. (200-300 words)

 

Part 3: Write a Letter (20 marks)

Use informed creativity to write a letter home from the perspective of one of the soldiers the World War I Graphic Novel by Cowsill and Sharma

In Cowsill and Shamas’ The War to End all Wars: World War One, 1914-1918, we get soldiers’ views of the war as the events and battles unfold. For the first part of the The Great War Project you are going to write a letter home from the perspective of one of the soldiers. This will involve using your informed creativity. Choose from one of the following soldiers:

  • George Smith
  • Joseph (Joe) Smith
  • Khudadad Khan

*Be sure to indicate what page from the book you are using for the context of the letter

You need to state your soldier’s name, rank, regiment, age, and hometown at the top of the letter along with the date and place where the letter was written. Also, indicate which page in the graphic novel inspired your letter. A quality letter should reflect the soldier’s personality and experiences.

You can write and structure the letter as you wish, but you will need to address three topics in some detail.

  • The letter must detail the soldier’s impressions and capture the sights, sounds, and smells around him and use language from the times. Look closely at what’s happening around the solider. Look at the proximity to other men, machinery, weapons. What do you think it was like to be experiencing life at that very moment?

 

  • The letter must have the soldier ask about life back at home and make detailed references to the actual town or city (streets, buildings, geography). You can do this by reminiscing and/or asking about the current situation. This will take some research. For the Smith brothers, you can choose any town or city in England. Khudaddad Khan was from a village called Dab in the Punjab province in India. Look up the town or city. It has undoubtedly changed over the past 100+ years, but what would likely be the same? Some reading into the town’s history can also help.

 

  • *Be careful not to be too critical of the army or say too much about any plans as letters had to pass through army censors.

Remember, that the soldier’s regiment should conform with the soldier’s hometown.

The letter should be 300-400 words in length. You are welcome to write it by hand if you like or use any font you wish. There will be no extra marks for using old or cooked/burned paper. Keep your focus on the content.

Write an essay that will identify, discuss, and critically analyze the silences and mis-interpreted “facts” that the historical narrative you presented in your Infographic is based on.

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Independent Inquiry Project

This Historical Background Essay assignment is the third section of your Independent Inquiry Project.

The Historical Background Essay will apply a “test of credibility” to the public historical narrative of the site you have chosen for your project, which you already presented in your Infographic. You will do this by detailing the history that was silenced in the making of the site’s publicly accepted historical narrative in 3 double-spaced pages. In other words, this essay (and the research that you will do to write it) will identify, discuss, and critically analyze the silences and mis-interpreted “facts” that the historical narrative you presented in your Infographic is based on.

Remember that at every step of this scaffolded Independent Inquiry assignment process, students will engage in self-assessment. Your 1 paragraph self-assessment report and self-assigned grade out of 15 should be attached as a cover sheet to your submission and be based on the rubric below.

identify a significant figure in American History who was active from 1946-2000 from the American National Biography Online database, available through the Jerry Falwell Library, and write a 1-2 page biography of that individual with a ten-source bibliography.

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Biography: 1946-2000 Assignment Instructions

 Overview

Studying individual historical figures is an important part of understanding the full story of American history from different perspectives. By summarizing sources and paraphrasing information from other sources, students can learn the basics of researching primary and secondary sources. Properly citing sources is foundational to a college education. The purposes of this assignment are to teach you about important figures in U.S. History, introduce you to the process of finding different sources available through Liberty University, and help you learn the importance of proper formatting.

Instructions

You will identify a significant figure in American History who was active from 1946-2000 from the American National Biography Online database, available through the Jerry Falwell Library (found in the Learn section), and write a 1-2 page biography of that individual with a ten-source bibliography.

  • Your paper should be a full, 1-2 page summary. The summary should not include any footnotes, in-text or parenthetical citations.
  • Include your name, date, and course on the upper right of your biography. Please single space these items.
  • The summary must be typed and doubled-spaced, and have 1-inch margins.
  • The summary should have at least three paragraphs including an introduction, body, and conclusion. There should be no extra space between paragraphs.
  • You must place page numbers at the bottom of each page of your summary and bibliography.
  • Each source in the bibliography must be single-spaced with an extra space between the sources. The sources should be in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.
  • With very few exceptions, the best biographies will be the ones that undergo several revisions. In your revisions, check for grammatical errors, organizational problems, and the clarity of your descriptions.
  • After writing the summary, you will create a bibliography that includes the American National Biography Online page you used, as well as three scholarly books using the Jerry Falwell Online Library search engine and/or WorldCat, three scholarly, journal articles using JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, Academic OneFile, and/or Summon (found in Liberty Library’s databases), and three reputable websites (.org, .edu, .gov, .mil) to create a bibliography related to the subject of your biography.
  • The use of current Turabian formatting in your bibliography is required.

Carefully describe the working lives of enslaved persons in the United States in the Middle 1800s? What kinds of things did enslaved persons actually DO? Carefully describe some of the differences within slavery depending on age, gender, and region? Carefully describe the family life of enslaved persons and some of the challenges faced by enslaved parents?

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Write a formal essay in which you respond fully, carefully, and accurately — following ALL of the guidelines explained above — to the writing prompts/questions below. Make sure that your essay is organized so that, in addition to an introductory paragraph and a concluding paragraph, there are separate paragraphs for your responses to each of the prompts below.

* Carefully describe the working lives of enslaved persons in the United States in the Middle 1800s? What kinds of things did enslaved persons actually DO? Carefully describe some of the differences within slavery depending on age, gender, and region? (Assigned pages in chapter 11 + assigned video clips + primary sources 11.6, 11.8, 11.10)

* Carefully describe the family life of enslaved persons and some of the challenges faced by enslaved parents? (Assigned pages in chapter 11 + assigned video clip + primary source 11.6)

* Carefully describe the greatest threats or fears confronted by enslaved men and enslaved women? What do these fears tell us about the enslaved people’s view of whites? (Assigned pages in chapter 11 + assigned video clips + primary sources 11.7, 11.8, 11.9)

* Carefully describe the ways that enslaved men and women

Resisted slavery (Assigned pages in chapter 11 + assigned video clips)
Sought to create a sense of community and shared culture even thought they were other people’s “property”? (Assigned pages in chapter 11 + assigned video clips + primary source 11.10)

The persecution of women as witches was one of the darkest moments in post-medieval Europe. Why were “witches” persecuted, and what was the impact of this persecution on Europeans and their colonies?

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Persecution of Witches

The persecution of women as witches was one of the darkest moments in post-medieval Europe. Why were “witches” persecuted, and what was the impact of this persecution on Europeans and their colonies?

Climate change has become an overriding fact of life globally. Discuss the role of climate change in creating political instability in a given state or region.

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Climate change

Climate change has become an overriding fact of life globally. Discuss the role of climate change in creating political instability in a given state or region.

Conduct light background research using high-quality websites to learn the basic concepts related to Civic Society (G. Almond and S. Verba), Democratic Peace Theory (E. Kant and T. Paine), and a Harmony of Interests (A. Smith and K. Marx) in the United States. At this stage, read with “metacognition” and reflect, grasping this basic information will allow you to understand the material before delving deeper.

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Assignment Prompts:

1. The Skeleton: Conduct light background research using high-quality websites to learn the basic concepts related to Civic Society (G. Almond and S. Verba), Democratic Peace Theory (E. Kant and T. Paine), and a Harmony of Interests (A. Smith and K. Marx) in the United States. At this stage, read with “metacognition” and reflect, grasping this basic information will allow you to understand the material before delving deeper. Prework: informal research and background reading only. Example of a high-quality or reliable source: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Peer-Reviewed)

2. The Muscles: Access the Research Center tab inside the course and then click on the first link “Academic Search Complete.” Reminder: there is a highly detailed course announcement explaining how to use this tool. Locate and properly cite a minimum of one scholarly source obtained via the research center tool to meet the bare minimum research requirements. Look down the list, the search tool uses AI and is a bit too smart.

What are two or three ‘takeaways’ from the chapters you read? What did you find to be surprising/depressing/intriguing about what Arax wrote about the various ways in which California’s water and land has been used in the Central Valley?

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Takeaways

What are two or three ‘takeaways’ from the chapters you read? What did you find to be surprising/depressing/intriguing about what Arax wrote about the various ways in which California’s water and land has been used in the Central Valley?

How did the concept of deduction set ancient Greek mathematics apart from ancient Egyptian mathematics? Discuss specific mathematical principles known to each civilization.

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How did the concept of deduction set ancient Greek mathematics apart from ancient Egyptian mathematics? Discuss specific mathematical principles known to each civilization.

Use the McClellan and Dorn text as your starting point and effectively use at least one other scholarly source.

1. Start with an introduction: this should be at least 3-5 sentences that summarize the main idea behind your essay. You will identify which topic you selected and make your main point.

2. Next you move into the body of your essay. Here you will write at least 3 paragraphs that outline specific evidence supporting your main point.

3. Finally, wrap it all up in a nice conclusion. This will be at least 3-5 sentences that summarize your main point and evidence. Do not just repeat your introduction or use exact sentences from your body paragraphs.

4. Finish with references! Ideally, we want to practice APA formatting, so try to provide your references in that format. This APA Style Guide webpage is a great primer on APA formatting.

 

Examine the reactions to attacks on the United States by George W. Bush after 9/11 and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair after the 2005 London Bombings. Imagine yourself as a citizen who has just woken up to news of these attacks. Keep in mind that Bush responded in the evening after the morning attacks with a prepared statement, while Blair responded unprepared within minutes of hearing the news. Which reaction would you prefer from your nation’s leader? Why?

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Week 11

Part 1

9/11 and London Bombings

Min word count 200

You should not use any outside sources beyond the actual document to complete these assignments.  Your submissions are intended to be your own analysis and reflections, not based on what you found on the internet or work you did with another student in the class (either past or present).  

 Introduction

A series of terrorist attacks occurred eight months into Bush’s first term as president on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 victims lost their lives in the attacks.  On the night of September 11, George W. Bush addressed the nation in a speech that has become very well-known.

The July 7, 2005 London bombings, were a series of coordinated terrorist suicide bomb attacks in central London which targeted civilians using the public transport system during the rush hour.  On the morning of Thursday, July 7th, four Islamist extremists separately detonated three bombs in quick succession aboard London Underground trains across the city, and later, a fourth on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square. Fifty-two people were killed and over 700 more were injured in the attacks, making it Britain’s deadliest terrorist incident since the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, as well as the country’s first ever Islamist suicide attack.

At the time of the attacks, Prime Minister Tony Blair was at the G8 Conference in Scotland as part of an international effort to provide aid to Africa, cancel international debt owed from impoverished nations, and find a solution to global warming by reducing carbon emissions (the United States refused the agreement, but the other 7 nations created their own pact).  Because of the bombings, Blair decided to leave the G8 meeting temporarily to be present in London. He held a brief press conference, saying that the incidents were obviously terrorist attacks directed at the gathering of the G8.  He also said that the meeting would continue in his absence, with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw filling in for him. Reports suggest that the bombings may have been planned that day because the terrorists knew that a large number of London police officers would be deployed in Scotland, weakening the city.

 

Read the attached documents and answer the following questions (you also have the option to watch the speeches, linked here):

  1. Examine the reactions to attacks on the United States by George W. Bush after 9/11 and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair after the 2005 London Bombings. Imagine yourself as a citizen who has just woken up to news of these attacks (both events happened in the morning hours).  Keep in mind that Bush responded in the evening after the morning attacks with a prepared statement, while Blair responded unprepared within minutes of hearing the news.  Which reaction would you prefer from your nation’s leader?  Why?

911 Speech.docx  Download 911 Speech.docx  –  9/11 Speech Video (Links to an external site.)

London Bombings Speech.docx  Download London Bombings Speech.docx  –  London Bombings Video

 

 

Part 2

 National Security and the Islamic World

Min word count 200

You should not use any outside sources beyond the actual document to complete these assignments.  Your submissions are intended to be your own analysis and reflections, not based on what you found on the internet or work you did with another student in the class (either past or present). 

 Introduction

In September 2002, one year after the September 11th terrorist attacks, the Bush Administration released a document called the National Security Strategy. It outlined a fundamental shift in American foreign policy.  The National Security strategy announced that the United States must maintain an overwhelming preponderance of military power, not allowing any other country to challenge its overall strength or its dominance in any region of the world. To replace the Cold War doctrine of deterrence, which assumed that the certainty of retaliation would prevent the attacks on the United States and its allies, the document announced new foreign policy principle –preemptive war. If the United States believes that a nation posed a possible future threat to its security, it had the right to attack before such a threat materialized.

In the wake of the American invasion of Iraq, respect for the United States sank to a low ebb in the Islamic World. In June 2009, President Obama traveled to Egypt to deliver a speech aimed at repairing American relations with the world’s one billion Muslims, severely damaged by the war and the sense that many Americans identified all Muslims with the actions of a few terrorists. Entitled “A New Beginning,” it acknowledged past American misdeeds and promised to respect Islamic traditions and values rather than trying to impose American ideas on the Muslim world. But he also reminded his audience of the importance of principles like democracy or equal opportunity for women, widely denied by Islamic governments the Middle East. How to promote these values without being seen as an outside power seeking to impose its will on others would remain a challenge for the Obama Administration and its successors.

 

Read the attached documents and answer the following questions:
  1. How does Obama’s speech repudiate the National Security Strategy?  In other words, what does the National Security Strategy say, and how does Obama reverse some of these claims?  Be sure to cite specific examples from each document.

Part 3

Discussion

Word count min 250

In these discussion forums, you are allowed and encouraged to use outside resources for your responses.

Are peace and stability in the Middle East vital to the United States’ economy and national security?

 

 Part 4

Reply to Dieter

Min word count 150

 Considering that the Middle East still seems to be a source of oil and gas for many countries including the United States unfortunately, the answer to this question is a hard yes. This seems to be especially true recently as the Biden administration has shut down most oil and gas pipelines within the country and instead chooses to approach Venezuela and Saudi Arabia for oil. If by the “Middle East”, we are specifically referring to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Dubai, or any other country close to this region, then any outbreak of war will be felt by the price we pay at the gas pump.

Another reason peace in the Middle East is important to us here at home in the United States is that we don’t want to provoke people into hating the United States so much that they are willing to do whatever it takes to avenge whoever they lost due to United States military action. Many people in Iraq and Afghanistan lost their entire family and friends due to American airstrikes or shootings. Many of these were just innocent civilians caught in the crossfire, and the United States military was especially careless during the 2003 Iraq invasion when many civilian areas were hit. An Onion article writer by the name of Nathan Eckert even said “From this war, a million Bin Ladens will bloom”. Despite the Onion being a satirical website, it seems like his prediction was right given the rise of ISIS. At the very least, the US needs to leave the Middle East alone so that future generations aren’t provoked to violence and the desire for revenge.

https://www.theonion.com/this-war-will-destabilize-the-entire-mideast-region-and-1819594296