Directions: This assignment is for a formal paper, meaning that you should present a complete argument using clean, controlled prose in standard English. The formal requirements are the following:
• Your essay directly answers the prompt (alternately, if you choose to write against the grain, you must explain why you are doing so)
• Your essay will use evidence to explain reasons that substantiate your claim (which should be a historical interpretation in answer to the prompt)
• Sources will be cited using a recognized citation system (MLA, APA are acceptable, Chicago is preferred). Information about proper citation can be found in the writer's guide from EN 101/2 or at the Purdue Online Writing Lab (search Purdue OWL).
• The paper should be 500-700 words in length with minimal grammar, spelling, syntax, or other language errors.
Context: To end the course, we will look at the (hopefully long-lasting) achievement of European unity. In some ways, the European Union represents the repudiation of so much of the development of the modern era that was predicated on the growth of and competition among independent nation-states. The results have been notable - Europe in the era of unification has become richer than ever and has experienced very little of the conflict and violence that characterized centuries of previous European experience. For this essay, your primary source is a video, ironically a BBC documentary based on an interview with Jean Monnet on the eve of Great Britain's accession to the European common market: https://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brookings-now/posts/2014/03/jean-monnet-father-of-europe-1971-bbc-documentary (the documentary is about an hour long, so please allot adequate time to view it and review the relevant parts of the textbook before viewing - Monnet was a prime mover in creating the European Coal and Steel Community, the Treaty of Rome, and eventually the European Economic Community).
Prompt: If you were a European who had lived through both World Wars, what would you think of European integration as it developed from the late 1940s through the early 1960s? How would the process match or clash with your sense of the direction of events in your lifetime? Nb: in writing this essay, it's probably best to identify a European nationality for your person, and to take account of the person's experiences in the 20th century when contextualizing the answers to the above questions.