History paper
The idea that Western Europe and the nations founded by Europeans (especially the United States) were agents of a superior civilization is increasingly targeted for criticism in the first decades of the twentieth century. In your essay,
1) summarize the critiques of Western civilization found in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Reed's articles on World War I, and Cesaire's, Discourse on Colonialism, and then2) undertake a comparative analysis of the three arguments. A good summary (#1) will include the main points being made (whether directly or by the way a particular story is told or a particular image is constructed) and cite specific passages that illustrate or support these main points. An effective comparative analysis (#2) will discuss similarities and differences in these author's representations of "civilization" and then evaluate their effectiveness as arguments. To evaluate these arguments, simply answer the following questions - which, if any, do I find persuasive, and why? As a rule of thumb, you will probably want to devote about a page each to your summaries and use the remaining 1-2 pages for your analysis. 4-5 pages, 12-point font, standard margins use course material only (no Internet sources allowed) for direct quotes, place page number in parentheses immediately following quote
Note: Summarize the Crritiques instead of simply sumarrize the story
Must follow the following structure:
Introduction:
Context: Early 20th century; Three authors' critiques of Western civilization.
Subject: Briefly/Generally explain each author's critique / argument.
Claim: Answer the questions - WHICH author had the most convincing/compelling/persuasive argument and WHY? (**THESIS STATEMENT**)
Part I:
WHICH author's argument is most convincing? EXAMINE the author's representations of "civilization" (HOW do they define, justify, and/or question this idea?) and SUMMARIZE the critiques of Western civilization found in this author's text. WHY is this author's argument most convincing? Or HOW does the author convincingly prove his argument? Explain by discussing the strengths of this author's representations of "civilization" and provide some evidentiary proof (evidence from the text: citation or paraphrase) to explain HOW this author's argument is most convincing.
Part II:
WHICH author's argument is less convincing? EXAMINE the author's representations of "civilization" (HOW do they define, justify, and/or question this idea?) and SUMMARIZE the critiques of Western civilization found in this author's text. WHY is this author's argument less convincing? Or HOW does the author fall short of convincingly proving his argument? Explain by discussing the similarities and differences between this and the above author's representations of "civilization" and and provide some evidentiary proof (evidence from the text: citation or paraphrase) to explain HOW this author's argument is less convincing than the first author.
Part III:
WHICH author's argument is least convincing? EXAMINE the author's representations of "civilization" (HOW do they define, justify, and/or question this idea?) and SUMMARIZE the critiques of Western civilization found in this author's text. WHY is this author's argument least convincing? Or HOW does the author fall short of convincingly proving his argument? Explain by discussing the similarities and differences between this and the above authors' representations of "civilization" and and provide some evidentiary proof (evidence from the text: citation or paraphrase) to explain HOW this author's argument is least convincing compared to the other authors.
Conclusion:
Reword / Restate your thesis and provide some reason as to why it is important for people to understand/know this information. For instance, what does it teach us about our understanding of "civilization," or what does it say about critiques of Western civilization during the first half of the 20th century?