VIETNAM ASSIGNMENT
For this assignment, you will write two paragraphs, each one in response to a different question. The two questions are:
• Why did the United States fight the Vietnam War?
• Why did the opponents of the war that we read think that the war was wrong?
1. To answer the first question:
• Review Gillon's chapter "Into the Big Muddy" on Blackboard, the chapter introduction in the Takin' It to the Streets reader ("Hey, Hey, LBJ," p. 163-165), and your notes from my lecture.
• Include in your paragraph answers to these questions:
• When did the war start?
• Why did the U.S. aid the French, support South Vietnam, and, then, send in large numbers of troops?
• Why did the U.S. continue to fight in the war?
• Why did the U.S. eventually decide to remove its troops from Vietnam and give up trying to win the war?
• Make sure that when you write your answer you include the names of the sources that you are using, identifying each of them. For example, "In his chapter about the Vietnam War, historian Steven Gillon aided the French to fight communism." A sentence like this establishes the source of your facts and adds credibility to your argument. Your reader will assume that all of the information about the war in that paragraph came from Gillon, unless you mention another source when you bring in another fact. Identify the source from the "Hey, Hey, LBJ" introduction as "historian Alexander Bloom," and from my lecture as "historian Robert Morrow."
2. Select arguments from the Vietnam War critics' that we read for this week:
• George Skakel, "One Soldier's View: Vietnam Letters"
• Martin Luther King, Jr., "Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam"
• John Kerry, "Vietnam Veterans Against the War"
3. Answer this question in a second paragraph: What reasons did the critics give for his opposition to the War in Vietnam? In answering the question, be sure that:
• You explain who each critic is/was. Use the biographies for this part.
• You specifically identify the document and identify it not by its being in our reader but by where it came from originally.
• You explain the events that surrounded his document.
• You discuss specific facts or ideas from the document to support your answer to the question.
• You connect these facts or ideas to your answer.
• REMEMBER: Explain all of these aspects of the document as though you were explaining it to a person who did not know anything about the document or the critic.
4. Type up your paragraphs and be sure that they each conform to these rules:
• It must be typed, double-spaced, with your name at the top of the page.
• It must begin with a topic sentence that in one sentence answers the question.
• It must be written entirely in your own words. USE NO QUOTATIONS.
• It must be at least six sentences in length.
• Every sentence should relate to the topic sentence.
• Do not use any other sources than the ones from our class. There is a penalty for the use of Internet sources.
• Use as many facts about the war and about the critics arguments as you can; the more facts and arguments you give, the stronger your argument is.