Arguably, the most important factors shaping the U.S. today, in terms of either its domestic or foreign policy, stem from the legacies of the New Left and the New Right and the institutional influence each movement achieved.
In discussion, you have spent considerable time reading and analyzing primary documents. Your assignment now is to select two primary documents from Eric Foner’s Voices of Freedom, one that reflects a New Left perspective and the other a New Right perspective.
You will then write a 5-page, typed and double-spaced, paper that puts these documents and their perspectives in conversation with each other. Obviously, you want to choose documents that relate to each other. Whether you opt to focus on domestic or foreign policy, it might help to think of the big themes we have established in the course and how these appear in your documents. No additional research is necessary. Regardless of your topic, you should rely on course readings—from the textbook, and/or articles—and lectures to substantiate your analysis, and you must provide proper citations when you do so. MLA style is acceptable, with a works cited page attached to the end of the paper. (See page two for how to cite a lecture.)
The BEST PAPERS will:
Show that you can identify and analyze two contrasting perspectives that have influenced American history since the 1960s.
Construct an argument that demonstrates your understanding of each side’s world view. Here you might consider: What are the most relevant points in the document that express that view? What kind of language does the author use to convey his or her ideas? How does the author define what’s at stake? What factors and/or events shape the author’s interpretation? What are the biggest contrasts between the two documents? Why do those contrasts matter?
Be creative, well written, make a case that provides an engaging read, and convince your reader that you have learned something in this class.
Please Note: The primary purpose of this assignment is NOT to take sides. Doing so will earn a poor grade. Instead, you should show that you understand BOTH perspectives, how they relate to each other and what they reveal about the U.S. at the time.
