History 252:  Modern US History

History 252/Kilgroe                                                                                                    Fall 2007

delines for Research Papers

Guidelines for Research Papers

Objective: To gain broader insight into post World War II America, 1945-2007.

Guidelines: Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History (5^th Ed) is an indispensable resource for the writing of a research paper. Rampolla will walk you through the process of researching and writing your paper, citing sources, and avoiding pitfalls such as plagiarism. The paper may be either analytical (uses evidence to analyze aspects of an issue) or argumentative (uses evidence to convince the reader of your particular stance on a debatable topic). In short, you will have to formulate a thesis, frame your analysis/argument, and reach a conclusion.  (Rampolla, Chapters 1-6)

If you have not yet purchased a copy of Rampolla, I would urge you to do so. All references are to the 5th edition.

Format: The paper should be no less than five (5) and no more than six (6) double-spaced, typewritten pages. No handwritten papers please. All papers MUST be stapled. I will not accept papers that are not stapled. The papers should include (1) a cover sheet with the title and your name* (2) an introduction and thesis (3) the analysis/argument based on your research (4) a conclusion (5) a bibliography of the sources used. (*Cover page is in addition to the required number of pages; On quotations, footnotes, and bibliographies, see Rampolla, Chapter 7 & 8)

Sources: Textbooks and encyclopedias do not a research paper make. You may consult them to get a general idea of your topic but citing them as a source will result in a deduction of your grade. You may use pertinent documents from For the Record. If you do however, you must also include at least one more primary source document that you have located. Internet articles may or may not be a primary source.  If you have any questions as to what constitutes a primary source, see Rampolla. (For a definition of a primary source, see Rampolla, pp. 6-7. For Selected Print and Online Resources in History, see Rampolla, Appendix B, pp. 139-151.)

You will need at least three different sources for your research paper, one of which must be a primary source. (For a description of the differences between primary, secondary and internet sources, see Rampolla, pp. 44-48; 81-84; 146-149)

Grade: The paper comprises 20% of your grade. It will be graded on the following basis:

• Quality of research
• Depth of your analysis/persuasiveness of your argument
• Development of your thesis
• Organization and style
• Conclusion

Deadlines

• November 19 : In a paragraph, sumbit a brief statement of your thesis, telling me what the paper is about, including a preliminary list of the sources you are contemplating using. If you do not submit a paragraph, I cannot accept your research paper.
• November 30 : Paper due.

Suggested Topics

The Cold War: United States and the War on Communism, 1946-1991

• US Response to the Cold War in Europe: The Marshall Plan
• American and a Divided Germany? The Berlin Airlift 1948-1949
• The Second Red Scare: HUAC and Hollywood, 1947
• Was Korea “The Wrong War?”
• The President and the General: Truman v. McArthur
• Eisenhower Administration, the United Fruit Company, and Guatemala 1954
• Almost Armageddon: JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
• US & the Wars of National Liberation: Kennedy, Green Berets, and Vietnam, 1960-63
• Johnson and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution 1964
• Vietnam and the 1967 March on Washington
• Martin Luther King and the War in Vietnam
• Dr. Benjamin Spock, William Sloan Coffin, and the War in Vietnam
• Kent State and Nixon’s 1970 Invasion of Cambodia 1970
• Nixon, Kissinger, and China 1972
• Why did Congress adopt the 1973 War Powers Act?
• Reagan and the Iran-Contra Affair 1984-87
• The Fall of the Berlin Wall 1989
• Did President Reagan Win the Cold War?
• The Collapse of Communism in The Soviet Union
• The United States and the Collapse of Communism in Europe, 1989-1991

Second Reconstruction: Modern Day Civil Rights Movemen

• Truman, Civil Rights, and the Election of 1948
• Eisenhower, Little Rock and the De-Segregation of Southern Schools
• Martin Luther King and Birmingham 1963
• SNCC and 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer
• King, Selma, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act
• Malcolm X and Black Power
• Alex Haley’s Roots and the History of American Slavery 1977
• Bakke Case and Reverse Discrimination 1978
• Affirmative Action: Does it have a future?
• The New Segregation
• Katrina, New Orleans and the Status of Race Relations

Culture and Society 1945-2006

• The Good Life and the 1944 GI Bill of Rights
• Popular Culture and the Idealization of the American Family 1947-61
• The Beatniks: Precursors to the Counterculture of 1960s & 70s
• Youth Culture in the 1950s: Rebels without a Cause?
• Berkeley and the Free Speech Movement 1964-65
• Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the New Left
• What ever happened to communes?
• Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem and the the New Feminism
• The Abortion Debate: Roe vs. Wade 1973
• New Feminism and the 1968 Miss America Pageant
• Lyndon Johnson and the War on Poverty
• Women, Collegiate Sports, and Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act 1972
• Women in the Workplace: The Glass Ceiling
• American Indian Movement and Wounded Knee, 1973
• Caesar Chavez, the United Farm Workers, and the 1966 Grape Boycott
• Religion and the State: US Supreme Court and Prayer in the Schools, 1962-63
• “New Immigrants” and the 1965 Immigration Reform Act
• California and Immigration: Propositions 187 (Restriced Services) and 227 (English Language)
• The Contours of the Current Debate over Immigration

Environment

• Rachel Carson and Silent Spring 1962
• Three Mile Island and Nuclear Energy 1979
• 1973 Endangered Species Act and Private Property
• Bush and the Artic National Reserve
• United States, Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases
• Kennedy and a Man on the Moon
• Human Genome Project

Politics and Government

• Carter, the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, and the 1980 Moscow Olympics
• Carter and the Iranian Hostage Crisis 1979
• Clinton and NAFTA 1993
• Impact of Globalization and Outsourcing: US, China, and India
• Enron Syndrome
• Pre-emption and the Bush Administration's Decision for War in Iraq
• Does the Patriot Act Violate Civil Liberties?
• Coming Energy Crisis: US and China
• United States and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: Iran or North Korea

[You may also select a topic of your own choosing with my permission.]

Research and Writing Assistance:

The History Department offers a number of aids to students, see section on "Student Resources /Links Library."

[http://chass.ncsu.edu/history/INDEX.php]

Additional assistance is available in one of the several writing labs on campus. See NC State’s Online Writing Lab.

[http: //www2.ncsu.edu/ncsu/grammar/]

Paper Writing: Library Toolkits, NCSU Libraries, Unity Lab, 2^nd Floor, D. H. Hill Library Writing Tutorial Service

[http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/toolkits/paperwriting/]