For written assignment #2, students will choose ONE of the following FOUR questions to complete.

***Written Assignment #2 is due Friday, May 30th, by 3pm.

  1. Clark Clifford's change of opinion of American strategy in Vietnam was a key influence on President Johnson's March 31, 1968 speech. Read Document #14 (Hall) and describe how much the decisions anounced in the President's speech owe to Clifford's work in the month preceding it.

  2. In his speech, which appears as Document #17 (Hall), President Nixon reviewed the risks and possible rewards of his decision to allow American troops to enter Cambodia. The President was willing to widen the war in order to gain military advantages. How do yo evaluate his decision? What were his assumptions about American foreign policy? What were his beliefs about American patriotism? What did he mena when we warned that without takint this step the United States would turn in to a "pitiful, helpless giant"?

  3. The North Vietnamese Easter Offensive which occurred during the spring of 1972 was seen as a referendum of Vietnamization. Document #19 (Hall) presents the official U.S. Army history of this action. How did the South Vietnamese do? How did the author account for their victory? Was the American role an important one? What were the factors which led to this assault? What were the results of the success of the South Vietnamese?

  4. John Kerry's speech, which appears in Document #18 (Hall), was a clear anti war comment by a man who had served in Vietnam. What did he mean by a war crime? What are the rules of war? Had the United States acted immorally in Vietnam? What had the Vietnam War meant for Kerry?

All sub-questions (above) should be answered in an integrated essay.  Do NOT break your paper into parts or headings and/or do NOT number the sub-questions individually.  Although subjective in nature, these papers should be based on factual information and must not be written in first person (eg. "I think", "I feel", "My opinion", "We are told"). Each paper is to be typed, source-noted, spell-checked, grammatically correct, and proofread, and be the equivalent of 2 to 3 double-spaced pages (with 1 inch margins, 12pt Times font) in length.

Since your papers will be turned in via the internet using copy and paste, they will not retain any special formatting, like bold, italics, underlining, centering, or superscripting.  This is fine in that none of these are required on your papers.  You will, however, have to make two very important adjustments as you type your papers.

#1  Instead of clicking a <return> and <tab> on your keyboard at the end of one paragraph and the start of another, simply put an extra blank line between paragraphs by clicking <return> <return> at the end of a paragraph.

#2  Footnote your sources within the text of your papers by following the direct quote or referenced sentence(s)/paragraph with an open parenthesis, author/source, page number, close parenthesis.  

Examples.  

"Recognizing an opportunity, Ho returned to Vietnam in February, 1941." (DeGroot, 24)

"In the states, children play cowboys and indians.  In Vietnam, the children play it for real." (Video #1, U.S. soldier)

You must incorporate document, textbook, and video information into your responses and answer ALL sub-questions (in an integrated manner) to receive a decent grade.