Hi Andrea,

There were two "levels" of problems for you on this first forum.

If you have read the How Forums are Graded instructions, then you know that there is no mathematical possibility of getting a full credit score of 8 points, by only posting twice during the week.  At up to 3 points a post or reply, the max you could have scored would have been 6 out of 8 points, 75% C.  Also, you failed to participate throughout the week.  One post on Wednesday.  One on Sunday.  The instructions were pretty specific about warning students NOT to do that.

The other significant problem is that you decided to only post on one of the two topics. You were banking on earning all of your points in just half of the material.  True, your initial post only needed to be on one topic, but since both topics are fair game for exams, students should always participate in both at sometime throughout the week.

So, I assume you are aware that there has already been one extra credit opportunity, due this past Sunday, because you mention the no late work policy.  You will have 2 more opportunities for extra credit, due at the end of weeks 8 and 10.  Clearly, to make up for your first forum score, you will want to complete them when they become available.

Let me know if you have questions about how your specific posts were scored and I'd be glad to let you know.

I'm looking forward to your second forum interactions with your new group members.





Below are your posts, followed by my thoughts while scoring them.





Ho Chi Mihn or Nguyen Ai Quoc
by Andrea Douglass - Wednesday, October 7, 2015, 11:07 PM
As someone who had before now known next to nothing about the Vietnam war, and even less about the complexity of the internal conflict of the country outside of America's own involvement, it was difficult to connect exact stories from Patriots with themes in the first two Television History episodes. The accounts from the reading proved valuable as tangible emotional backing to the mainly factual name-and-date dense video experience, although with so many foreign names and factions being thrown around a lot of the more intricate political details were hard to retain and connect between the materials.

However, there was specific mention in both the reading and the video of Ho Chi Mihn (Ngyuen Ai Quoc) and his exciting of the people in hopes of American Support as American planes (perhaps coincidentally) flew overhead. The events following this rallying began introducing American involvement in the war. This stands out as a monumental moment.
It also seemed clear from both sides of the material that the war was fought by the wealthy with the poor. Peasants were constant victims, soldiers were merely weapons, and many had no cause for fighting other than patriotism. Casualties meant nothing compared to the greater "good", but the goal of the war was unknown to too many involved in it.
Sum of ratings:2

Re: Deirdre English&PBS history
by Andrea Douglass - Sunday, October 11, 2015, 1:19 PM
This is exactly what was most striking about this week's materials. The war was glorified to American draftees and some, remarkably, even remember their time serving as "the high point of (their) life"
(Patriots, Dang Vu Hiep pg. 9). There is an understandable amount of comradery that must have been built in the military, but past that excitement you have to wonder how many soldiers actually thought they were there for just reasons. This is perhaps why our recruits were kept in the dark about the intentions of our invasion and the intensity of the conditions in Vietnam. Had our people been shown footage of the war zones and told off the bat that America had virtually nothing to gain from our time there nor the lives lost, how much of the country would have stood up in opposition like Diedre English? In what numbers and how much sooner?

Sum of ratings:2


