EWRT2 RESEARCH PAPER: Critical Thinking about the Viet Nam Conflict
Size
Minimum 2000 words with at least six references (WIKIPEDIA is not normally acceptable
as a reference--it is more myth than fact on the topic of Viet Nam) including at least
one reference from the Internet and one
reference from the Apocalypse,
Unit 5, Logic. Posting, hard copy, web page, or
email acceptable. If you include pictures and appendices, hard copy or
web page may be your medium of choice. The medium is not important; the
quality of the research and the argument will decide the grade. Early
on in the quarter you should decide on a topic that interests you, and
your choice of topic will drive your selection of optional books and
movies during the quarter.
The joy of research comes from
restriction, narrowing down to a very small topic, and
researching deeply and imaginatively into it, and thinking deeply about
it. You then organize an argument and document it, following the
principles of Units 3,
4, 5,
& 6 of the Apocalypse.
I encourage you to peer edit another
paper, and have your own paper peer edited, according to the principles
in Unit 9.
For those of you who live in the area, we have a wonderful collection
of 3000 books (and magazines and 1000 videotapes) on the Viet Nam Conflict in the DeCillis
Collection, 2nd floor of the Learning
Center. Mr. DeCillis is also available to assist you in finding references; his email is
decillis_collection@hotmail.com
Find a topic, do some research, narrow that topic from your evidence, research more narrowly and then organize an argument. Also see the research topics on the Vietnam Conflict Research Portal found on the Internet at: http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/ewrt2vn.html.
Dates of the Viet Nam Conflict are at: http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/vnhist.html
The Course Research Page is at: http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/ewrt2vn.html
Another GREAT Research Page is at http://www.cc.gatech.edu/fac/Thomas.Pilsch/Vietnam.html
The TALE OF KIEU Webpage is at: http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/kieu.htmlGeneral Topics:
A. Find one argument in Martin
Luther King's seminal antiwar sermon "A
Time to Break Silence," and argue the reliability (See Unit
5 for this definition-an argument is reliable when we are
sufficiently convinced of its truth to believe it or act upon it.) of
that argument. Examples might be MLK's claim that Ho Chi Minh's land
reform was benevolent, that the US set up "concentration camps," or
that the poor bore a disproportionate share of the burden of the war.
Some Vietnamese students have used their grandparents as sources on
land reform-think imaginatively. For the sermon see: http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/king.html.
B. Analyze a major work, again
using outside references in addition to that work. Examples of major,
outside works, are included in the Supplemental Reading List for the
course, such as:
- Neil Sheehan's A BRIGHT SHINING LIE
- Phil Caputo's A RUMOR OF WAR
- Loren Baritz' BACKFIRE
- Prochnau's ONCE UPON A DISTANT WAR (The media in VN)
- THE DEER HUNTER
- APOCALYPSE NOW (REDUX)
- GO TELL THE SPARTANS
C. Do an analysis of ONE of the
ten links (see the Overview Power Point Presentation on the Vietnam
Conflict ) to Viet Nam enumerated in Loren
Baritz' BACKFIRE. Or, using those reasons why we did what we did and
Baritz' tripartite scheme that says the US goes to war because of its
(1) mythology, (2) its reliance on technology, and (3) its bureaucracy, attempt to
answer a question already raised by a student in this course: "When
should the US go to War?" Or starting with Baritz' notions about
technology, examine the function of the helicopter in DISPATCHES-make
connections between and among. QUAGMIRE may well be a source in ANY
paper for this course, or KIEU, or H&E or C&M or PA.
D. Argue a contribution of a
cultural group to the Viet Nam Conflict. Examples might include Women
in Viet Nam, Hispanics in Viet Nam, African-Americans in Viet Nam,
Filipinos, Puerto Ricans, Koreans, or Native Americans. It will, of
course, be necessary to RESTRICT within this topic say to Nurses, the
PHILCAGV (Philippine Civic Action Group, Vietnam), or the Lone Mountain
Apaches.
E. Examine the role of the Media
in Viet Nam. There are hundreds of available sources on this topic, but
some which come immediately to mind are ONCE UPON A DISTANT WAR,
QUAGMIRE, DISPATCHES, THE GREEN BERETS, Malcolm Brown's RED SOCKS AND MUDY BOOTS;
there are many books that
address this topic in the DeCillis Research Book Collection.
F. A comparison argument (or contrast, but not both) between a limited aspect of the
Viet Nam Conflict and our Conflict in Afghanistan.
G. Select any limited topic of
interest to you about the Viet Nam Conflict and submit (via email) a
written outline of your argument. I will be glad to help you with
sources; that process can start as soon as you begin to think about a
topic. Email me @ ewrit2@gmail.com
One example of Process
One morning I was reading a detailed chronology of the early years of
American involvement in a book published in 1965. There I read that on
15 November, 1963, "a US military spokesman in Saigon reports that 1000
servicemen will be withdrawn from Viet-Nam, beginning December 3"
(Raskin and Fall 393). I had always thought that this decision was Top
Secret and contained within National Security Memorandum 263, and
would have been declassified after the off year election. Recall that
Diem was assassinated on 1 November, Kennedy on 22 November. Kennedy,
who was a Democrat, was in Texas campaigning and his decision to
withdraw troops was classified so that he would not be accused of being
soft on Communism. An examination of this critical period and decision
would make an interesting research paper. Oliver Stone made a movie
with his hypothesis (JFK). What is yours? Well, you would have to do
some initial research. I would start with books on JFK's involvement in
Viet Nam. I would also go to the WEB. Note how small my area of focus
is. There is great JOY in doing narrow research. It is how we
generate new knowledge.
One quarter I had a student who did a
research paper on what contributed to the American massacre at My Lai. She
did original research, much of it by email, with historians, writers,
Viet Nam Veterans, and others. Much of the research was open to the
class, on the listserv. In her final paper she disagreed with a major
author who had sent her his thoughts on why My Lai had happened. It was a splendid
paper. Yours will be too-if you find a small topic that creates passion.
I will certainly take papers on the antiwar movement in the US, or
Japan; I will even take papers on 'Hanoi Jane'
Fonda. In the last two quarters, one student published a Biography of Andrew Pham
in WIKIPEDIA--it is good for some things, and another student is publishing a monograph
written by a Viet Nam scholar who is no longer with us. Both students used these papers
to attempt to get admitted to top schools.
And if you have a relative who served
in the Vietnam Conflict (or lived in Vietnam during "The American War")
see me about doing a first person interview.
I AM
PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN INTERVIEWS WITH FORMER ARVN MEMBERS.
WORKS CITED
Raskin, Marcus G. and Bernard B. Fall.
THE VIET-NAM [sic] READER: ARTICLES AND DOCUMENTS ON AMERICAN FOREIGN
POLICY AND THE VIET-NAM CRISIS. New York: Random House, 1965.
NOTE: you must incorporate the
works from the course into your papers, as discussed above. And ALL of
your research MUST be documented in accordance with the principles of
good documentation discussed in Unit
6. Any student who passes off the work of others as her/his own
will receive an F on the paper. I have failed students in the past for
this reason. I put your web work into search engines. I
encourage you to work with each other, even though you are writing
separate papers. In your Works Cited (See Unit
6) include a statement regarding with whom you worked and for how
long.