First time posting here. I have an essay due for my US History class, and was hoping that I could get some examples/suggestions here.
The essay question: What should be U.S. policy in Iraq? Be sure tod sicuss the borader issue of America's role in the world. Use historical examples and current information to support your thesis.
I'm against the war, and I think that we should pull out, but I find the question to be totally vague, and I have no idea where to go from there. I was going to compare Iraq to Vietnam and talk about Democracy in Iraq vs. The Philippines, but I need another example (preferably something that ties in with Imperialism).
Thanks a bunch, any ideas welcome.
Although I disagree with you, I'll gladly help.
Firstly, you are absolutely right. For your argument, comparing it to Vietnam is a definite. However, we never exactly entered the Philipines to spread Democracy, so don't mess that up. However, you CAN compare it to the "white man's burden" argument, when the "white" world felt that they needed to "aid" the rest of the world, a bit like in Iraq, how we feel it is our job to "aid" them and spread "our" democracy to the world.
However, that should be your support. The question is asking you what you believe our policy there should be. For example: scorched earth. Or complete withdrawal, as you said. To remain in full army or just in diplomatic ties. So, use evidence like that to support your opinion, which is to withdraw. Your paragraph structure should be as follows:
P1: Open, state thesis (I believe we should pull out.) Supporting details (Like White Man's Burded, Imperialist, Lives being lost) (Only examples)
P2, 3, 4: State why each reason of those relates to why we should pull out.
P5: Close it up.
Hope I helped a little.
You're right, the question is very vague. Luckily for you, since it's mostly an opinion question, it will be hard to get it "wrong" unless your examples are poorly chosen or you don't include enough supporting evidence.
The paragraph structure FacistFalangistFool posted would work, but this might be a bit clearer:
P1: Intro, thesis, etc.
P2: Historical example #1 - what did we do, why did we do it, and was is the correct thing to do (touch on both America's role in the world at that point in time and whether or not you believe it was justified, and why)? What precedent does this set?
P3: Historical example #2 - same sort of deal, and nail down another precedent.
P4: Depending on your examples, show why the precedents you demonstrated should or should not be used in Iraq. Explain why you think we should pull out, what the consequences of that would be, and what sort of precedent such a move will define for America in current and future actions.
P5: Closing, sum up arguments, blah blah blah