Personal Perspective Essay

Unit V Essay
The list below includes some provocative discussions related to the events in this unit’s reading. Choose one of the five
topics to write about. Compose a one-page essay in which you will take a first-person perspective of the situation,
describe the debate in your own words, and provide a justified and academically defended argument for one side or the
other. The essay will need to reflect your understanding of the time period to avoid being anachronistic, and your
argument must relate to one of the viable outcomes from that time.
 As a multi-generational American citizen, in the wake of Pearl Harbor, do you support the internment of your
Japanese neighbors?
 As an 18-year-old male high school senior, are you eager or fearful of going to war?
 As an 18-year-old female high school senior, are you eager or fearful of going into the wartime factories?
 As a tax paying citizen, prior to November 1941, is the crisis in Europe something that the U.S. should join, or
should the U.S. remain isolated? (Use a perspective from no later than November 1941.)
 You are an important congressperson. How do policies and economics that are in place at the end of the war
impact America’s position in the world?
In addition to the topic you selected from the list above, you must consider the influence of the below factors and
conditions, which are relevant to all the topics above, and provide historical detail relevant to your topic:
 perceptions or impacts of limitations on and advocacy for civil rights,
 influence by propaganda or stereotypes,
 impacts of international events or crises,
 impacts of economic conditions, and
 effects on the U.S. isolationist policies.
As this is a point of view essay, a modern perspective will not accurately address what the question is asking for. You are
required to use a minimum of two reputable sources, which must be cited and referenced, only one of which can be an
assigned or provided text or source. It is strongly suggested that the one selection is from the America: History and Life
with Full Text database located within the CSU Online Library. Inappropriate resources or failure to use resources that are
HY 1120, American History II 5
available in the CSU Online Library can lead to deductions. All sources used, including textbooks, must be referenced;
paraphrased and quoted material must have accompanying APA citations.