Humanities Homework Help

Select ONE of the five prompts to answer in a 3-6 page double spaced argumentative paper. Have a clear thesis and defend it. My recommendation is to answer the question. Look at the question or topic – decide what points you need to make to answer the question – support each point with relevant evidence – and keep the essay focused – one explicit point per paragraph. Provide a summary and you will be fine.

-Which was the more important the development of naval power, 1905-1945: the diesel-electric submarine, the airplane, or the dreadnought battleship? Provide clear and explicit criteria for measuring importance.

-Compare and contrast the concepts of Mahan and Corbett with the Jeune Ecole. How do they differ? How do the agree with one another. What were their assumptions?

-Compare and contrast the utility of naval power in WWI and WWII in European theatres. How are you defining “utility”? What criteria are you using to compare the utility?

-Compare and contrast the utility of naval power in the European vs the Pacific theaters in WWII. How are you defining “utility”? What criteria are you using to compare that utility?

-To what extent did the “lessons” of sea power in WWII shape the naval policies of the U.S. in the Cold War? Do not confuse strategies, tactics, and doctrines.

CITING:
The credibility of evidence is extremely important to historical research and writing. It should also be an important part of anyone’s “critical thinking skills.” This is a fancy way of saying that establishing the credibility of one’s sources is common sense. Because of the importance of credibility, there are two concepts which are used in this paper. The first is citations and the second is “vetting:”

1.Citations: These are specific references to the sources of assertions of fact. Students usually know that they need to cite quotations. What some do not appreciate is the need to cite any assertion of fact that is not common knowledge. It does not matter that you have put it into your own words. If you are presenting a fact that is not common knowledge, you need a citation to tell the reader where that information came from. This may take the form of a footnote, an endnote, or a parenthetical citation. Note: Simply noting the number of the work in your bibliography in the text of your paper is NOT an acceptable or recognized citation format.

2.Bibliography. In conjunction with this, all papers need a complete bibliography, listing all sources which were used in writing that paper –regardless of whether or not they were cited in the paper. Remember, while the necessity of a citation is a judgment call, when in doubt it is usually a good idea to provide a citation.

3.Vetting: This is the information which you must supply to establish the credibility of a given source. It is a good idea to do this for all sources in one’s bibliography. IT IS REQUIRED FOR ALL INTERNET SOURCES. This means you need a short paragraph for each of these sources, explaining why this is a credible source. This means the author needs to establish the credibility of the site’s author, the sources they used, their objectivity, and the logic of their assertions. It is NOT enough to say “this is a credible site” or that this site was “useful.” Remember, it is up to you to prove that the site you used is credible –this is not assumed for internet sites.