Essay: See Expository Essays // Purdue Writing Lab for a definition of “essay”. Each student will produce one 4 (four) to 6 (six) (1,000-1,500 words) page essay with a bibliography with a minimum of six sources [at least one primary source, one monograph, an article or more from JSTOR, and a .edu or .org website] on two decisions made in the battle researched for the PPT. The essay/Field Study essay is on two decisions – one made by each army. 20% of final grade.
Due by 11:59pm May 6.
Use should be made of primary accounts, maps (GPS data, MapQuest, GoogleEarth and images (especially three-dimensional ones) of the terrain, maps of the action, images of the action (these can be analyzed for their accuracy) as well as of video treatments of the action. Attention must be paid to the following questions: What was the overall leader’s intent or objectives? How well were they articulated or communicated? What human conditions and decisions effected behavior? How did technology and doctrine interact? What decisions were made at the tactical, operational and strategic levels, and what were the results? How did command, control and communications impact leaders and their subordinates?
How does seeing the terrain enhance your understanding of the battle?
How were decisions made and communicated?
What lessons, if any, can one learn from the event and how it unfolded?
Analyze how the backgrounds of the leaders created assumptions/paradigms for them under which they made their decisions.
Answer all the following questions for the essay: 1. How have historians analyzed the event? 2. What was the significance of the event, and the steps that led to its conclusion? 3. What could have been done differently in the battle? 4. Why do you think that did not happen? 5. What is the single most important thing you learned from the study? 6. How will you use what you have learned today to analyze other battles/campaigns (or history in general)? Compose a conclusion that highlights the complexities of research and discovery in relation to the topic and indicate possible further avenues for research/exploration of the topic [Critical Analysis and Reasoning and Written Communications]; also, consider the cultural and civic implications of the topic and what they reveal about different cultures and their history [Critical Analysis and Reasoning and Personal, Social, Civic Responsibility]. Use a word processing program for the essays and proficiently use Chicago Style/Kate Turabian (particularly if you plan to major in history) or Modern Language Association/MLA [Technological Competency and Information Literacy].
