Writing Assignment – Americanism vs. Communism

Directions: Essays should be doubled spaced, size 12 font, with one

inch margins all around. Essays must be a minimum of 1 page

and should be a maximum of 3 pages. All references from the textbook must becited parenthetically (Shi, pg)

.

All references to primary source videos must

be cited parenthetically with an abbreviated title(Regan, Jokes).

You may NOT use any outside sources including open source websites.

No bibliography is needed for your

essays.

The required heading is only your name and a page number in the top right hand corner of each page.

 

Writing Assignment:From the ashes of the Second World War rose two giants to stand guard over a
chaotic world rife with violence,poverty, and destruction
.
Although the United States (US) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR) were allies during the war, the ideological and philosophical differences between American Democracy
and Soviet Communism drove the superpowers
into a "war"for influence and controlwhich lastedmuch of
the latter half of the twentieth century. While the US and USSR did not openly fight on the battlefield, the
fifty years following WWII werefilled with small moments (i.e. the 1980 Miracle on Ice) and colossal even
ts(the Vietnam War) in whichdemocracy was pitted against communism.The Cold War,as it is known
,affected American society, culture, politics, and economics. From the specter of
nuclear war to the fear of subversive activity from within, the Cold War informed the lives of Americans and
shaped American society.
This writing assignment will focus on the impact of Cold War tensions on the lives of everyday Americans.  The
primary sources for this writing assignments are all in the form of videos and include speeches andinterviews,
political shortsand news stories, and songs and movie trailerswhich range from the 1950s to the 1990s
. Watch the videos and writea response paper based on the questions below!