human geography and international relation CLA2 week8

Comprehensive Learning Assessment 2 - Primary Source Analysis Paper 

Primary Source Analysis Paper

For this assignment, you will be taking a closer look at an international relations topic that intrigues you. 

1. Choose a topic that interests you (historical or contemporary). Some ideas include the  atomic bombing of Hiroshima  and Nagasaki,  the Munich Pact , the  fall of the Berlin Wall ,  India and Pakistan joining of the Nuclear Club , the  Cuban Missile Crisis , and the  Russian invasion of Crimea . If you need your professor to review your choice, send it to them at the beginning of Week 7. They will need time to respond to you, and you will need time to submit this CLA.

2. Then select a primary source on the topic you chose, specifically, a speech from a political leader (Review Understanding Primary and Secondary Sources and Analyzing a Primary Source before you begin searching for a primary source).

Search Tips:

The National Security Archive: http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/

Internet Modern History Sourcebook: http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/mod/modsbook.asp.

George Mason’s Center for History and New Media: http://chnm.gmu.edu/teaching-and-learning/.

Note: When sifting through sources, ask yourself how a realist, liberal, or constructivist would interpret this primary source. Then, select a perspective through which to view the primary source. Then, using the  CLA guidelines detailed in this syllabus , include the following in a three- to four-page written essay:

Briefly describe your source:

1. Include contextual information about the source. 

2. What does the reader need to understand about the context (and history) in which this source was made in order to understand your analysis of the source?

3.  Include the information the reader needs to understand the source, but do not include unrelated information.

Make a statement:

1. This should be at the end of your introductory paragraph or directly following the introduction. 

2. Make an argument from a particular perspective ( realist, liberalist, constructivist )

Example: 

· Although realists would disagree with A about B, this primary source perfectly illustrates three of realism’s primary assumptions X, Y, and Z.

· Despite President X’s call for a more globalized and peaceful world order in source B, her overall foreign policy view is decidedly constructivist as seen in source A.

· Throughout this film, the main character’s primary motivations stem from a constructivist understanding of the world as seen in XYZ.

Analyze the primary source:

1. Elaborate on your statement above. This is the main part of the paper and the length of this section should reflect this. Use references as needed. As you analyze the source, ensure that you answer the following: How would theorist X view this source? How does the language in this source reflect/contradict this theory? If you are comparing primary sources, what theoretical views are expressed in these sources? The same? Different? What accounts for this difference?

Conclusion. 

1. Keep this short. 

2. Restate your thesis at some point in the conclusion. 

3. Offer some concluding thoughts--draw connections to other material, current or historical events, etc.

Include your source

· This is NOT included in the page count. 

· When reasonable, include the primary source(s) as an appendix at the end of your paper. This is NOT required for some types of sources (e.g. a film). If the source is written and relatively short (<10 pages), include this document at the end of the paper.