Essay Exam

Answer three out of the six questions presented below. Each answer should be a minimum of 250 words, single spaced, and submitted. Please refer to the Essay Exam Rubric for guidelines and expectations.

1. Examine the restrictions placed on freedom during World War I. Be sure to analyze Debs’ piece in Voices of Freedom, the Committee on Public Information, and “coercive patriotism.”
2. After World War I and more than 20 years of reform, Americans became much more conservative in the 1920s. In fact, Reinhold Niebuhr stated that America was “rapidly becoming the most conservative nation on earth.” Give examples that defend this perception of America as conservative in the 1920s.
3. The 1920s presents a time when an entire nation was grappling with massive technological and social change. Americans spent the decade seeking to adapt to the rise of mass production, mass culture, and a metropolitan world that had emerged seemingly overnight. Discuss the decade in these terms, describing the many ways in which Americans sought to deal with this change.
4. How did the New Deal transform the relationship between the federal government and American citizens?
5. Eric Foner wrote, “The language with which World War II was fought helped to lay the foundation for postwar ideals of human rights that extend to all mankind.” Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
6. World War II is often referred to as the “Good War.” Evaluate that title for the war. Is it appropriate? Why or why not?