Getting to the Finish Line

We'll close our gathering of new material with looks at the last two episodes of the Century:
Starting Over (here is the guided viewing sheet)
A New World (take your own notes)

Before we get into the final episode, we'll reflect on how our studies still are impacting the world around us by briefly considering these current events articles:
Here is an article from this morning's New York Times about President Obama visiting Hiroshima.

Here is an opinion piece reflecting on President Obama's visit to Vietnam this week.

Here is an opinion piece on the "new" New Left.

Presidencies in Turmoil

Today, you'll work with a partner to try to make some conclusions about two of the more controversial presidencies of the 20th Century: Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. You'll use the framework of the preamble to make your conclusions. Here is the form that you'll use for your analysis: Presidencies in Turmoil.
Here are your partners for this work:
Eli/Andrew
Jesus/Dani
Seth/Hope
Sarah/Zoe
Charlie/Zach
Alina/Will
Isabel/Meshi
Luke/Allison
Matt/Anthony
Talia/Miles/Gil

Here is a link to the Portfolio checklist.

Great Society Conclusions and Your Final

Today, we'll begin by discussing your Final Exam Portfolio.
After ensuring that everyone is clear on the different elements of the Final, students will spend the rest of the period finishing up their work on the Great Society from Friday. Please note that there an additional question has been added to #6 and copied below.

b) In what ways were the Great Society programs influential to the New Movements and Rights Revolution that you read about for HW today or were Great Society programs responses to the New Movements and Rights Revolution? Explain your answer.

The Great Society

After a continued discussion about the end of the Vietnam War and Dear America we'll backtrack and explore Lyndon Johnson's domestic programs, The Great Society.
Here is a link to our work for the day: Evaluating the Great Society

One Soldier's Story and a Country in Turmoil

Here is our work for today: Country in Turmoil Web Activity

Below are links stemming from Mr. Schaefer's presentation.  If you missed it, last year's version of it is posted below.  Your notes will be included in your portfolio.

Jon Schaefer Presentation (2015)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Here are the "9 rules" given to American soldiers in Vietnam.

Here are the pictures that Mr. Schaefer used in his presentation.

Here is the Wikipedia article that he referenced about the battle that he was in. Battle of Suoi Bong Trang.

Here is Mr. Schaefer's list of"Considerations Before Going to War".

Protest Movement

After hearing about the soldiers' perspectives during the Vietnam War by watching the first part of Dear America: Letters Home From Vietnam last Friday, today we'll see how their experience may have been influencing the anti-war movement at home.
Here is your work for today, you'll need headphones as you work:
Protest and Music during the Vietnam War.

Also a reminder to meet in E116 during 1st period on Wednesday for our guest speaker.

Into Vietnam

The question we'll consider today is whether the United States' entrance into the Vietnam War was justified. To do so, here are the materials we'll use.
1) Watch 30:30-35:54 of The Century: Poisoned Dreams
2) Read the letter from Bobbie Lou Pendergrass to President Kennedy and his response. In our notes, we'll write a letter back to President Kennedy from Mrs. Pendergrass.
3) Watch 36:00-End of The Century: Poisoned Dreams. Discuss how Kennedy's assassination impacted the nation.
4) Discuss the Tonkin Gulf Incident. Read Johnson's speeches. Respond in notebooks whether he makes a good argument.
5) Consider the Viet Cong by reading this article: Viet Cong Description. Respond whether this changes your views on entering the war. Note-this article did not come out until 1968 (although the incidents it describes took place in the 50's and early 60's. The American public were aware of Ho Chi Minh murdering thousands who opposed him as early as 1954 but not necessarily with the kind of detail available in 1968.
6) Close with the Ballad of the Green Beret. Here are the lyrics

Kennedy the Cold Warrior

Today in class we'll learn some context about President Kennedy and his election by watching from about 3:00-9:30 of The Century: Poisoned Dreams. Then we'll discuss his First Inaugural that you read for homework, focusing on its most famous line.
We'll then get into the essential question for the day about how successful President Kennedy was as a cold warrior.
With a partner, you'll use this chart to arrive at answers to that question: Kennedy Foreign Policy Chart.
First you'll continue your analysis of the First Inaugural. Then you'll divide the other speeches and share your responses to them while you fill in the first chart.
You'll then use your notes from last night's Foner reading as well as the links on the chart to analyze Kennedy's responses to the key Cold War events during his presidency.

Happy "Daze"?

Here is link to the study guide for The Century: Happy Days which we'll watch in class today. The link to the film is embedded in the study guide.

McCarthyism

Today we'll do some activities to understand McCarthyism and responses to it.
When finished, for your consideration are some articles that use the term in connection to current events.
American Demagogues
Is Donald Trump the New McCarthy?

Containment

Here is the link to the first part of the new assignment sheet- AS Unit 9: America Redefined Part I
Today we'll start by trying to define U.S. and Soviet Cold War goals.
Then we'll read excerpts from the Truman Doctrine and discuss how the events from the film yesterday or in our reading last night were examples of the U.S. acting on that policy. We'll consider how successful it was.
We'll then narrow our focus and look at the Korean War. First, we'll read this short description of the war: Korean War in a Nutshell.
Then we'll spend a little bit of time exploring the images and information found here:
History.Com Korean War Photo Gallery
St. Petersburg Times Special Report on the Korean War
We'll do a brief response about what the images and other information found add to our understanding of the Korean War.

With the remaining time, students will create "Containment" posters, making judgments about the application of the Truman Doctrine.

Post WW2: Intro to the Cold War

After a brief discussion of the issues facing the U.S. after WW2, we watched The Century: Best Years. We'll fill out this STUDY GUIDE as we watch.
HW for tonight is to review and expand on the information from the film by reading and taking notes from pages 708-715 in Foner. The new calendar will be posted tomorrow.

Sample Essays

These aren't perfect by any means but hopefully they help to get an idea of the structure/format. Note that one uses the concessive clause in their thesis and the other doesn't. There are two samples in the link: FDR and the Holocaust Sample Essays.