Author:
Emilie Ganter
Subject:
Composition and Rhetoric
Material Type:
Assessment, Homework/Assignment
Level:
Community College / Lower Division
Tags:
  • Argument
  • Comparison/contrast
  • English Composition
  • Research
  • Tennessee Open Education
  • World War II
  • english-composition
  • License:
    Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike
    Language:
    English
    Media Formats:
    Text/HTML

    The Formal Argument: A historical controversy

    The Formal Argument: A historical controversy

    Overview

    Hiroshima after bombingThis writing assignment--the formal argument--requires students to use the comparison/contrast mode to support a stand on a controversial historial issue, along with material from sources chosen by their instructor.

    The writing assignment

    This essay is most effective as the final project in a unit on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagaski or the use of force against civilians in wartime.

    Given the difficulty of the assignment, I have found it best to provide my students with sources that I have chosen rather than to require a self-guided research project on the topic, but the assignment is easily adapted to the latter approach.

    The following are examples of sources I have assigned in the past, and I generally require that they use John Hersey's book Hiroshima along with 3-4 additional sources in their essays.  There are many more scholarly sources available on the topic, but my students have found these thought-provoking and relatively accessible:

    Hersey, John.  “Hiroshima.” The New Yorker. 31 August 1946. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/08/31/hiroshima

    Hersey, John. Hiroshima. 1946. Vintage Books, 1989.

    Ismay, John.  “’We Hated What We Were Doing’: Memories from the Airmen,” The New York Times. 6 September 2020.  https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/09/magazine/we-hated-what-we-were-doing-veterans-recall-firebombing-japan.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

    Grubin, David (Dir.) “The Arming the the Earth.” A Walk Through the 20th Century with Bill Moyers. Written and performed by Bill Moyers. PBS Video. 1984

    (Currently available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H43hITbg9NM

    Powers, Thomas.  “Was It Right?” The Atlantic.  July 1995.  https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1995/07/was-it-right/376364/

    Rauch, Jonathan.  “Firebombs Over Tokyo: American’s 1945 attack on Japan’s capital remains undeservedly obscure alongside Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” The Atlantic. July 2002. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/07/firebombs-over-tokyo/302547/

    Rich, Motoko.  “The Man Who Won’t Let the World Forget the Firebombing of Tokyo.”  The New York Times. 9 March 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/09/magazine/the-man-who-wont-let-the-world-forget-the-firebombing-of-tokyo.html

    Welna, David. “Hiroshima Atomic Bombing Raising New Questions 75 Years Later.” NPR. 6 August 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/08/06/899593615/hiroshima-atomic-bombing-raising-questions-75-years-later

     

    Writing the Argument

    Purpose:

    To write a convincing argument, unified and coherent, that takes a stand on a controversial topic, using sources provided by the instructor that represent conflicting opinions.

    Skills:

    A successful essay will demonstrate the writer's ability to

    • Write a thesis statement that communicates the essay's main point (or "stand")
    • Write effective topic sentences, each one stating the main point of a supporting/body paragraph
    • Develop each supporting paragraph to demonstrate that the paragraph's topic sentence is valid
    • Draw evidence for your thesis from other writers' works, as specified by your instructor
    • Incorporate counter-argument to acknowledge opponents' strongest opposing points and, if possible, to rebut them.  (You will use either a substantial concessions/rebuttal paragraph or a running pro/con structure to provide this element.)
    • Correctly integrate quotations with your own sentences and document them in compliance with the most recent MLA guidelines.

    Special considerations for this assignment:

    Every idea that you draw from another writer's work--whether it is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized--must be documented according to MLA guidelines.  Although you will not be doing online- or library research of your own for this assignment, you must be very careful to distinguish your original ideas from those of the other writers you have read or whose ideas you will include in your argument.

    MLA-compliant documentation will require in-text citations and a Works Cited page.

    This is a formal, academic essay, and you should write in an appropriate style.  You should avoid using the first-person point-of-view in this essay, including first-person qualifiers like "in my opinion" and "I think."

    Prompt:

    Up to twice as many people may have been killed in the American fire bombing of Tokyo in March and April 1945, as in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, but the first use of the atomic bomb has a much more prominent place in history. Take a stand in answer to the following question: was one attack more morally questionable than the other?  You will need to use a comparison/contrast approach to build your argument.

    Your essay must reflect your consideration of the following questions:

    • What are the similarities and differences in the attacks themselves and in the military and political rationale behind carrying them out?
    • What were the effects short- and long-term, on survivors?
    • What were the effects, short- and long-term, on politics and public opinion?
    • How did the attacks affect the generations that followed, in Japan and in the rest of the world?

    To generate your own ideas, consider the following specific questions as your read the sources chosen by your instructor:

    • How was each attack carried out:  how was the target chosen? How were explosives "delivered" to the target? How long did the attacks last?  What caused the most damage and loss of life during each? How risky was each for the Allied military personnel involved?
    • Next look at immediate effects: How many Japanese soldiers were killed and injured--and how many civilians? What sorts of injuries did victims suffer? How much property damage was done?
    • What about long-term effects? How much did each affect the outcome of the war? How did the attack affect the quality of life for survivors and their families in the months and years afterward? Did the survivors in Hiroshima suffer in ways that other bombing victims did not? Did the bombing change the society of the city attacked?
    • Finally, what were the social and political effects of each attack in Japan, the United States, and the world? Why did the Hiroshima bombing become so much more controversial than the attack on Tokyo? How do the Japanese feel about the bombing of Hiroshima today? What do Americans say about it? Why do we still argue about whether or not the use of the atomic bomb was justified?

    Grading Requirements:

    Points possible: 100

    The essay must be unified and coherent, logically organized using a comparison/contrast approach, and at least 1000 words long.  It must contain a clear thesis statement that is a "stand" taken in answer to the assigned question.  Every supporting paragraph should contain quoted, paraphrased, and/or summarized material from the assigned sources--correctly integrated and documented in compliance with MLA guidelines (including in-text citations and a Works Cited page).  The essay must also include counter-argument, addressing the opposition's best points (as you anticipate them), and introductory and concluding paragraphs.

    Grammar and punctuation will have an impact on the grade and may even outweigh the essay's strengths if they make the essay confusing to a reader.