Critical thinking about Vietnam Conflict Study David Halberstam’s THE MAKING OF A QUAGMIRE (TMOQ). You should FINISH reading this by Wednesday of this week, but definitely by next week. QUAGMIRE,
supplemented by other works of your choosing, will assist you in responding to the research paper requirement.

Strongly suggest this is a good time to review
the Critical Dates of the Viet Nam conflict at:https://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/vnhist.html
THE RESEARCH PAPER: If you have not already decided on your topic, go to
https://omni.deanza.edu/faculty/swenssonjohn/ewrt2vn.html
and start thinking about your 6 page, 2000 word (minimum) Research Paper (150 POINTS).
EWRT2 RESEARCH PAPER: Critical Thinking about the Viet Nam Conflict
Size
Minimum 2000 words with at least six references from a variety of source types, e.g. Internet, books, magazines, course readings, etc. Posting your paper on
a URL, hard copy, web page, or email acceptable. Suggest you include pictures within your paper. If you include pictures and appendices, hard copy or web
page may be your medium of choice. The medium is not important; the quality of the research and the argument will decide the grade. Early on in the quarter
you should decide on a topic that interests you, and your choice of topic will drive your selection of optional books and movies during the quarter.
The joy of research comes from restriction, narrowing down to a very small topic, and researching deeply and imaginatively into it, and thinking deeply about
it. You then organize an argument and document it, following the principles of Units 3, 4, 5, & 6 of theApocalypse.
I encourage you to peer edit another paper, and have your own paper peer edited, according to the principles in Unit 9. For those of you who live in the
area, we have a wonderful collection of 3000 books (and magazines and 1000 videotapes) on the Viet Nam Conflictin the DeCillis Collection, 2nd floor of the
Learning Center. Mr. DeCillis is also available to assist you in finding references; his email isdecillis_collection@hotmail.com
Find a topic, do some research, narrow that topic from your evidence, research more narrowly and then organize an argument. Also see the research topics on
the Vietnam Conflict Research Portal found on the Internet at:https://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/ewrt2vn.html.
Dates of the Viet Nam Conflict are at:https://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/vnhist.html
The Course Research Page is at: https://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/ewrt2vn.html
Another GREAT Research Page is at https://www.cc.gatech.edu/fac/Thomas.Pilsch/Vietnam.html
The TALE OF KIEU Webpage is at: https://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/kieu.html

Critical thinking about Vietnam Conflict General Topics

A. Find one argument in Martin Luther King’s seminal antiwar sermon "A Time to Break Silence," and argue the reliability (See Unit 5for this
definition-an argument is reliable when we are sufficiently convinced of its truth to believe it or act upon it.) of that argument. Examples might be MLK’s
claim that Ho Chi Minh’s land reform was benevolent, that the US set up "concentration camps," or that the poor bore a disproportionate share of
the burden of the war. Some Vietnamese students have used their grandparents as sources on land reform-think imaginatively. For the sermon see:
https://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/king.html.
B. Analyze a major work, again using outside references in addition to that work. Examples of major, outside works, are included in the Supplemental Reading
List for the course, such as:
o Neil Sheehan’s A BRIGHT SHINING LIE
o Phil Caputo’s A RUMOR OF WAR
o Loren Baritz’ BACKFIRE
o Prochnau’s ONCE UPON A DISTANT WAR (The media in VN)
o THE DEER HUNTER
o APOCALYPSE NOW (REDUX)
o GO TELL THE SPARTANS
C. Do an analysis of ONE of the ten links (see the Overview Power Point Presentation on the Vietnam Conflict ) to Viet Nam enumerated in Loren Baritz’
BACKFIRE. Or, using those reasons why we did what we did and Baritz’ tripartite scheme that says the US goes to war because of its (1) mythology, (2) its
reliance on technology, and (3) its bureaucracy, attempt to answer a question already raised by a student in this course: "When should the US go to
War?" Or starting with Baritz’ notions about technology, examine the function of the helicopter in DISPATCHES-make connections between and among.
QUAGMIRE may well be a source in ANY paper for this course, or KIEU, or H&E or C&M or PA.
D. Argue a contribution of a cultural group to the Viet Nam Conflict. Examples might include Women in Viet Nam, Hispanics in Viet Nam, African-Americans in
Viet Nam, Filipinos, Puerto Ricans, Koreans, or Native Americans. It will, of course, be necessary to RESTRICT within this topic say to Nurses, the PHILCAGV
(Philippine Civic Action Group, Vietnam), or the Lone Mountain Apaches.
E. Examine the role of the Media in Viet Nam. BUT THINK SMALL AND USE HALBERSTAM’S TMOQ–REQUIRED IF YOU CHOOSE THIS TOPIC. THE BEST PAPERS WILL ANALYZE THE
CONTRIBUTIONS OF ONLY ONE REPORTER.There are hundreds of available sources on this topic, but some which come immediately to mind are ONCE UPON A DISTANT
WAR, QUAGMIRE, DISPATCHES, THE GREEN BERETS, Malcolm Brown’s RED SOCKS AND MUDDY BOOTS; there are many books that address this topic in the DeCillis Research
Book Collection. P.S. DO NOT USE A BOOK BY HALLIN IN YOUR PAPER.
F. A comparison argument (or contrast, but not both) between a limited aspect of the Viet Nam Conflict and our Conflict in Afghanistan.
G. Select any limited topic of interest to you about the Viet Nam Conflict and submit (via email) a written outline of your argument. I will be glad to help
you with sources; that process can start as soon as you begin to think about a topic.

One example of Process Critical thinking about Vietnam Conflict

One morning I was reading a detailed chronology of the early years of American involvement in a book published in 1965. There I read that on 15 November,
1963, "a US military spokesman in Saigon reports that 1000 servicemen will be withdrawn from Viet Nam, beginning December 3" (Raskin and Fall 393).
I had always thought that this decision was Top Secret and contained within National Security Memorandum 263, and would have been declassified after the off
year election. Recall that Diem was assassinated on 1 November, Kennedy on 22 November. Kennedy, who was a Democrat, was in Texas campaigning and his
decision to withdraw troops was classified so that he would not be accused of being soft on Communism. An examination of this critical period and decision
would make an interesting research paper. Oliver Stone made a movie with his hypothesis (JFK). What is yours? Well, you would have to do some initial
research. I would start with books on JFK’s involvement in Viet Nam. I would also go to the WEB. Note how small my area of focus is. There is great JOY in
doing narrow research. It is how we generate new knowledge.
One quarter I had a student who did a research paper on what contributed to the American massacre at My Lai. She did original research, much of it by email,
with historians, writers, Viet Nam Veterans, and others. Much of the research was open to the class, on the listserv. In her final paper she disagreed with a
major author who had sent her his thoughts on why My Lai had happened. It was a splendid paper. Yours will be too-if you find a small topic that creates
passion. I will certainly take papers on the antiwar movement in the US, or Japan; I will even take papers on ‘Hanoi Jane’ Fonda. In the last two quarters,
one student published a Biography of Andrew Pham in WIKIPEDIA–it is good for some things, and another student is publishing a monograph written by a Viet
Nam scholar who is no longer with us. Both students used these papers to attempt to get admitted to top schools.
And if you have a relative who served in the Vietnam Conflict (or lived in Vietnam during "The American War") see me about doing a first person
interview.
I AM PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN INTERVIEWS WITH FORMER ARVN MEMBERS. (Or Viet Cong or NVA)

Critical thinking about Vietnam Conflict Works Cited

Raskin, Marcus G. and Bernard B. Fall. THE VIET-NAM [sic] READER: ARTICLES AND DOCUMENTS ON AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY AND THE VIET-NAM CRISIS. New York: Random
House, 1965.
NOTE: you must incorporate the works from the course into your papers, as discussed above. And ALL of your research MUST be documented in accordance with the
principles of good documentation discussed in Unit 6. Any student who passes off the work of others as her/his own will receive an F on the paper. I have
failed students in the past for this reason. I put your web work into search engines. I encourage you to work with each other, even though you are writing
separate papers. In your Works Cited (SeeUnit 6) include a statement regarding with whom you worked and for how long.
Link for all the Units to study: https://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swenssonjohn/writingguide.html