Sources: At least 3 references to secondary sources (may be drawn
from course readings or from independent research, but only scholarly sources will count toward your total)

Perform an ideological analysis of a film, photograph, television commercial, documentary, journalistic account, recording, or other cultural representation of the Vietnam War, OTHER THAN Born on the Fourth of July or Platoon. What does the text suggest about America’s participation in the war? How does the text construct a particular form of collective memory about the war? That is, how does it work to make a certain view of the war seem “natural” or “correct”? What features of the war are foregrounded, which ones are rendered invisible, and what is the effect of these choices? Your response should use class readings or other reliable secondary sources to develop/support the argument.

Compare/contrast the two major texts examined in class – Born on the Fourth of July and Platoon. Do they produce similar views of the war, and, if so, how and why? Do they produce different views of the war, and, if so, how and why? Your response should use class readings or other reliable secondary sources to develop/support the argument.

Analyze how the Vietnam War continues to resonate in contemporary American culture and politics (for example, the upcoming Presidential elections). Choose one or, at most, two examples of contemporary culture that illustrate the on-going renegotiation of the meaning of Vietnam; explain how and why attitudes toward the war have evolved (or not). Your response should use class readings or other reliable secondary sources to develop/support the argument.

Consider a text or practice that constitutes a form of cultural politics. How does the text or practice illustrate the tensions inherent in this style of resistance? That is, how successful is the text or practice as an act of resistance to established forms of power in the Vietnam era? What are its strengths and weaknesses as a form of revolt? Your response should use class readings or other reliable secondary sources to develop/support the argument.

Category: Essays