2003-11-20 10:53![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kumimonster
kumimonsterok
maybe this wont be so difficult after all...
ah yes. take home is good
just a page o writing needed for each question... ack.
xtra reading:
The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh tells of the Vietnam conflict from the other (North Vietnamese) side. How valuable is an account like this to an American reader? Why? Were you surprised by what the author wrote? What surprised you? Did he change any of your earlier thoughts about the nature and cause and result of the conflict?
What was the controversy over the structure of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington all about? What do you think it was about Maya Lin or the Maya Lin plans that upset people? What is the secret or the key to the power of the memorial?
Hugh Thompson had great difficulty explaining the My Lai massacre to the Vietnamese school children. How would you go about explaining it to them? How might you explain it to American high school students? Would you tell them tha justice was served? What would you define as justice? Would you say that it probably will never happen again? If not, why?
Why was TET the turning point in the Vietnam War? How important was it - what as its result - on the field of battle and in American politics at home?
What went wrong with Lyndon Johnson's plan to fight and win the war in Vietnam? Was the credibililty gap central to his ill-fated plans? If not the credibilty gap, then what?
Why did it take Nixon and Kissinger 4 years to get a peace agreement ending the war in Vietnam? How responsible and wise or misguided were they in their quest for a just and honorable peace? How did they finally acheive an agreement?
How critical was American air power in Vietnam? Explain. Use examples. How well was it used or how was it misused? Could it have been more effective?
Did the Paris Agreement of 1973 doom South Vietnam? If not, why did the South fall two years after the agreement?
Where did France go astray in fighting her Indochina War? What should America have learned from the French experience and fail to learn from it?
How did John Kennedy see the war in Vietnman and how did he fight it? Do you think had he lived that Kennedy would have withdrawn American troops and cut our losses after his reelection in 1964?
What would you say is the primary legacy of the Vietnam War for America? Is there a parallel between Veitnam and Iraq? If so or if not, explain.
Why did we first go into Vietnam? Were the reasons for our aid intervention and aid good? What might have happened... would we and Indochina an dthe world be different if the U.S. had merely sidestepped the Indochina entanglement in the 1950's?
How did General William Westmoreland attempt to defeat the enemy in Vietnam? Give examples. Why did he make this decision? Was it changed? Was it wise? Was it a key to the American failure there?
Stanley Karnow calls Vietnam "the war that nobody won". Yet it seems also to be a war that America lost. How can this be? Explain.
What were we fighting against in Vietnam? What were we fighting for? examples. Were our leaders wise in their assessment? Was Vietnam a cause wroth fighting for? Worth dying for (as an American)?
maybe this wont be so difficult after all...
ah yes. take home is good
just a page o writing needed for each question... ack.
xtra reading:
The Sorrow of War by Bao Ninh tells of the Vietnam conflict from the other (North Vietnamese) side. How valuable is an account like this to an American reader? Why? Were you surprised by what the author wrote? What surprised you? Did he change any of your earlier thoughts about the nature and cause and result of the conflict?
What was the controversy over the structure of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington all about? What do you think it was about Maya Lin or the Maya Lin plans that upset people? What is the secret or the key to the power of the memorial?
Hugh Thompson had great difficulty explaining the My Lai massacre to the Vietnamese school children. How would you go about explaining it to them? How might you explain it to American high school students? Would you tell them tha justice was served? What would you define as justice? Would you say that it probably will never happen again? If not, why?
Why was TET the turning point in the Vietnam War? How important was it - what as its result - on the field of battle and in American politics at home?
What went wrong with Lyndon Johnson's plan to fight and win the war in Vietnam? Was the credibililty gap central to his ill-fated plans? If not the credibilty gap, then what?
Why did it take Nixon and Kissinger 4 years to get a peace agreement ending the war in Vietnam? How responsible and wise or misguided were they in their quest for a just and honorable peace? How did they finally acheive an agreement?
How critical was American air power in Vietnam? Explain. Use examples. How well was it used or how was it misused? Could it have been more effective?
Did the Paris Agreement of 1973 doom South Vietnam? If not, why did the South fall two years after the agreement?
Where did France go astray in fighting her Indochina War? What should America have learned from the French experience and fail to learn from it?
How did John Kennedy see the war in Vietnman and how did he fight it? Do you think had he lived that Kennedy would have withdrawn American troops and cut our losses after his reelection in 1964?
What would you say is the primary legacy of the Vietnam War for America? Is there a parallel between Veitnam and Iraq? If so or if not, explain.
Why did we first go into Vietnam? Were the reasons for our aid intervention and aid good? What might have happened... would we and Indochina an dthe world be different if the U.S. had merely sidestepped the Indochina entanglement in the 1950's?
How did General William Westmoreland attempt to defeat the enemy in Vietnam? Give examples. Why did he make this decision? Was it changed? Was it wise? Was it a key to the American failure there?
Stanley Karnow calls Vietnam "the war that nobody won". Yet it seems also to be a war that America lost. How can this be? Explain.
What were we fighting against in Vietnam? What were we fighting for? examples. Were our leaders wise in their assessment? Was Vietnam a cause wroth fighting for? Worth dying for (as an American)?
