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Expos. II / Spring 2002 / Gourlay / Research Paper #1

Chose ONE of the following research questions:

1) What were the important social, political, and historical reasons that Germany launched pogroms against the Jews. Why did the situation in Germany cause so many people to believe and follow the Nazis? Study the slow build up of restrictive laws against Jews from 1933-1938. The reader should understand why a parent would choose to put their child on the Kindertransport.

2) What arguments were given in America against the Wagner-Rogers bill? Do you think the arguments are valid? Argue for or against the FSM getting involved in something similar to the Kindertransport today. The reader should understand the kind of choice England had to make to accept the Kindertransport children.

3) A large part of Jewish identity in Eastern Europe was life on the “shtetl” (small family village). Research the life and culture of shtetl life in Poland. How did those who survived the holocaust have to change their identities? Did they give up on their vanished way of life, or did they try to re-create it elsewhere?

Your research paper should be about 5 pages (4 pages of body and 1 works cited page). The paper will be in MLA format and free of major grammar errors. Your source material will be fully integrated into your paragraphs and correctly cited.

Timeline:

Fri. 15th – Working thesis
Mon. 18th – Computer Lab
Wed. 20th – Outline
Fri. 22nd – No class
Mon. 25th – Computer Lab
Wed. 27th – First Draft due
March 8th – Final Draft due