You are required to write a paper on a significant historic event or issue regarding US-Israeli relations. It can focus on any period and any facet of the relationship. The paper must be divided into the following sections. – What is the research question? – What is your main thesis? – What are the main approaches to your question? – Discussion – Conclusion How to Answer the Specific Questions: – The research question needs to ask why or how a certain took place. For example why did the Truman administration recognize the State of Israel? This must always be phrased as a question, and not a general topic. – What is your general approach to the answer? What caused the outcome you are analyzing or how did the process you are analyzing unfold? For example your thesis may be that Truman did so for domestic political reasons as the general election was coming up – What does the important literature on your topic and question have to say regarding the answer to your question. What are the main approaches? Does your major thesis correspond to one of those approaches? For example, one school of thought is that Truman had a personal affinity for Zionism due to his upbringing and another is that he recognized Israel for domestic political reasons. Mention clearly which works support each school of thought. Try to generalize more than one work into a wider approach rather than saying this guy said this and that guy said that. – In the discussion part you build a focused and analytical attempt to answer the research question. Most importantly, think critically about your major thesis as well as about the other approaches. Try to find the most important facts and build coherent arguments around them which support your stated thesis. If important facts do not always agree with your thesis do not ignore them, but rather explain why this occurred and what it means. Make sure to cite all relevant facts and divide your argument into coherent and sensible paragraphs. Paragraphs should have a beginning, middle and end. Think of each one as a mini-thesis. – In the conclusion summarize your main argument and how you made it. Explain why the approach you choose is more appropriate for explaining your case than the other approaches in the literature. Explain what shortcomings your thesis does have and what important elements you may have been relevant but you did not have room to address. Try to end with a profound and meaningful statement about the event and about the phenomenon in general. Technical Details: – The length of the paper will be between 2500-3000 words, typed in 12 font size and spaced 1.5 between the lines. – Use at least 10 sources which are not part of the required reading list. At least two of them must be actual books. Wikipedia is not an academic source. Academic journals/archives preferred over websites. – All papers must utilize citation rules and have both footnotes and a bibliography. Papers with no footnotes will get an F. All footnotes and bibliography will be done using the Chicago Manual of Style. Any version is fine, as long as the application is consistent. How the Papers Will Be Graded (the criteria for getting a good grade): – Above all ANSWER the question. The answer can and should be complex but have a clear bottom line. – Have a clear thesis and argue it throughout and convincingly but without ignoring important facts that counter it. These must be dealt with. – Make sure you read the important literature on the event and understand in a meaningful sense how the explanations differ. Otherwise the entire effort will fall flat. Make sure the answers are based on actual facts and not just suppositions you have invented off the top of your head. Those facts should be backed up by footnotes. – Use correct grammar, spell properly, form coherent and logical sentences and divide your answers into paragraphs if they are long enough. – Think critically about everything.
