President Woodrow Wilson’s War Message to Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous “Date of Infamy” speech,
Pay close attention to these instructions; they contain crucial information on the assignment, formatting, and grading procedures.
Assignment: After reading both primary source texts, President Woodrow Wilson’s War Message to Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous “Date of Infamy” speech, answer the following questions in a 2-page analysis. Your Response Paper must address the questions and provide supporting evidence from the primary source documents. It will be graded for clarity, format, adherence to instructions, critical thinking, and accurate supporting evidence. No outside sources (websites, Wikipedia, books, etc.) are required nor should they be used.
Answer the following questions:
In their respective “War Messages” to the U.S. Congress, what are the primary reasons that Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt lay out for the United States entering World War I and World War II, respectively? Why might both presidents feel that it is necessary to stress that America attempted to remain neutral after the outbreak of each war? Are there similarities in how Wilson and Roosevelt portray each war and its goals/objectives to Congress and the American public?
Format: All Response Papers should be in Microsoft Word format, 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins. The student’s name and course number should be typed at the top of the first page. You do not need to include a bibliography or works cited page, as the instructor provided the two primary source texts being used.
Citation Instructions: If you use a quotation from either of the primary sources, insert either (Wilson War Message) or (Roosevelt Speech) inside parenthesis following the quotation. You do not need a page number. For example, “quote from Wilson” (Wilson War Message). Quotations should be used to convey an interpretation of events or to emphasize a point, not merely to repeat factual information. Students who do not use the correct citation format will be penalized.
Quality: Response Papers will be graded for clarity, format, and university-level writing skills. Spelling, grammar, adherence to instructions, and evidence are important. Before submitting your final draft, you should read it (aloud) and ask yourself if it answers the following questions: Does it address the prompt? Does it contain specific references to the primary sources? Is the evidence cited appropriate to the argument? Does it follow the format/citation instructions?
Plagiarism: According to the Aggie Honor System Office, Plagiarism is “The appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit.” Plagiarism often occurs when a writer neglects to credit the author of textual sources in a paper. Plagiarism applies to written or electronic text found in books, journals, newspapers, web sites, etc. It also pertains to visual documents such as photographs, charts, interviews, television programs, and material taken from lectures. In other words, it covers all created sources. Inexperienced writers may commit plagiarism as a result of an incomplete knowledge of citation standards. It is your responsibility as an author, and yours alone, to properly document your sources.
