EXPLANATION
Please select and respond to one of the topics/questions below.
Each essay response should have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion; each essay should also be based primarily upon Williamson’s The Penguin History of Latin America. While students will want to employ a judiciously selected set of historical (or empirical) examples (or illustrations) in order to advance their general argument and supporting claims, the primary focus of their essays should consist more in analysis, as opposed to mere description or narration, of the historical record, as presented in the texts under consideration.
In the introduction, students should make a commitment, at the very least, to addressing the matter at hand in terms of a clear thesis statement accompanied by supporting reasons for it. While assessment must obviously be based on the overall execution of the essay (i.e., its analytic depth and precision, along with its discussion as a whole, namely, by way of advancing reasons for its various claims and providing a judicious set of historical and/or empirical examples and/or illustrations in the body of the essay itself), failing to provide an argument in the introduction, as described above, will most likely lead to disappointing results from the very outset.
In the body of the essay, students should proceed to advance their introductory argument by way of clear and distinct thematic blocks. To this end, it may prove advisable for students to indicate, oftentimes at the end of the introductory paragraph, the thematic headings of each block as the various stages through which the argument will be advanced in the body of the essay; at their very best, each thematic block will serve to fortify the introductory argument, building the case for it at every step of the way. In building their thematic blocks, students are encouraged to establish some form of periodization, eventalization, and/or categorization of the various components of their discussion.
In the conclusion, students should, by all means, avoid contradicting their introductory argument; at its very best, a conclusion will serve more a revelatory than merely repetitive function in relation to the introductory argument.
Each essay should be of roughly five full pages in length (roughly 1,250–1,500 words), double-spaced, and in size 12 font. Each essay should include the student’s name and the question number at the head of the essay; any essay failing to include this information at its head will be returned to the student, with a corresponding reduction of 10 points resulting from the necessity of its resubmission, which will be treated as a late submission (see penultimate paragraph, below).
Each essay should include a bibliography and citations. Any essay submitted without a bibliography and citations will be returned to the student, with a corresponding reduction of up to 10 points resulting from its late submission. The bibliography should include the full name of the author, the full title of the publication, place of publication, the publisher, and date of publication (student are advised to follow the model used for the texts listed in the syllabus). Citations may be done in whatever manner students elect to employ (footnotes, MLA, etc.); provided each citation contains all the information necessary for the reader readily to locate the exact passage—for example, chapter number(s), and page number(s)—in the text(s) listed in the bibliography, no further information is necessary.
All essays submitted late, but within 24 hours of the time of the due date, may be penalized up to 10 points resulting from the late submission; all essays submitted late, but beyond 24 hours after the time of the due date, may be penalized up to 20 points.
Finally, any student caught cheating may be failed for the entire semester.
– The harder we work, the luckier we get! –
TOPICS/QUESTIONS
1) What was the Mexican Porfiriato? What were the causes and consequences of its rise and decline?
2) What particular form did corporatism assume in Mexico? What were the causes and consequences of its rise and decline?
3) What particular form did corporatism assume in Brazil? What were the causes and consequences of its rise and decline?
4) What was the significance of the military dictatorship in Brazil? What were the causes and consequences of its rise and decline?
5) What particular form did corporatism assume in Argentina? What were the causes and consequences of its rise and decline?
6) What particular form did corporatism assume in Chile? What were the causes and consequences of its rise and decline?
7) What was the significance of the military dictatorship in Chile? What were the causes and consequences of its rise and decline?
8) What was the significance of the Cuban Revolution (1956–1959)? What were its causes and consequences (to 1990)?
9) What were the chief characteristics of the military dictatorships in Brazil and Chile, and what were the main consequences of the rise and decline of these regimes for each country, both generally and with special regard to the particular forms of corporatism that each of these regimes had inherited at the beginning of their rules?
10) What were the chief characteristics of the military dictatorships in Argentina and Chile, and what were the main consequences of the rise and decline of these regimes for each country, both generally and with special regard to the particular forms of corporatism that each of these regimes had inherited at the beginning of their rules?
