ARGO Assignment

"Argo [expletive] yourself!"

Now that you have seen the movie Argo and studied the "Canadian Caper," reflect on its meaning for the 1980 presidential election.  President Carter refused to go public with the Argo operation because of the threat it would pose to the remaining American hostages inside Iran.  If he had gone public with the operation, would that have allowed him to win the 1980 presidential election?

Your answer should account for the other foreign and domestic issues Carter had to deal with during his presidency.

1-2 pp. typed or 2-3 pp. handwritten (double-spaced either way)

EXTRA CREDIT

Who was your favorite character in the movie Argo?  Why did you like that character?  What was that character's most important contribution to the success of the operation?

Essay Assignment

Please read the provided excerpts from Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States and Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen's A Patriot's History of the United States.  Each excerpt is a treatment of the Watergate scandal.

Write an essay (at least 2 double-spaced pages typed) about the differences in how each book treats the Watergate affair.  You should discuss at least three differences (either specific content or tone), and you should also take some time to reflect on how two books can have such different views of the same historical event.  Isn't history supposed to be the simple writing-down of "what really happened?"

DUE: Monday, November 5