What traditions does Nationalism draw upon, alter, or reinterpret?
The idea of writing a history paper is to show change over time and space – to emphasize what is new and particular about each primary document you examine.For this essay, you will be using the primary documents posted under “Nationalism” (listed to the left with a bunch of other topics) on the Internet Modern History Sourcebook. This is a website run by Fordham University. Just google the name and you’ll find it. Got to the Nationalism page on the website and you’ll see tons of documents. You must use at least five different documents for your paper; however, you are free to use more. Please be very careful to note the date and place each document comes from – this will determine what you say about it and how you put it in conversation with other documents. For example, a document written by Fichte during the Napoleonic wars reflects a desire for a German nation – Germany didn’t actually unify into a nation until 1871, something you’d want to point out in your paper.Develop a thesis that illuminates these documents and responds to ONE of these questions:1. What traditions does Nationalism draw upon, alter, or reinterpret?2. In what ways does Nationalism function as a comparative exercise?How do nationalists play upon rivalries or differences between peoples?3. Which emotional states does Nationalism favor? How do the documents ask their audiences to feel, and why?4. What are the benefits of Nationalism, as suggested by the documents?If you are comfortable using footnotes, please do so. Otherwise, you must cite your quotations parenthetically. This means putting the author’s name and the title of the work (which may be shortened) in parentheses after each direct quote. Remember, any time you use more than the same three words in a row as a document, you must put it in quotations and cite the author – otherwise it is plagiarism. For example: Herder argues that nationalism is as natural as the family system. He writes, “Nature brings forth families; the most natural state therefore is also one people, with a national character of its own.”
