The Nazi Hunters Writing Prompts

Choose one of the following writing prompts to research over the next week. You should take notes from the book to help you when you write your essay on Tuesday, August 18.

1. Was Eichmann just following orders or is he a murderer? Cite at least three passages, with both direct quotes and paraphrasing, in The Nazi Hunters (with page numbers) that support your claim. 2. How might people with various backgrounds have viewed Eichmann’s trial? Discuss the similarities and differences with which a)a Holocaust survivor, b) a U.S. army liberator of the death camps, and c) a French collaborator of the Nazis would have view the trial. Where possible, cite passages in The Nazi Hunters (with page numbers) that support your claim. 3. Was this a “show trial” — that is, an activity designed more for public relations than to obtain justice? Were the results of the trial successful from either a criminal justice standpoint or a public relations standpoint? Where possible, cite passages in The Nazi Hunters (with page numbers) that support your claim.

The President Has Been Shot! Writing Prompts

Choose one of the following writing prompts to research over the next week. You should take notes from the book to help you when you write your essay on Tuesday, August 18.

1. Discuss JFK's legacy -- what was his most important contribution? Was his tenure "one brief shining moment"? If so, why? Cite passages from The President Has Been Shot! (with page numbers) to support your claim. 2. Consider the following quote from President Kennedy’s commencement address at American University: "If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity." To what extent did Kennedy’s presidency embody that quote? Cite passages from The President Has Been Shot! (with page numbers) to support your claim. 3. To what extent did President Kennedy’s involvement in the Cold War influence his assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald? Cite passages from The President Has Been Shot! (with page numbers) to support your claim.

The Devil in the White City Writing Prompts Choose one of the following writing prompts to research over the next week. You should take notes from the book to help you when you write your essay on Tuesday, August 18. 1. In what ways does the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 change America? Provide at least one example from the text. What lasting inventions and ideas did it introduce into American culture? Provide at least one example from the text. What important figures did the Fair critically influence? Provide at least one example from the text. 2. At the end of the book, Larson suggests, "Exactly what motivated Holmes may never be known" [p. 395]. What possible motives are exposed in The Devil in the White City? Why is it important to try to understand the motives of a person like Holmes? Cite passages from the book (with page numbers) to support your claim. 3. How was Holmes able to exert such power over his victims? What weaknesses did he prey upon? Why wasn't he caught earlier? In what ways does his story "illustrate the end of the century" [p. 370] as the Chicago Times-Herald wrote? Cite passages from The Devil in the White City (with page numbers) to support your claim.

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