History 115F Thomas Schwartz 3rd Essay Topic – first draft due October 17 This topic has some choice and variety within it. The first draft of your essay is due Wednesday October 17. Remember that this is a first draft. However, this must be a good faith first draft, not a stream-of-consciousness, last minute, not proofread, completely incoherent essay. (Not that any of you would think of doing this, but I thought I should warn you anyway.) Prompt: Both The Quiet American and The Ugly American criticize American foreign policy in Asia, and from different vantage points, they consider it headed for disaster. In another sense, also from very from different vantage points, both are also concerned with the question of American identity: What did it mean to be an American in the era of the Cold War? What does the United States represent to the world? Write a thoughtful, 5-6 page essay (1250 to 1500 words) that compares and contrast the two books on some - or all - of the following points: 1.) American military and economic assistance and the Cold War 2.) Individual Americans in Asia 3.) Alden Pyle and Colonel Hillandale 4.) American ideology, the Third Force, and the Cold War 5.) Communism and the meaning of the Cold War in Asia 6.) The American character and American society at home 7.) Race, colonialism and America This list does not exhaust the possibilities, but these are some of the major areas where the books can be compared and contrasted. Through this comparison and contrast, your essay should keep in mind some questions: To what extent were Americans engaged in the Cold War in Asia in the 1950s "quiet" or "ugly” or something else altogether?" Which book offers a more compelling explanation for American identity during the Cold War? Any essay will certainly benefit from the extent to which you can incorporate insights from our earlier discussions of the origins of the Cold War and the impact of McCarthyism. You should also endeavor to incorporate in your essay aspects of the “The Quiet American” movie and the clips from the other two films. .