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History 1BB3: America and the World: The Twentieth Century
Dr. Stephen M. Streeter
McMaster University, Winter 2002
Tutorial 7
Introduction:
See John Hollitz's introduction in Thinking Through the Past: A Critical Thinking Approach to U.S. History, Vol. II (1997), pp. 227-31
Background Reading:
Stephen J. Whitfield, "The Culture of Cold War," in John Hollitz, ed., Thinking Through the Past, pp. 232-38
Sources:
See Hollitz, ed., Thinking Through the Past, pp. 227-53
Discussion Questions:
1. Did the Cold War narrow postwar popular culture?
2. Did the Cold War affect various forms of popular culture the same way?
3. Do the primary sources support or contradict Whitfield's thesis about the impact of the Cold War on American popular culture?
Assignment (due in class in tutorial 9):
Write a 5-6 page essay (1250 to 1500 words) assessing the impact of the Cold War on American popular culture. State your thesis in the opening paragraph and follow the guidelines in A Pocket Guide to Writing in History on how to organize, write, and document your essay. To receive a passing grade you must cite individually all of the sources in this tutorial (including the background reading) plus a minimum of 1 scholarly book or journal article. You should be able to find this outside source using the skills you acquired in tutorial 3. You may use Internet sources as well, but NOT as a replacement for this outside source.