Reading Response One (based on Hunt).  Please answer FOUR of the following five questions.

1. According to Hunt, what are three or four key elements that define “ideology” as an analytical concept?  In making your list, express Hunt’s ideas in your own words, versus simply relying on quotations from Hunt.  [Focus on the preface and chapter 1 in answering this question]

2. In three or four sentences (again, using your own words), what is Hunt’s main thesis?  Also, what kind of change over time does Hunt see in American foreign policy ideology?

3. Of the three main ideological pillars (national greatness, race, and fear of revolution) that Hunt describes, which do you think has had the most profound effect on American views of the world?

4. Hunt’s book offers three core ideas to explain how Americans have historically seen the world.  Explain a fourth factor that you think might be important but that Hunt minimizes or ignores.

5. How well does Hunt’s book, written in 1987, help us explain American views of the world since 9/11/2001?  What did his book anticipate and/or fail to anticipate?

History 450 Reading Response Two (based on various articles).  Please answer all four.

1. Based on McKillen’s article, what were the main strengths of the Mexican-American and Irish-American radicals?  What do you think led to their decline?

2. How did the gender identity of the America First Movement shape the group’s foreign policy outlook?  Can we argue that their gender values determined their foreign policy agenda?

3. Explain one way in which Meriwether’s evidence supports Hunt’s arguments.  Explain one way in which it contradicts or adds nuance to Hunt’s arguments.

4. If we were to devise three ‘ideological pillars” for Marcus Garvey (just as Hunt did for mainstream America), what would those three pillars be?  Base your answer on your analysis of the two-page excerpts of Garvey.

History 450 Reading Response Three (based on various articles).  Please answer all four.

1. According to Rotter, why did the United States form an alliance with Pakistan and not with India during the early years of the Cold War?

2. Explain what you see as one of Buzzanco’s strongest points against Rotter.  Then explain what you see as one of Buzzanco’s weaker points.

3. According to Rosenberg, why is it so important to understand the gender dynamics and representations in the two movies she studies?  Then, identify one idea that she raises in her article that you finding particularly interesting, provocative or frustrating, and explain your thoughts on this idea.

4. What do you find to be one of McAlister’s strongest points in her effort to connect Hollywood biblical epics and U.S. foreign policy?  What do you find to be one of her weaker points?

History 450 Reading Response Four (based on various articles).  Please answer all three.  Note also that the primary source readings listed in the syllabus as “TBA” have been cancelled.

1. Why were U.S. and French government officials interested in American tourist images of France during the early Cold War?  To what extent did these officials succeed in aligning tourist images with their foreign policy concerns?

2. Enloe analyzes different ways in which gendered images and identities have influenced the international banana economy.  Select two of Enloe’s connections between gender and the banana industry that you find to be especially interesting, important, or provocative.  Explain why you find each connection interesting, important, or provocative.

3. Think about how the secondary-source scholarship that we’ve read in this course relates to your own research topic.  Select one article (or one section of Hunt’s book) that seems particularly relevant for your own research topic and explain why you see it as relevant.  For instance, did the author raise an issue or question that you hope to raise in your paper?  Did the author set up a debate that you hope your paper will also address?  Did one author approach his or her sources in a way that you hope to do?  Select your scholarly example from any of our authors, from Hunt and McKillen through Enloe.  The only reading not to consider is Marcus Garvey’s primary source.