Write an essay in response to the prompt below. Incorporate six key terms from Modern Britain and/or Britain’s Declining Empire into your essay and use evidence from four primary sources to support your analysis as explained in the instructions below. A concise essay will probably be around 1,200-1,600 words or 3.5-4.5 double-spaced pages. The essay will be submitted through a Turnitin portal on Canvas (due Thurs, May 2nd by 11:59pm), which has a plagiarism checker. See the “Academic Integrity” clause on the syllabus or ask me if you have any questions about plagiarism. One goal of this essay is to get you to practice the skill of synthesizing information into a coherent explanation of historical change. So, please avoid using AI programs like ChatGPT to write sections of your essay. You can use whatever tools you need to help brainstorm, of course, but make sure to do your own writing and cite your sources using the guidelines below.
Essay Prompt: Use the prompt below as a guide for writing your essay. As you plan your essay, consider how the textbook, lecture slides, key terms, and sources might help you answer your “research” questions.
The midterm essay examined Britain’s rise as a global industrial power. For this essay, I would like you to examine Britain’s changing (/declining) position as a global industrial power between 1930 and the present. Choose three aspects of British history that changed in this period including at least one link to the wider British Empire. This can include topics like the rise and fall of social democracy, Britain’s relationship to the United States, decolonization, immigration, pop culture, or neoliberalism. Your introduction should introduce the three dimensions of historical change you are focusing on and briefly explain how these changes came about or what they suggest about British history. The paragraphs in the body of the essay will then examine each change in greater detail using the sources provided in this class to support your argument. The focus is up to you. So, explore whatever interests you (assuming it is covered well enough by the course materials. You are also free to set the parameters for what aspects of historical change you wish to analyze, whether you are interested in causes and consequences, shifts in attitudes and ideology, or cultural reflections of society as long as you include some analysis of the changing relationship between Britain and the wider world.
Sources and Citations: In addition to using the Vernon, Modern Britain, and Ronald Hyam, Britain’s Declining Empire to inform your analysis, you must reference at least four sources from the materials provided in this course. This may include any of the primary sources provided in the weekly modules. However, you may not use any sources outside of those assigned in this class. Make sure to clearly explain and indicate the sources you reference in each instance by noting its author (or abbreviated title) and page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence. For example, if you reference the Enoch Powell’s “Rivers of Blood” speech, you can simply put (Powell) at the end of the sentence after the quotation marks (if you use a quote) and before the period. Just make sure to include page numbers for text citations. You are also welcome to use footnotes to cite the work instead of parenthetical citations. I am not so concerned with proper formatting here. I just want to be able to locate the sections of the sources you are citing.
Key Terms: Incorporate 6 key terms into your essay, which can either come from the bold terms in Vernon, Modern Britain, or from any of the chapter subheadings in Britain’s Declining Empire (which could include terms like “Palestine” or “the Suez Crisis”). Please underscore and bolden each term the first time you use it and explain its significance to the topic. The terms should be used strategically to support your essay. So, try to choose terms that have a strong connection to your topic and make sure to clarify the significance of each term in relation to your analysis.