NSTRUCTIONS FOR BROWNING/GOLDHAGEN PAPER

First, carefully read the assigned texts, as far as possible in the following order: 1) Christopher Browning, Ordinary Men; 2) Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, "The Evil of Banality," on reserve in the library; 3) Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, pages from Hitler's Willing Executioners, pp. 203-233, 238-279,  on reserve in the library; 4) the "Afterword" in Ordinary Men; 5) "A Holocaust Reader," on reserve in the library.

Second, be prepared to discuss in class at least two of the study questions handed out in class (also posted on the course website). I will ask each person in the class to respond orally to at least one of the questions.

Paper is due Nov. 25 in class. Late papers will be penalized 1 letter grade per day, including papers that you work on and complete by skipping class. Please turn in your paper by hard copy, not by email. 

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In 5-7 pages (about 1200 – 1500 words), prepare a comparative analysis of Browning and Goldhagen. It is important that you not only fairly summarize some of the major arguments in both, but that you analyze the works comparatively. It will be your job as a reviewer to critically analyze the arguments and interpretations posed by both historians. Focus your paper on the questions that we have discussed in this class. How do these historians deal with the problems of interpreting problematic historical sources? What historical models or theories do both historians employ? How does each historian critique the other? Who seems to present the most convincing argument, and why? What kinds of flaws, either of evidence or logic, appear in one or both works? Your paper should have a thesis, followed with evidence and arguments drawn from the appropriate reading. No outside research is required; if you choose to bring in outside research, however, that is certainly permitted.

In your comparative analysis, you should employ at least two primary documents from "A Holocaust Reader," and use those documents to test the arguments put forward by both authors.

Citation: it is not required that you have footnotes or a bibliography. You may simply cite the readings in-text, as in the following example:

Despite his diminutive stature, Harvey was a "star power forward in the NBA" (Goldhagen, 83).

If you choose to use any outside research, then you will need to cite the outside works in a regular full footnote or endnote. However, no outside research is required for this paper.

Special Note: there are a number of papers of this sort floating around on the internet. I know all of them, and I will know if you plagiarize from them. Don't do that please, as I will be forced to give you a failing grade for the class. Regrettably, this has happened each time I have taught this class over the last four years, largely because students plagiarize from the same internet sources each time.