Conceptions of the Cold War
Overview
As your reading and Discussions point out, one of the biggest issues that citizens and politicians confronted during the 1960s was the Cold War, which might be defined as the geopolitical tensions, and proxy wars fought between the United States and the Soviet Union. Indeed, for anyone who grew up during the 1950s, 60s, or 70s, the Cold War was a household topic everyone seemed to understand.
Assignment
The purpose of this assignment is to analyze how people understand the Cold War today. For example, what do everyday people today think of when they hear the term “Cold War”? This is what you are going to find out!
In this assignment, you will do brief interviews with three people, asking them about their conceptions of the Cold War. Your interviewees can be anyone of your choosing: family members, friends, and so on. Below are some suggested questions that you may want to ask:
1. What words or phrases come to mind when you think of the term Cold War?
2. Did you ever study the Cold War in school? If so, what are some aspects of the Cold War that you remember?
3. Who were the parties involved in the Cold War?
4. Can you name any key events that we mainly associate with the Cold War?
Take notes on what each of your respondents say. You will need these notes to refer to later when you do the formal write-up of the assignment.
After you have completed the assignment, write up your findings in a brief essay, which addresses the following:
1. Using quotes from your interviews, describe how each of your three respondents understand the Cold War.
2. Explain to what extent their definition/understanding of the Cold War differs from the definition above (see the bold typeface in the Overview section above).
3. If your respondents’ understanding of the Cold War is different from the way the Cold War is defined in this course, explain why that might be the case. (Also, if their definition of the Cold War is very similar, explain this as well!)
Your essay should be 2 pages in length (500 words)
• Double spaced
• #12 font –Times New Roman
• 1” margins on all sides
• Separate cover page and reference page
• A minimum of one (1) outside (including texts from the course, if you like) scholarly source
Remember: Wikipedia, encyclopedias, and encyclopedia-type sources (answers.com, infoplease.com and such) are not considered academic sources.
Submitting your Assignment
Save your essay in a location and with a name that you will remember. When you are ready to submit it, click on the Drop box and complete the steps below:
• Click the link that says “Submit an Assignment.”
• In the “Submit to Basket” menu, select Unit 2: Assignment.
• In the “Comments” field, include at least the title of your assignment.
• Click the “Add Attachments” button.
• Follow the steps listed to attach your Word document.
• To view your graded work, come back to the Drop box or go to the Grade book after your instructor has evaluated it.
• Make sure that you save a copy of your submitted assignment.

Assignment Rubric: Unit 2
Grade: Grading Criteria
A: 99-110 points • Essay uses three interviews to describe the historical and political conditions of the Cold War period.
• Essay provides thoughtful commentary to describe the different responses to the question of what defines the Cold War.
• Essay is clearly written and meets the posted length requirements
• Essay uses and cites a supporting source.
B: 88-98 points • Essay uses three interviews to describe the historical and political conditions of the Cold War period.
• Essay provides thoughtful commentary to describe the different responses to the question of what defines the Cold War.
• One of the three required parts is missing from the essay.
• Essay meets the posted length requirements.
C: 77-87 points • Essay uses less than three interviews to describe the historical and political conditions of the Cold War period.
• Essay provides little commentary to describe the different responses to the question of what defines the Cold War.
• One or more of the three required parts is missing from the essay.
• Essay does not meet posted length requirements.
• Essay uses no supporting sources.
D: 66-76 points • Essay is only partially on topic, lacks originality, and vaguely mentions the time period, threats to citizens and preparations.
• Essay does not meet posted length requirements.
F: 0 – 65 points • Essay is off topic and lacks originality.
• Essay makes little or no references to unit material and assignment questions.
• Essay does not meet posted length requirements.
• Essay contains extensive plagiarized text= graded as zero.

5% or up to 6 points are deducted for grammatical, incorrect or missing APA formatting and citations, typographic or word usage problems in this assignment. Please visit the KU Writing Center for help with your writing before submitting your next assignment. To find the KU Writing Center log onto your Kucampus.edu homepage and click on academic support center on the bottom right hand side of the page.
Total Points earned:
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