What is a DWP?
A DWP (Descriptive Written Piece) is a response to a particular writing prompt (which you will see below). The format will be the following:
Length: 750 – 800 words, not counting any “header” information (your name, date, name of the class, name of the professor, etc.)
Format: There is no preferred document format. Students can either submit their work as an attachment or they can type or cut-and-paste their work into the field provided.
Submission Requirements: All required papers in this class must be submitted to Canvas via the appropriate assignment prompt. I will not accept papers that have been sent to me via e-mail.
Research: All information required for this paper is included in this week’s Module. Students should draw most heavily upon the three videos provided this week presenting Edward R. Murrow’s report on Senator Joseph McCarthy; Senator Joseph McCarthy’s response; and Edward R. Murrow’s response to the Senator’s claims. Students should also draw upon applicable primary sources assigned this week in the American Yawp Reader.
Bibliography: Students should reference appropriate sources within the text of the paper; a separate Bibliography is not required.
Formal grammar rules and proper spelling will be required.
What is the prompt?
As relations between the United States and the Soviet Union deteriorated after World War II, Communism was increasingly viewed as a threat to American government, culture, and way of life. A Communist Party had existed for some time in the United States, but it wasn’t one of the more popular political affiliations. Regardless, a second “red scare” emerged as the Cold War set in, and Senator Joseph McCarthy stood at the forefront of the American movement against Communism in the early 1950s. A junior senator from Wisconsin, McCarthy burst onto the scene in 1950 with a fabricated “list” of Communists attempting to infiltrate the US Government. A variety of laws were passed in response, loyalty oaths became common, and Senator McCarthy conducted a number of hearings, examining suspected Communists.
Edward R. Murrow, a respected journalist, responded to Senator McCarthy’s “witch hunt” for Communists in the US government with a report presented on his weekly television program “See It Now!”. Murrow presented a variety of statements from McCarthy recorded on video and audio and asked serious questions about contradictions in his assertions and ideas. He also presented a portion of one of McCarthy’s hearings, an attempt to link a lower-level government employee to a Communist plot. Senator McCarthy was invited to respond to Murrow’s report, and instead of refuting Murrow’s points, McCarthy discussed his accomplishments, emphasized the threat posed by Communism, and accused Murrow of harboring Communist sympathies. Murrow responded on a subsequent program, refuting many of McCarthy’s personal accusations. Later that year, in 1954, the Senate voted to condemn Senator McCarthy, and he never regained his political standing after this fall from grace.
One of the most important jobs any historian must perform is the examination of evidence. For this DWP, students are asked to evaluate the quality of the evidence provided by Edward Murrow and Joseph McCarthy in the “See It Now!” TV broadcasts from 1954. Students should identify: what kinds of evidence does Murrow and McCarthy produce to support their points; do either of them identify particular documents, sources (and yes, a speech or a statement presented on video is a source), names, etc.; how much of these sources are presented, and what is left out of them? Then, students should decide which of the two presenters, whether Murrow or McCarthy, presented a better, more substantial and convincing case in these broadcasts. Does Murrow demonstrate that McCarthy contradicted himself regularly and accused people of being Communists based on flimsy evidence? Does McCarthy demonstrate that Murrow is a Communist? What do you think?
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