In 2-3 pages, address the following sets of questions on “Robert Byrd on War in Iraq (2003)”
- Who wrote the document, and for whom was it written? What does this suggest about the point of view reflected in the document?
- Why was the document written, and what form does it have? A document’s purpose and form (e.g. legal opinion, prohibition, instruction manual) will affect the sorts of material it contains and might cause a systematic bias.
- How do author, audience, purpose, and form relate to the event or phenomenon that the document describes? Was the author in a position to have reliable knowledge of the event or phenomenon? Does the form permit accurate reporting? Does the author have any reason to avoid telling the truth as he or she saw it?
- In conclusion, how reliable do you think this document is? What other kinds of documents would you want to examine to corroborate its claims?
– All of these questions are interrelated; your paper should not be a simply a list of answers to individual questions, but a coherent essay with an introduction and conclusion.
- Papers must be typed, double-spaced, with at least one-inch margins on all sides. You must use footnotes to cite sources for any facts or interpretations that you take from reference works, unless they are common knowledge.
- A conclusion summarizes main points
- Please ask me if you have any questions about this assignment