Assignment Paper

Based on the three assigned memoirs: (no any other outside source, just use these three memoirs)

-Duong Van Mai Elliott, “Sacred Willow”

-Le Ly Hayslip, “When Heaven and Earth Changed Places”

-Truong Nhu Tang, “A Vietcong Memoir”

write a tightly argued essay —with proper quotations/ paraphrasing/ citations— of 5 to (maximally) 6 pages, type-written, double-spaced, with margins 1 inch on all sides, common 12 pt. font. Proof-read for spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, etc.!

Your essay should be a comparative, contrasting review of the three books, which is also informed by the historical information provided in Asselin’s textbook, the documentaries, other assigned articles, and/or lectures. You can focus primarily on any two books, but include some analysis of the third as well. Keeping descriptive passages to a minimum, focus your analysis on the following questions (not necessarily in that order; you can also add other analytical/interpretive foci):

# How do similarities/differences in gender, age, regional origin, social and cultural background, political commitment, specific roles in the conflict, and specific experiences influence the authors?

# How do these same similarities/differences shape the authors’ narratives? What is emphasized, de-emphasized, left out? How well do they represent, or how do they misrepresent, historical developments as you have come to understand them?

# What are the most striking differences and similarities of the books? What are the reasons for them?

# What other/different groups of people/characters can you identify in the authors’ recollections? How are they portrayed?

# What do the memoirs want to achieve; what are their purposes; what are their “messages”? Who are the intended “target audiences”?

# What scenes or themes of the books were the most striking or moving for you? What did they tell you fundamentally about revolutionary, war-time Viet Nam?