History of the XX Century
HUM 105
Prof. Akulov
Essay 1
History, although dealing with events bygone and people most often absent among the living, speaks with a never-dying voice, opining in an authoritative fashion only to disown its own judgment afterwards. It does so through sources - textual, visual, plastic, etc. - which lend themselves to constant interpretations and reinterpretations, acting as an inexhaustible trove of disputes and possibilities.
For this assignment you will be asked to read and analyze two literary (or quasi-literary) testimonies, both tackling Russian Revolution and the subsequent Civil War. This is, however, where the affinity between them ends - or does it? Otherwise, they seem to contradict each other in almost everything, to the point where one starts wondering if they are truly inspired by the same event. Your task as a historian is to reconcile divergent perspectives by determining the extent of their credibility, by describing the way they complement each other or by explaining the meaning of apparent contradictions.
In other words, when comparing these two accounts (that of Reed and of Bunin), your major question shall be: what do I learn about the event in question? As aforementioned, the authors provide us with conflicting stories of the Russian Revolution, but it is not because one of them lies and the other is speaking the truth. Why then? You need to focus on authors themselves first, their origins, their attitudes, motives, interests, audiences they targeted, etc. Then you need to look at the type of the document itself. Are we dealing with a propaganda pamphlet, a work destined for the few, a journal entry? What assertions made by the author are transmitted by his first-hand experience and what claims are passed down to us through hearsays and rumors? Do the regional differences play any role here - and if so, why? Finally, could the differences between testimonies be attributed to the (admittedly short) time gap separating Reed's Ten Days from Bunin's Cursed Days? While heeding to differences, do not forget to keep track of similarities as well.
You would not be able to accomplish this assignment without first conducting some preliminary research on the authors of those texts and on the circumstances of their creation. In the end, I expect you to make a claim about the Revolution - a statement, the validity of which shall be demonstrated by the skillful use of sources. This exercise will teach you hopefully to synthesize perspectives into a coherent narrative, while offering you a chance to take a stance vis-a-vis a key moment of the last century.
Remember that work plagiarized will be penalized by receiving no credit.
Remember that a sentence taken from a different source without proper citation will earn you zero credit.
Remember that plagiarism, deliberate or unintentional, is a crime meriting the most severe academic punishment.
Your response is due on Week 7 of your course to be submitted after the lecture.