Assignment: Take-Home Midterm

Choose one of the following questions and answer it in the form of a well-developed, thoughtful essay. Be sure to address each part of the question. Your paper should be 3 to 4 pages in length, typed and printed, double-spaced with one-inch margins. Include a list of all works cited in your paper, as well as proper annotations for quotes and references (MLA format). Due date is FEBRUARY 5 in class. Also, an electronic copy has to be submitted to turnitin.com, using class ID# 17356407 and enrollment password 2018 before midnight that day.

1. World War I has been variously referred to as an industrial war, a war of attrition, and as a total war. Discuss how and why these categories apply to World War I, and examine the ways in which the novel All Quiet on the Western Front illustrates this. What other important lessons on war in general does the book convey? Give specific examples.

2. Discuss the long- and short-term causes of the Russian Revolution(s) of 1917. How and why were the Bolsheviks able to come to power, and how did Lenin and Stalin transform the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state? Provide some specific examples from George Orwell's allegorical novel Animal Farm that illustrate this transformation.