This week’s assignment will find you answering the following questions about your own historical documents:

Choose a singular historical event (example: the bombing of Nagasaki, the sinking of the Titanic, the crash of TWA 800, etc. are *singular* historical events. “World War II” is not a singular event.) about which much has been written. The accounts shouldn’t just be two different reports. They need to be from *different perspectives* (example: Titanic from a people’s perspective versus a technical perspective). The authors need to disagree and disagree significantly on the causes, underlying significance, or other interpretive details. Read and study each account, then write a 1,200-1,300 word essay that compares the two. Here are a few questions to help you jumpstart your imagination.

1.) Who are the authors?

2.) How does each author’s account differ from the other?

3.) Why does each account differ? Are there motives for either author to convince the reader of their position? If so, what are those motives? Do those motives necessarily indicate bias?

4.) Which author’s account more accurately reflects the events as they unfolded? How do you know?