Application: Memoirs

Austrian heir to the throne assassinated!

Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia!

Britain declares war on Germany!

The news is getting worse!

Imagine you are a citizen of a country that has just entered into the Great War (later known as World War I). You have read the headlines and the accounts of the events leading up to the war. You have heard daily radio updates. You are bombarded with news. Yet, you feel there is a gap in the reporting—where the news accounts end and the story of the real war begins.

This week for your assignment, you will write your own account of the war, and tell the truth of the war from your perspective. Your fictional memoir will tell the story of everyday people, and how war has affected daily life.

To prepare for this Application:

• Choose a country from which to write your memoir. Select one that entered into World War I in 1914 and that you have studied extensively in this course.

• Review Chapter 7 (pp. 96–103) and Chapter 8 ( pp. 105–118)in this week’s Learning Resources to gain a bird’s eye perspective on world events leading up to the start of World War I, especially for the country you choose to write your memoir based on. Also review the articles by Barron, O’Hara & Heffernan, and Share in this week’s Learning Resources to understand the matters of importance to nations at this time in history.
  
• Consider how your chosen country has changed between the Era of Imperialism and the beginning of World War I.

• Consider what political, social, geographical, and economic changes have occurred since the start of the war, and how you, your family and your community have been affected (supposing you lived in this country, at this time in history).

• Reflect on how nationalism has influenced your response to entry into war, and the response of your compatriots (again, supposing you lived in this country, at this time in history).

The assignment:

• Compose a 2- to 3-page memoir entry in which you do the following:
  
  
• • Provide an in-depth personal account of the events you have witnessed leading up to the beginning of the war. In your description, be sure to reflect on the effect that political, social, geographical, and economic changes have had on you in the time leading up to the war, and up to the time of your writing (mid to late 1914).

  • Support your assertions by making at least 2 references, in proper APA format, to your course readings.