History Paper

With four days left until the rough draft of the HIST 299 thesis paper, I feel like I am in control of my destiny.  Thus far I have found a plethora of secondary sources and a few primary sources.  Because the paper will have to deal with primary sources, I feel that the only trouble I am encountering is how I can fit more of these sources into possibly 3/4 of my paper.  The interview with Dr. Aminrazavi helped me a lot to specify my argument in 2 of the three sections of my essay’s body.  However, I am struggling in finding more sources on the political aspect of United States intervention in Iran.  I feel that I can find that through Tehran’s newspaper in the 1970’s which I will be looking through today and tomorrow.  As far as the essay goes, I believe I am in a good spot for amount of information to complete it.

so fall break gave me a little time to think about my paper and how I should approach my thesis.  the economic factor of how the Iranian Revolution effected the United States is no longer the central issue to my paper.  I am more interested in the events leading to the Iranian Revolution and how American intervention after World War II created tensions between the two nations.  I may want to get one more interview in before the end of this week as another primary source. my goal by the end of this week is actually to formulate my thesis and to be done with my literature review of my secondary source on the social origins of the Iranian Revolution.

alright so the title of this blog isn’t very interesting haha but i think one of the things i will mention about my paper is that its focusing less on the energy crisis in the United States and more-so their influence of the Iranian Revolution.  one piece of information i am investigating actually has to do with a radical named mohammed mossadeigh.  he is responsible for the coup that instated the United States puppet government….my paper will mark its origins at the conclusion of World War II and work its way to present day….my thesis will reflect conflicts of interests between the United States and Iran….I personally wanted to thank Brian Miller for his helpful comments on my topic proposal since they reflect the issues of my paper that Dr. Fernsebner brought up in her analysis

one of the things that I have found on my primary source on the Joint Economic Committee is that it scopes too broad of a category of items that are being imported and exported to/from the United States.  Although there are very interesting pieces of information, i do not believe that this will carry the weight of my primary sources….I did however have an interview with Dr. Aminrazavi regarding his reflection of the history of the Iranian Revolution and how he was involved in and out of Iran at the time…i found his interview very interesting and it has helped me sort of push my topic in a different direction.

so my paper on the Iranian Revolution and its effect on the United States oil crisis of 1979 has turned out pretty well as far as resources go…the primary sources that i am using include interviews with Professors Rouhani, and Aminrazavi and an official economic book on the 1979 inflation rate.  So far I am confident about my material yet I’m a little unsure about what aspect of the Revolution I should focus on….Secondary sources I have include articles on Lexis Nexus, Library books on the Iranian Revolution and JSTOR….if you have any suggestions on additional information or ideas I am all ears…thanks

The topic for which i decided to write my paper on is the Iranian Revolution and the 1979 Energy Crisis.  It strays a little from my previous interests in history, yet I have a strong interest in Middle East affairs.  One of the ways in which i plan on approaching my topic for primary sources is to look at videos, political cartoons, government documents, and interviews between the United States and Iran.  Secondary sources may include documents by some historians who analyzed that important year…although there is a wide range of these sources to scan through….

In the three years I have attended the University of Mary Washington, I have encountered conflicting interests in the university’s majors.  My original plan was to enroll myself as a math major because of my ability to grasp concepts in calculus and algebraic equations. Although I had great interest in studying American and European history in high school, I thought that my knowledge of math would excel my career. However, after completing the calculus portion of the math curriculum, I struggled to complete the first of many computer based math classes that were required for the major.  It was after my 2nd year that I dropped the math and took up history as a major.  I found that reading about different cultures from the past made me more aware of how the world operates today.  I believe that as a history major, it is my duty to learn as much as I can about the past so that I can somehow play a roll in the improvement of our future.  As a history major, I am most interested in the topics of United States and European history, and world conflicts including World Wars I and II, the Vietnam War.  However I do find myself very intrigued in learning the histories and geography of Africa and Asia, both of which I have a limited knowledge of. I hope that for my paper in the HIST 299 class that I may be  able either write about a topic I am very familiar with in United States or European history, or try a different path with the history of conflicts within Africa or the Middle East.  I hope that at the end of this course, I will have a skill in writing professional papers even on topics that are foreign to my knowledge.  I also am eager to be able to omit the minor format mistakes that I make while writing history papers.  One of the final things I also wish to accomplish in this class is being able improve my ability to research topics and find valid sources that pertain to my paper.