Handout for ReWriting History: Teaching GED Social Studies Extended Response

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(Re)Writing History: Social Studies Extended Response

Teaching Critical Thinking for the GED® Test

COABE Conference 2015 Presenter: Meagen Farrell

Download presentation from: Farrellink.com/blog Adultedresources.COABE.org

Contents The Great Conversation ............................................................................................................. 2

Social Studies Extended Response ........................................................................................... 3

Prompt .................................................................................................................................... 3

Quotation ................................................................................................................................ 3

Passage ................................................................................................................................. 3

1. The Summary ..................................................................................................................... 4

2. Good Ideas, Poorly Written ................................................................................................. 5

3. Good Use of Outside Information, Poorly Written ............................................................... 6

4. Dangers of a Template! ...................................................................................................... 7

5. Well Done ........................................................................................................................... 8

© 2015 Essential Education Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

GED® and GED Testing Service® are registered trademarks of the American Council on Education (ACE). Use of the GED trademark does not imply support or endorsement by ACE.

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The Great Conversation

1. What is an enduring social issue presented here? 2. What evidence indicates that is the enduring issue? 3. When else has this issue been discussed?



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Social Studies Extended Response

Prompt The passage is an excerpt from the diary of President Harry S. Truman, written on July 25, 1945 after he had given the order to use the atomic bomb on Japan. In your response, develop an argument about how Truman's position in his diary reflects the continuing concern expressed in the quotation from Thomas Jefferson. Incorporate relevant and specific evidence from the passage and the quotation, as well as from your own knowledge of World War II, in particular the war against Japan in the Pacific, to support your analysis and your argument. Type your response in the box. This task may require 25 minutes to complete.

Quotation "Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it."

--Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of United States Passage This weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10th. I have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson to use it so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children. Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop this terrible bomb on the old Capitol or the new.

He and I are in accord. The target will be a purely military one and we will issue a warning statement asking the [Japanese] to surrender and save lives. I'm sure they will not do that, but we will have given them the chance. It is certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler's crowd or Stalin's did not discover this atomic bomb. It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful.

Source: http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/bomb/large/documents/fulltext.php?fulltextid=15



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1. The Summary Our 3rd president Thomas Jefferson and President Truman both agree it's always best to pursue peace whenever possible. President Truman stated in his diary, he had given his orders to Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson to avoid targeting women and children. He understood many soldiers would lose their lives and that's what caused him to decide to use the atomic bombs. He thought by not having soldiers on the ground some lose of life could be prevented. As horrible as he thought the bomb to be, that was the best alternative. He also stated he was glad Hilter and Stalin did not have access to this bomb, because of the devastating effects it inflicts on all involved. He was going to give the Japanese a chance to surrender to prevent blood shed, even though he doubted that they would accept the offer. President's Jefferson and Truman were in accord that it's best to try to achieve peace with all nations if possible, because of the horror war produces. That should be utmost on any leaders mind, his responsibility is to do what's best for their country.

TRAIT SCORE (circle)

Creation of Arguments and Use of Evidence 0 1 2

Development of Ideas and Organizational Structure 0 1

Clarity and Command of Standard English Conventions 0 1 © 2015 Essential Education Corporation. All Rights Reserved.


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2. Good Ideas, Poorly Written War is only to be used as a last resort,however time after time history repeats itself.Our third president Thomas Jefferson stated"Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it". These words never rang more true than in the time of World War II. President Harry S. Truman gave the order to use the "atom" Bomb on July 25,1945.The target was said to be specifically Japanese military.Secretary of war, Mr.Stimson was given direct orders not to drop the bomb in the new or old capitol of Japan to lessen the loss of innocent life. I think that this passage reflects on Thomas Jefferson's statement by showing how the atomic bomb will not be used on innocent people just the ones in the wrong, and hopefully after this there will be peace and friendships with mankind. Harry S. Truman seems to be a man of peace as well as Thomas and they seem to want the same thing. If only we as a nation could learn from our very violent past.If only the words of Thomas Jefferson could have been taken to heart.Not just read aloud as words of wisdom to live by, but actually followed.History always has a way of repeating itself. if the leaders of the world could find a way to live by Jefferson's words this world would be a more peaceful place to live. We as Americans are not mortal or untouchable as we found out on 9-11-2000.There are terrible people in this world who would love to do terrible things to innocent people.Thomas Jefferson was a peaceful man who wanted peace across all lands.As much as It bothered President Truman to use such a horrible weapon as it has been hard for other presidents in the same situation.Things could change drastically for the U.S, and those are the reasons how Truman's passage reflects Jefferson's quote.




Clarity and Command of Standard English Conventions 0 1



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3. Good Use of Outside Information, Poorly Written In Thomas Jeffersons quote I think he was trying to say we want peace and we will fight for it if we have to. President Truman has approved the dropping of an atomic bomb on Japan. The Japanese pushed President Truman to do so. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese military attacked a US naval base in Hawaii killing a lot of americans. this is what plunged theUS into WW2 and it was the beginning of the end for Japan. As a country we tried to stay peaceful as jeffersons quote suggests an stay out of the war. Japan was not about to sit around an let the US juss sit by and give support. So On Decmber 7, 1941 they bombed pearl harbor. they came in droves of airplanes dropping bombs, and when they ran out they just used their airplanes as bombs. Truman states in the entry that even though he felt the Japanese were uncivil an savages he didn't want to take unnecessary lives. So he gave them a chance to surrender, even though he knew they wouldn't. In the end they didn't surrender and we dropped the bomb. I guess you can say we got peace cause the war ended soon after, but at what cost?







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4. Dangers of a Template! Truman's diary entry reflects the continuing concern that is described in Jefferson’s quote. Jefferson was the third Presidents of the United States. Truman was President and wrote after he had given the order to use the atomic bomb on Japan. The Quotation that Jefferson wrote is "Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it." The First reason, military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children. The second reason, Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic. The third reason, certainly a good thing for the world that Hitler's crowd or Stalin's did not discover this atomic bomb. Finally, It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful. To conclude , "Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it." - Thomas Jefferson Truman was President and wrote after he had given the order to use the atomic bomb on Japan.







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5. Well Done The enduring issue in both the quote from Thomas Jefferson as well as the diary excerpt by Harry Truman is the preservation of peace and friendship among the human race. Truman's diary was written during the events of World War II. In his passage, Truman states, "I have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson to use it so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children." This speaks to how President Truman, even in times of warfare, is still attempting to uphold the virtue that Jefferson spoke of in his presidency. Truman's passage also reflects on Jefferson's virtue when he states, "Even if the Japs are savages ... we as the leader of the world for common welfare cannot drop this terrible bomb on the old Capitol or the new." Faced with a difficult decision, President Truman still advocates finding a more peaceful, or less deleterious solution to the problem involving the Japanese. The last piece of evidence that further reinforces the enduring issue of preserving peace and friendship, presents itself when Truman closes his passage with reference to Hitler not finding out about the atomic bomb before the U.S. Hitler was a dictator who didn't share the same ideal of promotion and preservation of peace and friendship as the U.S. Presidents Jefferson and Truman. If this weapon of mass destruction had fell into German hands, who knows what amount of chaos might have been created? Instead, they Nazis were trying to kill Jewish people like Anne Frank. In summary, Thomas Jefferson believed that preservation of peace and friendship with all mankind was our wisest policy as a country, and later in history that same virtue resonated within President Truman and influenced how he approached the issue concerning the Japanese during World War II.





