Summarize the arguments presented by Umberto Eco in his essay “Ur-Fascism.”
Treat this as a secondary source (that is, an academic-style study based on research and/or the analysis of evidence) rather than a primary source (that is, a source made by someone who is actively participating in making history). Because this is a secondary source, a summary of the writer’s argument should focus on the most important research findings and the conclusions derived from those findings. What has Eco’s examination of history revealed, and how does he support the main conclusions that come from his study?
You may use only the assigned text itself and the course lecture videos. That is, you may not do any outside research or use the work of any other person regarding the text or the events and circumstances that it addresses.
Part 2 of 2 (350-400 words):
Summarize the arguments presented by Kwame Nkrumah in the selection from his work “Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism.”
You must treat this text as both (a) a secondary source (that is, an academic-style study based on research and/or the analysis of evidence), and (b) a primary source (that is, contemporaneous evidence made by someone who is actively participating in making history).
(a) When considering this as a secondary source — that is, one in which “arguments” are conclusions about “what is” or “what has been” — your summary should focus on the most important findings and analyses that Nkrumah presents with regard to the conditions that exist at the time he is writing. In other words, what are his analytical conclusions about the nature of the circumstances that he describes and about their causes and effects?
(2) When considering this as a primary source, your summary should focus on Nkrumah’s goals. That is, consider the ways in which this is also a normative, values-based argument — in other words, an argument about “what should be.” What outcomes is Nkrumah pursuing? And how does he frame the issues in order to support those claims and advance toward those goals?
You may use only the assigned text itself and the course lecture videos. That is, you may not do any outside research or use the work of any other person regarding the text or the events and circumstances that it addresses.
