Proposal On Japanese American Internment
Date: March 10, 2017
To: Prof. Jeffery Higgins
From: Isebor Frank
Subject: Research Proposal on Japanese- American Internment
Introduction Most Americans know the story of Anne Frank; the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust who posthumously gained prominence through the publication of The Dairy of a young Girl, her experience in hiding during the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany in World War II. It is one of the world's most widely known books and has been the basis for several plays and films. Most of the atrocities I’ve learned of in various history classes concerning World War II sprang from her diary accounts. Just when I thought I knew all about the "enemy" (Nazis) and the heinous crimes that they inflicted on human …show more content…
beings, other sides of the story were brought to my attention. I came about a book called Farewell to Manzanar which introduced a similar treatment of human beings in our very own country. I discovered that an internment policy was placed on the Japanese that was extremely questionable. My emotions were torn because I could not believe America's leadership could be guilty of snatching such inherent liberties and freedoms.
Background
The research topic I have chosen is the Japanese-American internment in concentration camps during World War II. I am currently taking a United States History class in Houston Community College as a prerequisite and a research paper is required for that class. I have chosen to write about the Japanese-American internment, which occurred in the 1940s, because it interests me. In one of my humanities class, we read a work by a woman who was in a concentration camp as a young girl in California. I was ultimately shocked but could never believe that such events ever took place in the history of the United States. I was also upset that in all my years of attending school nothing much of this incident was a focus or of relevant as it seems to be put at that back burner. So, I did a small research paper on the internment. I feel it is very important for all Americans to know about what our "free" country did and why it was done. I think there is no reason at all to forget about this tremendous mistake our country made. I am sure that there are many people who have never heard about the Japanese-Americans' internment, and it is valuable and important to know about it and learn from it. I hope to learn more about why and how a free country DID in fact imprison people - and why it did so while trying to stop another country (Germany) from interning people in concentration camps (as well as for doing other things).
Audience
My primary audience is Professor Jeffery Higgins, my professional Writing 3430 lecturer of the University of Houston who is tasked of assigning this subject. And my secondary audience is the Lecturer and History 103 students of the Houston community college. I believe that this topic will be incitingly informative to both sets of readers. I have previously researched about this topic, but I would like to perform more in-depth, quality, research and learn more about the complete situation. I feel that this will be a challenge and I will learn a wealth of information. Also, there is a wealth of information for and against the Japanese-American internment. Therefore, I can do an in-depth research of the topic using many kinds of sources, and draw logical conclusions as well as fulfill the requirements satisfactorily for this course.
The documentation technique I have chosen is APA style as recommended since I am not a history or English Major. It is instructive to note that though my topic's subject matter is history, historical research papers are usually written with Chicago-Humanities documentation system.
Topics to Investigate
The leading research Question that I propose to pursue is: "Was Japanese-American internment during World War II right? Ethical? Justifiable? Was it the correct solution to the problem?"
My working hypothesis (I propose) is that the Japanese-American internment during World War II was a result of bad decisions based upon prejudices and was a major mistake for the United States - it accomplished nothing. During the research, we will focus our attention in finding answers to the following questions:
Why did the internment happen? What drove the government to go that far? Why were Japanese-Americans the only ones interned? Why weren't other "enemy races" interned? What led to their freedom from camps? Has the heavy discrimination stopped? If heavy discrimination against Japanese-Americans has stopped, when did it stop? Have the former prisoners been reimbursed, apologized to, etc. for what happened to them? What were conditions like before, during, and after internment? Why have we as a country tried to hide or forget about what happened?
Methods
After looking in Infotrac 2000 and the library catalog, I have come up with some search terms. They are as follows: Japanese-American internment during WW II War relocation center World War 1939-1945 Japanese Americans
World War II internment United States concentration camps Pearl Harbor
Qualifications/Resources
Pearl Harbor
Qualifications
Prior to this assignment, I have gained some key ideas on this topic that qualifies me to research this topic. I know that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor led to a panic against the entire Japanese race - many thought Japanese-Americans were spies, and thus did not trust them. The "only" solution was to put ALL Japanese-Americans in camps, considering every single person of the Japanese race a suspect. There was not much research or inquiry pertaining to whether or not they were truly spies, and they were not given a chance to speak up or try to prove their innocence. In my previous history class, I have also come across books in the Library and video online about victims of this act of inhumanity and all this has further spurred me to undertake this research.
Also, I plan on using the skills that I learned in Library class in my junior college class for this for research. In fact, I have already ordered a book through the interlibrary loan system and I have found more that I would like to order. Both the Houston Community College Library catalog and the whole library homepage are very helpful to me in leading me to sources.
Methods
In this research I will use both primary and secondary sources, Library and online research.
The types of primary sources that I plan on using are magazines, journals, books, and videos.
I have found some magazines and journals that give personal accounts of what the Japanese-American internment victims went through throughout the whole wartime era. One such magazine, called the Booklist, has an article in it titled "Life in a Japanese American Internment Camp." I have also found some books that were written by those who were placed in the internment camps. One of this books is titled I Am an American. Furthermore, I was privileged to find a video on the internet titled Japanese Internment; A Family Gathering. This tells of a Japanese-American family that lived-in Hood River, Oregon, and how they were treated. It is also very helpful. I plan on searching for other videos that give first-hand …show more content…
experiences. The secondary sources that I plan on consulting are newspapers, magazines, books, and perhaps videos. While taking Library Skills some years ago, I learned that it is possible to find and read newspaper issues from many years ago. I plan on consulting the library for newspaper articles from that time period. I am not sure if they would be considered secondary sources because they are authentic from that time period that the Japanese-Americans were being interned, but I know they will be helpful to me so I can see what people were reading in the newspapers about the incidents at that time. I also plan on finding secondary sources in magazines. I have penciled down National Geographic magazine, a great source of information on this topic which described numerous families' experiences. The article also had many pictures of the concentration camps which told stories in themselves. Also, I have found one article titled "Ansel Adams and Civil Rights" published in Popular Photography. From the article's description, I have found that it is full of photos of the camps. I know I will learn a lot from the pictures alone, because they are not interpreted or warped by any writer, but they show exactly what it was like (a picture is worth a thousand words).
I have found that there are numerous books written about the Japanese-American internment during World War II. I plan on consulting books for the majority of the information that I need for reasons why such actions were taken against the Japanese-Americans as well as information on reimbursement/apologies for the internment.
The following scholarly and general material resources sourced on the web and the Houston Community College library will be used.
Daniels, R. (1989). American concentration camps. New York: Garland.
Davidov, J. F. (1996). "The Color of My Skin, the Shape of My Eyes": Photographs of the Japanese-American Internment by Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, and Toyo Miyatake. The Yale Journal of Criticism, 9(2), 223-244. doi:10.1353/yale.1996.0013
Harvey, F. V. (1985, October). Ansel Adams and Civil Rights: An Uncensored Version of a 1944 Exhibit Documents Life in a Japanese-American Internment Camp. Popular Photography, 92-92.
Houston, J. W., & Houston, J. D. (2012). Farewell to Manzanar: a true story of Japanese American experience during and after the World War II internment. New York: Ember.
Life in a Japanese American Internment Camp. (1998). Booklist, 788.
M.
(2011, February 21). Remembering Manzanar. Retrieved March 10, 2017, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac19C-rfMp8
M., & P., T. (1998, June 22). Ronald Reagan and Redress for Japanese-American Internment, 1983-88. Presidential Studies Quarterly.
7. Work Schedule This project involves two components: research in archival records, and writing up the results. The following work schedule is proposed as a guide for the successful completion of the report on or before the due date.
Task Name Duration Start Finish
Work Schedule-Research Report 25 days Mon 4/3/17 Fri 5/5/17
Gather information 5 days Sat 4/1/17 Thu 4/6/17
Analyze information 3 days Fri 4/7/17 Tue 4/11/17
Prepare progress report 2 days Fri 4/14/17 Mon 4/17/17
Write draft 2 days Fri 4/21/17 Mon 4/24/17
Revise draft 1 day Fri 4/28/17 Fri 4/28/17
Prepare visual and supporting research documents 5 days Fri 4/7/17 Thu 4/13/17
Edit draft 1 day Sat 4/29/17 Sat 4/29/17
Proofread report 1 day Sat 4/29/17 Sat 4/29/17
Submit report and other supporting documents 3 days Mon 5/1/17 Wed 5/3/17
8. Request for Approval
I ask that you approve my topic and approach to it as I plan to commence action immediately upon your approval. I would also, appreciate suggestions on how you think I might best
proceed.
To: Prof. Jeffery Higgins
From: Isebor Frank
Subject: Research Proposal on Japanese- American Internment
Introduction Most Americans know the story of Anne Frank; the most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust who posthumously gained prominence through the publication of The Dairy of a young Girl, her experience in hiding during the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany in World War II. It is one of the world's most widely known books and has been the basis for several plays and films. Most of the atrocities I’ve learned of in various history classes concerning World War II sprang from her diary accounts. Just when I thought I knew all about the "enemy" (Nazis) and the heinous crimes that they inflicted on human …show more content…
beings, other sides of the story were brought to my attention. I came about a book called Farewell to Manzanar which introduced a similar treatment of human beings in our very own country. I discovered that an internment policy was placed on the Japanese that was extremely questionable. My emotions were torn because I could not believe America's leadership could be guilty of snatching such inherent liberties and freedoms.
Background
The research topic I have chosen is the Japanese-American internment in concentration camps during World War II. I am currently taking a United States History class in Houston Community College as a prerequisite and a research paper is required for that class. I have chosen to write about the Japanese-American internment, which occurred in the 1940s, because it interests me. In one of my humanities class, we read a work by a woman who was in a concentration camp as a young girl in California. I was ultimately shocked but could never believe that such events ever took place in the history of the United States. I was also upset that in all my years of attending school nothing much of this incident was a focus or of relevant as it seems to be put at that back burner. So, I did a small research paper on the internment. I feel it is very important for all Americans to know about what our "free" country did and why it was done. I think there is no reason at all to forget about this tremendous mistake our country made. I am sure that there are many people who have never heard about the Japanese-Americans' internment, and it is valuable and important to know about it and learn from it. I hope to learn more about why and how a free country DID in fact imprison people - and why it did so while trying to stop another country (Germany) from interning people in concentration camps (as well as for doing other things).
Audience
My primary audience is Professor Jeffery Higgins, my professional Writing 3430 lecturer of the University of Houston who is tasked of assigning this subject. And my secondary audience is the Lecturer and History 103 students of the Houston community college. I believe that this topic will be incitingly informative to both sets of readers. I have previously researched about this topic, but I would like to perform more in-depth, quality, research and learn more about the complete situation. I feel that this will be a challenge and I will learn a wealth of information. Also, there is a wealth of information for and against the Japanese-American internment. Therefore, I can do an in-depth research of the topic using many kinds of sources, and draw logical conclusions as well as fulfill the requirements satisfactorily for this course.
The documentation technique I have chosen is APA style as recommended since I am not a history or English Major. It is instructive to note that though my topic's subject matter is history, historical research papers are usually written with Chicago-Humanities documentation system.
Topics to Investigate
The leading research Question that I propose to pursue is: "Was Japanese-American internment during World War II right? Ethical? Justifiable? Was it the correct solution to the problem?"
My working hypothesis (I propose) is that the Japanese-American internment during World War II was a result of bad decisions based upon prejudices and was a major mistake for the United States - it accomplished nothing. During the research, we will focus our attention in finding answers to the following questions:
Why did the internment happen? What drove the government to go that far? Why were Japanese-Americans the only ones interned? Why weren't other "enemy races" interned? What led to their freedom from camps? Has the heavy discrimination stopped? If heavy discrimination against Japanese-Americans has stopped, when did it stop? Have the former prisoners been reimbursed, apologized to, etc. for what happened to them? What were conditions like before, during, and after internment? Why have we as a country tried to hide or forget about what happened?
Methods
After looking in Infotrac 2000 and the library catalog, I have come up with some search terms. They are as follows: Japanese-American internment during WW II War relocation center World War 1939-1945 Japanese Americans
World War II internment United States concentration camps Pearl Harbor
Qualifications/Resources
Pearl Harbor
Qualifications
Prior to this assignment, I have gained some key ideas on this topic that qualifies me to research this topic. I know that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor led to a panic against the entire Japanese race - many thought Japanese-Americans were spies, and thus did not trust them. The "only" solution was to put ALL Japanese-Americans in camps, considering every single person of the Japanese race a suspect. There was not much research or inquiry pertaining to whether or not they were truly spies, and they were not given a chance to speak up or try to prove their innocence. In my previous history class, I have also come across books in the Library and video online about victims of this act of inhumanity and all this has further spurred me to undertake this research.
Also, I plan on using the skills that I learned in Library class in my junior college class for this for research. In fact, I have already ordered a book through the interlibrary loan system and I have found more that I would like to order. Both the Houston Community College Library catalog and the whole library homepage are very helpful to me in leading me to sources.
Methods
In this research I will use both primary and secondary sources, Library and online research.
The types of primary sources that I plan on using are magazines, journals, books, and videos.
I have found some magazines and journals that give personal accounts of what the Japanese-American internment victims went through throughout the whole wartime era. One such magazine, called the Booklist, has an article in it titled "Life in a Japanese American Internment Camp." I have also found some books that were written by those who were placed in the internment camps. One of this books is titled I Am an American. Furthermore, I was privileged to find a video on the internet titled Japanese Internment; A Family Gathering. This tells of a Japanese-American family that lived-in Hood River, Oregon, and how they were treated. It is also very helpful. I plan on searching for other videos that give first-hand …show more content…
experiences. The secondary sources that I plan on consulting are newspapers, magazines, books, and perhaps videos. While taking Library Skills some years ago, I learned that it is possible to find and read newspaper issues from many years ago. I plan on consulting the library for newspaper articles from that time period. I am not sure if they would be considered secondary sources because they are authentic from that time period that the Japanese-Americans were being interned, but I know they will be helpful to me so I can see what people were reading in the newspapers about the incidents at that time. I also plan on finding secondary sources in magazines. I have penciled down National Geographic magazine, a great source of information on this topic which described numerous families' experiences. The article also had many pictures of the concentration camps which told stories in themselves. Also, I have found one article titled "Ansel Adams and Civil Rights" published in Popular Photography. From the article's description, I have found that it is full of photos of the camps. I know I will learn a lot from the pictures alone, because they are not interpreted or warped by any writer, but they show exactly what it was like (a picture is worth a thousand words).
I have found that there are numerous books written about the Japanese-American internment during World War II. I plan on consulting books for the majority of the information that I need for reasons why such actions were taken against the Japanese-Americans as well as information on reimbursement/apologies for the internment.
The following scholarly and general material resources sourced on the web and the Houston Community College library will be used.
Daniels, R. (1989). American concentration camps. New York: Garland.
Davidov, J. F. (1996). "The Color of My Skin, the Shape of My Eyes": Photographs of the Japanese-American Internment by Dorothea Lange, Ansel Adams, and Toyo Miyatake. The Yale Journal of Criticism, 9(2), 223-244. doi:10.1353/yale.1996.0013
Harvey, F. V. (1985, October). Ansel Adams and Civil Rights: An Uncensored Version of a 1944 Exhibit Documents Life in a Japanese-American Internment Camp. Popular Photography, 92-92.
Houston, J. W., & Houston, J. D. (2012). Farewell to Manzanar: a true story of Japanese American experience during and after the World War II internment. New York: Ember.
Life in a Japanese American Internment Camp. (1998). Booklist, 788.
M.
(2011, February 21). Remembering Manzanar. Retrieved March 10, 2017, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ac19C-rfMp8
M., & P., T. (1998, June 22). Ronald Reagan and Redress for Japanese-American Internment, 1983-88. Presidential Studies Quarterly.
7. Work Schedule This project involves two components: research in archival records, and writing up the results. The following work schedule is proposed as a guide for the successful completion of the report on or before the due date.
Task Name Duration Start Finish
Work Schedule-Research Report 25 days Mon 4/3/17 Fri 5/5/17
Gather information 5 days Sat 4/1/17 Thu 4/6/17
Analyze information 3 days Fri 4/7/17 Tue 4/11/17
Prepare progress report 2 days Fri 4/14/17 Mon 4/17/17
Write draft 2 days Fri 4/21/17 Mon 4/24/17
Revise draft 1 day Fri 4/28/17 Fri 4/28/17
Prepare visual and supporting research documents 5 days Fri 4/7/17 Thu 4/13/17
Edit draft 1 day Sat 4/29/17 Sat 4/29/17
Proofread report 1 day Sat 4/29/17 Sat 4/29/17
Submit report and other supporting documents 3 days Mon 5/1/17 Wed 5/3/17
8. Request for Approval
I ask that you approve my topic and approach to it as I plan to commence action immediately upon your approval. I would also, appreciate suggestions on how you think I might best
proceed.