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History Essay- Japanese American Internment camps during WWII (HELP)


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Hey there, I am a Japanese American who has relatives that we're in these internment camps. For this reason I chose to do my EE on this topic. I am having a lot of trouble trying to narrow this topic down into a research question. Every time I try to formulate one the question becomes impossible to argue. My supervisor strictly said that your thesis must be arguable. I am thinking of switching my topic but I am hesitant to do so because I have my family to use for primary resources.

Any advice would be appreciated!!!! :)

Thanks!

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First, what aspect of the camps are you wanting to write about? causes? consequences? treatment of prisoners? Effect on a country, government or policy?

And second, what sort of questions have you come up with already?

I might be able to be more helpful to you then :)

Also, as for some broad advice, start your question with something like 'To what extent..' because that should force you to argue.

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The main point that I have been focusing on is the consequences that these camps had on the Japanese people. I really want to focus my argument on how the Japanese were able to make the best of their situation by using their values. But I am unsure of how to accurately put that idea into a research question.

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The main point that I have been focusing on is the consequences that these camps had on the Japanese people. I really want to focus my argument on how the Japanese were able to make the best of their situation by using their values. But I am unsure of how to accurately put that idea into a research question.

In my opinion, the RQ is problematic. Assessing the consequences of the internment can be done easily. But determining the effect it had on people is far too subjective. It obviously affected different people in different ways and it's hard to homogenise their experiences. Furthermore, it's far too subjective to ascertain how their "values" empowered their survival. It's debatable what these "values" are as well.

Perhaps, instead, focus on the 'internment' itself and maybe what its consequences were with the focus on the events pertaining to the internment rather than the internees.

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