Goodbye, Antoura essay assignment

Read Goodbye, Antoura (Foreword, Introduction, and Chs. 2-8) and write an essay according to the following guidelines.

Karnig Panian, the author of Goodbye, Antoura, characterizes his experience of the Armenian Genocide as a “battle” or “struggle” (p. 119) between Armenian children and Ottoman officials who want to “Turkify” them. This is not the way that genocide is usually depicted. We often think about genocide as a tale of powerful perpetrators and powerless victims, not as a contest between two sets of opponents, however unevenly matched those opponents might be.

For this essay, explain the nature of the “battle” or “struggle” that Panian found himself engaged in with the Ottoman state during World War One. Who were the opposing sides, and what weapons did they have at their disposal? What methods did the Ottomans use to try to exterminate the Armenian nation, and what methods did Panian and his community use to resist or fight back? In the final analysis, which opponent seems to have “won” this contest? (Your answer to this last question will be your thesis statement.)
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Structure: All essays must have an introduction (with a thesis statement), a body, and a conclusion.
• The thesis statement will be your one-sentence answer to the question above. It should be located somewhere in your introductory paragraph, wherever it makes sense to put it. Your thesis statement must be written in bold (so that I can easily identify it).
• The rest of your introductory paragraph should set out the main points that the rest of the paper will make, functioning as a sort of blueprint to the rest of the paper. It often helps to write the introduction last, once you know what the paper is going to say.
• The body of the essay should consist of several paragraphs that support your thesis statement. Each paragraph should be devoted to a single main point, and it should use supporting evidence – quotations, specific examples, etc. – to prove that point.
• The conclusion should restate your argument and offer any further thoughts/reflections you might have about the topic.

Length: Essays must be 1000-1500 words long. All papers are to be typed using 12-point font, 1-inch margins, and double-spaced.

Quotes and Citations: Every main point in your argument needs to be supported with at least one quotation from the book. So, for instance, if one of your main points is “One of the main methods the Ottomans used to exterminate the Armenians was to destroy their religion,” then you’ll need to find a specific example from the book to back up that assertion, and you should illustrate that example using a quotation. All main points need supporting evidence of this kind.
The only source you’ll be using is Goodbye, Antoura, so all quotations should be cited using simple parenthetical documentation with the page number(s) on which the quotation is found. No outside sources should be cited, although you may certainly look for background information online or in the library.

Plagiarism: Any form of plagiarism will result in a grade of “F” for the course. “Plagiarize” is defined in Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary as “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own,” “use (a created production) without crediting the source,” “to commit literary theft: present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.” This includes online sources – there is a lot of information online about this event, but resist the temptation to borrow from these sources (or even consult them) in writing your essay – this is the easiest form of plagiarism to catch. All words and ideas must be your own. Outright plagiarism (or any form of cheating) will result in a failing grade in the course and disciplinary action by the university.