write a gobbet about two topics
The primary documents, normally an extract of text (especially a quotation) or image, is provided as a context for analysis, discussion, or translation. A well written gobbet should have the following elements:
a. it will identify the document and context (including its language, whether the text provided is a translation, and the place where this document was done), its purpose and the main characters involved;
b. it will comment on the particular point or points raised in the extract (ask yourself, why was this extract set?);
c. it will explain any distinctive words or phrases;
d. it will then, towards the end, comment more discursively on some of the broader issues involved. Is this a true or accurate narrative of events? Are the hopes of the protagonist ultimately realized? Where does this extract fit into the wider context of what we know from our sources?
Try to make about four to five points, and do not write more than 800 words or fewer than 500. Avoid an over lengthy introduction; get to the point quickly, do not simply rephrase the wording of the gobbet, and make sure that you analyze it. Gobbets are designed to assess your ability to comment critically upon source material, whether a text or an object. Each gobbet will have at least one specific point that should be addressed/analyzed, so always consider why a particular passage/image has been chosen.
For those of you also taking literature modules in other Schools, please note that history gobbets are less an exercise in textual criticism and much more an attempt to get to the heart of the issues contained within a document, and the issues concerning the nature of the document itself. On the following pages are your gobbet selections.
For your assignment you are required to write on two topics. Richard Nixon on the American Standard of
Living (1959) and George W. Bush on the Post 9/11 World (2002)
