IA History IA help narrowing the question?

[VodkaCheers]

Hey everyone, I'm new to these so forgive me for my newbie-ness. My first question was recently rejected by my teacher so I had to re-do plan A and B. The research question was: "To what extent can Tituba's confession of being a witch be considered the main reason of the Salem Witch Hunt in 1692?"

Fail. So now I chose the most overdone topic so it wouldn't be rejected because I'm REALLY short on time. Propaganda and WWII. I don't know which question to do or which country's propaganda (to narrow it down). I was thinking maybe Germany's, Britain's or American's propaganda. OR maybe two of them, like:

"Compare and contrast Germany's and American's propaganda during WWII."

or

"Assess the objective sought by the Allie's propaganda during WWII"

As you can see, I SUCK at formulating questions. HELP

Alsooo, which country's propaganda would be easier to do? As in, not too broad, not too narrow. THANK YOU!

PS: NO HITLER. I don't want to do "To what extent was Nazi propaganda maintaining Hitler with power?" nothing along those lines.

[GirlwiththeBlueBox]

Well, like the question asks, these questions are FAR too broad. There's no way you could cover any of those in 2 000 words. As for your RQ concerning the objective sought by the Allied propaganda in WWII-- isn't it obvious? They wanted to convince their citizens that their cause was the right one and to persuade them to buy war bonds to help pay for the war or enlist in the militia.

I would focus on one aspect of the propaganda. Is there a certain media of propaganda that fascinates you? Like you could analyse how the development of film impacted propaganda in WWI or WWII. Or you could analyse why the Allied and Axis countries had come to rely on propaganda; there really hadn't been much propaganda in previous wars, so why the sudden outburst? (This is slightly stretching it for a History IA, but you get what I'm saying)

I can't pick your question for you, so you'll have to decide for yourself which country's propaganda to focus on. Although I would say that Germany had probably the most amount of propaganda, so there'd be a lot of material there, but it's been done to death. Maybe Japanese propaganda?

Good luck!

[Arrowhead]

I actually really love your question on the Salem Witch Hunt, but I can see why you were discouraged from pursuing it. It'll be nigh impossible to get any primary sources for your IA, lots of secondary sources available on the topic though.

As far as your newer ideas are concerned. Don't be lazy. Think! Come up with something interesting. It will take you the same amount of time to research an overdone topic anyway. Try and find something from your local history or culture and write about that.

In terms of critique for your current two options, I concur with the comments made by GirlwiththeBlueBox.

I hope things work out for you in the end.

Best of luck!

Arrowhead.

Edited September 16, 2012 by Arrowhead

[dukeinvikaca]

Regarding your first proposed topic - I see some reasons why your teacher declined it - it is focused and has some historical grounds; but nevertheless your teacher might think that it is too speculative - using the word main reason is often troublesome, as far as my experience serves and plus what Arrowhead said - no primary sources. Ask your teacher to explain why did he/she refuse that topic and ask him/her to help you rephrase the question if you are so eager to do the Salem Witch Hunt.

When it comes to other topics, I would avoid such "worn" out topics and focus on something that you have an interest in. Best suggestion - shut down your computer, get a piece of paper and brainstorm.