ronald reagan speech

On 12 June 1987, Ronald Reagan stood before the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin. After 42 years of Cold War, a new Soviet General Secretary, Mikhail Gorbachev, had been touting a more open Soviet society. This new policy was called “Glasnost”, meaning “openness”. On this late spring day in front of a large crowd of Berliners, Reagan decided to put this suggested new Soviet policy to the test. He did that by challenging Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Read this famous speech provided below. As you read this primary document be sure to think about not only what the document is says, but the context in which the document was written. Also be sure to reflect on the information in the document so you can formulate your own analysis of the meaningfulness of the writing. Here are some things you might reflect upon: What was Reagan’s motivation for this famous speech. How does this speech measure against other speeches given on or at the wall such as Kennedy’s speech at the same location twenty four years prior? Why does he direct this speech directly at Mikhail Gorbachev? How does his speech illustrate the superiority of life in the west compared to the east?

Essay:
After you have carefully read the document, you will need to write a short essay on the reading. The format for the essay is as follow:

Introduction:
Write an introductory paragraph that describes the argument you intend to make in your paper. This introduction will include a thesis statement stating what you intend to prove or argue in the body of your writing. The direction and flow of your paper is largely driven by the quality of thesis you present in your introduction so be sure that you have a clear and focused thesis.

Body Paragraphs:
Write supporting paragraphs that support the argument presented in your thesis. These supporting paragraphs should use the source document to support your position as well as any other outside sources you used in order to support your argument. There is no maximum to the number of supporting paragraphs that you can use to make your argument, but be sure to keep you paper focused on your argument and do not fill it with irrelevant material.

Conclusion:
Write a conclusion paragraph that re-frames your argument and sums up the overall essay.