Cuban Revolution Essay

For this essay students were encouraged to pick from one of the following essay questions. Students were provided with a list of all the sources studied together in class so that they could collect them and create their own classroom textbook of resources to use for gathering evidence. Students were also given a few extra resources to bolster their research. My colleague and I were trying a different strategy at the time for getting students to outline essays. Usually we ask students to come up with their ideas first and then find the evidence to prove it. This time we asked students to find relevant evidence first then we had an activity that asked students to try an categorize the evidence based on themes and ideas. These themes and ideas then became the supporting evidence for students essays. 

Questions:

1. Why did Cubans follow Castro in the revolution?

2. Why did Cubans participate in the overthrow of Batista's government?

3. Were there justifiable reasons to stage a revolution in Cuba in the 1950s?

4. What were the people fighting in the Cuban Revolution fighting for?

5. How did Castro succeed in overthrowing Batista’s government?

Resources and internal citations from class:

1. Pre Castro Cuba (PBS)

2. What Castro Found (Simo)

3. Video Footage of Havana Cuba in the 1950s (Cuba Before Castro)

4. What was the July 26th Movement (de Gámez)

5. Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolution (Guevara)

6. Behind Rebel Lines Newsreel, see attached transcript (Universal-International News)

7. Battle of Jigüe (Cannon 1981)

8. Nuestra Razon: Manifesto of the July 26th Movement (Program Manifesto)

Additional Sources:

1. Cuba in the 1950s: Introduction (Sierra)

2. Azucar! Reflection on US involvement in the Sugar Industry (Varied sources)

3. Fulgencio Batista (Sierra)

4. Fulgencio Batista (PBS)

5. Book reveals extent of Mafia's Cuban empire

6. Quote from Fidel’s trial (Fidel, Defense)

7. What the Cuban Rebels Want (Fidel, The Nation)

8. On Racism (Cannon)

9. Frank País and the Underground Movement in the cities (Cannon)

10. Fidel Castro & the Quest for A Revolutionary Culture in Cuba (Women in Pre-Revolutionary Cuba) (Bunck)

11. Che on Batista’s forces (Che 1958)

12. JFK’s reflection on the Cuban Revolution (Kennedy 1963)

Steps:

1. Gather evidence

2. Organize evidence into clear identifiable categories

3. Outline essay

4. Write a working thesis

5. Write body paragraphs

6. Write introduction and conclusion

7. Revise Essay