Emergence of the modern united states portfolio
step 1: research american foreign policy
review what you know about american foreign policy between 1890–1920 and the debate over imperialism. you will need to know the following information in order to complete your dialogue:
the countries that the united states occupied or acquired
the reasons some americans supported imperialism
the reasons other americans opposed imperialism
step 2: choosing two people with opposing viewpoints

choose two people with opposing views on america’s role in the world during the period between 1890–1920. the following are some possible people to choose from:
anti-imperialists pro-imperialists

jane addams minor c. keith
eugene debs alfred thayer mahan
samuel gompers william mckinley
jeanette rankin theodore roosevelt
mark twain josiah strong
booker t. washington woodrow wilson
ida b. wells
queen liliuokalani
emilio aguinaldo

step 3: research the two people

research both sides of the issue. you will need to find all of the following information to complete your dialogue:

• what are the basic facts that both sides can agree on?
• what did each person believe about imperialism?
• how did they work in support of or in opposition to imperialism?
• were there any key events in their lives that affected their beliefs about imperialism?

step 4: research analysis

before you write your conversations, reflect on the information you learned while researching your issue. write down your thoughts to the questions below; you will need the answers to complete your dialogue.

• what is each person’s opinion on the issue?
• what facts or reasoning back up each person's opinion?
• what would person a say about person b’s opinion and vice versa?

step 5: writing a dialogue

now write your dialogue between two people on different sides of the issue. make sure to address the following issues in your final product:

begin your dialogue with each person stating his or her opinion on the issue. this opinion should be about one paragraph long.
spend the rest of the conversation with the two people responding to each other about their opinions.
use the following format to write your dialogue.
person 1: i believe that . .

person 2: nonsense. you are . .

person 1: that is not true. i . .

you may wish to have the people ask one another questions.
focus the dialogue on the specific issues. although your people may criticize or challenge each other’s beliefs, the conversation should not become a name-calling session. have each person comment on the other person’s opinions.
your dialogue should be based on both historical fact and imaginative details derived from historical fact.
your dialogue should be at least three pages long, single-spaced, and typed in 12-point font.