Karibella.W
Melissa.S
Composition II
29 January 2025
Research Portfolio
Previous Sections
I. Topic Brainstorming and Research Question (Click to read)
I. Topic Brainstorming and Research Question
Topic: America’s separation from Britain and Ukraine’s separation from Russia.
Research Question: How does America’s motivation to break away from Britain compare and contrast with Ukraine’s motivation to separate from Russia?
• Why do these two topics matter to you? What do you find interesting or compelling about them?
These two topics matter to me because, firstly, I am American, and without Americans’ motivation to form their own country, I probably wouldn’t be here. The second topic matters to me because the history of Ukraine is often overlooked, and I think it is important to learn and tell the history. I find these two topics share so much because at their hearts, the people just wanted to be free from tyrants, even though there are differences between the two nations’ histories.
• Why should this information matter to others? What would you say if they asked, “So what?”
If one said “so what” to my topic, I would reprimand them for their ignorance and foolish choice of thought and words. I would then educate them on the importance of learning the history of the world. Learning the history of one’s nation and the other nations of the world is very important, as it can teach us and help us better understand humanity. Studying the past helps us to learn how to prepare for the future. All around the globe, people are separated into groups based on race, culture, lineage, language, and other factors, but we have to remember that everyone is the same. When we study what motivates a group of people to declare independence and stand as a free nation, we can be enlightened as to what it means to be truly free and why do humans wish to have freedom.
• In the space below, create a Venn diagram or a comparison-contrast chart for your topics.
| America | Both | Ukraine |
| Was a new and young nation | Wanted to be free | Is an ancient nation and culture |
| Had never previously been free | Wanted recognition as a sovereign and independent nation | Had been fighting for independence for centuries |
| Involved a war | Both made a declaration of independence | Did not directly involve a war in the year of the Declaration of Independence (1991) |
| Had some struggles but over time flourished and has grown to one of the most powerful nations | Both desired economic freedom | Struggled but grew to be more and more independent. |
| A revolution was held | Both had other nation(s) to back them up/help | Population voted |
| Was in late 1700s | Both have lasted as independent nations | Was in late 1900s |
| Had to start from scratch with government | Both had the people leading the independence movement | Had a previous “government” and a puppet president |
| Is widely studied | Both had large, powerful and well-known nations ruling over them | Is not widely studied |
• What specific comparison(s) will you make about the two topics?
I will compare the two similar motivations the countries had to declare independence specifically that they both wanted economic, religious, and social freedom and to be recognised as a sovereign and independent nation.
• What specific contrast(s) will you make between the two topics? I will contrast the two topics by focusing on Ukraine’s want for cultural freedom while America was more driven for economic freedom. Additionally, Americans led an uprising and war while in Ukraine, independence was decided by vote because a nation was already established.
• Is your research question clear and specific? Would your audience understand what you aim to communicate? Will what you have to say likely meet the paper’s length requirements?
I believe that my research question is clear and specific because it focuses on a more centralized issue within the greater story. I will be able to meet the length requirements because there is much to say about each nation’s motivations by providing history and context for each. Additionally, talking about the many similarities the two countries share will provide plenty of words.
• What other questions may be necessary to answer?
I may need to understand the historical context of both country’s situations and to learn the exact dates of things. Additionally, I think I should include some historical context in the essay itself to clarify things for readers.
• What argument may develop from your research as you compare and contrast these two topics?
A possible argument that may develop may be that no nation deserves to be cast under a shadow, and no matter the time or place, every human deserves to be free.
• What types of resources will you require? What specific information will you need to develop your ideas?
I will need to read further on the exact details of Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence and specific timelines and details of that year and time period leading up to it. For America, I will need to find resources detailing what led up to the revolution to study the attitudes of people before the war and I will need to familiarize myself with the dates of things and the timeline.
II. Annotated Bibliography (ten sources total, each including the citation, summary, and application) (Click to read)
II. Annotated Bibliography (ten sources total, each including the citation, summary, and application)
Supreme Soviet of Ukraine on behalf of the Ukrainian people. “Constitution Of Ukraine.” Verkhovna Rada, 24 Aug. 1991, www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/eoir/legacy/2013/11/08/constitution_14.pdf. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
This file is the complete constitution of Ukraine. It contains 161 Articles about how Ukraine should be governed and laws. The constitution was made to ensure that Ukraine was seen as a separate state from Russia or any other nation.
This could be helpful for my essay because its wording and some of the articles detailing that Ukraine is a free state can help to show how much the Ukrainian people wanted to be free, and it may outline why they did. By looking at the kinds of laws in the Constitution, one can see what the Ukrainian people found they were lacking by what laws they made, therefore showing what freedoms they lacked, which would motivate them to declare independence.
We The People. “The United States Constitution.” National Constitution Center, 19 Sept. 1787, constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/full-text. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
This article contains the full of the text of the United States Constitution. There are 27 amendments in the American constitution detailing the basic rights that citizens shall have.
This constitution can help me understand what the Americans were seeking when declaring independence by looking at the laws and rights they established.
Staff of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. “The December 1, 1991 Referendum/Presidential Election in Ukraine.” CSCE, 1 Dec. 1991, www.csce.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/120191UkraineReferendum.pdf. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
This file contains a report on the 1991 presidential election in Ukraine. The article contains a background on the organization, a summary of the election, a background on activities causing the Declaration of independence, and details about the election itself.
This article is a valuable resource as it contains much history of events in Ukraine leading up to the election and information on the election.
Staff, National Archives. “The Declaration of Independence: How Did It Happen?” National Archives, 5 Jun. 2024, www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration/how-did-it-happen. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
This article contains summaries of events prior to the DeclaraDeclarationependence in America. It contains sections on the events leading up to the revolution, choosing to declare independence, drafting the declaraDeclarationeclaring independence.
The article has the potential to aid this essay because it provides a history on the feelings and actions of the people leading up to the revolution.
Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, Staff Member. “10 Causes of the American Revolution.” Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, www.bostonteapartyship.com/article/10-causes-of-the-american-revolution. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
This article details 10 reasons for the American Revolution. The reasons go over recent events that spurred a spirit of anger towards the British as well as Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Each reason has a paragraph explaining the background of the reason and the actions within it.
This article will be helpful because it outlines a few causes for the revolution and DeclaraDeclarationependence, which relates directly to my research question.
Yekelchyk, Serhy. “The Making of Independent Ukraine.” LSE Public Policy Reveiw, 8 Sept. 2023, ppr.lse.ac.uk/articles/10.31389/lseppr.90. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
This article details the history and events in Ukraine from before the declaraDeclarationependence while Ukraine was still part of the USSR all the way to the time of the Orange Revolution in 2004. In between these, Yekelchyk covers the events of the revolution and election declaration of independence and the growth that followed.
This article is helpful as it provides a detailed history of events before, during, and after the declaraDeclarationependence in Ukraine, providing a large amount of information on the people’s actions and opinions.
UKRAINE, BRAND. “Origins and History of Ukraine.” Ukraine.UA, 22 Feb. 2022, ukraine.ua/explore/origins-history-of-ukraine/. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
This article starts off with the earliest histories of people in Ukraine from before Christ’s birth. It details the activities of people from ancient times through the Middle Ages and into the modern era. Understanding the history of a country and people helps us understand what could motivate them to break away form a large nation that they had been held by for many hundreds of years.
Citing this article could strenghten my essay because by looking at the past we can learn about the future. From understanding the origins and history of Ukraine we can have a deeper undestanding of the choices people made.
Terajima, Asami. “Ukraine’s Struggle for Independence.” Kyiv Independant, kyivindependent.com/ukraines-struggle-for-independence/. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
This article grabs the reader with a hook about the Battle of Kruty in 1918. It then dives into the history of Ukraine trying to resist its neighbor’s attempts to blanket it. It mainly covers the years surrounding Ukraine’s first declaraDeclarationependence from Russia after the fall of the Russian Empire.
This article is helpful because it details a main event that sparked the attempts Ukraine made at breaking free of Russian control. The declaraDeclarationependence I will be focusing on is the one that took place in 1991, but understanding the previous one in 1918 helps us to see that there was 100% motivation because prior attempts at independence were already made.
“The Pre-Revolutionary Period and the Roots of the American Political Tradition.” Lumen Learning, courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-monroecc-americangovernment/chapter/the-pre-revolutionary-period-and-the-roots-of-the-american-political-tradition/#:~:text=Americans%20believed%20all%20people%20(i.e.,allowing%20people%20to%20govern%20themselves. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
This article, within a course on the American Revolution, focuses on the political thought in the colonies before the revolution and the revolution itself. Its first section focuses on the establishment of the need for human rights and how this concept was not widely known. The second half focuses on the revolution but also the thoughts that people started to have about the British government not satisfying their need for rights.
This resource is extremely helpful as it details the unrest that people felt prior to them declaring independence.
Armitage, David. “The Declaration of Independence in Global Perspective.” The Guilder Lehrman Institute of American History, www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/declaration-independence-global-perspective#:~:text=So%20long%20as%20a%20people,demands%20a%20declaration%20of%20independence. Accessed 29 Jan. 2025.
This resource talks about the Declaration of Independence itself and then puts it in a global perspective. The significance of the Declaration of Independence within the whole world is great as it has brought to light how crucial human rights are. It also inspired other nations to make constitutions and declare independence from their overlords.
This resource is helpful as it helps us to see the Global impact of nations declaring independence and how significant that can be.
III. Working Thesis Statement and Outline (This work must be color-coded to show the four points of your thesis and their corresponding topic sentences.) (Nota Bene: I couldnt color code it in WordPress so readers wont be able to see the colors)
I. Americans and Ukrainians declared independence to gain rights and self governance, but Ukrainians had a rich culture to preserve and had prior experience with self-governance, while Americans were just establishing a new culture and had no experience with self-governance.
II. *Point one: The histories of these two nations are important and interesting. Both nations declared independence to gain rights for their people.
III. *Point two: Both nations wished to gain rights and to have self-governance and control over laws.
IV. *Point three: While America and Ukraine both wished for freedom, Ukrainians had an ancient culture to preserve, and Americans were just beginning to build a culture.
V. *Point four: Both America and Ukraine wished for self-governance, but Ukrainians had previous experience with self-governance, and Americans had never self-governed.
VI. Americans and Ukrainians had valid reasons to declare independence and shared notable similarities and differences. Americans and Ukrainians both wanted to gain rights and self-governance but Ukrainians had their culture to protect and already knew about self-governing, while Americans were building a new culture and had never governed themselves.
*Note that this outline follows the point-by-point method of organizing your essay. This structure is best suited to an essay of this length. The points covered in the body paragraphs must include at least one similarity and one difference.
Additionally…
This section is fantastically concise, but it later will be exceedingly helpful! The funny thing is that it was very dificult to craft. I really struggled to pack all my ideas into a single four-point sentence with at least one similarity and one difference. The points I want to make need a lot more explaining so let me break them down. (or up…)
“II. *Point one: The histories of these two nations are important and interesting. Both nations declared independence to gain rights for their people.” This one starts with the transition sentence and then moves to the topic sentence. The idea that was annoying me while writing this was that of course a country declares independence to gain rights. (duh) So why should this point be included? Well, firstly, because it makes an easy and expandable point, (one less thing to worry about) but secondly, because we can truly dive into why they wanted rights, what rights they wanted, and why was independence the only viable option? Once I know that question I can then make a full 300 word paragraph detail the histories and dive into my expansion. The thesis statement is just there to be a roadmap for writer and reader, to show what to expect within the essay and provide a hook of interesting claims/ideas.
“III. *Point two: Both nations wished to gain rights and to have self-governance and control over laws.” Oops, it looks like I forgot my transition sentance here but I have already turned in this assignmnet. All’s well that ends well? Anyway, this point could potentially fall under my first but it is just more spesific than that. Whiel they both wanted rights under just general basic human rights comes control over laws and government. In both America the colonists really really really hated the Brits for all of the taxes and laws they put into place. In Ukraine there were also lots of laws and in both countreis minimal control was given to the people. They wanted what they did not have and thus wanted self governance and to create their own laws.
(NOTA BENE: I just learned this but when you select text and press shift + quatiation marks, it auto quotes the passage of highlited text. For example: “I select this example. Then I press shift. Then while holding shift I press the key that has the little quote things and voila this example has quoatain marks!”)
“IV. *Point three: While America and Ukraine both wished for freedom, Ukrainians had an ancient culture to preserve, and Americans were just beginning to build a culture.” This point was the one that gave me most trouble. I could not figure out how to put my idea into words so short! One big difference that I think is super interesting and carried on into this modern cnetury is that Ukraine had a super long standing and rich culture while the americans were kinda just non-british brits. Imagine the color grass green next to the color like burlap tan. Bright:Bland. (Nota Bene: I recognize that I’m making this contrast too broad—the American colonists weren’t just burlap-tan, bland, tea-sipping people. They definitely had their own customs and traditions (Thanksgiving) and were certainly interesting in their own right.) This subtopic I think is just absoloutly crucial to understand and remember as I compare these two countries so I chose to include it.
“V. *Point four: Both America and Ukraine wished for self-governance, but Ukrainians had previous experience with self-governance, and Americans had never self-governed.” Another hugely important point that I just couldnt resist including. This one can lardgely focus on the Americans because they turnd out with a super fantastic government after having almost no expereience. They did have some form of governement as colonists but that is smaller and less ‘serious’ than the whole president cabinet and congress thing. On the far hadn Ukriane is a much older nation so they had years upon years of various forms of government like the Kyvian Rus or The Kozak Hetmanate among other forms of government. I also would like to point out that since the 1991 declaring of independance in Ukraine was in much more modern times with larger communication and modern governments the Ukrainians had some good examples to follow but negativly they also had a previous government with coruption. The Americans arguable had it esaier starting from scratch but then agian had to start from scratch without fantastic examples.
After all this explaining I am itching to write this whole essay but alas I must wait! Thank you for taking your time to read and I sure do hope you enjoyed it! See you in the next post!
