All over my life, my interest in conducting a research about the Vietnam War has been intensive. Vietnam War was a long struggle between the nationalist forces who were attempting to unite Vietnam under the government of communism while the U.S was trying to inhibit the spread of communism in the country. The U.S lost the support of the public in the war and ever since the war ended, it has become a benchmark for the act that should never be repeated in all the future United States foreign conflicts. I commenced my research on this interesting topic at the start of the semester session after a thorough meditation on the details concerning the war. The main target points that I wanted to find out in this topic was the real timing of the occurrences of the war, the participants in the war, the ways in which the troops were deployed, the impact of the war and the major events and the turning points that marked the warring period. From the onset of the research, I had wished to obtain the information from the perspective of the real individuals who participated in the war as opposed to reading views of authors on how the war took place.
After successfully settling on a topic, I passionately embarked on a mission to obtain the necessary background information regarding the Vietnamese War. I had to find sufficient background information on this topic to provide me with important information that could confirm that stories that my friends used to tell me about the war and the ones that I often watched in the movies. Therefore, I started reading and jotting notes on the particulars of the topic. The types of books that I read to obtain background information were the encyclopaedias, general news articles and bibliographies. The main aim of conducting the general reading was because I believed that the information could boost my insights to study much more on the topic.
I then commenced the process of finding relevant articles and books that had sufficient information about my topic. This process was so hectic to me as I was not quite familiar with that online databases. I began this process by identifying important concepts about the topic. I generated certain key words that I could use in searching for articles in the online databases such as Wiley, Research Gate and others. An example of the key words that I generated were, “effect of Vietnamese war.” In searching for the articles, I took consideration of the timing of the events of my topic so that I obtain the most updated information from the article search result. I also took note of finding books or articles that had the perspectives and views of the veterans who had first-hand information about the details of Vietnam War. My searches were quite successful and I believed in the successful completion of the research the moment I obtained the book written by Anderson, “The Vietnam War,” where he bravely examined the political, military, diplomatic, economic and social issues of the war, both in the U.S and in Vietnam.
I embarked on the process of evaluating the articles and the books that I had searched for from the online sources and the library databases. I evaluated that sources based on their accuracies, dates, authors and the nature of contents. Centred on the facts that I had on the topic, I scrutinized and gauged the accuracy of the sources by identifying if the information therein was backed up by sufficient data. I ensured that the sources completely covered the topic area of my concern and that the author’s authority in the field was to the levels that I deemed right.
I began citing the sources that I accredited as good based on my knowledge of the topic. I sought the guidance of my professor on the type of style that was appropriate for use in the citation of my sources. I then carefully cited the various sources that I had gathered such as the journals, articles, books and electronic sources as appropriate.
The part that I enjoyed doing most was the bit of bringing together the information that I had assembled to compile the final copy. Though at first the information that I had seemed to be confusing because they were a bit jumbled up, I managed to eventually fix them to create a coherent research paper that had the grasp of all the information that I wished to include in my paper. I was really happy to see the refined copy of the paper having been spiced with the direct viewpoints of the men and women who served in the combat including soldiers as presented by Westheider in his book, “The Vietnam War,”
Annotated Bibliography
Anderson, David L.. The Vietnam War. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Print.
The book was useful to me in the research in terms of presenting a clear and concise overview that served to lay the foundation for my in-depth understanding of the historical legacies, the course and the origins of the Vietnam War. The also sheds light on the economic, social, diplomatic, military and political issues of the war in a manner that eased the process of isolating the information that I required in a very easy and quicker manner. I loved the book a lot due to the authority and brevity with which the author drove his views home.
Westheider, James E.. The Vietnam War. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2007. Print.
Westheider’s book completely fulfilled my aim in the research as he gave me the nature of information that I had always wished to incorporate in any research work that I engage in. In passing his history on the war, he exclusively dwelt on the views of those who directly participated in the war as obtained through interviews and testimonials. The book was quite helpful in giving me the insightful information that incorporated the perspectives of the victims and the people who were actively involved in the war. The book also helped in providing information about the timelines of the events that ensued in the war as all the information in it were comprehensively dated and arranged chronologically.
Works Cited
Anderson, David L.. The Vietnam War. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Print.
Westheider, James E.. The Vietnam War. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2007. Print.
