Assessment Congratulations! You've almost completed the lesson "Roots of the Cold War." You have learned about the tension, competition, and conflict that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union from post-World War II to 1989.

Sometimes the best way to learn more about something is to talk directly with someone who experienced it. For this assessment, you have two options. Option A is to conduct a face-to-face interview with a person who lived during the Cold War era. Option B is to create an interview with your own character based on the lesson and primary source documents provided.

Select either Option A or Option B and then follow the steps to complete the assessment.

Option AOption B

Option B ─ Create an “Interview”

Step 1:
Review the lesson and your notes. Carefully examine each of these six primary sources related to the Cold War.

Step 2:
Imagine how a person would have experienced those events at the time. Create a character in your mind, someone old enough to have seen and heard about these events when they happened. Note that the sources are American when thinking about your character. Be creative─was the character born and raised American? Is he or she a recent Soviet immigrant? What does the person do for work? Does he or she have family? You don’t have to answer these questions in writing. They may help you understand your character better in order to complete the next step.

Step 3:
Use these interview questions to imagine how your character would respond to them.

Step 4:
Write your character’s responses to the interview questions, including two additional questions you create yourself. If you like, you may also choose to record the interview as a video or podcast by having someone play the role of your character.

Step 5:
To complete this assignment, use your audio recording or notes to summarize your interview. If your actor gives permission, you may submit your recorded interview instead of a written summary. You must be sure that you include all of the questions and answers in your selected delivery method.
Your final submission must also include a reflection that thoroughly answers the following questions:

What did you learn from the primary sources or lesson that was most surprising and why?
How might a Russian adult have responded differently to the interview questions?
Assessment 08.01 Roots of the Cold War