International relations and liberalism and realism

I have an essay due for Friday. the questions include:

a) Liberals are optimistic about human progress, cooperation and peace. What are the reasons given for that optimisim? Do you beleive their argument to be valid?

b) Why do realists place so much emphasis on security? Do you beleive their arguments to be valid? How important is security in World politics?

Please could someone help me with these questions, i have been researching them for over a week and don't feel confident about my findings at all???

Good afternoon.

Since these questions are specific to the content of your class, I suggest you contact your academic advisor or your media center assistant to help you locate periodicals and texts that will be specific to the content of your class. You can also contact your intructor for furhter assistance.

Regards,
Gloria
Moderator, EssayForum.com

Starting an essay on American realism (Twain / James / Dreiser)

Hi guys, i need to write an essay on America realism. The authors i have read so fare are Twain (Adventures of Hucklebeery Finn), James (Daisy Miller) and Dreiser (Old Rogaum and His Theresa). My teacher is going to give me other texts to read but I've no idea what to write! do you have any suggestions, a topic for my essay? thanks a million!!!!

slideshare.net/AmyBurk/american-realism-lecture-powerpoint-6832402 - American realism
slideshare.net/AmyBurk - AmyBurk

thanks for the power point! but i need to focus my essay on a specific topic!

can anyone help me?

Well, does anything in particular from those texts catch your interest?