2018

AP Research
Academic Paper
Sample Student Responses
and Scoring Commentary

Inside:

Sample A
RR Scoring Guideline
RR Student Samples
RR Scoring Commentary

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 2018 AP Research Academic Paper Rubric v1.0
The response…
Score of 1 Score of 2 Score of 3 Score of 4 Score of 5
Report on Existing Knowledge Report on Existing Knowledge with Ineffectual Argument for a Well-Supported, Articulate Argument Rich Analysis of a New Understanding
Simplistic Use of a Research Method New Understanding Conveying a New Understanding Addressing a Gap in the Research Base

• Presents an overly broad topic • Presents a topic of inquiry with • Carries the focus or scope of a • Focuses a topic of inquiry with • Focuses a topic of inquiry with
of inquiry. narrowing scope or focus, that is topic of inquiry through the clear and narrow parameters, clear and narrow parameters,
NOT carried through either in the method AND overall line of which are addressed through the which are addressed through the
method or in the overall line of reasoning, even though the focus method and the conclusion. method and the conclusion.
reasoning. or scope might still be narrowing.

• Situates a topic of inquiry • Situates a topic of inquiry within a • Situates a topic of inquiry within • Explicitly connects a topic of • Explicitly connects a topic of
within a single perspective single perspective derived from relevant scholarly works of inquiry to relevant scholarly works inquiry to relevant scholarly works
derived from scholarly works scholarly works OR through a varying perspectives, although of varying perspectives AND of varying perspectives AND
variety of perspectives derived from connections to some works may logically explains how the topic of logically explains how the topic of
OR through a variety of
mostly non-scholarly works. be unclear. inquiry addresses a gap. inquiry addresses a gap.
perspectives derived from
mostly non-scholarly works.

• Describes a search and report • Describes a nonreplicable research • Describes a reasonably replicable • Logically defends the alignment of • Logically defends the alignment of
process. method OR provides an research method, with a detailed, replicable research a detailed, replicable research
oversimplified description of a questionable alignment to the method to the purpose of the method to the purpose of the
method, with questionable purpose of the inquiry. inquiry. inquiry.
alignment to the purpose of the
inquiry.

• Summarizes or reports existing • Summarizes or reports existing • Conveys a new understanding or • Supports a new understanding or • Justifies a new understanding or
knowledge in the field of knowledge in the field of conclusion, with an conclusion through a logically conclusion through a logical
understanding pertaining to understanding pertaining to the underdeveloped line of organized line of reasoning AND progression of inquiry choices,
reasoning OR insufficient sufficient evidence. The sufficient evidence, explanation of
the topic of inquiry. topic of inquiry.
evidence. limitations and/or implications, if the limitations of the conclusion,
present, of the new and an explanation of the
understanding or conclusion are implications to the community of
oversimplified. practice.

• Generally communicates the • Generally communicates the • Competently communicates the • Competently communicates the • Enhances the communication of
student’s ideas, although student’s ideas, although errors in student’s ideas, although there student’s ideas, although there the student’s ideas through
errors in grammar, discipline- grammar, discipline-specific style, may be some errors in grammar, may be some errors in grammar, organization, use of design
and organization distract or confuse discipline-specific style, and discipline-specific style, and elements, conventions of grammar,
specific style, and organization
the reader. organization. organization. style, mechanics, and word
distract or confuse the reader.
precision, with few to no errors.

• Cites AND/OR attributes • Cites AND/OR attributes sources (in • Cites AND attributes sources, • Cites AND attributes sources, • Cites AND attributes sources, with
sources (in bibliography/works bibliography/works cited and/or in- using a discipline-specific style with a consistent use of an a consistent use of an appropriate
cited and/or in-text), with text), with multiple errors and/or an (in both bibliography/works cited appropriate discipline-specific discipline-specific style (in both
inconsistent use of a discipline- AND in-text), with few errors or style (in both bibliography/works cited AND in-
multiple errors and/or an
specific style. inconsistencies. bibliography/works cited AND in- text), with few to no errors.
inconsistent use of a text), with few to no errors.
discipline-specific style.

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 AP® RESEARCH
2018 SCORING COMMENTARY

Academic Paper

Overview

This performance task was intended to assess students’ ability to conduct scholarly and responsible research
and articulate an evidence-based argument that clearly communicates the conclusion, solution, or answer to their
stated research question. More specifically, this performance task was intended to assess students’ ability to:

• Generate a focused research question that is situated within or connected to a larger scholarly context or
community;

• Explore relationships between and among multiple works representing multiple perspectives within the
scholarly literature related to the topic of inquiry;

• Articulate what approach, method, or process they have chosen to use to address their research question,
why they have chosen that approach to answering their question, and how they employed it;

• Develop and present their own argument, conclusion, or new understanding while acknowledging its
limitations and discussing implications;

• Support their conclusion through the compilation, use, and synthesis of relevant and significant evidence
generated by their research;

• Use organizational and design elements to effectively convey the paper’s message;

• Consistently and accurately cite, attribute, and integrate the knowledge and work of others, while
distinguishing between the student’s voice and that of others;

• Generate a paper in which word choice and syntax enhance communication by adhering to established
conventions of grammar, usage, and mechanics.

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 Sample A 1 of 27

Cultivation, Resistance, & Beauty:

A Case Study on the Defiant Gardens of the Manzanar
Internment Camp during World War II

AP Research
Word Count: 4736

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 Sample A 2 of 27

“The Foundation” by Mitsuye Yamada1

This could be the land
where everything grows.
Bulldozers had sifted up
large piece of parched woods and
worthless rocks.
Bilateral builds to be are not yet.

Meanwhile on this dust

I counted seven shapes
of sturdy grey and greens
some small and slender
vertical parallels.
No one planted them here with squared T’s.
Some weblike tentacles reaching out
Toward rounded rotundas.

Molded by no one.

Here
starshaped with tiny speckles,
are these the intruder in my garden
of new seedlings?
My garden carefully fed and fettered?
Of course.
I pronounced their execution
with a pinch of my fingers.

But here
among a myriad of friends
they flourished in weedly wilderness,
boldly gracing several acres
of untended land.
Tomorrow they shall be banished from their home.

And watered by many droplets

of human sweat
will sprout another college where
disciplined minds finely honed
will grow
in carefully
planted rows.

No room for random weeds.

1
Yamada, Mitsuye. Camp Notes and Other Poems. San Lorenzo, California: Shameless Hussy
Press, 1976 149.

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 Sample A 3 of 27

Abstract

Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive

Order 9066, authorizing the incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans into internment

camps. By 1943, agriculture dominated camp life, especially at the Manzanar Internment Camp

in Owens Valley, California. During their internment, the Japanese Americans, unbeknownst to

each other, raised a variety of gardens, including traditional Japanese ornamental gardens. The

ornamental gardens ranged greatly in size and consisted of raked gravel dry gardens, cactus

gardens, showy flower gardens, and ornate rock gardens. In an effort to preserve the history of

the near-extinct generation of Japanese Americans, this study seeks to understand the purposes

and implications of the ornamental gardens, with a focus on the Manzanar camp. In this

qualitative retrospective ethnographic case study, I examine the overarching themes arising

from ten interviews with WWII internees who lived at the Manzanar internment camp using the

thematic analysis approach. This study found that the Japanese Americans initially raised the

ornamental gardens to resist and combat their desolate, harsh environment, but these gardens

had unforeseen consequences for the Manzanar community. While the gardens functioned as a

pastime, a means to preserve and revive Japanese culture, and, paradoxically, an avenue to

strengthen relationships with the War Relocation Authority officials, they also ultimately helped

the inmates to conceptualize their highly complex experiences during WWII. This study’s

findings, with a deep examination of the Manzanar camp, are aligned with broader

environmental studies on the Japanese Americans during WWII, specifically with regard to the

gardens functioning as acts of resistance. Looking towards the future, I recommend that further

research should examine how defiant gardens throughout history compare with one another and

drive the narratives of those involved.

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 Sample A 4 of 27

Historical Context

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, catalyzing mass fear and mistrust of

Japanese American citizens across the United States.2 Thus, on February 19th, 1942, President

Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which authorized the removal and

incarceration of 110,000 Japanese Americans (two-thirds of whom were American citizens)

living on the West Coast into temporary internment camps.3 The executive order also called for

the establishment of the War Relocation Authority (WRA), the federal government agency

responsible for the relocation of all Japanese people and the creation and regulation of

relocation centers (internment camps). 4 Beginning in August 1942, the Japanese Americans

were moved into the internment camps and deprived of their civil liberties. On March 20, 1946,

nearly six months after the official end of WWII, all internment camps were retired and the

Japanese Americans were left to rebuild their American lives.5

As Japanese Americans relocated into the internment camps, they were forced to leave their

homes and occupations behind. In contrast to their pre-WII lives, the Japanese Americans in the

camps were assigned occupations designed to aid the war effort, such as teaching, cooking, and

farming.6 From the perspective of the WRA, the conditions in the internment camps generally

provided the “the bare subsistence level”.7 In camp, the Japanese Americans were relegated to

“simple construction barracks,” in the place of homes and provided with a few facilities and

2
Oguzhan, Mehmet. “The Relocation and Internment of People of Japanese Descent in the US
during WWII”. Uluslararasi Suçlar ve Tarih 15, (2014): 135-171.
3
Ibid, 135.
4
Chiang, Connie. “Imprisoned nature: Toward an environmental history of the world war II
Japanese American incarceration.” Environmental History 15. No 2 (2010): 236-267.
5
Ibid, 240
6
Oguzhan, 150.
7
“Relocation of Japanese Americans”. War Relocation Authority. Washington D.C., May 1943.

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 Sample A 5 of 27

services including food courts, minimal medical care, and education for their children.8 Despite

their job assignments and their access to

meager resources, the Japanese

Americans found themselves with an

abundance of time. After living in the

camps for a few months, the internees

longed to enrich camp life. They began

organizing activities such as painting,

pottery, baseball, fishing, farming, and

gardening.9 Prior to WWII, Japanese

Americans dominated agricultural

businesses in the US. Ten years before the war, one-third of Japanese Americans in Los Angeles

were gardeners. By 1940, on the West Coast more than forty-six percent of Japanese Americans

were employed in agriculture, with an additional twenty-six percent employed in

“agriculture-related activities such as produce businesses."10 However, these pursuits had to be

suspended at the start of WWII.

By 1943, agriculture came to dominate camp life. Camp community groups, led by former

farmers and gardeners, and schools typically maintained the gardens and crops.11 Most of the

internment camps had victory gardens — gardens initiated by the US government to aid the war

effort. The victory gardens enriched the inmates’ government-issued diet with an increased

8
“Relocation of Japanese Americans”. War Relocation Authority. Washington D.C., May 1943.
9
Obler, Bibiana. “The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment
Camps, 1942–1946” The Journal of Modern Craft 4, no. 1 (2011). 93-98.
10
Tamura, Anna. "Gardens in Camp," Densho Encyclopedia. Last modified July 18, 2016.
Accessed September 3, 2017. http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Gardens%20in%20camp/
11
Ibid.

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 Sample A 6 of 27

variety of produce; the internees took this

opportunity to plant Japanese vegetables. The

Japanese Americans also constructed thousands

of ornamental gardens, ranging in size from parks

for all inmates to enjoy, block gardens (a set of

barracks were called a block), to small personal

gardens.12 Among these ornamental gardens were

traditional raked gravel dry gardens, cactus

gardens, showy flower gardens, and ornate rock

gardens. The Manzanar internment camp in

Owens Valley, CA became famous for the creation

of Merritt Park, the most elaborate and sophisticated garden in all in of the camps. The project,

featuring ponds, boulders, tea houses, and a waterfall, illustrated the complexity and magnitude

of a wartime garden.13

Literature Review

In this literature review, four major works consider the environmental conditions and

agriculture across Japanese internment camps during WWII. Bowdoin College Professor Connie

Chiang sets the framework for the current literature on the topic. Chiang not only provides an

overview of environmental theory and history, but also examines how agriculture influenced the

interactions between WRA officials and inmates. Examining specifically environmental injustice

theories, Chiang claims that, “WRA officials tried to use nature as an instrument for social

12
Tamura, Anna. "Gardens in Camp," Densho Encyclopedia. Last modified July 18, 2016.
Accessed September 3, 2017. http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Gardens%20in%20camp/
13
Ibid.

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 Sample A 7 of 27

control by locating the camps in places where they could isolate Japanese Americans and

procure their labor in the name of assimilation and patriotism.”14 As she explores both the

perspectives of the WRA and of Japanese Americans, she asserts that in an effort, “to resist and

endure their incarceration, Japanese Americans both established intimate connections to nature

and sometimes refused to work when demanded.”15 In short, Chiang argues that, “the natural

world” became a platform that upset “power relations” between the WRA and Japanese

Americans, “ensuring that WRA control over the detainees was not absolute.”16

Kenneth Helphand finds a similar theme in his book on defiant gardens. According to

Helphand, defiant gardens are, “gardens created in extreme or difficult environmental, social,

political, economic, or cultural conditions”.17 In his chapter on Japanese internment, Helphand

claims that, “At the relocation camps, garden-making was literally the domestication of an

inhospitable environment, creating a cultural setting which was a semblance of normalcy.”18 He

further adds that the gardens were mechanisms to maintain “cultural integrity” and

“self-respect”; they were “an enterprise of survival, a defense of sanity and a demonstration of

psychological, and here political, defiance.”19 Helphand’s book claims that the gardens served as

acts of resistance, a tool to defy the WRA and their living conditions, and a means to emotionally

survive the wartime experience. Ultimately, Helphand and Chiang’s analyses demonstrate how

the Japanese Americans’ relationship with nature across the camps became a tool for defiance

against their incarceration and the WRA.

14
Chiang, Connie. “Imprisoned nature: Toward an environmental history of the world war II
Japanese American incarceration.” Environmental History 15. No 2 (2010): 239.
15
Ibid, 236.
16
Ibid, 236.
17
Helphand, Kenneth I, Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime. EDRA/Places Awards
Research 19, 2007.
18
Ibid, 117.
19
Ibid, 117.

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 Sample A 8 of 27

Anna Tamura offers a similar perspective as she focuses on agriculture at two internment

camps: Manzanar and Minidoka. Similar to Helphand and Chiang, she reports that the gardens

functioned as acts of resistance — “political symbols of sedition and non-compliance as well as

loyalty and patriotism.”20 Arguing that the gardens were “restorative agents that fostered

communal healing, and [were] the results of cultural cohesion and community competition,” she

too highlights how these gardens served as techniques of daily survival.21 Monica Embrey’s

dissertation speaks to Tamura’s claims. In her case study on the environmental justice history of

the Manzanar internment camp, Embrey examines the Japanese Americans’ relationship with

the Owens Valley land, with a focus on their use and conservation of water. When addressing

gardening and farming in the camp, she brings two important Japanese concepts into the

literature discussion: "Gaman" and "Shikata ga nai". In her book The Art of Gaman, Delphine

Hirasuna defines gaman as, “enduring what seems unbearable with dignity and grace”22 while

Professor Jane Iwamura defines Shikata ga nai as the belief that, “one should not concentrate on

the things one cannot change.”23 With these two concepts in mind, Embrey argues that they are

fundamental in understanding the motives of Japanese Americans’ relationships with the land

surrounding them. With sources such as Tamura and Embrey, the Japanese Americans’ quest to

ease routine adversity shines through; it is apparent that agriculture in the camps fostered

emotional survival.

20
Tamura, Anna. “Gardens Below the Watchtower: Gardens and Meaning in World War II
Japanese American Incarceration Camps,” Landscape Journal 23, (2004): 1.
21
Ibid, 1.
22
Hirasuna, Delphine, and Kit Hinrichs. The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese
American Internment Camps. Ten Speed Press, 2005.
23
Iwamura, Jane Naomi. “Critical Faith: Japanese Americans and the Birth of a New Civil
Religion.” Critical Faith The American Studies Association (1997): 994

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 Sample A 9 of 27

While Helphand, Chiang, Tamura, and Embrey’s analyses contextualize the Japanese

Americans’ relationships with the environment and agriculture, no study focuses solely on the

Japanese ornamental gardens. Furthermore, with the exception of Embrey, this literature lacks

comprehensive research on one particular internment camp. While these articles analyze the

importance and implications of these gardens, the current gap in research allows for

generalizations when understanding the Japanese American experience and their relationship

with ornamental gardens. A qualitative ethnographic case study examining the purposes of the

gardens in the Manzanar internment camp may shed light on this gap. Furthermore, it will

provide deeper insight into the everyday acts of resistance and the grit that enhanced camp life.

Method

The method of my study addresses the question: Through a qualitative retrospective

ethnographic case study, what purposes did the Japanese ornamental gardens in the

Manzanar internment camp serve for the Japanese Americans during World War II? I

hypothesized that the Japanese Americans built the gardens as a pastime, a means to resist the

WRA, and a method of healing as a community. It is important to recognize that I made a

significant assumption within the research question. Asking, “what purposes did the… gardens…

serve” implies that I believe that there is/are purpose(s) behind these gardens. But gardens do

not, in general, spring out of deserts without good cause.

Qualitative Retrospective Ethnographic Case Study

With these questions in mind, it is important to break down and define the different

components of the method. Qualitative methods “rely on text and image data, have unique steps

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 Sample A 10 of 27

in data analysis, and draw on diverse designs.”24 In a qualitative retrospective ethnographic case

study, “retrospective” implies that outcome of the event has already occurred by the time the

study is initiated.25 Hence, this study analyzed the purposes of the gardens during WWII, rather

than the purpose of the gardens today. An ethnographic case study is a sociological method that

explores how a select group of people live and make sense of their lives with one another in a

particular place.26 In the context of this study, the selected cohort consists of ten Japanese

Americans who lived at the Manzanar internment camp. Each individual in the cohort

developed a relationship with the gardens, whether it was through a parent working in the

gardens or their own direct contact with and memory of the gardens. This method was chosen to

not only fill the current gap in the literature, but also to avoid generalizations when describing

the internees’ relationships with the ornamental gardens. I chose to focus on the Manzanar

internment camp as it was the largest internment camp in the nation and was home to Merritt

Park, and thus has the most primary sources documented.27

Thematic Analysis

At the beginning of the study, I thematically analyzed interviews of the ten internees. In

thematic analysis, qualitative researchers determine the relationship between overarching

themes in a data set; they build their patterns, categories, and themes from the bottom up by

organizing the data into increasingly more abstract units of information.28 This method of

24
“Ethnography,” Department of Sociology at Columbia University.edu. Last modified 2009.
Accessed October 4th, 2017, http://sociology.columbia.edu/ethnography
25
“Retrospective Study,” NEDARC.org. Last modified August 29, 2016. Accessed September 3,
2017. http://www.nedarc.org/statisticalHelp/projectDesign/retrospectiveStudy.html
26
“Ethnography,” 1.
27
Tamura, Anna. "Gardens in Camp," Densho Encyclopedia. Last modified July 18, 2016.
Accessed September 3, 2017. http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Gardens%20in%20camp/
28
Creswell, John W. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2014.

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 Sample A 11 of 27

analysis was chosen to link the individual experiences of the internees to common themes that

can be applied to the Manzanar narrative as a whole. The ten interviews were found on the

Densho Encyclopedia Digital Repository by using the search words, “Manzanar camp gardens”,

“Manzanar”, “camp gardens”, “parks”, and “camp activities”. The interviews were pre-recorded

on the site and range from one to five minutes. Densho Encyclopedia is a nonprofit organization

with the “initial goal of documenting oral histories from Japanese Americans who were

incarcerated during World War II.”29 Today it serves as a database of primary sources from

Japanese Americans during WWII.30

The thematic analysis was conducted in three steps. Firstly, I watched and transcribed each of

the ten interviews. I watched the interviews multiple times in effort to familiarize myself with

the testimonies of the interviewees. Then, I identified similar experiences among the Japanese

Americans in an attempt to understand what types of events contributed to the raising of the

gardens. Once I identified similar experiences, the narratives were analyzed to discover the

purpose of raising ornamental gardens. Then the overlapping experiences were sorted into

groups and further labeled with an overarching theme.

After I conducted a pilot study in December 2017, I realized I lacked a robust and clear

argument based solely on using these interviews. Therefore, a second qualitative step was added

to my method: a mixed media primary source thematic analysis. I expanded my data set by

adding other primary sources such as official documents from the WRA, poems, diary entries,

and camp newsletters to flesh out my argument. These sources were found on various platforms

29
“About Densho,” Densho.org. Accessed September 3, 2017. https://densho.org/about-densho/
30
Ibid.

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 Sample A 12 of 27

including Densho Encyclopedia, museum collections, and other literature on the gardens. The

primary sources underwent the same process of thematic analysis as the interviews.

Limitations

Before moving on to the findings discussion of the study, it is important to address the

limitations in my research process and findings. The first and most significant limitation lies

within my cohort. Because most of my desired cohort is over 80+ years old or already deceased,

conducting the interviews myself was unfeasible. Owing to the nature of historical retrospective

inquiry, I chose instead to use the ten pre-recorded interviews found on Densho. Therefore, I

was unable to write the questions myself. Perhaps if I was able to conduct the interviews in

person, my findings would have been free of the innate subjectivity of some of the questions

asked. Another limitation regarding my cohort was the sample size. Considering the number of

interviews and the average length of each segment directly speaking to the ornamental gardens

(two minutes), the amount of data I was able to analyze was not lengthy. Given this limitation, I

may have missed opportunities for a wider analysis. However, since very few individuals who

lived in the Manzanar Camp and were connected to the gardens are still alive today, the

perspectives in the interviews still offer crucial insight into the purposes of the Manzanar

gardens. Lastly, there was room for human error from both the interviewees and researcher.

Because the interviewees were looking back on their experiences, it is possible that they did not

accurately depict camp life in the gardens. Similarly, it is possible that I transcribed part of an

interview incorrectly or misinterpreted the meaning in these testimonies which could have

potentially skewed my data.

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 Sample A 13 of 27

Findings

After I applied the thematic analysis to the interviews and primary sources, seven different

themes emerged regarding the purposes of Japanese ornamental gardens in the Manzanar

internment camp; however, five themes were repeated consistently. These five themes are: (1)

Community Building and Enrichment, (2) Defiance of Environment, (3) Gaman, (4) Shikata ga

nai, and (5) Boredom. Below, these five themes are defined.

Table 1: Definitions

Theme Definition Number of interviews

with this theme

Community Building The effort to improve or enhance the quality 5

and Enrichment of life through communal activities

Defiance of The attempt to beautify the camp in contrast 4

Environment to the barren environment

Gaman Enduring what seems unbearable with 4

dignity and grace31

Shikata ga nai One should not concentrate on the things 4

32
one cannot change

Boredom The abundance of unstructured time leaving 3

the inmates to feel restless and in need of a
pastime

31
Hirasuna, Delphine, and Kit Hinrichs. The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese
American Internment Camps. Ten Speed Press, 2005.
32
Iwamura, Jane Naomi. “Critical Faith: Japanese Americans and the Birth of a New Civil
Religion.” Critical Faith The American Studies Association (1997): 994

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 Sample A 14 of 27

For the purposes of a robust, clear analysis and line of reasoning, these themes will not be

discussed in isolation and will rather be analyzed in the context of the larger narrative of the

Manzanar internment camp during WWII.

Discussion

When the Japanese Americans were relocated to the internment camps, the community

immediately faced a problem: the hazardous and poor environmental conditions. Located in the

Owens Valley, California, the Manzanar land was notorious for its extreme temperatures,

ruthless sun, and strong winds. When the WRA built the camps, they erased any trace of

vegetation and leveled the land, “to build roads,

prepare building sites, and establish

agricultural fields.”33 This excavation

exacerbated the conditions of Manzanar as the

newly churned dust coated the lives of the

internees, including their skin, food and

barracks. Henry Fukuhara remembered, the

“wind would come and, and it would be so bad

that you could hardly walk outside, and then...

the sand would come up through the cracks in the floor and would come in through the sills of

the window, and it was terrible.”34 Hikoji Takeuchi added, “let's face it, Manzanar was a barren

33
National Park Service. Cultural Landscape Report: Manzanar National Historic Site.
Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2006.
34
Fukuhara, Henry, interview by John Allen, Densho Digital Repository, November 6, 2002.

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 Sample A 15 of 27

desert.”35 In fact, four internees used the word “barren” to describe the initial conditions of

Manzanar, emphasizing the harsh conditions they endured in their desolate, dust-coated camp.

In effort to resolve the environmental issues of the camp, the WRA launched a camp

landscaping program. This advancement set the framework for all future agricultural projects to

be developed over the next four years, including victory gardens, cattle ranches, block gardens,

and ornamental gardens.36 While the WRA facilitated many of the these landscaping projects,

the Japanese Americans initiated the construction of ornamental gardens as a defense against

the environment. Sue Kunitomi recalled that internee Henry Uenu raised a little ornamental

garden outside of the mess hall, “because everybody lined up for their meals outside the mess

hall and there was no shade and no place to sit, so he talked to the mess hall people… and the

men in the block ….” including Uenu and his

friends, “decided they would build ...this

garden.”37 Uenu’s project ultimately sought to

mitigate the hot, uncomfortable conditions

near the mess hall. His story, along with

others, sparked a grander purpose in raising

the gardens: beautifying the camp. Henry

Fukuhara recalled that before the Japanese

Americans began to build these gardens,

“everything was just barren because there

35
Takeuchi, Hikoji, interview by John Allen, Densho Digital Repository, November 7, 2002.
36
National Park Service. Cultural Landscape Report: Manzanar National Historic Site.
Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2006. 59
37
Embrey, Sue Kunitomi, interview by John Allen, Densho Digital Repository, November 6,
2002.

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 Sample A 16 of 27

were no trees there at all because, with the exception of an apple tree … [the WRA] bulldozed

everything… [the gardens] made the appearance [of the camp] more appealing and more

comfortable.”38 Willie Ito added, “They tried to make it look homey. Rather than seeing nothing

but sand, it [was] so nice to see greenery.”39 Most of the youth, however, had become

accustomed to the barren environment. Eiichi Sakauye remembered that, “Because of the

gardens [the] bumble bees and butterflies came in.” He further added that he would have to

explain to the kids, “Watch out, there's a bumblebee, it'll sting you. And then they wondered

why I said that to them. And the butterfly comes along, the butterfly comes to suck the sugar

from this pollen and so forth. We [told] them how the butterfly lays its egg and it pupates to a

worm, and from the worm, it comes to a butterfly. And these kids were quite interested. So the

kids come from all parts of the camp and come to see us… I don't think they'd been exposed to

nature.”40 Essentially, Fukuhara, Ito, and

Sakauye’s testimonies describe the stark

contrast in environment after the Japanese

began building the gardens: with the

garden came comfort, beauty and

biodiversity. With this juxtaposition, the

ornamental gardens defied the barren

setup of the Manzanar internment camp.

The small but highly significant changes to

the landscape altered the Japanese

38
Fukuhara, Henry, interview by John Allen, Densho Digital Repository, November 6, 2002.
39
Ito, Willie K. interview by Kristen Luetkemeier, Densho Digital Repository, December 5, 2013.
40
Sakauye, Eiichi Edward, interview by Wendy Hanamura, Densho Digital Repository, May 14,
2005.

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 Sample A 17 of 27

Americans perceptions toward their internment experience; they came to see beauty can be

nurtured even in dust.

Even with this environmental enrichment, Japanese Americans faced an internal struggle. In the

camps, the inmates sought to preserve their Japanese culture and identity, yet needed to pledge

their allegiance to the WRA and, more broadly, the US. When the Japanese Americans initially

settled into the internment camps, their relationships with the WRA were tense and formal. The

WRA was responsible for logging the inmates’ daily interactions ranging from meal plans to

medical examinations. They also regulated the internees’ activities and prohibited them from

displaying and teaching Japanese culture (including speaking and writing in Japanese and

celebrating Japanese cultural events and recreation).41 Despite these rules, the Japanese

Americans silently protested their confinment through the ornamental gardens.

In advancing their agricultural projects, the inmates defied camp regulations but unexpectedly

strengthened relationships with the WRA. The nature of these formal interactions with the WRA

changed as Pleasure Park, also known as Merritt

Park, was built. Brothers Kuichiro and Akira

Nishi along with Henry Uenu initiated the

project, gathering their fellow inmates to raise

the sophisticated, beautiful Japanese ornamental

garden. As they embarked on their project

however, they faced a problem in the planning of

the garden: they did not have the resources

Mizuno, Takeya. “Government Suppression of the Japanese Language in World War II

41

Assembly Camps.” Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. (2003).

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 Sample A 18 of 27

needed to grow the garden, including machinery, plants, and shrubs. And so the debates and

deliberation with the WRA began. Eventually, the Nishi brothers convinced the WRA to not only

move forward with the project, but also fund supplies and further loosen camp rules. Henry

Nishi, son of Kuichiro, recalled that when his father needed locust trees for Pleasure Park, “[the

WRA] must have been given permission to go out of camp… to get locust trees because there

[were] no locusts... on the property.”42 Similarly, Arthur Ogami remembered his father, “...had a

crew and [the WRA] provided [a] truck for him. And he'd go out to the foothills of the mountain

to pick up rocks and trees, shrubs to use in the garden”.43 As the Japanese Americans pushed the

limits of their incarceration to build gardens, they found themselves rewarded with

opportunities to venture out of the camp, allowing them short reprieves from their highly

regulated lives. Eventually, the brothers renamed Pleasure Park to Merritt Park after WRA

project director Ralph Merritt in gratitude for his help. Though the WRA still recorded and

charted every aspect of the inmates lives (including the gardens), the innate nature of the

interactions between the two groups changed course. As the two parties worked together, the

WRA learned to trust the Japanese Americans and came to empathize with the Japanese

American perspective. Though the gardens initially symbolized defiance, they ultimately

functioned as an agent to soften the interactions between the WRA and internees.

While the gardens became a pathway for communication between the WRA and internees, they

also forged closer relationships among the Japanese Americans. In Manzanar, sixty-percent of

the Issei generation (the first generation of Japanese Americans) had worked in agriculture and

landscaping businesses prior to WWII.44 By raising the gardens, the Japanese Americans were

42
Nishi, Henry, interview by Richard Potashin, Densho Digital Repository, January 8, 2009 .
43
Ogami, Arthur, interview by Richard Potashin, Densho Digital Repository, March 10, 2004.
44
National Park Service. Cultural Landscape Report: Manzanar National Historic Site.
Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2006. 46

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 Sample A 19 of 27

able to reconnect with their lives before WWII as a community. Madelon Arai Yamamoto

remembered that as her father dug a large ornamental pond in 1943, “he had many friends that

helped, that were interested in building the pond… before I knew it they were in front of the

house digging it out. And then before I knew it they arrived with the concrete, and then before I

knew it there was boulders all around there.”45 Yamamoto’s testimony demonstrates how the

initiative of one person had a multiplier effect on the participation of those around him. George

Izumi further described how the gardens were a mechanism for Japanese Americans to

collectively reunite with their heritage. He recalled, “there was a fellow named... Mr. Kato, who

was a rock garden specialist. He built that garden. He brought all the stone, big rocks down

there, and they built a beautiful rock garden up near the hospital.”46 Similarity, Henry Fukuhara

added that, “there were gardeners that knew how to make the real Japanese gardens,” and

taught the younger generations the practices of the Issei.47 Henry Nishi added, “none of us had

too much experience [with ornamental gardens]. We were pretty…. young. But most of our…

dads were not around either because they

were interned elsewhere… [we were] exposed

to a lot of agriculture, ornamental

agriculture.”48 Perhaps the gardens acted as a

liaison between the generations so the Issei

were able to pass down their expertise in

traditional Japanese gardening. Yamamoto

45
Yamamoto, Madelon Arai, interview by Richard Potashin, Densho Digital Repository, May 6,
2011.
46
Izumi, George, interview by John Allen, Densho Digital Repository, November 6, 2002.
47
Fukuhara, Henry, interview by John Allen, Densho Digital Repository, November 6, 2002.
48
Nishi, Henry, interview by Richard Potashin, Densho Digital Repository, January 8, 2009 .

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 Sample A 20 of 27

added, “it was a way to develop a little community.”49

The efforts to beautify the Manzanar environment, build community, and pass down Japanese

gardening techniques, however, would not have been possible without the abundance of

unstructured time. In the majority of the interviews, the Japanese Americans recalled how bored

they were in the camps. Madeline Yamamoto also remembered, “...even though all adults had

some sort of responsibility or, quote, job, in camp, they had lots of time. No one had cars, no one

could go to the movies... We had a lot of time on our hands.”50 Perhaps this is to say that without

the free time in the camps, the gardens would never have been raised. Jun Ogimachi added,

“Well… the people within the block were just doing them. They just... need[ed] something to do.”
51
Yamamoto and Ogimachi’s testimonies bring to light two important Japanese beliefs: gaman

(enduring what seems unbearable with dignity and grace)52 and shikata ga nai (not

concentrating on the things one cannot change)53. Perhaps the gardens allowed the internees to

focus on an aspect of their life which they could change, rather than dwelling on the ways their

lives were regulated. George Izumi added, “So, you know, it goes to show you that if… any

individual… set[s] their mind to do what they want to do, they can do it. It doesn't matter …

what it is in life.”54 Looking back on his father’s garden next to the camp hospital, Arthur Ogami

added, “I think the gardens expressed that just because we’re here, we have to do something to

refresh our feelings. I think that the gardens... express[ed] that there is hope for peace and

49
Madelon Arai Yamamoto, Densho Digital Repository, 2011.
50
Yamamoto, Madelon Arai, interview by Richard Potashin, Densho Digital Repository, May 6,
2011.
51
Ogimachi, Jun, interview by Richard Potashin, Densho Digital Repository, June 3, 2010.
52
Hirasuna, Delphine, and Kit Hinrichs. The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese
American Internment Camps. Ten Speed Press, 2005.
53
Iwamura, Jane Naomi. “Critical Faith: Japanese Americans and the Birth of a New Civil
Religion.” Critical Faith The American Studies Association (1997): 944
54
Izumi, George, interview by John Allen, Densho Digital Repository, November 6, 2002.

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 Sample A 21 of 27

freedom. And you can go to these gardens and feel it.”55 Izumi’s and Ogami’s reflections on their

experiences suggest these gardens functioned as a mechanism of endurance for the people of the

Manzanar internment camp. As the Japanese Americans crafted intricate yet bold gardens, they

reflected their heritage and peacefully channeled their feelings. Through organizing and

nurturing these gardens, the Japanese Americans found their strength, voice, and hope in a time

seeded with alienation and adversity.

Conclusion

These interviews summarize the

purposes of the ornamental gardens

for the Japanese Americans in the

Manzanar internment camp. The

cohorts’ reflections on their WWII

experiences make apparent that the

gardens served to defy environmental

conditions, improve relationships with the WRA, reconnect generations, and offer creative

expression of their feelings. When comparing the results of this study to the body of literature,

certain key differences emerge. The first difference is that while this study does recognise that

the gardens were defiant against the environmental conditions, the results did not find that they

were used to resist the WRA as Chiang claimed in her study.56 Rather, I found that the gardens

eased the tense relationships between the two. This proves my earlier claim that the gap in

55
Ogami, Arthur, interview by Anna Tamura, Unpublished oral history, 2002.

56
Chiang, Connie. “Imprisoned nature: Toward an environmental history of the world war II
Japanese American incarceration.” Environmental History 15. No 2 (2010): 236-267.

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 Sample A 22 of 27

literature must be addressed to avoid generalizations when describing the internees’

relationships with the ornamental gardens. Furthermore, while the literature focuses on the

gardens acting as political statements, my findings suggested that rather than resistance, the

significance in the gardens lay in their emotional grounding for the internees of Manzanar.

In contrast to many reactions to unjust historical turning points, the Japanese American

response to alienation and incarceration is stunning. While this study is significant in that it

preserves the history of this near-extinct generation of Japanese Americans, the narrative of the

Manzanar ornamental gardens, arguably more significantly, is a exemplar template for peaceful

protest and communal healing. Looking towards the future, I recommend that further research

should examine how defiant gardens throughout history compare with one another and drive

the narratives of those involved — for example, Guantanamo Bay prisoners scavenged seeds

from their meals which flourished as secret gardens, an endeavor later known as “Seeds of

Hope”.57 Or, ironically, the British serving in Afghanistan built their own oasis, the Helmand

Peace Garden, surrounding their military headquarters. Today, an English Rose grows there in

defiance of its barren environment.58 These stories and many others bring to light the

complexity at the intersection of cultivation, resistance, and beauty. Ultimately, the ornamental

gardens and their implications serve as the perfect symbol of graceful endurance. Like the

gardens, the Japanese Americans were assimilated, organized, and parented. However, despite

the obstacles of their barren and toxic environment, they too found a way to thrive.

57
Helphand, Kenneth I , “Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime,” EDRA/Places Awards
Research 19, (2007): 33.
58
Ibid, 117.

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 Sample A 23 of 27

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Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2014.

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 Sample A 24 of 27

Embrey, Sue Kunitomi, interview by John Allen, Densho Digital Repository, November 6, 2002.

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Lange, Dorothea. Japanese American Working in Garden. 1942. Dorothea Lange Collection,

National Archives. Manzanar Relocation Center.

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 Sample A 25 of 27

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 Sample A 26 of 27

Oguzhan, Mehmet. “The Relocation and Internment of People of Japanese Descent in the US

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 Sample A 27 of 27

Yamada, Mitsuye. Camp Notes and Other Poems. San Lorenzo, California: Shameless Hussy

Press, 1976 149

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2011.

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 AP® RESEARCH
2018 SCORING COMMENTARY

Academic Paper

Sample: A
Score: 5

The paper earned a score of 5 because it establishes a focused topic of inquiry, clearly providing background
information on its topic (pages 4–9). The paper indicates the relevance of its uncovered gap and resulting
research question (page 9, paragraph 1: “A qualitative ethnographic case study examining the purposes ...”). The
paper speaks to the limitations of its replicable method and discusses implications (page 22) of an analysis like
this for other contexts such as Guantanamo. In addition, the paper is well organized and uses its interpretation of
evidence to construct a persuasive and sophisticated argument leading to a new understanding. The student is
also able to connect this understanding and the research process back to the scholarly literature (see page 21),
placing the new understanding in conversation with past studies. While the visuals (for examples, see pages 5, 6,
and 14) were not analyzed directly as the student implied they might be, if they are considered as visuals
accompanying a presented lecture, they do not detract or confuse the main argument.

The paper did not score a 4 because the writing and citation attribution style are clear and compelling and
provide a strong sense of the student's unique voice as a credible researcher. It is the establishment of this voice
and the paper's superior understanding of the context in which the research is being conducted that caused the
paper to merit more than a score of 4.

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