Format
1. The program leader will help participants understand the definition of propaganda and the types of appeals and arguments (egos, pathos, logos) it may contain, as well as its goals.
2. Participants will analyze historical examples of American recruiting and wartime propaganda and changes over time, from the 1760s through WWI.
3. The group will learn about the Office of War Information during WWII and some of the artists employed to motivate American action with their slogans and images.
4. The leader will guide the group through various examples of WWII propaganda posters directed toward civilians and the homefront, women and African Americans, and specific military branches. With each example, participants will discuss guided questions.
5. The leader will help participants design and craft their own recruiting or propaganda poster, targeting their own generation, using strategies learned from historical examples. The leader will select the activity recruited by the poster—a range of lighthearted to brave tasks or jobs—from a random spinning wheel.
Objectives
The participant will:
- Investigate the meaning of propaganda and what type of appeals and messages are used to influence behavior
- Trace the ways in which recruiting and propaganda posters changed throughout American history
- Explore what WWII American recruiting and propaganda posters tell us about society at the time they were created, discussing specific examples
- Analyze how these slogans, images, and the artists behind them contributed to or affected the United States during this war
- Demonstrate their understanding by creating their own poster using appeals, themes, and motifs discussed, but applicable to their own generation
Standards Alignment
National Standards
National Council for Social Studies
Grade 8
D2.Civ.1.6-8. Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of citizens, political parties, interest groups, and the media in a variety of governmental and nongovernmental contexts.
D2.Civ.2.6-8. Explain specific roles played by citizens (such as voters, jurors, taxpayers, members of the armed forces, petitioners, protesters, and office-holders).
D2.Civ.6.6-8. Describe the roles of political, civil, and economic organizations in shaping people’s lives.
D2.Civ.10.6-8. Explain the relevance of personal interests and perspectives, civic virtues, and democratic principles when people address issues and problems in government and civil society.
D2.Civ.14.6-8. Compare historical and contemporary means of changing societies, and promoting the common good.
D2.Eco.1.6-8. Explain how economic decisions affect the well-being of individuals, businesses, and society
D2.His.1.6-8. Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts.
D2.His.2.6-8. Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity.
D2.His.5.6-8. Explain how and why perspectives of people have changed over time.
D2.His.6.6-8. Analyze how people’s perspectives influenced what information is available in the historical sources they created.
D2.His.13.6-8. Evaluate the relevancy and utility of a historical source based on information such as maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose.
Sources and Evidence
D3.2.6-8. Evaluate the credibility of a source by determining its relevance and intended use.
Communicating Conclusions
D4.3.6-8. Present adaptations of arguments and explanations on topics of interest to others to reach audiences and venues outside the classroom using print and oral technologies (e.g., posters, essays, letters, debates, speeches, reports, and maps) and digital technologies (e.g., Internet, social media, and digital documentary).
D4.7.6-8. Assess their individual and collective capacities to take action to address local, regional, and global problems, taking into account a range of possible levers of power, strategies, and potential outcomes.
Grade 5
D2.Civ.2.3-5. Explain how a democracy relies on people’s responsible participation, and draw implications for how individuals should participate.
D2.Civ.4.3-5. Explain how groups of people make rules to create responsibilities and protect freedoms.
D2.Civ.6.3-5. Describe ways in which people benefit from and are challenged by working together, including through government, workplaces, voluntary organizations, and families.
D2.Civ.8.3-5. Identify core civic virtues and democratic principles that guide government, society, and communities.
D2.Civ.14.3-5. Illustrate historical and contemporary means of changing society.
D2.Eco.1.3-5. Compare the benefits and costs of individual choices.
D2.Eco.2.3-5. Identify positive and negative incentives that influence the decisions people make.
D2.Eco.12.3-5. Explain the ways in which the government pays for the goods and services it provides.
D2.His.1.3-5. Create and use a chronological sequence of related events to compare developments that happened at the same time.
D2.His.2.3-5. Compare life in specific historical time periods to life today.
D2.His.5.3-5. Explain connections among historical contexts and people’s perspectives at the time.
D2.His.6.3-5. Describe how people’s perspectives shaped the historical sources they created.
D2.His.10.3-5. Compare information provided by different historical sources about the past
D2.His.11.3-5. Infer the intended audience and purpose of a historical source from information within the source itself.
D2.His.12.3-5. Generate questions about multiple historical sources and their relationships to particular historical events and developments.
D2.His.13.3-5. Use information about a historical source, including the maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose to judge the extent to which the source is useful for studying a particular topic.
D2.His.16.3-5. Use evidence to develop a claim about the past.
Sources and Evidence
D3.2.3-5. Use distinctions among fact and opinion to determine the credibility of multiple sources.
D4.3.3-5. Present a summary of arguments and explanations to others outside the classroom using print and oral technologies (e.g., posters, essays, letters, debates, speeches, and reports) and digital technologies (e.g., Internet, social media, and digital documentary).
D4.7.3-5. Explain different strategies and approaches students and others could take in working alone and together to address local, regional, and global problems, and predict possible results of their actions.