Reading War Posters
Grade Levels: 3 - 5
Overview
Students use a Web resource to compare a number of World War II posters from the home front and to explore the impact of the war in everyday life.Objectives
- Students will analyze visual materials for their content and intent.
- Students will explain how public service literature supported the war effort in World War II.
Apply this understanding to public service materials used for current issues.
Materials
- Reading War Posters worksheet.
Procedure
- Before assigning this activity, you may want to visit the “World War II Propaganda Poster” website and review all the posters. A number of the posters are very intense (see especially numbers 16, 19, and 21, which are not included on the worksheet).
- Discuss promotional literature that students see around them: health or safety
posters around the school; public service ads on buses, subways or billboards;
TV and radio advertisements.
- Record some of the subjects students report into themes; for example,
health, crime prevention, drug prevention, racial tolerance.
- Discuss the fact that the posters often have different goals. Some
ask people to send money, some inform of dangers or offer help, some ask everyone
to change behaviors, and so on.
- Have the students list some of the emotions the public
service ads try to evoke: fear, sympathy, anger, guilt.
- Tell students they will use a website to examine posters from World War
II. Distribute copies of Reading War Posters.
- Go over the instructions for the worksheet. Each "Theme" heading might
incorporate a number of subjects:
“Productivity” might include working harder, reducing waste, or conserving materials in other ways (posters 2, 4, and 10 respectively). Posters with the theme of “Sacrifice” might contrast domestic hardships with the painful and ultimate sacrifices military men were making (8, not on list, 19) or it might ask for additional financial sacrifices such as of buying bonds or doing without. “Define the Enemy” includes contrasting Americanism vs. totalitarianism (no. 25) or vilifying by radicanalizing, as in no. 21 (not on worksheet) or demonizing (nos 6 and 9).
“ Everyone's Duty” might include enlistment (1, 13) or encouraging people, especially women, to take new jobs (2, 5).
- Encourage students to use the "other" column for their conjectures about
additional themes found in the posters.
- Have students go online to the World War II Propaganda Posters
website.
- After the activity, have students discuss the themes in the context of World
War II. What additional themes did students identify? Discuss whether such
posters would be effective today.
Extension
- Students can examine posters around the school and find the themes common
to some of them.
- During times of national crisis, critical voices often stay silent. Not everyone
agreed with the American policy of interning Japanese-Americans in camps.
And many people were unhappy with the unequal opportunities for African-Americans
in the armed forces. Design a World War II poster that requests tolerance for
loyal Japanese-American citizens, or one that advocates equal opportunity and
integration of the armed forces.
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