Additional Assignments

1. Using the posters that you have just analyzed and your knowledge of the First World War–era United States, write a short essay that describes American wartime culture in 1917 and 1918, paying particular attention to ideas about American international engagement. In your essay, consider at least three distinct themes related to this topic. You should also reflect on the value—and limitations—of propaganda posters as a source for historical research.
2. Using images available in the Library of Congress’s World War I and World War II Poster Collection (www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2005682801/), create a visual presentation about a different set of wartime posters. You have two options for this assignment:

   Analyze posters produced during World War I by countries other than the United States (Germany, Britain, France, etc.).

   Analyze posters produced in the United States, but during the Second World War era (1939–1945).

   Whichever alternative you choose, you will need to locate and read at least two or three relevant secondary sources to help you understand the context in which your posters were produced. Once you have done this, you should select five to seven new posters from the Library of Congress collections. Then construct a PowerPoint, poster, or other formal presentation to present to your class. In addition to the images, your presentation should include brief (50–100 words) captions for each poster that explain the poster’s historical significance. In writing your captions, your goal should be to situate the posters in their national or chronological context. You may also want to compare and contrast them with one another or with the American World War I posters that are presented in this unit. In addition to your presentation, you should turn in a bibliography that lists citations for your posters and for the secondary sources that you used. (Search tip: Use the search term “POS – WWI” to display the First World War posters and the term “POS – WWII” to show those from the Second World War.)