Exploring American Histories: Printed Page 821
Interpret the Evidence
What information in these documents confirms commonly held beliefs about teenagers in the 1950s?
What information in these documents challenges the conventional wisdom about teenagers in the 1950s?
Documents 25.5 and 25.7 speak specifically to teenagers. How do they differ, either in tone or in content, from those written about teens (Document 25.6) or by teens (Document 25.8)?
How much do these documents tell us about racial differences among teenagers in the postwar era?
What do Documents 25.5 and 25.10 reveal about gender roles and expectations within teenage culture in the 1950s?
Put It in Context
How do these documents show the way teenagers shaped the larger post–World War II society?