Interpret the Evidence and Put It in Context

1. What information in these documents confirms commonly held beliefs about teenagers in the 1950s?

2. What information in these documents challenges the conventional wisdom about teenagers in the 1950s?

3. Compare the assumptions about adults and teenagers in Documents 25.5 and 25.9. How do they differ, either in tone or in content, from those written by teens (Documents 25.6 and 25.8)?

4. What do Documents 25.6 and 25.9 tell us about generational differences?

5. How much do these documents tell us about racial and ethnic differences among teenagers in the postwar era?