Essay Questions for Thinking through Sources 20

Assess Gender Roles: In what ways are women and men depicted in these sources? How do the depictions of men and women reflect the standards for acceptable gender expression and behavior in the 1910s? How do they seek to prescribe and define new roles for men and women that will benefit the nation’s war effort?

The United States in the World: These sources document the period during which the United States was escalating its involvement in world affairs. What do they suggest about how Americans understood the role of the United States in international matters? What do they reveal about how the nation’s standing as a world power had changed since the mid-nineteenth century? What message was the United States trying to send to the world about its values and its international goals?

Assess the Influence of Progressivism: The United States became increasingly involved in World War I at the height of the influence of progressivism in the United States. In what ways do these sources show the influence of progressives’ values, goals, and strategies? Can you also argue that in some ways they contradict the goals, values, and strategies of the progressive movement?

Influence of Urban Industrialism: How do these sources reflect the social and economic context of the 1910s, in particular the developments associated with the growth and predominance of urbanization and industrialization in this era?