Discussion Questions
March 14, 2000
- In the excerpt from the Consumer's Wartime Duty the point is made
that "...we must reverse attitudes and habits to which we have been
accustomed in the past." Based on what you have read, what would
have to change? How successful was America in changing during
wartime? Where did they fail, and why?
- Wartime clearly brings on a multitude of changes for American society, and
such changes can be accomplished through coercion and volunteerism, or by
force. During wartime what is left to volunteerism, and what is
enforced, in terms of changes in American society? How are Americans
coerced into cooperation?
- What is the "message" that FDR delivers to Congress in January
1942? How does it differ from his broadcast to the nation in September
1942? How does FDR depict the war?
- In looking at the posters, what are the expectations placed on Americans
during wartime? How does life change during wartime? What are
the "messages" (images, language, symbols, etc) that those posters
contain?
- From the material from the SFN, what is the rationale(s) for the
action taken against the Japanese? In paying attention to the language
and image created (ie what is said and how it is said), what is the
contemporary view of the Japanese?
- Overall, to what extent does wartime represent a contradiction of American
values such as, for example, freedom and democracy?