Discussion Questions

July 9,  2008

Please note:  Not all the readings will have specific questions attached to them.  However they all need to be read and they will be part of the weekly discussion.  Be certain to pay attention to the visual sources.

1. What is the "myth" to which Darrow refers?  On what was it constructed?
2. Why have French women's contributions to the war, particularly those of the nurses, "failed to find a place in French memory"?
3. From what you have read to this point, can Darrow's argument be applied to the war experiences of women of other nations?
4. What does the Win the War Suggestions tell us about a) contemporary perceptions of women and their roles; b) contemporary perceptions of Canadian society; c) homefront life; d) gender roles and relations.  Are there similarities and/or differences between the viewpoints of Win the War Suggestions and the Globe editorial of February 4, 1918?
5. Women were an integral part of the propaganda program of each country.  In looking at Women: Myth, Symbol, and Reality, what were the various roles in which women were cast?  What reaction, emotional or otherwise, was each poster designed to elicit?  Are there common themes which tie together the posters?  Which single poster did you find to be the most powerful, and why? 
6. How do the posters differ from the postcards?  What do the postcards tell us about nations at war?
7. Is the Globe correct in its statement that by 1918 the war hade done much to remove class distinctions and barriers?  What evidence so far from this course could you use to argue the affirmative?  To argue the negative?
8. What do the letters to and from women tell us about the female war experience?  
9. What does Beckett mean  when he says that "as might be expected, there was a class distinction in the perceptions of the war experience among women themselves"?