During times of war, political leaders often create and use various forms of propaganda.  One function of war propaganda is to inspire patriotism and support for the war effort.  War propaganda is also used to provoke feelings of fear in order to motivate people to take certain government approved actions (such as sign up for military service, buy war bonds, etc.). Propaganda also is used to justify the actions or personal attitudes of political leaders.

This assignment has two parts. The total paper length for both sections should be 600-800 words, Times New Roman, double spaced (approx. 3-4 pages depending on the inclusion of posters) and be submitted to the proper D2L assignment folder by the due date.

Part 1:

Hitler speech on the Jewish question: http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/holoprelude/jewishquestion.html

One of the most infamous written examples of war propaganda is Adolph Hitler’s "the Jewish Question" speech.  The link to this speech is provided below.  After reading Hitler’s speech, identify three passages* that are concrete illustrations of one or more of the characteristics of propaganda referred to below.

* (use only the portion of the passage that is necessary to answer the questions below; please do not include long blocks of quoted texts) 

1. Stirring up patriotism and support for the war effort:
2. Playing upon entrenched cultural values to invoke fear and a desired action;
3. Justification of the personal actions or attitudes of political leaders).

Part 2:

Next review the following link that shows numerous examples of Nazi and American visual war propaganda. 

• Analysis of Nazi propaganda https://blogs.harvard.edu/karthik/files/2011/04/HIST-1572-Analysis-of-Nazi-Propaganda-KNarayanaswami.pdf
• 50 visual examples of propaganda: https://www.canva.com/learn/examples-of-propaganda/

Choose and compare three different sets of German and American war posters (for a total of 6 posters) and how they illustrate each of the three characteristics of propaganda outlined above.  Be sure to compare and contrast each set of posters. Discuss what makes the war posters you have chosen good illustrations of propaganda and describe what aspects of the poster (such as colors, slogans, symbols etc.) make the propaganda particularly effective or compelling.

Please include and minimize the poster size.

Scoring Criteria

0-12 points:  minimal paper that is not clearly written and identifies a few examples of written and visual propaganda

13-17 points:  solid paper that is clearly written and identifies and compares three sets of examples of both written and visual propaganda

18-20 points: exceptional paper that identifies, compares and analyzes three sets of examples of both written and visual propaganda in a particularly thorough or thoughtful way