Class: United States History

Length: 55 minutes
This lesson takes a look at various propaganda images from WWII and had my students analyze the
images for a number of elements.
Standards Addressed:
SS.912.H.8 - Understand cause and effect relationships and other historical thinking skills in order to
interpret events and issues.
Agenda:

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Go over what propaganda is:

Examples of where we see it today, in what forms at appears, and why it is used
We will first go through the process of analyzing as a class, with the teacher modeling how
this practice works the first image will be place on the overhead projector
Model how to look at an image
What elements to address? These elements will be given to the student in
advance
o Message What is the image trying to tell the viewer?
What aspects of the image support this?
o Emotional Response What emotions do the image play on?
Why are these specific emotions being addressed?
Connect the emotional response to the message
o Historical Context What historical connections/themes does the
image call to mind?
Why would the creators use historical context within
propaganda?
Connect back to the message of the image
o Effectiveness Is it effective?
What makes this image effective?
Then, still as a class, the students will analyze a second document, with the teacher guiding
them through the process
Lastly, students will analyze third and fourth document
They will work in pairs to analyze all elements of the image
Each pair-set will share out about each element
Once done, each student will write a short response, explaining which of these is most
effective to you and why, to be collected at the end of class
With the remaining time, a class discussion will be held discussing current forms of
propaganda we see today
Looking at how politics and political messages are addressed, discussed, and
disseminated