The Road to Pearl Harbor
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Description
Explore the rise of animosity between the U.S. and Japan through primary source documents and related classroom activities.
Article Body
Four separate lessons make up this unit on “The Road to Pearl Harbor.” Like most lesson plans from EDSITEment—a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities—this unit is full of rich primary source material and a wide variety of related classroom activities. The unit is guided by four questions, designed to help students understand the long run-up to military conflict between the U.S. and Japan. Reflecting those questions, the unit is divided into four lessons: exploring the growth of U.S./Japanese hostility during World War I and after, looking at American foreign policy during the Sino-Japanese Conflict in the 1930s, examining the Japanese “Southern Advance” of 1940 and 1941, and finally, highlighting the failures of diplomacy that ultimately led to war. The unit does an excellent job of representing historical contingency—revealing how the bombing of Pearl Harbor was actually the product of decades of history. Further, it will help students understand the multiple causes of Japanese aggression—from Japanese imperial ambition to U.S. foreign policies. Each lesson comes with a brief but complete historical background essay embedded with hyperlinks to primary sources, clear and concise suggestions for student activities, worksheets, and ideas for formal and informal assessment. And the interactive timeline tool is an excellent resource that pairs nicely with other aspects of the lessons. There are some things to watch out for, though. Many of the primary sources are long and will need to be carefully selected or vigorously edited, depending on your students’ reading level and persistence. The assessments are only roughly outlined, meaning that teachers will need to fill in the details and establish their own grading criteria. Additionally, while lessons range in length from 1–2 class periods to 3–4 class periods, they collectively require fairly extensive class time—roughly two weeks; consequently, they will most likely need to be used selectively. However, this unit is still an excellent resource. By picking and choosing from among the activities, carefully selecting documents, and further developing one or two assessments, teachers can adapt the lesson to their particular needs.
Topic
The Road to Pearl Harbor: The United States and East Asia, 1915-1941
Time Estimate
Variable
flexibility_scale
1
Rubric_Content_Accurate_Scholarship
Yes
Rubric_Content_Historical_Background
Yes
Significant historical background is provided for each of the four individual lessons that constitute the larger lesson plan.
Rubric_Content_Read_Write
Yes
Students read primary documents and there are multiple opportunities for writing.
Rubric_Analytical_Construct_Interpretations
Yes
Rubric_Analytical_Close_Reading_Sourcing
Yes
Students are asked to read source information carefully enough to be able to put it to use in assignments.
Rubric_Scaffolding_Appropriate
Yes
Rubric_Scaffolding_Supports_Historical_Thinking
Yes
Rubric_Structure_Assessment
Yes
Rubric_Structure_Realistic
Yes
Rubric_Structure_Learning_Goals
Yes
Directions are brief and clear. Teachers must design necessary supports.
Hope for America
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Annotation
Hope for America, an exhibition from the U.S. Library of Congress, focuses on the comedian Bob Hope and the marriage between humor, politics, and satire in the modern age. Various viewpoints are on display, which the site believes will allow visitors "...to draw their own conclusions regarding the interplay of politics and entertainment in American public life and its consequences for the nation’s political culture."
The site is divided into three basic themes: Political Humor, Causes and Controversies, and Blurring of the Lines. Each thematic section offers a basic overview, some poignant quotes, and links to items in the collection. A bibliography and list of events are also provided for further exploration in the top navigation menu.
It is worth noting that each of the three main thematic sections contain between seven to nine subsections. Users can choose to view the entire set of items in the three main sections, or by each subsection. In all, around 180 items are available for U.S. history teachers and students. Each item contains a brief description and most images can be viewed in larger sizes and/or downloaded for educational use.
This collection by the Library of Congress is highly recommended for educators and students of American history who want to gain a better understanding of the historical relationship between politics and comedy. Although Bob Hope is the center of the exhibit, comedians and satirists throughout the twentieth century are included. The scope of the exhibit, largely covering the entire twentieth century, is likewise helpful in understanding how humor and political concerns changed over time.
Ballyhoo!: Posters as Portraiture
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Annotation
Ballyhoo! presents a concise history of advertising posters and their use of celebrity in the United States, as well as the export of U.S. celebrity to other countries. The website was initially created as an accompaniment to a National Portrait Gallery exhibit which ran in 2008 through 2009.
The site is broken down into an introduction and eight short explanatory sections, each with a two-paragraph essay and four to eight related posters to view.