Biography Projects/Photographic Series Due!

During Period 7:

1. Please complete your drafts of your biography project!
2. Prepare your draft and photographic series to turn in today! If you upload your photos to Flickr, for example, you can send me the URL instead of printing out copies.
3. If you did not complete your homework, please complete that (reprinted from last blog post) and turn in:

Propaganda is the idea or statement (often false or exaggerated/hyperbole...) that are spread culturally in order to help a cause, a political leader or party, a government, or any established institution.

TASK: (watch the films/clips above and try to answer the questions in your journal/notebook. We will discuss them next class as a group). Read the article: "Why It's So Hard to Stop ISIS Propaganda" by Simon Cottee.

Check this website and read about propaganda: United States Holocaust Museum.

HOMEWORK: After viewing the videos above, read the article from the Atlantic and research the United States Holocaust Museum at the link (if you have trouble viewing the site, please check from home--or make sure you're not using Crome). To turn in:

• Summarize in a paragraph or two the Atlantic article by Simon Cottee: "Why Its So Hard to Stop ISIS Propaganda"
• How might narrative messages be used as a tool? 
• Define the concept and history of propaganda?
• Give an example of propaganda that you have witnessed or experienced.

During Period 8: 

With a partner, view the post above (samples of propaganda posters). Look through the propaganda posters. Study how they present a viewpoint, political, religious, cultural idea, or situation, etc.. Ask/discuss with your partner:

• When (or where) are these posters typically shown? Can you identify "older" posters from more contemporary ones? What tips you off that something is old or new?
• What are the basic elements of the posters?
• What is the message being sent by the poster? 
• Discuss: what is your right of expression and freedom of speech as a U.S. Citizen?
• How has propaganda changed? 
• What events in history have helped shape these posters? 
• How has war changed since WWI; what similarities and difference exist between works created during WWI, WWII, Vietnam, the Gulf War, the Iraq Wars, PSA announcements, posters from the 21st century, etc.? 
• How might making art can help other people in distress?
• Propaganda often uses fear, simplified language (for the masses), and striking or sometimes disturbing images to create anger, fear, horror, disgust, or any other emotion in the viewer. Discuss your reaction as you view these posters. 

Citizens have used propaganda posters to express their views since the birth of our Nation. Amendment I of the U.S. Constitution restricts the government from prohibiting the freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. Using online digital libraries and archives, explore posters of U.S. wars and/or conflicts to develop a sense of how individuals and groups have expressed their points of view throughout our history. With your partner, view these websites and surf the internet for examples of poster art and propaganda. Take note of what you find here to use later in the course. Our next project will involve creating/designing a poster.

• Poster Art Digital Library  
• Art of the Poster (see the menu selections for archives on the left side of the page)
• Digital Library: Art & Design
• Washington University Archive
• Mondotees Archive

HOMEWORK: None. If you have not completed your biography project--it will be late. Complete it as homework!