To formulate your answer to the questions below you must use the resources provided for you in this course (lectures, primary sources, American Yawp). Failure to do so will affect your grade accordingly. Address one or more of the questions below.

Question(s):

1. What conclusions can be drawn from all the sources so far read or viewed in class about the political, cultural, and/or economic trajectory of American democracy during 1921-1945?
2. How did political and diplomatic events during the 1920s and 1930s led to the Second World War?
3. What effect did the consumerism of the 1920s and then Great Depression have on U.S. relations with the world?
4. What effect did the consumerism of the 1920s and then Great Depression have on U.S. domestic views on “race”?
5. How did the U.S. entrance into the Second World War resolve (or not) political, cultural, racial and/or economic problems experienced during 1921-1945?

Detailed Directions

Weekly Critical Reflections: Read the prompt carefully to understand what your reader expects. Before you begin to address the prompt you should have viewed the video-lecture and read the secondary and (at least two) primary sources and annotate/highlight the information or examples that will help you prove your main idea to the prompt.

1. As you write your weekly critical reviews you should keep in mind these two objectives: 1) read analytically and think critically; and 2) improve how you explain what you are observing and how you rationalize what is happening in the readings (that is, you are working on the improvement of your written communication skills).
   1. With these purposes in mind you will 1) analytically read historical material(s) to answer specific prompt questions, and 2) write a clear and strong comment as a reply to these questions.
      1. You accomplish the above objectives and proposes by efficiently writing: 1) you need a clear topic sentence or main idea, 2) you need to provide evidence and examples (at least two) from the readings that support your topic sentences, and 3) you must finish with a concluding sentence.
         1. The topic sentence of your WCR should be a direct answer to one or more of the prompt’s question(s). It should be only one sentence. If it is more than one sentence then it is not a topic sentence or main idea.
         2. In the next six or seven sentences you most support your main idea with the evidence you have annotated/highlighted from your reading of the materials. I strongly encourage you to explain this information and the examples you select in your own words. Do not quote from the materials unless you believe the authors’ words cannot be expressed better in other words. If you quote, you have to cite the source (author and or title of primary source is sufficient).
         3. In the last sentence of your comment, you reaffirm the main idea you have offered in your topic sentence. This is your conclusion.
2. Assessment: My reading of your WCR will assess whether your submission demonstrates 1) you understand the prompt and assigned materials; and 2) your ability to organize your ideas and the evidence you have collected in a strong paragraph (topic sentence, evidence, and conclusion).

References:

Be sure to introduce your source and also include a reference citation. Use Chicago Style (Links to an external site.) documentation format.