DOCUMENTS AND CARTOONS RELATED TO THE INTERNMENT EXPERIENCE

Please feel free to post your responses to the questions or your own observations in the comments section so we can start a dialogue on the impact of these documents and cartoons.

DOCUMENT #1:
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=74&page=transcript

1. What is an executive order?
2. Who issued this order, and why was this order issued according to the writer?
3. Who is affected by this order and how?
4. Put yourself in the position of one of the groups you mentioned above. How would you feel about this executive order?
5. Do you think it was legal to issue this order?
6. Should it be legal to issue an order like this? Under what circumstances? Why or why not?
7. Can you think of any other examples where an order like this has been issued in America? The world?
8. Other than this order, what other options might America have considered when deciding how to respond to the attack on Pearl Harbor?


DOCUMENT #2:
http://ipr.ues.gseis.ucla.edu/images/Evacuation_Poster.pdf

1. What is the purpose of this poster?
2. Who is the intended audience? Who wrote it?
3. What does the poster instruct people to do? What are people allowed to bring? What are they not allowed to bring?
4. Imagine you are a Japanese-American at this point in time. How would you feel reading this poster?
5. Imagine you are an Anglo-American at this point in time. How would you feel reading this poster?
6. Do you think the measures outlined in the poster were necessary given the circumstances? Why or why not?


DOCUMENT #3:
http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dspolitic/pm/1942/20213cs.jpg

1. What do you see in this cartoon?
2. What is the message in this cartoon?
3. Who is this cartoon poking fun at?
4. Who drew this cartoon? Why do you think he drew it?
5. Do you think the cartoonist's views were similar or different than most Americans' during this time? Why?
6. Imagine you were an Anglo-American during this time period. Would you agree with the message in this cartoon? Why or why not?


DOCUMENT #4:
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist8/evac19.html

1. When was this article written? What was going on in America during this time?
2. What is the topic of the article?
3. What is the tone of the author? How do you think he or she feels about this topic?
4. If the tone of this article was similar to the tone of most news reports during this time, what do you think the average Anglo-American thought of this situation?
5. Do you think the author's view of what was happening was accurate?
6. Do you think the events described in this article are necessary given the time period? Why or why not?
7. Can you think of any other past or current events where something similar to what's described in this article has happened?
8. What do you think America has learned or hasn't learned from this experience?


DOCUMENT #5:
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/teachers/lessons/secondary/documents/japanese_topaz.pdf

1. What is the purpose of this pamphlet?
2. Who is the intended audience? Who do you think wrote it?
3. Do you think the guidelines in this pamphlet are reasonable? Why?
4. Why do you think this pamphlet was made?
5. Do you think this pamphlet was necessary given the circumstances? Why?
6. How much control do you think other people should have over your daily life? Why?


DOCUMENT #6:
http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/japan_internment_camps.htm

1. What does this map show?
2. What is an internment camp?
3. Who oversaw the internment camps?
4. Why do you think these particular locations were selected for internment camps?
5. Why do you think internment camps were created?
6. How do you think these locations are similar or different today?



DOCUMENT #7:
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist8/editorial4.html



1. What do you see in this editorial cartoon?
2. During what time period was this cartoon drawn? What was going on in America during this time period?
3. Who do you think drew this cartoon? Why?
4. What is the purpose of this cartoon?
5. How do you think different ethnic groups, specifically Anglo-Americans and Japanese-Americans, felt about this cartoon?
6. If people saw this cartoon today, what emotions do you think they'd have? Why?

PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE INTERNMENT EXPERIENCE

Please feel free to respond to the questions below or make your own observations in the comments section so we can start a dialogue on the story that these pictures tell.

PHOTOGRAPH #1:
http://dickiebo.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/ph-1.jpg

1. What do you see in this picture?

2. What do you think this is a picture of? Any particular event in history? Why?

3. This is actually a picture of Pearl Harbor after it was attacked. How do you think the people on the dock are feeling right now?

4. Who attacked Pearl Harbor? If you were one of the attackers, how do you think you would feel at this point in time?

5. If you were one of the sailors on the dock, how would you feel at this point in time?

6. If you were the United States government, what would be some of your options for how to respond to this attack? Which option would you pick and why?

PHOTOGRAPH #2:
http://education.eastwestcenter.org/asiapacificed/ph2006/PH2006projects/7_clip_image001.jpg

1. What is this picture showing?

2. Does this picture remind you of any other events in history? Why?

3. Who do you think this woman is? Why?

4. How would you describe this woman's emotions or how she's feeling based on this picture?

5. What's happening in her life to make her feel this way?

6. Based on your evaluation of her emotions and the events in her life, do you think she's right or wrong to feel the way she does? Why?

PHOTOGRAPH #3:
http://www.library.wwu.edu/ref/images/japanese-evacuation.jpg


1. What do you see in this picture? What different groups of people are involved?

2. What time period is this? What major events are happning in America at this time?

3. What do you think is happening here? Where are these people going?

4. Why are these people lined up? Do they have anything in common with each other? Any differences? Are they here by choice?

5. If you were an American during this time period, how would you feel if you saw this picture in a newspaper?

6. If you were an American during this time period, would you agree with what's happening in this picture or not? Why do you feel this way?

PHOTOGRAPH #4:
http://ikilled007.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/japanese-internment.jpg

1. Who are the people on both sides of this fence?

2. Where are these people? How do you know?

3. What are the emotions of the people on both sides of the fence? Why do they feel the way they do?

4. Why are these people here? Where did they come from?

5. Under what circumstances do you think these people came here? What lives were they leading a few months ago?

6. If you don't believe these people are here by choice, who do you think ordered them to this place and why? Do you think those people in charge had good reasons or not? Why?

PHOTOGRAPH #5:
http://z.hubpages.com/u/96793_f520.jpg

1. What's happening in this picture?

2. Who are the people in this picture, and where are they?

3. Why are they at this place? Did they choose to be here?

4. Who is the boy looking at the camera, and how do you think he feels?

5. Tell me the story of this boy's life. Where did he come from? Who is his family? What was he doing a year ago? What will he do and where will he go when he finishes playing?

6. Do you think this boy should be in this place? Why or why not?

PHOTOGRAPH #6:

http://library.thinkquest.org/04apr/00065/graphics/Camp3.jpg

1. What's happening in this picture?

2. Who are these children? Where are they?

3. What ethnicities do you see represented in this picture?

4. Do you think these children are American citizens? Why or why not?

5. During wartime, do you think these children would be on America's side or another country's side? Which country do you think the different children in this picture would support? Why?

6. In the world we live in today, do you think people associate different ethnicities or races with certain countries, even if the people of these different backgrounds were born and raised in America? Why?

PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OF THE INTERNMENT EXPERIENCE

Please feel free to respond to any of these questions or make your own observations in the comments section so we can start a dialogue about some of these accounts.

PERSONAL ACCOUNT #1:
http://www.uwec.edu/geOGrApHY/Ivogeler/w188/life.htm

1. Who is the author of this account? How old do you think he was when he was interred?
2. What are some of the hardships and/or privileges you noticed in his account?
3. What is the tone of the author's voice? Can you tell how he feels about his experience?
4. How does the author's story make you feel?
5. What lessons would the author like you to take away from his story? Do you agree with these lessons? Why or why not?
6. Do you think the life the author describes in the internment camp was reasonable given the circumstances during the time? Why or why not?
7. Why do you think this author felt compelled to tell his story?


PERSONAL ACCOUNT #2:
http://www.janm.org/exhibitions/breed/1_6_42_t.htm

1. When was this letter written? What was going on in America during this time?
2. Who is the author of the letter? Where is she writing from?
3. What is the purpose of the letter?
4. How does Louise Ogawa describe her life? What hardships and privileges does she talk about?
5. What is the author's tone of voice? How do you think she's feeling about her situation based on the words and tone she uses in her letter? Why do you think this?
6. Imagine you are Louise Ogawa. How would you feel about your life as described in her letter. Why?


PERSONAL ACCOUNT #3:
http://www.janm.org/exhibitions/breed/11_30_42_t.htm

1. When was this letter written?
2. Who is the author of this letter? Where is she writing from?
3. What is Louise Ogawa's tone in this letter? Can you tell how she's feeling? How would you describe her personality?
4. According to Louise Ogawa, what are some of the differences between life in the internment camp and life outside the camp for Japansese-Americans? Do you think one is better than the other? Why?
5. What does Louise Ogawa think will happen once the war is over? Do you agree with her? Why or why not?
6. Do you think America today is the America that Louise Ogawa would have envisioned? Why or why not?


PERSONAL ACCOUNT #4:
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/99/fear/interview.html

1. Who is being interviewed in this story? Who is conducting the interview?
2. Why do you think the interviewers wanted to conduct this interview?
3. What sticks out most to you in Ms. Tsukamoto's story? Why?
4. What is the tone of Ms. Tsukamoto's voice? Why do you think she feels the way she does?
5. What reasons does Ms. Tsukamoto give for why she believes the internment happened? Do you agree with her? Why or why not?
6. What do you think America can do to avoid another situation like the Japanese Internment?


PERSONAL ACCOUNT #5:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17335538

1. Who wrote this article? When was the article written?
2. How and why do you think Japanese Americans today remember so many details of the internment camps that they experienced or heard about through family members?
3. What were some of the hardships in internment camps according to this article?
4. What was the impact of the internment on Japanese-American culture today?
5. How did the Japanese-Americans attempt to protect their culture?
6. Can you think of any other past or current events in American history where one culture was suppressed by another? In what ways has this happened?


PERSONAL ACCOUNT #6:
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=17335538&m=17358613

1. Who's being interviewed in this interview?
2. What is his interview about?
3. According to the interview, how much choice did Japanese-Americans have over what they ate? Why do you think this was the case?
4. Why do you think he remembers the food he had so vividly? Why do you think the food would have been a big deal to Japanese-Americans in the internment camps?
5. Imagine you were Japanese-American in an internment camp. What aspects of your life do you think you'd miss most? Least?
6. How do you think the U.S. government decided what to provide and what not to provide the people in internment camps? Why do you think they made those choices?