WWII Unit Assignments
Understanding Kristallnacht (a.k.a. Night of Broken Glass) - Analyzing Primary Source Accounts
Essential Questions:
1. Click on the "Understanding Kristallnacht" title above, find and click on your groups assigned reading about Kristallnacht.
2. While reading, identify basic facts about the account: Who was the author? Who was the audience (if it is stated)? What kind of document is this? When was it created or written?
3. Discuss the questions that follow each reading and answer them briefly on paper. Then answer the following:
4. After completing your group discussion, choose a spokesperson from your group report to the class about one of the choices made in the reading that your group discussed, the reasons the individual made that choice, and the role that the choice played in perpetuating or preventing injustice.
Essential Questions:
- What happened on November 9 and 10, 1938? How can an examination of different sources documenting the event give us a more complete picture of what actually happened?
- What do the variety of responses to Kristallnacht teach us about the ways that people often respond to episodes of violence and terror? What roles can people who are not targeted by violence and terror play in perpetuating or preventing injustice?
1. Click on the "Understanding Kristallnacht" title above, find and click on your groups assigned reading about Kristallnacht.
2. While reading, identify basic facts about the account: Who was the author? Who was the audience (if it is stated)? What kind of document is this? When was it created or written?
3. Discuss the questions that follow each reading and answer them briefly on paper. Then answer the following:
- How did they react to Kristallnacht? What choices did they make?
- What role did they play in perpetuating or preventing injustice?
- What factors influenced their decision making?
- What does this source teach us about perpetrators, bystanders, victims, or upstanders?
4. After completing your group discussion, choose a spokesperson from your group report to the class about one of the choices made in the reading that your group discussed, the reasons the individual made that choice, and the role that the choice played in perpetuating or preventing injustice.
The Rape of Nanking (a.k.a. The Nanking Massacre) - Research Assignment
Directions: Use the following websites below to answer the questions that follow.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/nanking.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/nanking.htm (first hand accounts of the Rape of Nanking)
1. What happened at Shanghai that may have played a role in how Japanese troops behaved in Nanking?
2. What did the Japanese soldiers do to the Chinese troops who had surrendered?
3. Describe at least three ways the Japanese massacred and raped the civilians of Nanking.
4. Copy a sentence or section from an eyewitness account that you feel is particularly important to highlight and say why.
5. What are some possible reasons why the Japanese acted so brutally to the Chinese?
6. What shocked you the most about the Rape of Nanking?
Bonus:
7. How did foreigners in Nanking react to what was happening in Nanking?
8. What was the response of the international community?
Directions: Use the following websites below to answer the questions that follow.
http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/nanking.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/nanking.htm (first hand accounts of the Rape of Nanking)
1. What happened at Shanghai that may have played a role in how Japanese troops behaved in Nanking?
2. What did the Japanese soldiers do to the Chinese troops who had surrendered?
3. Describe at least three ways the Japanese massacred and raped the civilians of Nanking.
4. Copy a sentence or section from an eyewitness account that you feel is particularly important to highlight and say why.
5. What are some possible reasons why the Japanese acted so brutally to the Chinese?
6. What shocked you the most about the Rape of Nanking?
Bonus:
7. How did foreigners in Nanking react to what was happening in Nanking?
8. What was the response of the international community?
WWII Unit Essay: Was appeasement the right policy for England in 1938?
Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement was controversial at the time and has been debated by historians and policymakers ever since the Munich Agreement. Your assignment is to examine a variety of documents and evaluate different perspectives on appeasement. You will develop a claim, using evidence, to answer the question: Was appeasement the right policy for England in 1938?
Step 1:
Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement was controversial at the time and has been debated by historians and policymakers ever since the Munich Agreement. Your assignment is to examine a variety of documents and evaluate different perspectives on appeasement. You will develop a claim, using evidence, to answer the question: Was appeasement the right policy for England in 1938?
Step 1:
- Read and annotate Doc's A & B
- Answer the Guiding Questions (red half-sheet) for each document.
- Read and annotate Doc's C, D,E & F
- Answer the Guiding Questions (red half-sheet) for each document.
- Which documents did you find the most persuasive? Why? Cite evidence from the documents to support your answer.
- Which documents contained the strongest evidence? Which documents needed more evidence to back the authors’ claims?
- What other documents or types of evidence would you need to explore to further address whether or not appeasement was the right policy for England in 1938?
- Based on the evidence you identified in the various documents, develop a thesis statement that answers the question: Was appeasement the right policy for England in 1938?
- Although the British strategy of appeasing Hitler had some positive effects, it was a mistake because continued German aggression was left unchecked which quickly led to war.
- In 1938, with the terrible memories of WWI still fresh in the minds of the British people and the fact that their military forces were weak, Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement towards German aggression was understandable and correct.
- The policy of appeasement that Britain pursued to counter Hitler’s aggression was a mistake because it allowed Hitler to expand German control in Europe and put the continent on a path towards war.
- Paragraph #1: This paragraph will contain the evidence you feel best supports the claim you stated in your thesis. Remember you must explain in 2-3 sentences how each piece of evidence you use supports your thesis statement. -------Don't forget to cite which document your evidence is from.
- Paragraph #2: This paragraph will contain the evidence you feel best supports the opposing side of your claim or counter argument. Remember you must explain in 2-3 sentences how each piece of evidence you use supports the opposing argument of your thesis. ---Don't forget to cite which document your evidence is from.
WWII Main Ideas 5 & 6 Google Slides Research & Jigsaw
WWII Pacific Theater & Oceania Map