WWII Propaganda Poster Project

The world is at war! Although the U.S. started off being neutral, after
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, it decided to get involved and join the
Allies in their fight against the Axis Powers. The U. S. government
has recruited you to help with the war effort. Your job is to create a
propaganda poster that will help to generate support for the war.
1. Your task is to choose one of the common objectives of
wartime propaganda and produce a poster that will fulfill this
purpose.
-You can choose from the following objectives: enlistment
and recruitment, financing the war, generating support for
the war, conservation of resources, and encouraging
participation in home front organizations.
2. You must use at least two common tools of wartime
propaganda.
-See attached Propaganda Objectives and Tools
Worksheet
3. You must identify your target audience and make sure you
tailor the main message of your poster to reach them. In other
words, the main message of your poster should fulfill your
objective and should be aimed at your target audience.
4. Your poster must include images, symbols, words/phrases,
and colors that will help you fulfill your objective.
5. You must write a report that will explain, in detail, the following:
a. The objective or purpose of your poster
b. Which two or more tools of propaganda did you use and
how did you use these tools
c. Who is the poster intended for (target audience)
d. What is the main message of your poster
e. Which images, symbols, words/phrases, and colors did
you use and why you chose them (whats their intended
effect? what do they represent?)

6. You must work cooperatively with your group members. Strive

for equality of participation. Every member should contribute.
Your group will have to present your poster to the class!

Propaganda Objectives and Tools

Common Objectives of Wartime Propaganda
1. Recruitment of soldiers, either through a draft or voluntary enlistment
2. Financing the war effort through the sale of war bonds-loans from citizens to the
government-or new taxes
3. Eliminating dissent and unifying the country behind the war effort
4. Con.servation of resources-such as food, oil, and steel-necessary to wage war
5. Participation in home-front organizations to support the war effort

Common Tools Used in Wartime Propaganda

Demonization This tool involves portraying the enemy as purely evil, menacing, murderous,
and aggressive. The propagandist attempts to remove all confusion and ambiguity about
whom the public should hate. The enemy may be portrayed as a hairy beast or the devil
himself. This tool becomes more powerful when the enemy can be blamed for committing
atrocities against women, children, or other noncombatants.
Emotional Appeals This tool involves playing on people's emotions to promote the war effort.
Since the strongest emotion is often fear, propagandists create their work based on the premise that
the more frightened a person is by a communication, the more likely he or she is to take action.
Thus, propagandists are careful to explain in detail the action that they want the consumer of the
propaganda to carry out.
Name Calling This tool involves using loaded labels to encourage hatred of the enemy. Labels
like "Commies," "Japs," and "Huns" reinforce negative stereotypes and assist propagandists in
demonizing the enemy.
Patriotic Appeals This tool involves using patriotic language or symbols to appeal to
people's national pride.
Half-Truths or Lies This tool involves deception or twisting the truth. The propagandist may
attempt to include some element of truth in the propaganda to make an argument more persuasive.
For example, blaming the enemy for complete responsibility for the war and portraying one's own
country as a victim of aggression is a common propaganda tool.
Catchy Slogans This tool involves using memorable phrases to foster support for the war effort.
For example, short phrases like "Remember the Maine!" and "Remember the Alamo!" have been
very successful in motivating Americans to strongly support the use of arms against Spain and
Mexico, respectively.
Evocative Visual Symbols This tool involves using symbols that appeal to people's
emotions-like flags, statues, mothers and children, and enemy uniforms-to promote the war
effort.

Humor or Caricatures This tool involves capturing the viewer's attention through the use of
humor to promote the war effort. The enemy is almost always the butt of the jokes used by
propagandists.
CATEGORY
Use of Class
Time

4
Used time well
during each
class period.
Focused on
getting the
project done.
Never
distracted
others.

2
Used some of
the time well
during each
class period.
There was some
focus on getting
the project done
but occasionally
distracted
others.
Historical
The content in
The content in
The content in
Accuracy/Follo the poster is
the poster is
the poster is
wing
completely
mostly
partially
Directions
accurate and
accurate,
accurate
fits within the
contains one
contains,
historical
error, and fits
contains several
context of WWII. within the
errors. Partially
Completely
historical
follows
follows
context of WWII. directions.
directions.
Mostly follows
directions.
Objective &
Poster clearly
Target
reflects one of
Audience
the common
objectives of
wartime
propaganda and
targets a
specific
audience to
achieve this
objective.
Propaganda
Effectively use
Effectively use
Effectively use
Tools
at least 3
2 common tools 1 common tool
common tools
of wartime
of wartime
of wartime
propaganda.
propaganda.
propaganda.

1
Did not use
class time to
focus on the
project OR often
distracted
others.

Use of
Images,
Symbols,
Words, &
Colors

None of the
images,
symbols, words
or colors are
used with
purpose or
effectively to
achieve
intended
objective.

All images,
symbols, words
and colors are
used with
purpose and
effectively to
achieve
intended
objective.

3
Used time well
during each
class period.
Usually focused
on getting the
project done
and never
distracted
others.

Most images,
symbols, words
and colors are
used with
purpose and
effectively to
achieve
intended
objective.

Some images,
symbols, words
and colors are
used with
purpose and
effectively to
achieve
intended
objective.

The content in
the poster is
completely
inaccurate.
Doesn't follow
directions.

Poster does not

clearly convey
the objective
nor the
intended
audience.

Don't use any of

common tools
of wartime
propaganda.

Written
Report

Report contains
detailed
explanation of
all five required
components, as
stated in
directions.

Report contains
detailed
explanation of 4
of the 5
required
components, as
stated in
directions.

Report contains
detailed
explanation of 3
of the 5
required
components, as
stated in
directions.

Propaganda Poster Project Rubric

Doc. A - World War I Propaganda Poster Example

Report contains
detailed
explanation of 2
of the 5
required
components, as
stated in
directions.

Doc. B - Propaganda Poster Report - Example

The common objective of our groups propaganda poster is to try to recruit soldiers by
convincing them to voluntarily enlist in the military. Our target audience is all able-bodied men
who are of appropriate age to serve in the military. In order to achieve this objective we use three
tools commonly found in wartime propaganda. One tool that we use is demonization. We use this
tool to portray the enemy as a giant hairy beast or ape-like creature in order to incite hate towards
the enemy. We also employ emotional appeals by creating fear that the enemy will come to the
United States and impose its brutality. By playing on peoples fears, we hope to frighten them
into taking action. We also employ evocative visual symbols. The visual of a disrobed helpless
woman being clutched by the hairy beast will help stir peoples emotions to contribute to the war
effort.
The main message of our propaganda poster is to persuade young able-bodied men to
enlist in the U.S. Army. We used several powerful images in our poster. The main image is a
giant hairy beast or creature with a German mustache. The beast represents the militarism of
Germany and the Central Powers. The beast is standing on a shoreline that reads America and
is holding a woman in his arms. The woman is topless and in distress, and she symbolizes
America. She is being dishonored and assaulted by the beast. These images convey the idea that
if Germanys militarism is not stopped, then it will reach the U.S. and threaten the safety of our
country and its people. We chose these images to demonize the enemy and generate hate towards
them. We chose mainly dark colors, such as black, grey and blue for the images on the poster to
create a dark and ominous mood. The main words we used on the poster were DESTROY THIS
MAD BRUTE, ENLIST. We chose to make these words orange to make them stand out and
fire people up to join the army.