The United States launched the Global War on Terrorism after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The military campaign has since involved many conflicts in regions across the globe but has largely focused on terrorist groups in the Middle East. This inquiry asks students to investigate the compelling question, “How did media shape opinions of the War on Terror?”
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About the inquiry
Compelling Question
How did media shape opinions of the War on Terror?
Standards
D2.His.4.9-12. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.
Instructional Snapshot
Class begins with a collaborative source analysis activity in which students examine a series of political cartoons related to the War on Terror. Depending on students’ familiarity with political cartoons, the teacher may want to model how to analyze a political cartoon with the first cartoon with the whole class. Students work in small groups to identify the central message of each cartoon as well as a key point of tension highlighted by the cartoonist. As they analyze, students track their thinking in a graphic organizer.
After analyzing the cartoons and completing the first two columns of the organizer, students move to the deliberation stage, comparing the identified tensions and ranking them according to their perceived severity, then recording their rankings in the last column of the graphic organizer. The teacher may walk around and ask students to justify their rankings as they go; this provides the teacher an opportunity to guide students’ thinking as needed. Students finalize the graphic organizer by producing a counterclaim to the claim, “Americans were unified by the War on Terror,” using the cartoons to inform their thinking.
Formative Tasks
COLLABORATE: Identify one message and point of tension from each political cartoon.
DELIBERATE: Rank the identified points of tension in terms of perceived severity.
PRODUCE: Produce a counterclaim to the claim, “Americans were unified by the War on Terror.”
Sources
Source Set: Ann Telnaes, “Humor’s Edge, The World According to W”, 1996-2003, Library of Congress
Summative Performance Task
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Taking Informed Action
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