Discussion Questions
February 5, 2020
- What does the Win the War Suggestions tell us about a) contemporary perceptions of women and their roles; b) contemporary perceptions of Canadian society; c) home front life; d) gender roles and relations. Are there similarities and/or differences between the viewpoints of Win the War Suggestions and the Globe editorial of February 4, 1918?
- How does the Canadian recruiting leaflet use women? Why is such an approach used?
- Using specific examples from the illustrations and readings, what are the values, national images, and views of the war which are presented to the adolescent readers by Young Canada? Be specific in your examples.
- What are the values, national images, and views of the war which are presented to the adolescent readers by A Message to the Boys and Girls of Canada? What do you think was the purpose of that piece? What do you think would be its impact?
- Do you think the Globe correct in its statement that by 1918 the war had done much to remove class distinctions and barriers? What evidence so far from this course could you use to argue for or against that?
- What do the letters to and from women tell us about the range of the female war experience? What did the female war experience consist of? What are the ranges of experiences evident in the letters?
- From the letters by women, what was the single most significant thing you learned, and why?
- What evidence might suggest that, for the home front, life continued very much as before the war? (Remember that in the study of history, continuity is as important as change. What doesn’t change and why, is as important as what does change.)
- Given the kinds of expectations indicated in the various readings, what kind of “pressures” do you think the home front civilian would feel? What kind of atmosphere or general feeling would have existed on the home front?