Lesson by John P. Irish
Essay by Thomas Nichols, U.S. Naval War College
Grade Level: 7–12
Number of Class Periods: 2
Primary Theme: Global History and US Foreign Policy
About This Lesson Plan Unit
Over the course of the two lessons, the students will analyze and assess visual primary sources, including political cartoons, art, advertisements, propaganda, and photographs from 1945 to 1992. The objective is to analyze how the Cold War was expressed as a culture war between the United States and the Soviet Union by analyzing key elements of the images in this lesson. The students will examine, define, interpret, and organize the documents to answer the essential question: How did the Cold War manifest itself as a culture war between the United States and the Soviet Union? As an assessment, the students will use their analysis of the images to engage in a small group seminar discussion about the similarities and differences in the values expressed by people in the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Lesson Plan Author: John P. Irish
Historical Background Essay by: Thomas Nichols, U.S. Naval War College
Additional Information About This Unit
Common Core State Standards
Common Core State Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.6: Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.7: Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.6: Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.8: Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claims.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.9: Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.3: Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.7: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.8: Evaluate an author’s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9: Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
Essential Question
Essential Question
How did the Cold War manifest itself as a culture war between the United States and the Soviet Union?
Documents
Documents
Ivanov and Burova, “Rebuild for Glory!” 1945
“Mother Looking at Baby in a Bassinet,” Ladies Home Journal, June 1946
“All Bow Down to the US Dollar!” from Krokodil
E. Spreckmeester, “Whatever the Weather, We Only Reach Welfare Together,” European Recovery Programme, 1950
Igor B. Berezovsky, “We Are Fulfilling the Party’s Tasks!” Soviet Publishing House for the Visual Arts, Moscow, 1957
Jackson Pollock, Autumn Rhythm (Number 30), 1950
“Soviet Man, Be Proud. Glory to the Heroes of the Homeland,” 1960, World History Archive/Alamy Stock Photo
Buzz Aldrin Salutes the US Flag, 1969, NASA
“Seventeen Moments in Soviet History,” 1973, Matrix, Michigan State University
Andy Warhol, Green Coca-Cola Bottles, 1962
Edmund S. Valtman, “I Can’t Believe My Eyes,” 1991
Ronald Reagan Presents Mikhail Gorbachev with the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award, May 4, 1992