1. Using this week’s readings and/or any additional existing knowledge or research, please answer the following as part of your main answer post for Discussion #6: Select one aspect of WWI or WWII that you gained a new insight on in during our readings and videos this week. Once identified, briefly discuss what you learned, as well as why it is significant to better understanding these wars?
2. Within the same body of the response you make to the writing prompt in Part One above, I would ask that you also frame a response to the following question: With the FDR presidency in mind, briefly explain the strengths and shortcomings of his tenure in office, whether in the context of FDR’s day or from that of the present?
This two-part discussion asks you to (1) share a new insight about an aspect of WWI or WWII and why it matters, and (2) evaluate the strengths and shortcomings of FDR’s presidency. Pick a focused aspect and give a balanced FDR assessment — that balance is what earns the marks.
Key takeaways
- Choose one specific aspect, not the whole war — depth beats breadth.
- Explain the insight and, crucially, its significance for understanding the war.
- Evaluate FDR with both strengths and shortcomings — avoid a one-sided take.
- Judge him in his day and from the present, as the prompt asks.
- Support points with the week’s readings or outside research, and cite them.
Part 1: Your new insight
Narrow it down — the home-front mobilization, the role of women or minority servicemembers, the technology of trench warfare, the use of propaganda, or a turning-point battle. State what you learned, then answer the ‘so what’: how does this change or deepen your understanding of the war’s causes, conduct, or consequences?
Part 2: Evaluating FDR
Give a genuinely two-sided assessment.
- Strengths: New Deal relief and reform during the Depression, steady wartime leadership, building the Allied coalition, and communication skill (the ‘fireside chats’).
- Shortcomings: the internment of Japanese Americans, the court-packing attempt, the limits of New Deal recovery, and a cautious record on civil rights.
Then weigh him across time: decisions defensible in the context of the 1930s–40s that look different today. A fair, evidence-based verdict is stronger than praise or condemnation.
Format
Keep both parts in one coherent post, cite the week’s materials, and end with your overall takeaway.