The American Vision Modern Times © 2010Unit 4:
Boom and Bust, 1920-1941Historical Thinking ActivitiesAssignment: Debating the Issues of the 1920s
The 1920s had many explosive issues of the time including political corruption, cultural innovation, economic prosperity, and the promotion of global peace and stability following World War I. Select an issue to debate and present your argument for the class. Assignment Task List
Step 1: Review how to analyze information. See "Analyzing information" on page R7 of the Skills Handbook. Step 2: Read primary and secondary sources related to each of these issues. Select two or more of the sources to use as source material to prepare for your debate. PDF Sources:
Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy, 1921–1929
The Washington Naval Conference, 1921–1922
Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928
Senate Investigates the "Teapot Dome" Scandal, April 15, 1922
The Scopes "Monkey" Trial Creationism versus Evolution:
Clash of Cultures: The Scopes Trial
NPR: Scopes Trial 75th Anniversary
PBS: Monkey Trial Immigration
Clash of Cultures: Immigration Restriction and the Ku Klux Klan Isolationism and Foreign Policy in the Interwar Years
The Washington Naval Conference
The Kellogg-Briand Pact The New Consumer Economy:
Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy, 1921–1929 The "New Woman"
Clash of Cultures: The New Woman
The New Woman of the 1920s: Debating Bobbed Hair Prohibition
Clash of Cultures: Prohibition
The Volstead Act and Related Prohibition Documents Recommended Movies and Documentaries:
Inherit the Wind
Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns (PBS)
Monkey Trial (PBS) Recommended Books:
Frederick Lewis Allen, Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the Nineteen-Twenties
Linda Jacobs Altman, The Decade that Roared: America During Prohibition
Edward Caudill, Edward Larson, and Jesse Mayshark, The Scopes Trial: A Photographic History
Edward J. Larson, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion Step 3: Create an outline of the information you have gathered. Step 4: Choose a side to debate. You must thoroughly research all aspects of the issue to support your argument and disprove your opponent's argument. Step 5: Write the debate. Similar to an essay you need an introduction, main ideas or evidence, and a conclusion. Prepare notes that you will use for your oral presentation—you should not read from your written “essay”. You should understand both sides of the debate so you are prepared to contradict the other side. Step 6: Review your work against the checklist below. Revise your debate notes as needed. | A well-prepared debate will: | | • | have a clear thesis | | • | present ideas in a well-organized format with an introduction and conclusion | | • | describe the main ideas and clearly express your point of view to the audience | | • | analyze the other side's point of view to disprove the opponent's argument | | • | use correct spelling and grammar for both the written and oral aspects of the activity |
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