Study Guide: Studs Terkel, The Good War
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Study Guide: Studs Terkel, The Good War |
Terkel's Pulitzer Prize winning oral history of World War II contains more than a hundred testimonials. In reading these testimonials, you will see that, for many people of the era, World War II was the formative event of their lives. Terkel concludes that the war "changed the psyche as well as the face of the United States and the world" (3). His oral history raises questions about how we justify the weapons of war; how war equalizes the participants while nonetheless reflecting racial, gender, and class divisions; and how winners and losers are changed by how the history of the war is told.
Study Questions | Topics for Further Research | Videos | Internet Resources
1. What evidence do you see in the testimonials and in your research for Göbeler's statement, "Every man, especially the youth, can be manipulated"?
2. How do the testimonials reflect changes that WWII brought about in society for men, women, minorities, and for our collective sense of identity as a nation?
3. What explanation do the men give for why they went to war? How was war different from what they expected?
4. How did the war change our expectations for economic advancement?
5. How do the testimonials explain why WWII was not seen as being like other wars? Why do we refer to it as the "Good War"?
6. To which groups did we become more tolerant, to which less tolerant because of WWII?
7. How do the testimonials reflect ethical concerns?
8. Did you discover patterns in the way particular groups talk about the war (e.g. women, minorities, soldiers, scientists, Japanese)? Is this what you expected to find as you began reading the book?
9. Do the testimonials reveal any differences between the experiences of war for those in the Pacific versus the European theater?
10. What did you find disturbing in the testimonials?
11. Terkel does not reveal the questions that he has asked to prompt the testimonials that we read. He does not indicate what has been omitted from these reports of his interviews. How does Terkel's presence behind the scenes shape these testimonials?
ˇ What was life like for Japanese Americans here in the Pacific Northwest during World War II?
ˇ Terkel claims that WWII began a process of change with respect to race relations between African Americans and whites in this country. View Local Color, a 58 minute video on racism toward African Americans in Portland just before WWII (F884.P89N456 1990).
ˇ Look at how the war was recorded on the covers of national magazine such as Life.
ˇ What was life like for conscientious objectors during World War II?
Videos-on reserve at Hatfield Library
Band of Brothers (Dir.Tom Hanks, et. al., 2001, 600 min [10 episodes] ) Call no.: PN1995.9.W3 B16 2002 v. 1 - v. 6
Bataan
(Dir. Tay Garnett, 2000, [Video release of the 1943 motion picture], 114 min.)
Call no.: PN1995.9.W3 B183 2000
The Battle of Russia (Produced by Frank Capra, 1997 [Video release of
the 1943 motion picture], 84 min.) Call no.: D764.3.S7 B25 1990
Cartoon Crazys Goes to War (1998, [Originally between 1942 and 1945] 115 min) Call no.: PN1995.9.A6 C27 1998
Christmas in Connecticut (Dir. Peter Godfrey, 1999 [Video release of the 1945 motion picture], 102 min) Call no.: PN1995.9.C55 C46 1999
The Clock (Dir. Vincent Minnelli, 1990 [Video release of the 1945 motion picture], 91 min) Call no.: PN1995.9.W3 C56 1990
December 7
(Dir. John Ford, 1989/1943, 34 min.) Call no: D767.92.D43 1989
Let There Be Light (Dir. by John Huston, 1986, [Issued as motion picture
in 1946], 60 min) Call no.: RC550 .L47 1986
The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (Dir. Connie Field, 1987, 65
min.) Call no.: D810.W7 L44 1987
Local Color (Reported by Jon Tuttle, Oregon Public Broadcasting, 1990,
58 min) Call no.: F884.P89N456 1990
Saving Private Ryan (Dir. Steven Spielberg, 1999, 169 min.) Call no.:
PN1995.9.W3 S38 1999
Walt Disney on the Front Lines (2003 [Originally released between 1941 and 1945], 210 min) Call no.: PN1995.9.A6 W16 2003
World War II: The Propaganda Battle (Corporation for Entertainment & Learning, 1998, 60 min.) Call no: D810.P7 W67 1988