Humanities Homework Help

Easy,Fun, Beginners History Assignment…..

You will be analyzing television ads from presidential campaigns from 3 years. Presidential ads are products of their time periods and are historical artifacts. Some may say a lot about the time, some may say less. They might address specific timely issues or be more general in terms of themes. Either way, are primary sources that give us an idea about priorities, concerns, and issues of that time.

Part 1:

View the ads:

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1952/the-man-from-abilene

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1952/never-had-it-so-good

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1952/endorsement-woman

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1952/platform-double-talk

1952 Campaign

List the candidates names and write the title of each ad and who it was “for”.

Based on these four ads, what issues do you think were most important to voters in 1952? How do you know?

How much information do you get about each of these issues? Is it a lot or a little?

What is each candidate’s position on these issues? Do you know? What do you learn from the ads?

If you were a voter, would these ads give you enough information to decide which candidate to vote for? Why or why not?

What historical sources could we consult to get more information about this election?

Do a little independent research (google is fine) about this campaign. Based on that,

-What issues do you think were most important to voters in the 1952 presidential election? How do you know? Are these the same issues that the ads raised?

-What is each candidate’s position on these issues? How did the candidate present his position in his ads? (You may want to screen the ads again.)

-Were there any important issues the ads did not address?

-How much historical information do you get from the campaign ads?

Part 2:

View the ads:

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1988/new-era

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1988/credibility

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1988/tank-ride

http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/commercials/1988/counterpunch

1988 Campaign

List the candidates names and write the title of the ad and who it was “for”?

Based on these four ads, what issues would you say were most important to voters? Why?

How much information do you get about these issues? Is it a lot or a little?

Did the ads mention or depict the issues you read about while doing your research? If not, what did they leave out? What did the ads focus on instead?

Imagine that you were a voter in 1988. Do these ads give you enough information to choose which candidate to vote for? Why or why not? What other information would you like to have?

Did these ads give you more or less historical information than the 1952 ads?

Do a little independent research (google is fine) about this campaign. Based on that,

-What issues do you think were most important to voters in the 1952 presidential election? How do you know? Are these the same issues that the ads raised?

-What is each candidate’s position on these issues? How did the candidate present his position in his ads? (You may want to screen the ads again.)

-Were there any important issues the ads did not address?

-How much historical information do you get from the campaign ads?

Part 3

2020 Campaign

Pick two ads and watch.

List the candidates.

Write is the title of each ad you picked and who it is “for”?

For each ad, write if it gives discusses an issue? (If yes, what issue does it discuss)?

Do they give more or less information than 1988? Than 1952?

Do you get the candidates’ position from the ads?

Do they give voters enough info to make a decision?

How are they similar and/or different from the 1988 and 1952 campaigns?

*thelivingroomcandidate.org ( Here is a link to the assignment ) Historical Analysis Assignment.html