Lisa QuraishCIMT 543

Spring 2012Dr. Ziaeehezarjeribi

Visual Principles

A Personal Approach to the Great DepressionDear Mrs. Roosevelt:

Children playing in the slums of New York. 1938

What Was it Like?

Children (Examples from the Film)No sports equipmentRadio as main form of

entertainmentWorked very dangerous

jobs for low payHad very few clothes,

most hand-made Moved often. Could not afford a coke or

soda, even at just $.05 a piece

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt recording a radio broadcast

“…I want you to tell me about the particular problems which puzzle or sadden you, but I also want you to write me about what has brought joy into your life…I want you to write to me freely…Do not hesitate to write to me even if your views clash with what you believe to be my views.”

Eleanor Roosevelt’s RequestExcerpt from:

http://newdeal.feri.org/er/er01.htm Originally printed in

the Woman's Home Companion 60 (August

1933): 4.

I will divide you into pairs. You will research using a picture

book and a number of Internet resources. (See handout for specified resources)

You are responsible for taking notes during your research.

You are to reflect on ways the current economic recession has affected you or someone in your family. This should be done individually.

ExploreRecession?

Next you will write a formal letter to First Lady Obama. You must write your letter in block format.

In block format:All text is aligned left.There are no indentations at the beginning of paragraphs Text is single spaced with one space between

paragraphs.Space is left between the closing (i.e.“Sincerely yours,”)

and typed signature so that you can sign your name in ink.

There are FIVE essential formatting elements

Composing a Letter: Block Form

Five Essential Elements1. Heading

3. Salutation

2. InsideAddress

4. Body

5. Signature

Robert Cohen, "Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Cries for Help from the Depression Generation, and the American Youth Crisis of the 1930s".

Joseph P. Lash, Eleanor and Franklin. New York: New American Library, 1971. Betty and Ernest Lindley, A New Deal for Youth: The Story of the National Youth

Administration.. New York: Viking Press, 1938. Robert McElvaine, Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the

Forgotten Man. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1983. Richard A. Reiman, The New Deal and American Youth: Ideas and Ideals in a

Depression Decade. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992. Eleanor Roosevelt, "My Mail". An essay by Mrs. Roosevelt about the mail she

received while in the White House and her procedures for handling it. David Tyack, Robert Lowe, and Elisabeth Hansford, Public Schools in Hard Times:

The Great Depression and Recent Years. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984.

T. H. Watkins, The Great Depression: America in the 1930s. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1993.

List provided by http://newdeal.feri.org/eleanor/er5.htm. Please request a printed copy, if interested.

Additional Reading on Children of the Great Depression

Eagle, A. and Robbins, D. (1938). Children Playing [Photograph]. Retrieved from http://newdeal.feri.org/library/photo_details.cfm?PhotoID=5961&ProjCatID=10503&CatID=26&subCatID=1107

Isenberg School of Management. (n.d.) Communication Resources: A Business Letter in Full Block Format. Retrieved from http://www.isenberg.umass.edu/businesscommunication/Our_Services/Student_Resources/Business_Letters/

The National Archives Southeast Region (Creators). usnationalarchives (Poster) (2009, June 15). Stories from the Great Depression [Video] Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpfY8kh5lUw&feature=related

References

New Deal Network. (2003). Dear Mrs. Roosevelt. Retrieved from http://newdeal.feri.org/eleanor/index.htm

Roosevelt, Eleanor. (1933). I Want You to Write to Me. Women’s Home Companion, 60(4) Retrieved from http://newdeal.feri.org/er/er01.htm

Scholastic. (n.d.) Business Letter Format. Retrieved from http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonplans/format.pdf

[Untitled image of FDR during a radio broadcast]. (n.d.) [Photograph]. Retrieved from

http://revolutionsincommunication.wordpress.com/table-of-contents/

References