Advocating a Point of View

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Advocating a Point of View
Dick Parson

Introduction

Shortly after the court reorganization plan was proposed, Frank Gannett sent a letter to a lawyer named Charles Hill soliciting his assistance in defeating the President's plan. Political action may take any one of a number of different forms and Mr. Gannett's letter will serve as an example of one method commonly employed by citizens seeking to advocate a particular political point of view. This lesson serves as a follow-up to the analysis of the letters and offers students an opportunity to further investigate the period of the New Deal and simultaneously extend their understanding of the process of political change. It invites students and their teacher to explore the potential of desktop publishing to create a political newsletter or brochure, which advocates a particular point of view.

Classroom Procedures

Begin by explaining to the class that they will be divided into small "political action committee" groups with the goal of creating a "newsletter" or "brochure" which will persuade their audience of a particular point of view. The topic of the controversy to be investigated and represented in their publication will be the President's proposal to reorganize the Supreme Court. They will be expected to use one of the Desktop Publishing (such as Microsoft Publisher) software packages to create their final product.
The teacher should consider the most appropriate configuration for creating the "political action committee" groups. For example, teachers may want to be sure that each group includes:
1. One student with capable word processing skills
2. One skillful writer
3. One graphic artist
The teacher may wish to lead a discussion on the art of political persuasion and offer examples of political "broadsides" or propaganda techniques employed by political advocacy groups during the Nation's past.
Students should brainstorm and develop a list of persuasive techniques that might be employed in the development of the content of the brochure. In their discussion they may wish to consider using the essential ideas contained in the letters in this feature. They may also:
1. Use one of the search engines to locate quotations from well known political figures from the past.
2. Wish to consult actual language of FDR's fireside chat or find some of the speeches from the Senate debate on Court Reorganization located in the archives of the New Deal Network.
3. Locate appropriate political cartoons in the New Deal cartoon archive
4. Discuss how to effectively employ visuals, exaggeration, layout, design, color, etc. to draw attention to important concepts
After students have had sufficient time to discuss the various aspects of the assignment, ask each group to create a plan for the completion of their brochure/ newsletter. Each "political action committee" should establish a timeline and a set of tasks and responsibilities that will lead to the completion of their finished product.
An effective assessment and follow-up to this activity might be to have the class consider
1. Which techniques employed by the brochures were especially effective and why;
2. What publications with similar intentions they receive;
3. What cautions should be employed in approaching these attempts to persuade us.