War Letters

This prompt has two distinct elements. Read below carefully to complete all parts and earn full credit.
First choose one of the situations described below. Taking on this perspective, compose a letter that
includes at least five factual illustrations of life during the war. Number underline, italicize, or somehow
indicate your factual illustrations in the letter. Post this letter as a thread in the forum.
1. You have been fighting in the trenches of World War I for almost a year now. In several “charges,” you
have seen your fellow doughboys gunned down by opposing machine gunners stationed in the trenches
facing yours. To some of your fellow soldiers, any further attacks on such a fortified position seem
hopeless. Yet there is talk of another such attack tomorrow at dawn. It is the night before this scheduled
attack, and you are writing a letter home to the states. How do you feel about the war at this time? And
what are your feelings about the upcoming attack and your role in the war effort?
2. You are a woman whose husband was drafted. To make ends meet, you did what many American
women, particularly those in more urban areas, did during the war. You got a job working in a factory which
previously only hired men. During the war, the factory made armaments for the war. Now that the war is
suddenly over and your husband is now home, he wants you to stop working outside the home. Write a
letter to your best friend telling her how you felt about working and how you feel now about quitting. What
are the pros and cons of the situation? Give both sides a hearing and then decide what you will do.
3. It is April 1917. President Woodrow Wilson has asked Congress for a declaration of war, and Congress
has agreed. Your best friend is about to join the army. You, however, think the United States should remain
out of this European trouble. After all, you trust George Washington’s wisdom to avoid “entangling
alliances.” Write an imaginary letter dialogue between you and your friend in which both of you argue for
your positions for and against the war. Try to be fair to both speakers