Unit 8: The Cold War and Civil Rights

From here on out, history gets so recent and so diverse that I want to know what you think is important. That is why we are finishing off the school year with this Magazine Project.

The Decades Magazine

With the last 10 class periods in this class, you will complete a project highlighting the decades between the 1950s-today. Because these decades are so diverse, you will get the chance to highlight what you think is important to remember about this period of the past. For each decade you will create one magazine advertisement and one magazine article. The requirements are as follows:

Advertisements:

- sky is the limit on material as long as it fits the decade, and is actually advertising something (please keep it school appropriate).

- Each advertisement will cover 1 full page. Must include color or intentional noir.

- It must be detailed enough that it is clear which decade it is from WITHOUT any dates written on it.

- It must be your original work, and must be amateur magazine quality. It may be hand-drawn, or computerized artwork.

- At the bottom or on the side where the disclaimers are usually written, I need a small/short summary of why your ad appropriately applies.

Articles:

- Articles must cover the full page. You pay for every square inch of space in a magazine so use it.

- Must include primary or secondary sources to boost your article credibility (at least 2 sources)

- Articles may include up to 2 appropriately sized pictures and 1 section where a quote is highlighted and repeated.

- Articles must be written in no more than 12 point font.

- Articles must be in one of the following categories and all categories must be covered at least once: International affairs, internal political policy, social rights movement, pop culture, music

Finished Product: I will supply plastic sheets for you to compile your work. You will submit them in order, with the ad for the 50s first, and the article in the same plastic page. Then 60s, 70s…

Grading: out of your 7 articles and 7 advertisements, you will choose your top 5 (2 of each type, third of your choice). There will be an additional paper you will attach with a short explanation why they are your top choices. I will grade these with more detail than the others. I will also choose 3 additional pages at random to grade in depth. The remaining pages I will grade for completion. In depth grading will be ensuring the lists above were met. 5-10 points per page, 105 points total.

Extra Credit: Need an extra boost? Create a Magazine Cover that appropriately illustrates the information in your magazine. The amount of work will translate to amount of extra credit up to 10 points.


  • If you wish to use any material from the Cold War Unit, that is fine as long as it is placed in the appropriate decade. I have not included links on Cold War material because you already have background knowledge.
  • The only additional requirement I omitted in the instructions is your ad and article for each decade must be on different topics. Happy creating!