Transcript Keep Mum! - Censorship & propaganda

 starter activity
Key words: MoI, censorship
Study the images on your table. Which would the Ministry of
Information approve and which would be censored? Can
you come up with captions for the positive images that might
appear in a newspaper or magazine?
How did the British
keep up their spirits
during the Blitz?
 Learning objectives
To assess what would be published and
what would be censored during WWII
To be able to explain how the MoI
helped to boost the country’s morale
 Your task
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Read the extract from ‘War on the Home Front’
and explain why it was important to keep up the
morale of the British people.
What was the MoI and what challenges did it
face?
Give some examples of MoI successes
Which would be the most effective media for
boosting morale: posters, films, cartoons, other?
Keeping up morale

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Keep up people’s
spirits
Maintain support for
the government and
the military effort
Avoid civil
disturbances
Can you come up with your own
motivational poster for WWII?
Ministry of Information

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Functions –
monitoring and
reporting on
morale
Commissioning
work to lift
morale or
communicate
vital information
 Explain the message behind this Kenneth Bird cartoon
MoI successes

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Poster campaigns –
esp. Kenneth Bird’s
‘Careless Talk’ series
Mass observation
campaign
War artists – John
Piper
Poets – John
Betjeman
Films – Henry V
Find out the names of other successful
propaganda films of WWII
 Extension task

Investigate the work of Brendan Bracken and
MoI. Can you find more examples of famous
artists or examples of their work, which helped
boost Britain’s morale during WWII?
Brendan Bracken, chief
of the MoI
Picture Post – what
sort of features do
you think this
weekly magazine
would include?
 Your task

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Work in pairs to produce a Picture Post
magazine with features relating to life on the
Home Front.
Your magazine must contain 3 items of news /
images that would not be passed by the censor.
Try to be as devious as you can to get them
published without being detected!!!!
Satisfactory
Getting better
Wow factor!
Covers fewer than
five of the points
on the task sheet
Uses limited
factual
information
Limited attempt to
convey the
information in the
style of Picture
Post
Covers at least 5 of
the points on the
task
Good use of
factual
information,
though still some
space for more and
occasional
anachronisms
Set out and written
like Picture Post
Covers more than
5 points
Detailed use of
factual
information which
consistently relates
to the date of the
magazine
Excellent use of
ICT so it looks
and feels like a
Picture Post
magazine
 Homework

Finish your magazine by the deadline given to
you by your teacher.
 Plenary
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MoI?
Challenges they
faced?
Successes?
Tips on how to
succeed in this task?
Pitfalls?