EE Proposal and Research Question

Instructions:
This form will be used to determine suitability of your EE and the appointment of supervisors. It
is due December 13th at 3 p.m. Late or incomplete submissions will not receive immediate
consideration.

Choosing a Subject

IB Subject and topic that interests me.

English: Portrayal of women in wartime posters.

Why am I passionate about this topic?

I always find it fascinating to see how governments spread propaganda in times where the
internet wasn’t around, so everything had to put into creative and eye-catching posters if it
ever was work. A category of particular interest is women’s propaganda as they were targeted
increasing during wartimes, because males were in the lines of duty, someone needed to fill
their roles and that’s where the posters came in.

Ten (10) sources for initial reading (suggestions: Use Online Sources (Deep
Web) LRC Website https://eishcmclrc.wordpress.com/

The National WW2 Museum

Minnesota History Center

Oxford Research Encyclopaedias

University of North Texas Digital Library

Imperial War Museum

The Woman’s Land Army Archives

The Victoria and Albert Museum Collections

British National Archives

Gov.uk

BBC
Line of Inquiry

What topic area do you want to investigate in detail?

Portrayal of Women in American and Britain during WW2

What did an expert (teacher) say about the viability of your proposal? - Please include
name of teacher you talked to.

Ms Erin initially said my topic has validity but needs to be more focused. Therefore, I focused
it more on the idea of how America and Britain gave women independence and to what extent
were they truly independent. In terms of viability, I believe she had no problem as there is a lot
of source material online and there are many archives that store digital copies of posters;
therefore, it won’t be hard to find primary sources.

What has already been written about this topic?

There is information available from reliable sources such as the National WW2 Museum in
New Orleans and the Oxford Research Encyclopaedias that give detailed information about
the role of women in both America and Britain.

Why is this question worth investigating? (What new knowledge or perspectives will be
gained? How might the findings be helpful in the subject field?)

My history is not very good, investigating this topic will allow me to be more learned about the
second world war and what role women played to allow countries like America and Britain to
continue fighting. Women are not often talked about when it comes to war. It is usually the
soldiers who die in the battlefront for the freedom of the country but women also play a part.
Essentially, I want to learn more about something that isn’t commonly talked about.

Key terms/Subject headings terms to define and investigate

Propaganda, WW2, Women

Key ideas to research now

- The role of women during WW2 in America

- The role of women during WW2 in Britain.
- What are the differences between the roles that women fulfilled in America and
Britain? Why were they different?
- What differences in the poster can found that pertain from the different roles women
fulfilled in the two countries?
The Investigative Plan

Links to /three complete EEs read in your subject area and a brief summary of what
you learned from each.

http://leehs-fcps.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=28572758: Practices of slavery in America

greatly affected the identities of not only former slaves but also their descendants are
demonstrated in the books Beloved and Songs of Solomon by Toni Morrison. Slaves who
went on the become freed could not develop a sense of self-identity, self-worth and failed to
believe in their own existence.

http://leehs-fcps.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=28573378: The Inferno is a book which

details the authors idea of hell and about the conquest of man realising the sins they have
done and how they can be forgiven for them. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is about the
journey of Dorothy who is blown away in a cyclone to a faraway land where she heads to see
the Wizard of Oz so that she can go back home. Both books are pretty different but they share
the common of idea of main character going on a journey to become happy, and on this
journey, they learn about themselves and others as well.

https://eishcmclrc.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/english-a-example-1.pdf: The portrayal of

women in texts has shifted and progressed over time as is evident from the books 1984, The
Handmaid’s Tale and The Hunger Games. With a change in cultural norms, authors must
place women in more empowering roles, even in texts talking about dystopian futures. This
shift is evident through the clothes female characters wear in each book.

Potentially relevant concepts/theories/terminology/examples from the IB Subject(s) (ie.

applicable course content.)

Currently we are looking at Handmaid’s Tale and we are analysing the role of women in
Gilead by looking at what rights were afforded to women, the rules/restrictions they needed to
adhere to, etc. The skills that I am learning in class on how to analyse a text and look for
specific

Describe your intended methods of investigation (including primary research, if

applicable, e.g. lab work, interviews, surveys, etc.)

I currently have a list of sources available that I mentioned above. I will be using those
sources to find historical context, which will help me better understand what the purpose and
audience of chosen posters are.
What interesting questions have started to emerge from your reading?

Why were posters made in America mainly targeting women to go into manufacturing and
work in factories whereas posters made in Britain wanted women to work in agriculture or in
the army?

What are some possible obstacles, limitations, or problems which might occur?

I am not sure.

What are your anticipated conclusions?

The idea of independence for women is represented to some extent is found in the posters of
both countries but there are also ideas of patriarchal dominance still present. I would say
women are painted as being freer in America rather than Britain.

Research Question

Proposed Research Question (clear, focused, arguable)

To what extent are women portrayed as being more independent in wartime posters in
America compared to Britain during the 1940s and 50s?

How does this RQ answer the requirements of the Subject Specific EE Guide?

My RQ is a category three and that requires study of one or more text in the language of the
essay (English). I currently have four texts that I will be looking at, two American and two
British. I may focus on two later on if I find it analysing four as too much work. Therefore, I
meet the requirements of the Category 3 Language and Literature EE.