Writing Prompts - Jimmy Gentry

Prompt 1

Please watch the Jimmy Gentry 1991 video (1:44-3:05). Imagine yourself as a nineteen-year-old soldier coming upon Dachau. Write an essay that both summarizes and analyzes how the idea of a liberator is developed over the course of the video, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details. Cite strong and thorough evidence from the video to support your analysis.

Prompt 2

Jimmy Gentry explained in his interview that after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and America’s entrance into World War II, America changed forever. He states, “I didn’t realize at that time, it was a number of years later and even now that I look back, that event changed the world forever. It has never been the same since.” Mr. Gentry explained how technology, patriotism, loss of family members, rationing, and women going outside of the home to work changed during the war.

Read the following articles:

“Rosie the Riveter.” http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1656.html

(n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1656.html

“World War II:  A Changed America.” http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/cou/us/live/w2us-live.html

(n.d.). Retrieved April 29, 2017, from http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/cou/us/live/w2us-live.html

Write an essay that compares and contrasts these sources related to the impact of World War II on American society. Be sure to cite strong and thorough evidence from both sources to support your argument.

Prompt 3

View the 2002 film of Jimmy Gentry, who saw himself as an average U.S. foot soldier of World War II. He concluded, “I consider myself as having average, normal experiences, with the exception of one. And the one was Dachau.”  Explain what made the Dachau experience the exception to an average experience in wartime to Jimmy. Be sure to cite strong and thorough evidence from both film interview transcripts to support your argument.