JOURNALS FROM A JAPANESE INTERNMENT CAMP

 

 

Mr. Quezada

Frederick Douglas Academy I

American History

12th Grade

 

INTRODUCTION:

in·tern·ment (ĭn-tűrn'mənt) n.  The act of interning or confining, especially in wartime.  The state of being interned; confinement.  (The American Heritage Dictionary)

In 1942, almost 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced from their homes in California, western Oregon and Washington, and southern Arizona in the single largest forced relocation in U.S. history. Many would spend the next 3 years in one of ten "relocation centers" across the country run by the newly-formed War Relocation Authority (WRA). Others would be held in facilities run by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Army. Since all Japanese Americans on the west coast were affected, including the elderly, women, and children, Federal officials attempted to conduct the massive incarceration in a humane manner. However, by the time the last internees were released in 1946, the Japanese Americans had lost homes and businesses estimated to be worth, in today’s values, 4 to 5 billion dollars.  The overall effects on Japanese American individuals, their families, and their communities, were immeasurable.

 

 

TASK:

You are a member of a team of investigative journalists.  To avoid being detected you must blend in with the work crew at a Japanese Relocation Camp.  You are to take notes of your experience and on your research.   At the end of your experience you will gather with your other members of your team.  You will discuss the experience (as if you were there), with your other team members.  After you share your stories together you will write a group article about the overall internment experience to be published by the FDA Press.  You will follow the steps of the Public Policy Analyst (see the Process section below) to help you write the final article.

 

Team members will be working together to gather research so that they can write a article entry that reflects the internment experience(s). You will read through all of the research and make five, one page journal entries.  These journal entries are to question the concept of forced location.  Any journal entry should reflect the experience from your perspective of what effects internment has on the Japanese who are being relocated.  This journal a reflection on forced relocation related to the internment over the three year period of their internment.  Make sure you look at the journal entries on this website as an example:  http://niod.nihon.nl/en/diary_frame.htm

 

For the purpose of publishing the article the group will work together to publish the final article.   The article will be a collective reflection questioning the concept of forced location and about the pain and suffering of the Japanese from this experience.  Each member of the group will bring their own “experience” to the group in the form of the journal entries that each member has.  Once everyone shares their journal entries and research the final article will be an overall reflection on the experience.  At the end of the article, by using the PPA model, you will have a thorough understanding of what it was like to be relocated to a Japanese internment camp during World War II.

 

These are the roles that the Editor-in-Chief will assign to each team member:

 

Team Captain-You are responsible for making sure that you and every other member of the team stays on task and is thorough in their journal entry.  At the end, when the article has to be written you will be responsible for making sure that everything is done in a timely way.  Make sure that the focus of the article is questioning the concept of forced location

 

Team Editor-You will edit the final article.  Make sure that the focus of the article is questioning the concept of forced location as a policy.

 

Team Copywriter- You will be responsible for each team member making contribution and for helping bring the team together to write the final article making sure that the focus is on questioning the concept of forced location.

 

Team Illustrator/Photographer- You are responsible for the final illustrations and/or photographs to accompany the final article.

 

Team Presenter- You will aid with writing the final article and you will present the final article to the Editor in Chief for The FDA Press.

 

 

PROCESS:

Each student will research Japanese Internment Camps using the internet in the resource section below.  After fully understanding the issue of Japanese Internment and the impact it had on the Japanese American people, you will write and type a three-page double spaced article on Japanese Internment Camps.   You will need to use the first four steps of the PPA 4-step public policy approach and complete the worksheets for each step in blue, with your group.  You should include the following in your article: 

q       Define and describe the problem of Japanese Internment Camps. 

q       Gather evidence for this problem  Gather evidence for the problems created by the Japanese using the resources listed below

q       Identify causes for this problem.  Use the resources below to identify the causes of the problem.

q       Describe and evaluate the existing policy for this problem.  Look at what policies were in place during the time of World War II.

 

RESOURCES:

http://www.scu.edu/SCU/Programs/Diversity/arrest.html

 

http://niod.nihon.nl/start_en.php

 

http://www.lib.washington.edu/exhibits/harmony/Exhibit/

 

http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/anthropology74/ce1.htm

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_internment

 

EVALUATION

 

65-69%

70-79%

80-95%

100%

Presentation

Incomplete but follows the 4-syep format

Does not use the conventions of standard written English

Complete with too few analyses of the PPA

Exhibits a weak use of standard English

Complete with sufficient analysis of the PPA

Exhibits an acceptable use of standard English.

Complete with a superior understanding of the PPA

Exhibits a strong use of standard and written English

Article

Fewer than 3 pages.

Inaccurate

3 pages, some graphics, somewhat accurate

3 or more pages, graphics.

Clearly written and accurate

Creative 3 page writing, graphics and/or photos.

Accurate

 

 

STANDARDS:

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS:

E1c: Read and comprehend informational materials.

E2a: Produce a report of information.

E3b: Participate in group meetings.

E4b: analyze and subsequently revise work to improve its clarity and effectiveness.

 

SOCIAL STUDIES SKILLS:

GETTING INFORMATION – STUDENTS WILL GATHER INFORMATION FROM A RANGE OF SOURCES INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO

-PICTURES, CARTOONS, SKETCHES

-OBSERVATIONS

-DISCUSSION WITH OTHERS THROUGH INTERVIEWS

 

USING INFORMATION – STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO

-INTERPRET INFORMATION

-DRAW CONCLUSIONS

-DETERMINE CAUSES AND EFFECTS

-EVALUATE DATA AND PREDICT OUTCOMES, ACTIONS AND OPINIONS

-DRAW INFERENCES FROM DATE BY IDENTIFYING FROM DATA BY IDENTIFYING RELATIONSHIPS, DETECTING INCONSISTENCIES, AND WEIGHING CONFLICTING FACTS AND STATEMENTS

-INTERPRET INFORMATION WITHIN A VARIETY OF CONTEXT

 

NEW YORK STATE STANDARDS:

STANDARD 1: LANGUAGE FOR INFORMATION AND UNDERSTANDING

STANDARD 2: LANGUAGE FOR CRITICAL ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION

STANDARD 3: LANGUAGE FOR SOCIAL INTERACTION

 

 

CONCLUSION:

You have not experienced what it was like to be interred in a Japanese Internment Camp during World War II.  You have completed a journal entry experience.  You have worked with a group to write a three page article for publication.  This article is based on the four steps of the Public Policy Analyst which you now know how to use to look at policy in a reflective way.