Your Turn!
Teacher Notes
In this activity the students will be creating a piece of propaganda themselves. In this case, a comic strip or "meme" since they are rapidly becoming the new comic strips. The subject of the propaganda can be whatever they wish: recent wars or political issues, technology, bread, etc. In the examples below, I have chosen to stick with the World War II theme of the earlier images. This will allow students to think about how messages, stereotypes, and ideals are incorporated into comics and other forms of media and see how it may influence the lives of their generation.
Examples of Memes
With the website provided below, students can create their own memes using various "characters" from the meme universe. These range from "Condescending Wonka" to the "Success Baby." I have put together a few examples below.
Simple Steps to Making Your Meme:
1. Go to memegenerator.net
2. Click on the "Generate an Image" button in the upper left-hand corner of the page
3. You can either select an already made meme to re-caption or make a new meme of your own
4. To re-caption, click on the meme you want then,
5. Type in your text in the boxes that say "Top Text" (appears on the top of the image) and "Bottom Text" (appears at the bottom of the image)
6. When you are done, save the image or copy and paste it into a Word Document (however the teacher wants the meme turned in)
*Note: The memes have limited text space so captions should be short and to the point.
Simple Steps to Making Your Meme:
1. Go to memegenerator.net
2. Click on the "Generate an Image" button in the upper left-hand corner of the page
3. You can either select an already made meme to re-caption or make a new meme of your own
4. To re-caption, click on the meme you want then,
5. Type in your text in the boxes that say "Top Text" (appears on the top of the image) and "Bottom Text" (appears at the bottom of the image)
6. When you are done, save the image or copy and paste it into a Word Document (however the teacher wants the meme turned in)
*Note: The memes have limited text space so captions should be short and to the point.
Example of a Comic
With the website below, students can create 1, 3, or 6 panels. It would be best if students did more than one panel to make it an actual comic strip. Below I have created a three-panel comic entitled "Life Under the Nazi Regime" as an example of what the final product should look like.
Steps to Making a Comic Strip:
1. Select how many panels you wish to have
2. Select the background by clicking on the "Art Library" tab, clicking "Scenes" and dragging the scene to the panel you want
3. Add your people or pets. You can change their facial expressions, posture, arms and legs, and even their clothes.
4. If you wish, you can add props or furniture.
5. Captions can be added or dialogue/thought bubbles
7. When finished, click "Save"
8. To save the image to a computer, right click on the strip and click "View Image", right click on the image again and select "Save Image As"
Steps to Making a Comic Strip:
1. Select how many panels you wish to have
2. Select the background by clicking on the "Art Library" tab, clicking "Scenes" and dragging the scene to the panel you want
3. Add your people or pets. You can change their facial expressions, posture, arms and legs, and even their clothes.
4. If you wish, you can add props or furniture.
5. Captions can be added or dialogue/thought bubbles
7. When finished, click "Save"
8. To save the image to a computer, right click on the strip and click "View Image", right click on the image again and select "Save Image As"