This document provides instructions for an assignment asking students to research the Great Depression and write a letter to First Lady Michelle Obama reflecting on how the current economic recession has impacted them or their family. Students are divided into pairs to research using picture books and online resources on the hardships during the Great Depression such as lack of goods, dangerous working conditions for low wages, and reliance on radio for entertainment. They are then to write a formal letter to the First Lady in a block format discussing their reflections.

1. Lisa Quraish
CIMT 543
Spring 2012
Dr. Ziaeehezarjeribi

2. A Personal Approach to the Great Depression
Children playing in the slums of New York. 1938

3.  No sports equipment
 Radio as main form of
entertainment
 Worked very dangerous
jobs for low pay
 Had very few clothes,
most hand-made
 Moved often.
 Could not afford a coke
or soda, even at just
$.05 a piece

4. “…I want you to tell me about Excerpt from:
http://newdeal.feri.org/er/er0
the particular problems which 1.htm Originally printed in
puzzle or sadden you, but I also the Woman's Home
Companion 60 (August
want you to write me about what 1933): 4.
has brought joy into your life…I
want you to write to me
freely…Do not hesitate to write
to me even if your views clash
with what you believe to be my
views.”

5.  I will divide you into pairs. Recession?
 You will research using a picture
book and a number of Internet
resources. (See handout for
specified resources)
 You are responsible for taking
notes during your research.
 You are to reflect on ways the
current economic recession has
affected you or someone in your
family. This should be done
individually.

6. Next you will write a formal letter to First Lady Obama.
You must write your letter in block format.
In block format:
 All text is aligned left.
 There are no indentations at the beginning of
paragraphs
 Text is single spaced with one space between
paragraphs.
 Space is left between the closing (i.e.“Sincerely
yours,”) and typed signature so that you can sign your
name in ink.
 There are FIVE essential formatting elements

7. 1. Heading
2. Inside
Address
3. Salutation
4. Body
5. Signature

8.  Robert Cohen, "Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: Cries for Help from the Depression
Generation, and the American Youth Crisis of the 1930s".
 Joseph P. Lash, Eleanor and Franklin. New York: New American Library, 1971.
 Betty and Ernest Lindley, A New Deal for Youth: The Story of the National Youth
Administration.. New York: Viking Press, 1938.
 Robert McElvaine, Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the
Forgotten Man. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1983.
 Richard A. Reiman, The New Deal and American Youth: Ideas and Ideals in a
Depression Decade. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992.
 Eleanor Roosevelt, "My Mail". An essay by Mrs. Roosevelt about the mail she
received while in the White House and her procedures for handling it.
 David Tyack, Robert Lowe, and Elisabeth Hansford, Public Schools in Hard Times:
The Great Depression and Recent Years. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1984.
 T. H. Watkins, The Great Depression: America in the 1930s. Boston: Little, Brown
and Company, 1993.
List provided by http://newdeal.feri.org/eleanor/er5.htm.
Please request a printed copy, if interested.

9.  Eagle, A. and Robbins, D. (1938). Children Playing
[Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://newdeal.feri.org/library/photo_details.cfm?PhotoID=
5961&ProjCatID=10503&CatID=26&subCatID=1107
 Isenberg School of Management. (n.d.) Communication
Resources: A Business Letter in Full Block Format.
Retrieved from
http://www.isenberg.umass.edu/businesscommunica
tion/Our_Services/Student_Resources/Business_Letters/
 The National Archives Southeast Region (Creators).
usnationalarchives (Poster) (2009, June 15). Stories from
the Great Depression [Video] Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpfY8kh5lUw&fea
ture=related

10.  New Deal Network. (2003). Dear Mrs. Roosevelt.
Retrieved from http://newdeal.feri.org/eleanor/index.htm
 Roosevelt, Eleanor. (1933). I Want You to Write to
Me. Women’s Home Companion, 60(4) Retrieved from
http://newdeal.feri.org/er/er01.htm
 Scholastic. (n.d.) Business Letter Format. Retrieved from
http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonplans/format.pdf
 [Untitled image of FDR during a radio broadcast]. (n.d.)
[Photograph]. Retrieved from
http://revolutionsincommunication.wordpress.co
m/table-of-contents/