In this activity, students will first interrogate the concepts of fascism and propaganda to build a better understanding of these terms. Students will then learn about the internment of Italian Canadians in Canada during World War II and will build a profile of a real interned Italian-Canadian.
This activity was first designed to accompany our exhibition Through Vines and Mines: The Canadian Army in Italy. The exhibition is also available for free to your school by completing our reservation form.
Activity content
The purpose of this activity is to encourage students to reflect on the impact of the media and politics on individuals, using the internment of the Italian-Canadian community during World War II as an example. First, using their student guide, students will define specific terms: “fascism,” “propaganda,” “anti-Semitism,” and “nationalism.” Next, the class is encouraged to listen to the 1957 BBC hoax about the spaghetti trees. Students will then discuss the influence the media can have and, more seriously, how information can be manipulated.
In the second part of the activity, students will create a profile of an Italian-Canadian who was interned during World War II. Using the list of 590 interned Italian-Canadians, students will conduct original research on this person and present their story to the rest of the class through a video, a PowerPoint presentation, or an article.
The teacher’s guide describes the educational objectives of the activity, gives the correct answers and provides the necessary corrections.
Activity objectives
The goal of these activities is to allow secondary cycle two students to have a greater understanding of World War II and Canada’s role in the Italian Campaign. Students will also learn to appreciate the contributions of Canadian Armed Forces personnel from Quebec.
These activities were created as educational tools to complement the Quebec Education Program of secondary 4 History and secondary 5 History of the 20th and Contemporary World courses. In addition, these activities can also be used as language tools in the following courses: Francais langue maternelle (in secondary 3, 4 and 5), Français, secondary language, English, secondary language (in secondary 3, 4 and 5) and English Language Arts.
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