Literature & Language. Annotated Bibliography. Two articles

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Annotated Bibliography
Article 1
Phillips, Kimberley L. "Keeping a Record of Life: Women and Art During World War II." OAH Magazine of History 19.2 (2005): 20-24.
Summary
The article highlighted that during the Second World War, popular culture played an essential role in the promotion of morale and sustenance of support for the war. The Office of War Information indicated that support from the female individuals was highly crucial since it enhanced the film and advertising industries. This resulted in such sectors, developing war messages, reports and patriotic programs for women (Philips 20-24). The article is essential since it also emphasized the value of women as vital participants in defense work a war bond drives. In such a period gender inequality was high, and therefore, depictions of women as critical to military efforts abroad represented significant adjustments from the perception of individualism of women.
The author provided valuable insight into the manner that women were represented during the Second World War. During this period, not allow women were portrayed positively as most advertisements rarely portrayed women from ethnic minority groups due to the enormous challenge of racial stereotypes in this era and also in popular culture. The Japanese Americans were perceived as continually threatening and dishonest citizens that only resulted in their mass confinements across the United States (Philips 20-24). Despite the increase in the presence of female individuals from minority groups in defense industries, popular media portrayed African American women as black servants. The Office of War Information supervised the inclusion of race in popular media but ultimately changed this decision as they perceived the presence of ethnic minorities only destabilized the military efforts of the U.S in the war.
Evaluation of the text
In the assessment of the article, the author indicated that analysis of art produced by women during the Second World War challenged the ethnic and racial prejudices that were being portrayed in popular culture. Artists such as Mine Okubo and singer Kate Smith created art that significantly challenged racial representations of ethnic minorities and non-whites. Such women like numerous other female performers and artists during the war utilized their art in exposing the specific prejudices and challenges that minorities faced, despite the wartime rhetoric concerning advancing American democracy that was being emphasized abroad.
The author highlights that such women utilized popular art in advocating for fundamental change in minority groups and women as citizens. The art that these women created provides critical insight into the inner lives of people that traditionally presented racist stereotypes. The article provided an example of Miné Okubo’s work during this period. She was among the numerous Japanese American artists that utilized drawings documenting daily lives in the internment camps as counter-narratives to the racist images and negative perceptions of Japanese American disloyalty (Philips 20-24). Her works combine the precision of the Japanese comic book form and the detailed mural art of her works that portray dramatic and v...