Statement of United States Citizen of Japanese Ancestry
Page one of the so-called "Loyalty Questionnaire" of 1943. Photo by: Public Domain
By
Densho
Text Type
Primary Source
Words
255
Lexile
1210L
Published
1943
The 1943 Selective Service System Form 304A (Statement of United States Citizen of Japanese Ancestry) was designed by the U.S. government to gauge the loyalty of Nisei (second-generation Japanese American) men for military service during World War II. It is more commonly called the "Loyalty Questionnaire."
The two most problematic questions on the form were questions 27 and 28.
Question 27 asked: "Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?"
Page 2 of the so-called "Loyalty Questionnaire" of 1943. Photo by: Public DomainPage 3 of the so-called "Loyalty Questionnaire" of 1943. Photo by: Public DomainPage 4 of the so-called "Loyalty Questionnaire" of 1943. Photo by: Public Domain
Question 28 asked: “Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, or any other foreign government, power, or organization?”
Courtesy of the Ikeda Family Collection, Public domain
Have students take out their annotations from Lesson 11 and open to pp. 60–74 of Seen and Unseen.
Annotation Spot-Check
Teacher Guidance: Use this routine to reactivate the previous lesson’s thinking and bridge to today’s focus on gaps in the historical record. Students work with a partner and briefly reference their notes from pp. 54–59.
Partners sit side by side with annotations open.
Say these Directions:In the previous lesson, we tracked how Miyatake tried to record everyday life at Manzanar. Today, we are taking that a step further by studying a moment when the historical record is incomplete and asking how writers and artists help us understand what was left unseen.
Have student pairs discuss the question for one to two minutes and then share with the class.
Ask: What is one thing Miyatake helped readers see, and what is one kind of event that might have been harder for him to record?
In the last lesson, Miyatake helped readers see ordinary life at Manzanar, including portraits and community moments. It was probably harder for him to record sudden or dangerous events, because he worked secretly and did not always have enough light, time, or safety.
Connection to Today’s Learning
Say:Today, we move from what Miyatake captured to what he could not capture, and we will study how Partridge and Tamaki make that absence meaningful for readers.
Direct students to p. 67, where the loyalty questionnaire is reproduced, and explain that today, they will study the government’s actual wording, not only the paraphrase in the book.
Language Study
Teacher Guidance: Use this routine to show students how long, formal sentences can sound official while also hiding pressure and assumptions. This study unlocks Learning in Action Part B, where students will analyze why the questionnaire created impossible choices for families.
Say these Directions:We are going to slow down and study the actual wording of the loyalty questionnaire because the exact language matters. When we chunk a long sentence into smaller parts, we can see what the government is really asking people to promise.
Target Sentence Block:
27. Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty, wherever ordered?
28. Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or domestic forces, and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor, or any other foreign government, power, or organization?
Remind students of some of the reactions Partridge explains, such as when she writes on p. 69, “Families argued over what to answer” and “Archie reluctantly agreed to answer yes to question 28.” Then help students break the questions into chunks with their meanings, compiling the results in a table on the board.
Teach: Modeling How to Read Bureaucratic Questions
Chunk
Meaning
Function
willing to serve in the armed forces
ready to join the military
introduces a high-stakes demand
on combat duty, wherever ordered
in fighting situations, in any place the government chooses
removes control over where and how a person serves
swear unqualified allegiance
promise complete loyalty with no conditions
demands total commitment
forswear any form of allegiance or obedience
reject any possible loyalty to another government
assumes that the person may already have another loyalty; cuts some people off from the country where they are citizens
Ask:Which phrase in Question 27 makes the choice feel especially pressured or unfair? Explain what that phrase adds.
The phrase “wherever ordered” makes the question feel especially pressured because it asks a person to agree to combat duty without knowing where they would go or what would happen. It makes the choice feel less like a real choice.
Ask:Why might Question 28 have been especially frightening to those expected to answer it, especially if they were not US citizens?
They were asked to “forswear any form of allegiance” to any other country. If they weren’t US citizens at the time, to answer “yes,” they had to make themselves not loyal citizens of any country, which could have left them without any home to return to if the US didn’t accept them as citizens later.
Check for Understanding (L.7.1.a)
Choose one phrase from Question 27 or 28. Write one or two sentences explaining what that phrase means in everyday language and how it changes the pressure of the question.
Modeling:
If needed, guide students to first rewrite the phrase in everyday language, then add one sentence beginning with “This increases the pressure because ___.”
🎯PURPOSE
Support students in unpacking complex sentence structure to help them explain how official wording increases pressure and shapes meaning.
Language Focus:
complex noun phrases
formal government language
cause-and-effect explanation
🗣️SAY / ASK
Model chunking at commas and conjunctions to help students hear where meaning shifts inside the long sentence.
Prompt students to restate one chunk in everyday language before they analyze its effect.
You said, “It means you have to do whatever they say”—we can explain that by saying the phrase “wherever ordered” removes personal choice.
That idea connects to pressure because the sentence asks for complete loyalty with no conditions.
The phrase ___ means ___ in everyday language.
This phrase increases the pressure because ___.
The wording assumes ___, which makes the question feel ___.
👁️WATCH FOR / SUPPORT IF NEEDED
Invite students to compare how formal government language differs from how families would talk about the same choice at home, including discussion in a shared home language before restating in English.
If students read the sentence fluently but cannot explain it → Prompt: “Pause after each chunk, and say it in your own words.”
If students explain only the definition of a word → Prompt: “Now add what that wording does to the person answering.”
Students restate one chunk in clear, everyday language.
Students explain how a phrase adds pressure, removes choice, or reveals an assumption.
Connection to Today’s Learning
Say:Now that we have studied the government’s actual wording, we are ready to see how that language affected real families in the text.
Teacher Tip
Pages 60–65 describe protest, tear gas, gunfire, and a death. Before students begin, briefly name that this section includes state violence against imprisoned people. Remind students they may respond in general terms, through the text, or through a hypothetical if a personal connection feels too private.
Part A: Reading What Was Left Unseen (RI.7.6) (15 minutes)
Partner Reading & Discussion
Teacher Guidance: Use this routine to help students move from summary to analysis. The focus is not only on what happened but also on how Partridge’s sequencing and Tamaki’s design choices shape the reader’s experience.
Students work in pairs and keep their books open to pp. 60–65.
Say these Directions:Read the section about the protest and shooting, beginning when tension grows around the jail and ending with Jim Kanagawa’s death five days later. As you read, mark one place where Partridge’s words shape the feeling of the scene and one place where Tamaki’s illustration choices shape what readers can understand.
Teach: Modeling Sequence and Illustration Choices
Guide student pairs to read and discuss the questions one at a time, writing notes or full answers as they go. Remind them to cite the text in each answer and to analyze, not summarize, the impact of the writer’s and illustrator’s choices. For the last five minutes, have volunteers share their answers with the class.
Ask:In the section where Partridge describes the protest and shooting at Manzanar (pp. 60–65), why does she write, “There would be no photographic record of what followed” before the description of tear gas and gunfire? What effect does that sequence have on the reader?
By telling us first that there are no photos, Partridge forces us to read the description without images to anchor it. We have to visualize it ourselves. If she had told us afterward, we might be waiting for photos or wondering why there were no photos. This connects to the book’s theme because this is one of the moments that was deliberately unseen, and Partridge is making us see it through words alone.
Ask:Look at Tamaki’s illustrations for the protest and shooting on pp. 62–63. They use shadows, blurred brushstrokes, and no clear faces. She could have drawn a detailed, realistic scene. Why might Tamaki have made these choices? What do these choices do that a realistic illustration would not?
A realistic drawing would try to show exactly what happened, but Tamaki was not there, and there are no photographs. The brushstrokes look fast and full of fear or anger. They show how it might have felt to be there—scary and chaotic with everything happening so fast. They show feeling rather than a precise record of the event. The style also reminds readers that we cannot know every detail when records are missing.
Ask:Whose perspective is centered in these pages, and what is still missing from the record? Consider how Miyatake's position — photographing from inside the community — shaped what he was able to capture and what remained beyond his reach.
These pages are centered on the protesters and the other people living through the protest. What is still missing is a full visual record of exactly what happened in the moment of violence. Even though Miyatake was part of the community, he could not photograph sudden, dangerous events.
Check for Understanding (RI.7.6)
In two sentences, explain one writing choice Partridge makes and one illustration choice Tamaki makes to help readers understand the protest even though no photographs exist.
Modeling:
If students retell only the event, prompt them to add the words choice and effect: “What choice did the creator make, and what effect did it have on you as a reader?”
🎯PURPOSE
Support students in using precise visual-analysis and sequence language to explain how text and illustration shape meaning.
Language Focus:
sequence language
visual-analysis verbs
omission language
🗣️SAY / ASK
Prompt students to separate what they see from what that detail suggests.
Encourage use of effect language such as makes the reader feel, emphasizes, and reminds us.
You said it looks blurry and scary—we can explain that by saying that the blurred brushstrokes create a chaotic tone.
That idea connects to omission because the illustration does not pretend to replace a missing photograph.
Partridge places ___ before ___ in order to ___.
Tamaki’s illustration shows ___, which suggests ___.
One part of the record that remains missing is ___, and that matters because ___.
👁️WATCH FOR / SUPPORT IF NEEDED
Invite students to connect this analysis to experiences with family stories, community stories, or current events in which people know something happened even when there is not a full visual record.
If students summarize the event without analyzing craft → Prompt: “Add one creator choice and its effect on the reader.”
If students speculate beyond the text → Prompt: “Context is important, but this analysis is based on the section of Seen and Unseen. Come back to a visible detail or exact phrase, and build from there.”
Students cite one exact phrase or one concrete visual detail.
Students explain how a creator’s choice shapes tone, perspective, or awareness of what is missing.
Situation
Try this
Struggling with: Moving from Summary to Analysis
Prompt with “What did the creator choose to do here?” followed by “What does that choice make the reader notice or feel?”
Struggling with: Interpreting Visual Detail
Have students point to one feature at a time—shadow, blur, distance, or facial visibility—and name its effect before giving a full response.
Struggling with: Written Expression
Allow students to give an oral response first or use speech-to-text for the Check for Understanding before writing a final sentence.
Ready for extension
Have students return to the sentence “There would be no photographic record of what followed” and explain how that single line works almost like a warning to the reader. Have students compare these pages to an earlier photograph from Miyatake and explain how the shift from photo to illustration changes what feels knowable.
Part B: Impossible Choices (RI.7.5.a, RI.7.6) (15 minutes)
Turn and Talk
Teacher Guidance: Students now analyze part of the loyalty questionnaire as a public document, connecting its language and design to the real decisions faced by Americans of Japanese ancestry. Students should look closely at both the wording of Questions 27 and 28 and the visual and structural features of the document as reproduced on p. 67. Keep the conversation grounded in the text, and allow students to answer the witness-response question through personal reflection, a hypothetical example, or an observation about human experience.
Students remain with partners and turn to pp. 66–74.
Say these Directions:Reread the pages where the questionnaire is shown and the family argues over what to answer. As you talk with your partner, use the actual wording of Questions 27 and 28, Partridge’s description of Archie’s anger, and the images of Miyatake’s work to explain why this section feels so difficult and human. Discuss each question, and then answer using specific details and evidence from the text.
Teach: Comparing Relationships, Text Features, and Purpose
Say: A strong analysis of a public document notices both what the words say and how the document is designed. Features like headings, text style, seals, signature lines, and legal notices are not decoration. They show who has authority and what is at stake for the person being asked to sign.
Guide student pairs to discuss each question and write answers. For the second question, keep an eye on students in case of any traumatic triggering, do not press students to use personal examples, and avoid letting any answer be labeled “wrong,” especially if it includes direct experience.
Ask:How does the actual wording of Questions 27 and 28 help explain why families argued over what to answer?
The actual wording makes the questions feel much harsher than a short summary does. Question 27 asks about doing combat duty wherever ordered, and Question 28 asks for unqualified allegiance and forswearing any other loyalty. That language could make families worry about safety, separation, and what the government already assumed about them.
Ask:Families argued over what to answer. Archie wanted to say no because he was angry, but Toyo and Hiro feared that if he said no, he would be taken away from the family. Think about another situation you have experienced or heard about when a choice was needed but every option felt wrong. How does it feel when there is no good answer—and someone else controls what happens either way?
It can feel frustrating and unfair because you are being forced to choose, but none of the choices really protect you. You might feel angry, trapped, or scared because the result is still controlled by someone else.
Even if my exact situation was different, I know what it feels like to be pressured into picking the least bad option. It makes a person feel powerless because the system is bigger than their own decision.
Ask:Look at the questionnaire on p. 67. What do the features you can see, such as the official seal, the all-caps header, the dotted signature and date lines, and the note at the bottom, show you about the document's purpose?
The official seal and all-caps header signal that this is a government document with legal authority. The dotted signature and especially the note at the bottom make it a heavy, official commitment. It’s more like a demand. And if the person’s answers aren’t judged accurate, the person could be fined or imprisoned for ten years.
Ask: Look at how the authors show the document on the page and what else they include on the page. How do the author’s choices affect what you notice about the document? What may have been their purpose?
The authors show just part of the form, like a stack of paper, and show pencil and pen marks on it. They also describe Archie’s and others’ reactions underneath the document on the same page. They may be trying to show that real people had to sign this document and give them the last word.
🎯PURPOSE
Support students in using comparison language and evidence-based explanation to connect official wording, family decisions, and photographer perspective.
Language Focus:
comparison connectors
evidence-linking language
emotional precision language
🗣️SAY / ASK
Push students to connect the wording of the questionnaire to the family conflict, not treat them as separate parts of the text.
Encourage students to compare relationships to the community, access, and purpose rather than only listing subjects in different photographs.
You said that the question sounds intense—we can explain that by saying that the authoritative wording increases pressure and removes choice.
That idea connects to perspective because Miyatake’s relationship to the community gave him access to everyday moments that a visiting photographer would not have had in the same way.
The wording of Question __ increases pressure because ___.
Unlike Lange, Miyatake ___, which shaped ___.
This choice feels impossible because ___, but the family also feared ___.
👁️WATCH FOR / SUPPORT IF NEEDED
Invite students to discuss how families in many communities make decisions under pressure from institutions, and allow them to draw on community knowledge, family stories, or current events as they build understanding.
If students compare only subject matter (family vs. guards) → Prompt: “Add why. How does each photographer’s relationship to the community—living inside the camp versus visiting from outside—shape what they chose to photograph?”
If students explain Archie’s choice only as anger → Prompt: “What other forces shaped the family’s decision besides emotion?”
Students connect a specific phrase from the questionnaire to the family conflict.
Students compare Miyatake and Lange using relationship, access, or purpose rather than subject matter alone.
Pulse Check (RI.7.6, RI.7.9)
Which detail best explains why the loyalty questionnaire created impossible choices for many families?
A. It asked about hobbies and entertainment, so families worried that the questions were too personal.
Incorrect: A student may focus on the surveillance aspect alone, but the most consequential conflict in this section comes from the high-stakes loyalty and military service questions.
B. It used broad official language that demanded combat service and complete allegiance, and families feared separation no matter how they answered.
Correct: This answer captures both the wording of Questions 27 and 28 and the family consequences Partridge describes on pp. 72–73.
C. It gave families enough room to explain their answers in detail, which made the decision harder.
Incorrect: A student may assume the form invited explanation, but the section emphasizes forced choices, not open-ended reflection.
D. It was difficult mainly because Miyatake was unable to photograph the form clearly.
Incorrect: This distractor confuses the issue of documentation with the human stakes of the questions themselves.
Situation
Try this
Struggling with: Analyzing Text Features
Prompt students to make observations about specific elements, , such as text style, what elements are larger or smaller, numbering, and what is straight versus at an angle. t
Struggling with: Discussing the Witness-Response Question
Let students answer through a hypothetical situation, a general statement about human experience, or a short written reflection before sharing aloud.
Struggling with: Written Expression
Allow students to record a brief oral response or use speech-to-text before turning their thinking into a written note.
Ready for extension: Modern Surveillance Connection
Ask: Question 24 of the questionnaire said, “List magazines and newspapers to which you have subscribed or have customarily read.” What would be the equivalent question now?
Ready for extension: Cross-Text Comparison
Have students explain how the protest pages and the questionnaire pages each show a different way power can operate—through violence in one section and through official paperwork in the other.
Quick Write
Teacher Guidance: This Quick Write is the lesson’s written synthesis. Students should cite at least two specific details from today’s reading, and one of those details should come from either the protest/shooting sequence or the loyalty questionnaire wording.
Say these Directions:Today, we studied a moment that wasn’t photographed and a document with impact far beyond the page. In your Quick Write, explain how Partridge and Tamaki help readers bear witness anyway.
Guide students to write three or four sentences, citing at least two specific details from pp. 60–74, including one from the protest section and one from the questionnaire section.
Ask: How do Partridge and Tamaki help readers bear witness to events that were not fully photographed or publicly shown? Use at least two specific details from pages 60–74, including one from the protest section and one from the questionnaire section, in your 3–4 sentence response.
Partridge and Tamaki help readers bear witness by showing both what was recorded and what was left unseen. In the section about the protest, Partridge says there would be no photographic record before describing tear gas and shooting, so the missing images become part of the story. Tamaki’s blurred, shadowy illustration on pp. 62–63 makes the scene feel chaotic without pretending to show exact details that were never preserved. Later, the actual wording of Questions 27 and 28 helps me understand why families argued, because the government asked for combat duty wherever ordered and for unqualified allegiance, which made the choice feel impossible.
Say: This same skill matters for your performance task because you will need to explain not only what a source shows but also what its limits are. When you notice what was preserved, what was omitted, and how creators respond to those gaps, your final analysis becomes stronger and more honest.
Ask:Which phrase, question, or tool helped you most today as a reader?
Studying the actual wording of the questionnaire helped me most because the phrase “unqualified allegiance” showed me why the questions felt so loaded and unfair.
Read pp. 70–81 of Seen and Unseen. As you read, focus on how Miyatake’s photographs differ from Dorothea Lange’s photographs. In your Journal, jot down at least two differences and a possible reason for each.
