Name: 

Tool S4-62f

Informative/Explanatory
Essays and Reports
(continued)

Sample for Student Writers

Prompt: Write an essay in which you explain the important role that Navajo Code
Talkers played in World War II. Write a well-developed essay with specific details and
examples. Include a chart, photograph, or other graphic feature that relates to the topic.

Advanced (4)

The Navajo Code Talkers: World War II Heroes

Ne-ahs-jah nesh-chee dzeh da-he-tih-hi, the U.S. Marine announces into the field
radio. A Japanese soldier intercepts the message and turns to look at his commanding
officer. Once again, they are totally puzzled by the mysterous new code the Americans are
using. Anger colors the officers face. We must break this code! he shouts. He does not
know it at the time, but the Japanese will never break this code. In 1942, the U.S. Marine
Corps begins recruiting members of the Navajo tribe as code talkers. By using their native
language to send and receive messages, the Navajo Code Talkers saved thousands of lives
during World War II.
A Great Idea

During World War II, the United States was at war with a number of countries, including
Japan. When military troops communicated with each other, secrecy was very important.
Messages were sent in code. Still, the Japanese were excellent code breakers, and they often
cracked the codes. This puts American soldiers in danger because the Japanese found out
about the troops location, movements, and orders. Then, one day, a World War I veteran
named Philip Johnston had a great idea that helped solve this problem. Johnston was the son
of a missionary, and he had grew up on a Navajo reservation. He knew that Navajo was the
perfect language for a military code. Navajo was an unwritten language without an alphabet
or other symbols and only about two dozen non-Navajo people could speak it.
Johnston went to talk to officers in the Marine Corps. Thousands of Marines were
stationed in the Pacific, where they fought many battles with the Japanese Army. Johnston
suggested that the Marines use Navajos as code talkers. The Marine Corps liked the idea,
but Johnston had to prove that it would work. Johnston set up a demonstration with four
Navajos. The Navajos where given six messages in English to send to one another over the
phone. However, they first had to translate the messages into Navajo. Speaking in their native
language, the Navajos transmitted the messages quickly and accurately. With the great success
of this demonstration, the Marines moved forward to establish a formal Navajo code.
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Informative/Explanatory Writing: Stating the Facts

Step Up to Writing Grades 68

Tool S4-62f