This actually could have a been an excellent thought provoking assignment if, and this is a big if, the teacher included as part of the assignment to also explain how propaganda is used to manipulate people and how people can be taught to recognize it when seen.
I think her whole point was to show how state-controlled propaganda can be used to demonize people and plant ideas in the minds of the public. She was probably considering this to be the classic in demonization and wanted to use it as an actual example to show that propaganda “works” in the real world.
Maybe she didn’t present it very clearly, or perhaps she should have made it less personal - that is, asking the students to write an analytical piece, rather than one putting themselves in the shoes of the German newspaper readers who were the targets for this propaganda and manipulation.