IT`S STORY TIME ! UNIT 7 THE ROARING 20`s 1921-1929

IT’S STORY TIME !
UNIT 7
THE ROARING 20’s
1921-1929
Part 1 – A Clash of Values; Nativism, Immigration Quotas,
New Morality, Women, Fundamentalism & Prohibition
Part 2 – Cultural Changes; the Arts, Sports, Film & Mass Media
Part 3 – Harlem Renaissance & “Back to Africa” movement
Part 4 – Presidential Politics; Harding & Coolidge
Part 5 – Growing Economy; Automobile, Credit & Farm Crisis
Part 6 – Policies of Prosperity, Trade & Arms Control
ART
&
LITERATURE
John MARIN - “Lobster Fisherman”
- part of AMERICAN “MODERNIST” STYLE of PAINTING
Edward HOPPER
- revived visual accuracy of REALISM in his haunting scenes
- conveyed MODERN sense of DISENCHANTMENT & ISOLATION
captured LONELINESS of AMERICAN LIFE
Georgia O’KEEFFE
• painted intensely colored canvases
= captured grandeur of NEW YORK
- once told friend…
“One can’t paint New York
as it is, but rather as it is felt.”
• later became famous for
paintings depicting
the SOUTHWEST
Georgia O’KEEFE
POETS
of the 1920’s
Edna St. Vincent MILLAY
• POET, lived bohemian life
in New York’s
Greenwich Village
• POEMS = celebrated…
YOUTH & LIFE
of
INDEPENDENCE
& FREEDOM
from
TRADITIONAL CONSTRAINTS
during ROARING 20’s
Edna St.Vincent
MILLAY
Example of “quatrain”…
“My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends--It gives a lovely light.”
QUATRAIN by
Edna St. Vincent MILLAY
The above
seems to be celebrating…
materialistic, exuberant, unrestrained
=
LIFESTYLE
young & fashionable
the
of the
during the
ROARING TWENTIES
Q-20
Ezra POUND
• an “expatriate” POET
- moved restlessly from ENGLAND to ITALY
• founded “IMAGIST” school
of AMERICAN POETRY
• influenced other writers
- T.S. ELIOT, …
Personal life became a tragedy when,
after writing PRO-FASCIST PROPAGANDA during WWII,
he returned to the U.S. & was confined to a mental hospital
from 1946-1958. When he was released he returned to ITALY.
T.S. ELIOT
• POET - concentrated on
what he considered
the NEGATIVE EFFECTS of MODERNISM
• wrote POEM…
“The Hollow Men”
= described a WORLD filled with…
=
EMPTY DREAMS & “HOLLOW MEN”
foresaw a WORLD that would END…
“NOT with a BANG but with a WHIMPER”.
Robert FROST
1of MOST popular POETS of 1920’s
won PULITZER PRIZE for POETRY
4x’s ! = in 1924, 1931, 1937 & 1943
After living briefly in ENGLAND,
he settled in NEW ENGLAND,
writing lyrical POETRY based
on the people & places of the region.
Like NOVELIST William FAULKNER,
FROST expressed…
UNIVERSAL EMOTIONAL TRUTHS
through a “REGIONAL” PRISM
NOVELISTS
of the 1920’s
The LOST GENERATION
• TERM refers to GROUP of WRITERS
• disgusted by GREED, MATERIALISM
& lack of moral & spiritual values
in AMERICAN SOCIETY
= moved to EUROPE - mostly FRANCE
• TERM coined by Gertrude STEIN
to describe this GROUP of WRITERS
as they socialized in cafes of Paris
• included… Ernest HEMINGWAY
John DOS PASSOS, Sinclair LEWIS,
& F. Scott FITZGERALD
Q-21
Many FAMOUS WRITERS
1920’s,
including LOST GENERATION,
were SIMILAR in their…
of the
= CRITICAL VIEWS
of
AMERICAN LIFE
Q-22
Ernest HEMINGWAY
• wounded in WWI
• well-known “expatriate” writer
• wrote NOVELS…
For Whom the Bell Tolls
A Farewell to Arms
= criticized GLORIFICATION of WAR
• introduced NEW…
tough, direct, simple, concise style of writing
= set NEW LITERARY STANDARD
John DOS PASSOS
• CRITIC of AMERICA’s
CAPITALIST CULTURE
• experimented w-form of
NOVEL
in innovative TRIOLOGY…
U.S.A.
= combined…
FICTION, BIOGRAPHY,
NEWS HEADLINES
& PROSE POEMS
Sinclair LEWIS
• 1st AMERICAN to win
NOBEL PRIZE
for LITERATURE
• regarded as 1 of ERA’s
most outspoken CRITICS
• 2 most famous NOVELS
Main Street & Babbitt
= took aim at shallow, stifling existence
of MIDDLE-CLASS AMERICA
- “conformity” & “materialism”
Sinclair LEWIS
Babbitt
F. Scott FITZGERALD
• coined term “Jazz Age”
to describe 1920’s
• wrote The Great Gatsby
& This Side of Paradise
= revealed negative side of era’s
gaiety & freedom
= wealthy & attractive people
portrayed as leading…
empty, meaningless lives
F. Scott & Zelda FITZGERALD
The FITZGERALD’s, shown here on their honeymoon, seemed to personify the heavy
drinking, glittering lifestyle & constant search for excitement his novels described.
They traveled in EUROPE from 1924-1930. Reputedly… Zelda’s insanity & his
alcoholism prevented the completion of his last novel, The Last Tycoon (1941)
WRITERS of the 1920’s
such as
Sinclair LEWIS,
F. Scott FITZGERALD
& Gertrude STEIN
were known for
– BEST CHARACTERIZED by – …
=
CRITICISM of
MIDDLE-CLASS CONFORMITY
& MATERIALISM
Q-23
their
William FAULKNER
focused his NOVELS
on the
ANGUISH & LOSS
of
POST-CIVIL WAR SOUTH
1st NOVEL = The Sound and the Fury, 1929
REGIONALLY-BASED STORIES - Using an imaginary place,
Yoknapatawha County, as the setting for his stories,
he brilliantly illuminated the crisis of OLD VALUES
in the MODERN SOUTH.
Henry Lewis MENCKEN
EDITOR of 2 “influential” MAGAZINES
Widely recognized as cynical CRITIC
of EMPTINESS & HYPOCRACY
of much of
MIDDLE-CLASS AMERICAN LIFE
MENCKEN’s savagely critical reporting
of William Jennings BRYAN’s behavior at the SCOPES TRIAL,
reflected the CYNICISM of the INTELLECTUALS of 1920’s
toward what he called the “booboisie”, or “Boobus Americans”…
= the pious evangelical hypocrisy of the men & women who supported…
the KKK, PROHIBITION & the BLUE LAWS,
all the while condoning… LYNCHING, POLITICAL CORRUPTION
& other OFFENSES against the VALUES of the “CIVILIZED MINORITY”.
POPULAR
CULTURE
5 IMPORTANT INFLUENCES on
POPULAR CULTURE
Q-24
AUTOMOBILE
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
- particularly BASEBALL
MASS ADVERTISING
RADIO
MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY
BABE RUTH
• legendary New York
Yankee slugger
• nicknames by fans…
Sultan of Swat
Colossus of Clout
• hit record 60 home runs in 1927
• 1 of the new “HEROES” of the ’20’s
- amazing athletic talent, however…
gigantic appetite for pleasure
& casual disregard for rules
BABE RUTH STARTS HOME RUN !
Jack 1919-1926
DEMPSEY
& Gene
TUNNEY
held TITLE from
(1927- WORLD HEAVEYWEIGHT CHAMPION)
RED GRANGE
1 of most FAMOUS PLAYERS of
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
--- UNIV. of ILLINOIS --known as…
“Galloping Ghost”
due to his
speed
&
ability to evade
members of
opposing teams
Bobby JONES
BEST
GOLFER of 1920’s
Bill TILDEN
& Helen WILLS
dominated
“WORLD”
TENNIS
Gertrude EDERLE
• became famous
in 1926
• 1st WOMAN
to swim
ENGLISH
CHANNEL
The RISE of HOLLYWOOD
Cecil B. De MILLES
1923 film
The Ten
Commandments
D.W. GRIFFITH
directing
America in 1923
INVENTOR of many
MAJOR CAMERA
TECHNIQUES; the
close-up camera
& moving camera
New York’s
ROXY THEATER
Remember…
The Birth of a Nation
= GRIFFITH’s 1st film
in 1915 & also
= 1st FULL-LENGTH
FEATURE
= CONTROVERSIAL
MOVIE “PALACES” were built
to enhance the MOVIE GOING EXPERIENCE
Charlie
CHAPLAIN
Douglas
FAIRBANKS
& Mary
PICKFORD
Rudolph
VALENTINO
Clara BOW
TALKIES
• NICKNAME for…
MOTION
PICTURES
w-SOUND
= made MOVIES
even more popular
The Jazz Singer
Q-25
• appeared
in 1927
• starred
Al JOLSON
=1
- major
st
“talkie”
motion picture w-SOUND
st
1
SUCCESSFUL
TALKING
PICTURE
Mickey
Mouse
• STAR of 1928 FILM
“Steamboat Willie”
= 1 “TALKIE”-SOUND movie
starring
CARTOON CHARACTER
st
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REbZO82tkgw
KDKA
= 1st COMMERCIAL RADIO STATION
in the U.S.
KDKA began
SCHEDULED
PROGRAMMING
with the
HARDING-COX
PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION
RETURNS
on
NOV. 2, 1920
1st COMMERCIAL
RADIO BROADCAST
CRYSTAL SETS
•
NAME given to voice-carrying RADIOS
• early ’20’s = only LOCAL audiences
Nov.’20, KDKA- Pittsburgh station; HARDING’s victory
• late ’20’s = LONG-DISTANCE broadcasting
“NATIONAL” networks drown out much of local
EVERYONE knows what’s happening at SAME TIME
= greatly influenced… POLITICS, OPINIONS,…
= spurred MASS MARKET - FREE ENTERPRISE
“advertising” commercials; brand-name products
= led to CHANGES in… spending habits; “wants”
entertainment; music, comedy, sports, gospel,…
leisure time; family & neighbors gathered around
regional differences; blur with “standardization”
CRYSTAL SETS
ADS for RADIOS in the 1920s
In 2002 DOLLARS
The LYRIC RADIOS cost
$950.90 to $4369.00.
George
GERSHWIN
• composer
- combined American JAZZ
w-traditional music forms
• gained instant fame
w-Rhapsody in Blue
= 1st JAZZ work for symphony
AMOS ‘N’ ANDY
1 of MOST POPULAR
RADIO SHOWS
TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS
of 2 AFRICAN AMERICAN
characters
( portrayed by WHITE ACTORS )
Although it captured the NATION’s ATTENTION every evening,
it certainly & unfortunately reinforced
AFRICAN AMERICAN STEREOTYPES
MASS MEDIA
• powerful means of COMMUNICATION
• used effectively for 1st time in 1920’s
• NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES, RADIO, FILM, etc…
= reach LARGE AUDIENCES
= changed & shaped our CULTURE
- people could now hear things as they happened
& listen to different points of view.
- changed what we wore, what we bought & what we ate.
= “FADS” now swept the nation !
MASS MEDIA
fostered sense of
“shared”
NATIONAL EXPERIENCE
helped UNIFY NATION
= spread…
NEW IDEAS
& ATTITUDES
MASS MEDIA,
the RADIO
& MOVIES
contributed to…
= WORLDWIDE DIFFUSION
of
POPULAR CULTURE
Q-26