Were the 1920s an Era of Social and Cultural Rebellion?
YES SSD- Ostrander, Revolution in Morals,
NO SSD- Shannon- American Society
Gilman M. Ostrander portrays the 1920s as the beginning of an urbanization
of American morals, which included dramatic changes in women’s fashion
and behavior and the emergence of a more affluent society and leisure
class focused on mass consumer goods that encouraged Americans to live
beyond their means, thereby undermining the traditional virtue of
thriftiness.
David A. Shannon asserts that the social and cultural changes described
by many as revolutionary were actually superficial elements of which
significance to the 1920s has been exaggerated; the real catalysts for
change were processes that expanded the American economy by
ushering in prosperity through the creation of a mass consumer culture.
HOMEWORK:
You will read one of the assigned articles, annotate (highlighting and take
notes), and write 6 “levels of questioning” questions. In addition, look for
evidence and arguments that prove your author’s thesis. Tomorrow, in a
class debate, you (and other students assigned to read the same article)
will defend and argue the side to which you are assigned. You may also
use your textbook or Only Yesterday readings to support your argument.
You will be graded on:
1) Taking a position (the one to which you have been assigned)
2) Making at least one relevant comment
3) Using evidence from the text to support your argument
4) Asking clarifying questions (presumably from the other side)
5) Drawing another person into the conversation
At the end of the debate we will vote on which side of the debate was the
most convincing.
Were the 1920s an Era of Social and Cultural Rebellion?
Debate Guiding Questions
1. Did the decade of the 1920s mark either a continuity with or contrast
from the preceding decade?
2. What economic changes dominated the 1920s? Were these changes
significant enough to call them a “revolution”?
3. What marked the changing status and behavior of women in the
1920s, and were these changes enough to call them a “revolution”?
4. What were the social, cultural and economic impacts of mass
produced consumer goods in the decade following WWI, and were
these impacts great enough to call them a “revolution?”
5. Did the nature of American politics in the 1920s mark a significant
break with the past, and were these changes enough to call them a
“revolution”?
6. Are there ways to join the arguments of Ostrander and Shannon to
conclude that a much broader set of changes was put in motion that
included social, cultural, and economic changes of great
consequence?
7. Is it appropriate to think of the decade of the 1920s as a “new era”?