Unit 5: Harlem Renaissance &
Modernism
1910-1940
Your notes - Quiz
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WWI lasted from what year to what year?
What amendment gave women the right to vote?
What specific event brought the good times of the
roaring 20’s to an end?
In what decade did the roaring 20’s take place?
Which president pledged to give the country a “new
deal.” BE SPECIFIC!
Did you take notes for this quiz?
What breed of puppies did I just adopt?
Questions of the Times
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What is MODERN? Why do we always want to be
“cutting edge”?
Can ideals survive catastrophe?
How can people honor their heritage?
What drives human behavior? (Focus on
UNCONSCIOUS rather than impact from
social/environmental factors like naturalism)
Modernism The Video
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The History of American Literature: America's
Wartime Literature and Post-war Reflections
This video discusses the writers of twentieth-century
America, specifically the years before, during, and after
World War I and II. The effects of the Depression sparked
change throughout society, and by the end of World War
II, the United States was the most powerful nation in the
world. The program details the changes and struggles
people had to face and how these challenges had an
impact on literature.
Historical Context (Discovery Ed Video)
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A world at war
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The Jazz Age
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WWI = the “great” war 1914-1918
End of idealism, massive deaths, era of corruption, hedonism, ruthless
business practice
Escape f/reality = jazz, drinking, dancing, entertainment!
Youth voice, women more feminist, 1920 = 19th Am., flappers,
Prohibition (1920-1933)
The Great Depression
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Crash of 1929, unemployment by 1933 = 25%
The Dust Bowl, drought in 1930s
The New Deal, FDR
North Carolina Unemployment
Michigan Unemployment
Depression
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Average rate of unemployment Great Depression
in 1929: 3.2%
in 1930: 8.9%
in 1931: 16.3%
in 1932: 24.1%
in 1933: 24.9%
in 1934: 21.7%
in 1935: 20.1%
in 1936: 16.9%
in 1937: 14.3%
in 1938: 19.0%
in 1939: 17.2%3
Cultural Influences
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Mass media – how did this change EVERYTHING?
Mass production
New ideas – stream of consciousness, Marxism, Einstein’s
theory of relativity.
Modern Lit & Harlem Ren.
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New Poetry
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VERY vocal
Voiced concerns of many different groups/people
Modernism
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direct response to the social and intellectual forces shaping the
20th century.
Experiment w/language
Saw mass society as a threat to art & literature
Experimentation was a distinguishing characteristic of these
writers
New Ideas in Writing
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Imagism: poetry is most profoundly expressed through
the “rendering of concrete objects.” Ezra Pound called
this kind of poetry imagism because it sought to recreate an image—not comment on it, not
interpret it, but just present it. Often academic,
allusion.
More free verse (poetry without a predictable rhyme or
metric s
In response to imagism’s complex ideas and academic
references, new movement called objectivism, in which
poets let the objects they rendered speak for
themselves. Think of this like word art.
More…
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Modern Short Story
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The Age of the Short Story, popular due to lack of interest in
reading.
Growth of magazines
Some went with short, fragmented stories, multiple
perspectives, etc.
Negative sides of society
Harlem Renaissance
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Great Migration north for Af-Americans
Black & white literary masters gathered together
Some formal, some informal
Harlem Renaissance – 3 video segments
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Began in 1916, went thru the 20’s
Great Migration
Ethnic enclaves nurtured pro-heritage artistic spirit
Called “the New Negro,” sophisticated, well-educated
African American with strong racial pride and selfawareness.
Journalism
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Reporting, more to news than scandal
Magazines on the rise