American Literature II
Ruane
This assignment will cover your first week of second semester. Since our first meeting
will be an intake, we will not have much time to discuss the assignment, however your
work will be due at that time (the week of January 11 at your regular meeting time if you
are a returning student). MAKE SURE TO REVIEW YOUR ASSIGNMENT BEFORE
THE MEETING SO THAT YOU ARE PREPARED TO DISCUSS IT.
Read the directions for the assignment carefully.
Modernism
We will begin the semester with our study of World War I. This era brought forward a
new set of writers and a new literary movement, Modernism. This assignment will
provide you with a background of significant authors during this movement and with the
elements of fiction unique to Modernism. Following this unit, we will begin our first
novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald—one of the prominent authors of this
“Lost Generation” of writers.
1. In your American Literature textbook read “The Story of the Times, 1914-1946”
on pages 636 through 641 and take thorough notes. This overview will provide
you with a historical background as well as an introduction to the literary
movements of this era.
2. Watch the American Passages video, "Modernist Portraits" ( #11 in the program
series. for a background on the "Lost Generation" writers of this era, first read the
“Preview” below.
http://www.learner.org/resources/series164.html?pop=yes&pid=1747
After viewing the video, answer the nine discussion questions under each
Essential Question. (video is 30 minutes)

Introduction to the video: The video focuses on the three experimental
prose writers of this period: Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, and F.
Scott Fitzgerald. Responding to the disillusion following World War I and
the excesses of the "roaring twenties," these expatriate writers looked for
meaning in language and, in the process, profoundly influenced fiction
writers who followed. Stein's sometimes incomprehensible prose portraits
questioned the function of language and humans' ability to pin down
meanings, while Hemingway's pared-down style offered readers what
seemed a more accessible presentation of the world than fiction had
previously provided. Fitzgerald's work examined the social mores of the
"Jazz Age" and highlighted inconsistencies in the "American dream."
Paris became a center where these and other authors congregated and
helped to foster a flowering of modernist literature and art.

Discussion Questions After Viewing
What is an American? How does American literature create
conceptions of the American experience and identity?
1. Video Comprehension Questions: What brought the writers featured in
the video to Europe?
2. Context Questions: What about the writing of Stein, Hemingway, and
Fitzgerald struck readers as very "new"?
3. Exploratory Questions: How are Stein, Hemingway, and Fitzgerald
commenting on the behavior of Americans? What do they seem to be
saying about the country of their birth?
How do place and time shape literature and our understanding of it?
4. Video Comprehension Questions: What impact did World War I have
on the thinking and writing of these authors?
5. Context Questions: These writers lived much of their lives in Europe,
especially Paris. Why did Europe seem more conducive to art than the
United States?
6. Exploratory Questions: Why do you think Hemingway's style appealed
so strongly to his reading public? Why did he have such a pronounced
influence on other writers?
How are American myths created, challenged, and reimagined
through these works of literature?
7. Video Comprehension Questions: What myths of American manhood
did writers such as Hemingway believe in, and what shattered these
myths?
8. Context Questions: In what way was the "Lost Generation" lost?
9. Exploratory Questions: What does Fitzgerald's portrayal of the
American dream suggest about its viability in the modern world?
3. Reading a Modernist Short Story
Read the “Guide for Interpreting” on pages 728-730. Take notes on Hemingway,
Anderson & Welty; read and take notes also on “Background for Understanding.”
Read the short story: "In Another Country" by Ernest Hemingway." Answer the
Check Your Comprehension & Critical Thinking questions with thoughtful and
complete responses.