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THE ROARING TWENTIES and THE GREAT GATSBY

THE ROARING TWENTIES and THE GREAT GATSBY. English 3 – Mr. McGowan. Essential Questions. How do people in different social classes interact with one another? Is it possible to be whatever and whoever you want to be in America?

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THE ROARING TWENTIES and THE GREAT GATSBY

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  1. THE ROARING TWENTIES and THE GREAT GATSBY English 3 – Mr. McGowan

  2. Essential Questions • How do people in different social classes interact with one another? • Is it possible to be whatever and whoever you want to be in America? • What is the true nature of love? Is it possible to make someone love you?

  3. GATSBY Information • Author: F. SCOTT FITZGERALD • Year: 1925 • Genre: MODERNIST NOVEL • Point of View: FIRST PERSON (DETACHED)

  4. “THE ROARING TWENTIES” – Historical Background • World War I (1914-1918) • Time of chaos, destruction Tanks – armored warfare Trench warfare (“stalemating”) Gas warfare

  5. Post-war period • Trauma of dealing with “Great War” • Desire to escape • ISOLATIONISM • Time of great FUN, AMUSEMENT, SELF-ABSORPTION • As ECONOMY grows, MORALITY declines • Examples: 1980’s Wall Street

  6. MAJOR CHANGES IN EVERYDAY LIFE • Military technologies  Civilian life • Mass production – automation • Automobiles – Model T • Automobile industry spawns other “side industries: • GAS STATIONS • MOTELS • HIGHWAYS

  7. Cultural Changes of the1920’s • RADIO • “Golden Age” of radio, similar to TV today

  8. Movies • Originally silent black and white • Called “movies” because the pictures moved • Added sound, became “talkies”

  9. Music • “Jazz Age” (a term invented by Fitzgerald himself) • Jazz = “sophisticated and hip, but morally corrupting and rebellious” • Many jazz artists were minorities – not appreciated by White establishment • Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, W.C. Handy (blues)

  10. Louis Armstrong Duke Ellington Statue of W.C. Handy in Memphis

  11. Literature – “Harlem Renaissance” Langston Hughes (far left) Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God Claude McKay Home to Harlem

  12. Marcus Garvey Dorothy West Richard Wright

  13. Social: DANCE • Extravagant dances, dance contests • “Breakaway” • “Charleston” • “Lindy Hop”

  14. Role of Women • 1920 – 19th Amendment (women’s suffrage) Men lost in WWI – women work to replace income Flappers – “new breed of women”

  15. Flappers

  16. Flappers • Short skirts, short hair • Listened to jazz • Flaunted “traditional” gender roles • Acted “unwomanly” by older standards • Wore makeup • Drank hard liquor • Smoked • Played sports (golf – Babe Didrickson Zaharias)

  17. PROHIBITION • Probably the single most important influence on behavior of people in the 20’s • 18th Amendment (VOLSTEAD ACT)– banned sale or consumption of liquor in U.S. • Intention: Limit social ills caused by drinking

  18. “Prohibition: The Noble Experiment”

  19. Actual Consequences of Prohibition • Rise of organized crime • Al Capone, Hymie Weiss, Chicago mobsters, etc. • Bootlegging • Moonshine, “bathtub gin” • Fortunes made – Kennedy’s, etc.

  20. Speakeasies

  21. Actual Effects of Prohibition • Political corruption • Police payoffs in return for protection • Non-raiding of speakeasies • Flouting of laws • More “fun” to drink because it was illegal • Allure of danger

  22. Immigration • American attitude toward immigration: XENOPHOBIA

  23. 1924 - President Coolidge signs Immigration Act • Most European immigrants banned and all Asians banned entirely

  24. Sports • Rise of American spectator sports • Golden age of baseball

  25. Jack Dempsey vs. Gene Tunney, 1926 “The Long Count” • Horse racing • Boxing • College football • Tennis, golf Leatherheads, 2008 So-called “Four Horsemen” of Notre Dame Man o’ War, 1920 Belmont and Preakness winner

  26. Economy of the 1920’s • Huge boom in the stock market • Corporate stockholders made tons of money • “Laissez-faire” economic policies • Low taxes on corporations • Tremendous profits • Excess, greed, wealth

  27. So how did it all end? • Prices continued to rise • Greed of owners went unchecked by federal government • System eventually collapsed Workers flood Wall Street in a panic on October 29, 1929

  28. “Black Tuesday” – 10/29/29 • Complete crash of stock market • Worldwide depression, millions of people out of work • Brings Roaring 20’s to abrupt end

  29. The Great Depression – 1930’s

  30. Aftermath • 1933 – Prohibition repealed (21st Amendment) • 1941 – World War II

  31. GREAT GATSBY Characters – Chapter 1 • NARRATOR (Nick Carraway) • TOM BUCHANAN • DAISY BUCHANAN • JORDAN BAKER • GATSBY

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