The 20 th Century

1. The 20th Century America’s Modern Period

2. 20th Century AmericaTheme: Modern Times, Modern Issues • Women’s Suffrage Movement • Prohibition Movement • The Harlem Renaissance • The Great Depression • The Civil Rights Movement • Energy Crisis • Fall of Communism • 9/11 • World War I • World War II • The Cold War • Korea • Vietnam • Desert Storm • Iraq War • Afghanistan

3. 20th Century AmericaAmerican Literature Genres • Imagist(writing is “image” focused/inspired) • Harlem Renaissance (writing is focused on inequality/suffering) • Political (writing is focused on fear, anger, societal arguments) • War (writing is focused on the aftermath, physically & mentally) • Underlying Themes* (loss, separation, denial, fear, hopelessness)

4. 20th Century AmericaAmerican’s Modern Writers • Imagist • Pound • Eliot • Williams • Harlem • Hughes • Brooks • McKay • Political • Hitchcock • King • X • Burroughs • War • Mailer • Shields • O’ Brien

5. 20th Century AmericaAmerican Literature’s Imagists Nothing to Save There is nothing to save, now all is lost, but a tiny core of stillness in the heart like the eye of a violet. D. H. Lawrence

6. 20th Century AmericaAmerican Literature’s Harlem Renaissance Writers “I, Too, Sing America” I, too, sing America. I am the darker brother. They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong. Tomorrow, I'll be at the table When company comes. Nobody'll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then. Besides, They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed-- I, too, am America. Langston Hughes

7. 20th Century AmericaAmerican Literature’s Political Writers “If the American government cannot destroy communism without using its innocent citizens as cannon fodder, maybe we should lose The Cold War” Alfred Hitchcock

8. 20th Century AmericaAmerican Literature’s War Writers “Numbers have dehumanized us. Over breakfast coffee we read of 40,000 American dead in Vietnam. Instead of vomiting, we reach for the toast. Our morning rush through crowded streets is not to cry murder but to hit that trough before somebody else gobbles our share.” Dalton Trumbo, Johnny Got His Gun

9. 20th Century AmericaTheme: Modern Times, Modern Issues • Probing Questions (as you read/watch) • What atrocity(s) is/are being addressed? • Does the author offer any possible solutions? • What possible solutions are there in my mind? • How does this piece of American literature address: hopelessness, inequality, fear, anger, loss, destruction, desperation, war???