1 THE ROARING TWENTIES and THE GREAT GATSBYEnglish 3 – Ms. Roehrich

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: 1925Genre: MODERNIST NOVEL Point of View: FIRST PERSON (DETACHED)

4 “THE ROARING TWENTIES” – Historical BackgroundWorld War I ( ) Time of chaos, destruction Tanks – armored warfare Trench warfare (“stalemating”) Gas warfare

5 Time of great FUN, AMUSEMENT, SELF-ABSORPTION 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 LIFEMilitary technologies  Civilian life Mass production – automation Automobiles – Model T Automobile industry spawns other “side industries: GAS STATIONS MOTELS HIGHWAYS

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8 Cultural Changes of the1920’sRADIO “Golden Age” of radio, similar to TV today

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

10 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)

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

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

13 Marcus Garvey Dorothy West Richard Wright

14 Social: DANCE Extravagant dances, dance contests “Breakaway”“Charleston” “Lindy Hop”

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

16 Flappers

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

18 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

19 “Prohibition: The Noble Experiment”

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

21 Speakeasies

22 Actual Effects of ProhibitionPolitical 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

23 Immigration American attitude toward immigration: XENOPHOBIA

24 1924 - President Coolidge signs Immigration ActMost European immigrants banned and all Asians banned entirely

25 Sports Rise of American spectator sports Golden age of baseball

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

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

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

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

30 The Great Depression – 1930’s

31 Aftermath 1933 – Prohibition repealed (21st Amendment)1941 – World War II

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