To what degree do you judge yourself based on the choices you make? “We are the sum total of all the choices we make.” -Woody Allen What choices must you make? To what degree do people judge you on the choices you make? To what degree do you judge yourself based on the choices you make? How are your values related to your choices?

VALUE SYSTEM 20TH CENTURY LITERATURE A Crisis in Values FAMILY FRIENDS LOVE POLITICS FILIAL RESPONSIBILITY MARRIAGE RELIGION CAREER PERSONAL FUFILLMENT SUCCESS HAPPINESS 20TH CENTURY LITERATURE A Crisis in Values VALUE SYSTEM

What are the most important issues of the last century? How do they manifest themselves into the literature we read? RELATION TO CHOICES AND HUMAN PLIGHT VALUE SYSTEM PERSONAL FUFILLMENT SUCCESS HAPPINESS MARRIAGE FILIAL RESPONZ. RELIGION CAREER LOVE FAMILY POLITICS FRIENDS MODERNISM(1910-1940ish) AN ARTISTIC, MUSICAL, AND LITERARY MOVEMENT IN THE 20TH CENTURY

Modernism Definition Continued… Rejection of nineteenth-century optimism, presented a profoundly pessimistic picture of a culture in disarray. This despair often results in an apparent apathy and moral relativism.

Some Modernists Across the Arts

MODERN PAINTERS PICASSO MATISSE KANDINSKY DALI

MODERN AUTHORS ERNEST HEMINGWAY WILLIAM FAULKNER F. SCOTT FITZGERALD JOHN STEINBECK

MODERN POETS Patricia Smith E.E. Cummings William Carlos Williams H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) Robert Frost William Carlos Williams Wallace Stevens Marianne Moore

MODERN ARCHITECTS WRIGHT GROPIUS LE CORBUSIER VAN DER ROHE

More rationale and practical.

MODERN ENTERTAINMENT MOVEMENT SILENT MOVIES- OFTEN FOCUSED ON THE DANGERS OF THE MODERN WORLD MAJOR ACTORS- CHARLIE CHAPLIN & BUSTER KEATON

Characteristics of Modernism as a Cultural Movement

FORCES DRIVING MODERNISM Search for reason in an unreasoned world Concerned with industrialization and the displacement of persons Bothered by the hypocrisy of Christianity

MODERNISTS’ VIEW OF THE WORLD The world is chaos The world is unstable Loss of faith Collapse of morality/values

MODERNIST BELIEFS Alienation is an increasingly common condition No absolute certainties and truths

CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERNISM LOSS OF FAITH IN THE AMERICAN DREAM REJECTION OF ARTIFICIALITY “Isn’t it pretty to think so? - Hemmingway

Art and Mentality PICASSO’S CUBISM - not craftsman but innovation reflective of time period More about truth than beauty; common people not about a rich person commissioning a painting “Art for arts sake” - search FIRST PICTURE-Self Portrait 1899-1900 SECOND PICTURE-Self Portrait, cubist period Role of artist changes

Art for arts sake…

Characteristics of Modern Literature

MODERN LITERARY MOVEMENT Major forms are poetry and fiction Stylistic innovations - disruption of traditional syntax and form. Intention is often to challenge the way readers see the world Time fades and dissolves regarding characters mindset

WRITING STYLE Imagery and symbolism- frequent Colloquial language Literature as art- form, style, and technique are important Often includes much dialogue Stream-of-consciousness; interior dialogue

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS Narration is structured by narrator's or character's flow of consciousness and memory Associative (rather than conventional "linear") Often employs flashback and flash forward techniques

MODERN HERO IN LITERATURE Rejection of the ideal hero Hero in modern story will be flawed and disillusioned EXAMPLE: Jay Gatsby- The Great Gatsby George Milton- Of Mice and Men

New hero: ironic, frustrating, disappointing, self-doubting, anxious

CHARACTERIZATION IN MODERN LITERATURE Interest in the inner workings of the human mind Intense psychological characterization (Freud and Jung) Reader learns about characters primarily through dialogue

PLOTS AND MODERN LITERATURE EXPLORES: Sense of isolation Uncertainty Disillusionment Disjointedness Meaninglessness

MODERN LITERATURE FORMS Literature often lacked expositions, resolutions, and transitions.

THEMES IN MODERN LITERATURE Critique of traditional values of our culture Loss of meaning and hope in the world Alienation from society and loneliness 4. Violence 5. Decadences and Decay 6. Loss and Despair

READERS ROLE OLD READERS His role is passive: HE IS: Taught Entertained Emotionally involved MODERNIST READERS The reader has an active role must give his own subjective interpretation

Rejection of nineteenth-century optimism, presented a profoundly pessimistic picture of a culture in disarray. This despair often results in an apparent apathy and moral relativism