“The Roaring Twenties” “The Jazz Age”

Mini- Projects 1). “All that Jazz” 2). Silent Movies and “Talkies” 3). The Poetry of Langston Hughes 4). Prohibition and Al Capone 5). The Affordable Automobile

“All that Jazz” Read “The Jazz Age” (pp. 704-706) in your SS textbook. After reading, click on this link and listen to at least two songs by Duke Ellington. Write down the titles of the songs you listened to. (Some songs have lyrics, others do not.) Next click on this link and listen to at least two songs by Bessie Smith. Write down the titles of the songs you listened to. Listen closely to the lyrics and the instrumentation. What words/message do you hear? How does this type of music make you feel? In a two paragraph response, explain why you think the people of the 1920’s enjoyed listening to this type of music in one paragraph (be sure to use specific examples from the text and the songs), and in the second paragraph, compare the themes and rythms of jazz to any current type of music you listen to. How are they alike, how are they different? Can you think of any ways that jazz and blues may have influenced the current types of music you listen to. Back to mini-project list.

Silent Movies and “Talkies” Read the “Entertainment” section (pp 703-704) in your SS textbook. After you’ve read, click on this link to view a short film from the early 1900’s that had no sound. Take some notes about this film as well as what you found difficult about viewing the film. Next, click on this link to view a horror film from the 1920’s titled Nosferatu (a re-telling of Stoker’s novel Dracula) to get a better feel for what the 1920’s moviegoer was used to with a movie that had no sound. The movie is over an hour, I think five to ten minutes of viewing should do the trick. You should start your viewing at 1:30 once the credits are over. Take notes about the use of “text screens” between scenes to display dialogue. Last, click on this link to see some photos from the inside of the Rialto Theatre in Joliet and read about the grandeur of the design from its opening in 1926. Link for History. Link for virtual tour Click to read about the rest of the project.

Silent Movies and “Talkies” Truly, we are spoiled and take our current movie going experience for granted with our options of seeing movies in 3-D or IMAX and hearing them in Dolby Digital Surround Sound. Going to the movies in the 1920’s was a different kind of “experience”. Imagine only having seen movies without sound, only piano/orchestra accompaniment, and the next week going to see a movie where you could hear the characters’ voices and music playing in the background! Write a two paragraph response explaining why you feel that movie popularity increased so drastically in the mid to late 1920’s and why moviegoers became so attached to movie stars in the first paragraph (using examples from the text or movies you viewed). In the second paragraph, explain whether or not you would want to go back in time for one night to see a movie at the Rialto in the late 1920’s (having experienced modern theaters and viewed modern movies). Be sure to provide specific reasons to support your choice. Back to mini-project list

The Poetry of Langston Hughes Link to “Ballad of the Landlord” Link to “I, Too” Be sure to check out the extended bio at the bottom and click on the audio display at the top to hear Hughes read his poem. -Read the sections “labor unrest” and “racial unrest” in your SS textbook (pp 690-692) -Read both Langston Hughes poems. - Write a 8-12 sentence paragraph explaining how the two poems exemplify the ideas presented in the sections you read from the text. Back to mini-project list