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

2. Essential Questions 1. How do people in different social classes interact with one another? 2. Is it possible to be whatever and whoever you want to be in America? 3. 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 Gas warfare Tanks – armored warfare Trench warfare (“stalemating”)

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

8. Cultural Changes of the1920’s  RADIO –“Golden Age” of radio, similar to TV today

9. Movies  Originally silent black and white –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) Claude McKay Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God 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 – 19 th 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 jazz  Flaunted “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  18 th 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 Prohibition  Rise 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 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

23. Immigration  American attitude toward immigration: XENOPHOBIA

24.  1924 - President Coolidge signs Immigration Act –Most 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, golf Man o’ War, 1920 Belmont and Preakness winner Jack Dempsey vs. Gene Tunney, 1926 “The Long Count” So-called “Four Horsemen” of Notre Dame Leatherheads, 2008

27. 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

28. 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

29. “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

30. The Great Depression – 1930’s

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  1933 – Prohibition repealed (21 st Amendment)  1941 – World War II Aftermath

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