1. Modernism 01/11/16

2. What was it? An international literary and artistic movement Rejected all artistic conventions from the past

3. When? 1900-1945

4. Historical Context During/after WWI, Americans and their views changed Americans started believing that the old order was passing away and something new would take its place Lots of change happening

5. Changes in America Rise of cities Class structure changing Advancing technology Politics: Revolutions, Wars Physics: quantum physics, Einstein, uncertainty principle Religion: God is dead; everything meaningless

6. Modernism in Art Reflected in cubism Made people and objects look stylized and abstract Used lots of forms and cubes

7. Writers and the War Many writers fought in the war (Hemingway, Cummings) The old way of writing, which made combat look heroic and glorious, seemed hollow Writers saw the new society as chaotic, destructive, and meaningless They felt as if the real America had been lost or distorted; cut off from the past

8. Modernism in Literature Writers started experimenting Free verse Stream-of-consciousness First-person Imagist poetry Heavy use of allusion

9. Most modernist writers didn’t just give away the meaning of what they were writing Everything seemed a b s t r a c t rather than concrete

10. Major themes of Modernist Literature Violence alienation decadence decay loss and despair rejection of history race relations unavoidable change World as Wasteland questioning the purpose of literature and poetry

11. Modernism = deliberate break from the past

12. Create a T-chart comparing Romanticism/Transcendentalism with Modernism, noting the differences. Romanticism/Transcend entalism Modernism

13. Exit Slip What’s the biggest difference between Modernism and Transcendentalism? (You can use more than one example)