AP Lang Modernism Background

mood of america

optimism and promise for the future before the war → confident and carefree at start of war (USA joining) → no longer cheerful after seeing the war firsthand + it’s true horror

allies

britain, france, belgium, italy, serbia, montenegro, japan, and russia (russia dropped out and usa joined)

big friendly butts isolate snowcones momentarily just right, uhh

central powers

germany, austria-hungary, turkey

go after her toes

cause of war

assination of franz ferdinand

length of war

4 years

1914-1918

us reasoning for entering

Germany submarine sunk the lusitania

germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare after two years later

ugene O’Niel

founded the Greenwich village theater in 1923, where expiremental dramas were preformed

he earned Lewis’s nobel prize in 1936 as americas greatest play write

great depression fallout

FDR’s new deal package helped bring an end to the Depression

modernism

an end to optimism

modern life in both the form and content of the work

reflection of fragmentation

modernists constructed their works out of fragments, omitting the expositions, transitions, resolutions, and explanations used in traditional literature

imagism

1909-1917

rebellion against the sentimentality of 19th century poetry

demands for hard, clear expression, concrete images, and the language of everyday speech

lost generation

those who were disillusioned by WWI

most saw very little in their civilization to praise or even accept

lost generation

those who were disillusioned by WWI

most saw very little in their civilization to praise or even accept

the harlem renaissance

african american writers were creating their own renaissance in harlem

“i have a rendezvous with life” countee cullen, 1921

burst of creative activity by african american writers

demands of modernist literature from more readers

poetry abandoned traditional forms and meters in favor of free verse

implied themes created uncertainty

william carlos williams

changed his style under the influence of imagism, and turned an attentive eye on his local world

he sought meaning in american sights and sounds and used informal, conversational speech, unlike writers who traveled to europe

ernest hemingway vs. john steinbeck

both won nobel prizes

hemingway- simple, direct journalistic style of writing. focuses on WWI and its aftermath

steinbeck - depicts the depression, especially as it affected migrant workers and dust-bowl farmers

E. E. cummings style

wordplay, unique typography, and special punctuation - vital to intent and meaning