“The Roaring

Twenties” and F. Scott

Fitzgerald

Is there a connection between history and

literature?

Today we will be discussing…

• “The Roaring Twenties”• F. Scott Fitzgerald’s

contribution to this era• The bridge between

history and literature in Fitzgerald’s work:– This Side of Paradise– “Head and Shoulders”– “Bernice Bobs her Hair”

“The Roaring Twenties”• It was a time of

conservatism, it was a time of great social change. From the world of fashion to the world to politics, forces clashed to produce the most explosive decade of the century.

“The Roaring Twenties”

• Entertainment• Literature• Music• Fads and Fashion

Entertainment• During the 1920s, the comedies of Charlie Chaplin (Charles

Spencer Chaplin) were some of the most popular films amongst the movies of the decade.

• The radio was certainly one of the most important inventions of the 1920s, because it not only brought the nation together, but it brought a whole new way for people to communicate and interact.

• Rin-Tin-Tin, the movie dog, used to be a starving German Shepherd dog during the Great War. He  became most famous dog ever to star in the movies in 1923

• 1928 - September 19: First Mickey Mouse talking film, Steamboat Willie, released by Walt Disney

Literature

• F. Scott Fitzgerald

• Ernest Hemingway

• Langston Hughes

• Robert Frost

Langston HughesAfter Hughes graduated from high school, he spent a year in Mexico, a year at Columbia University, and traveled to Africa and Europe. Then in 1924, he moved to Harlem, New York. There, his first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1926. He later finished his college education at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. In 1927, Hughes' second volume of poetry, "Fine Clothes to the Jew," was published, and by 1929, he had established himself as one of the most prominent black poets of the Harlem Renaissance. His poetry was original in its honest and colorful portrayal of African American life.

Robert FrostOne of the most important poets of the 1920's was Robert Frost. Was born in 1875 and grew up to become a farmer, as few of his poems would be published. In 1912, he sold his farm to write for a living in England. His new life style was a risk, but it was in the end extremely successful. By 1914, he published A Boy's Will and North of Boston. These poems and monologues were so successful, he move back to the U.S. to write and teach at several Colleges. At this time, his works consisted of Mountain Interval, West-Running, A Further, A Masque of Reason, and In the Clearing .

F. Scott Fitzgerald

• The 1920's, also known as the Jazz Age, were wild times, and Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was its king. Although he lead one of the most wild and luxurious lifestyles of anyone during the decade, Fitzgerald was known more for his prominent works of literature, which have gained a permanent place among the American classics.

Ernest Hemingway

• Hemingway is one of the most important authors of the 1920's. A lot of his works were based on real-life experiences as an ambulance driver and a hunter. His style is considered to have emotional understatement, laconic dialogue, and crispness. A lot of his writing deals with an inner conflict against

circumstances.

Music

• The 1920s was dominated by jazz, jazz, and jazz. From the beginnings with Bessie Smith to the top with Duke Ellington. Much of it reflected the Harlem Renaissance, but both black and white Americans were contributing to the scene.

Fads and FashionMen

Fashion fads for men were often based on the heroes of the moment, such as sports figures. Golfers Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen, tennis player Bill Tilden, and swimmer Johnny Weissmuller provided youth with clothing styles as well as record-breaking performances. Football players such as Red Grange and the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame promoted the fashions of coats, such as the raccoon coat and camel hair polo coat. World famous aviator Charles Lindbergh inspired a craze of leather driving jackets. The young Prince of Wales, with is easy charm and good taste in suits, also became a symbol of male fashion ability.

Women

The young flappers of the twenties felt no need to conform to the rigid models of femininity that their mothers accepted. During the 1920s, fashion for young women focused less female physical form. Dresses stopped at the knees, the hiplines were lowered, and there was less emphasis on the breasts. The look was basically "tubular," going from the shoulders straight down to the hem.

Men’s Fashion in

1920

Women’s Fashion in 1920

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Contribution to the 1920’s

• Fitzgerald was one of the best known American authors of the 1920s and '30s and is closely associated with the optimism and excesses of that era's "Jazz Age." Fitzgerald's stories often featured people like himself: middle-American types infatuated with the wealth and status of upper-crust society. In the mid-1920s he lived in Paris where he was friends with Ernest Hemingway and other literary expatriates. Fitzgerald was a popular celebrity of the day and he and his wife, Zelda, became famous for their extravagant lifestyle, drinking bouts and (eventually) erratic behavior. His major published novels include This Side of Paradise (1920), The Great Gatsby (1925), and Tender Is the Night (1934).

Class Discussion

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s:

This Side of Paradise

“Head and Shoulders”

“Bernice Bobs her Hair”