Unit 5: Disillusion, Defiance, and Discontent

1914-1946

Nighthawksby Edward Hopper

1. What mood does the painting create, and how?

2. Make up a story about one of the people in the coffee shop.

(10 minutes)

Timeline: 1914-1946Page 704-705

1. When did the United States enter World War 1? What does this date of entry suggest about feelings in the United States toward the war?

2. Name a feat of flying that occurred in the period 1925-1930. What does this event indicate about the development of technology?

3. What is the time span between the end of World War 1 and the beginning of World War II? Judging by this timeline, how would you characterize the ten years leading up to World War II?

4. When did World War II break out in Europe? When did the United States enter the war? What connection can you make between the date the United States entered WW II and its behavior in World War 1?

5. For how many terms was President Roosevelt elected? Judging by events on this timeline, what might account for this success?

6. What does the illustration for the stock market crash of 1929 suggest about the state of the nation?

7. What mood does Salvador Dali’s painting convey?

Historical BackgroundPages 706-708

1. What was the prevailing mood in the years preceding World War I?

2. What tragic event during World War I turned opinion in America toward the Allies?

3. After World War I, what law caused an outbreak of criminal activity in American cities?

4. How healthy was the economy during most of the 1920s?

5. Name the event that, in 1929, started the economic downturn known as the Depression.

6. What caused the United States to enter World War II?

Critical Thinking

7. In what way could you support the assertion that, between 1914 and 1939, the mood of Americans alternated between optimism and pessimism?

8. Judging by what you know about the 1920s, what do you think F. Scott Fitzgerald’s stories and novels are like?

9. Do the historical events suggest that 1914-1946 would be a time of experimentation in literature? Why or why not?

Literature of the PeriodPages 708-713

1. What purpose was shared by Modernist writers?

2. Name three qualities favored by Imagist poets.3. What prompted writers to leave the United

States and become expatriates? Which two writers are the best known of the expatriates?

4. What is the stream-of-consciousness technique pioneered by writers in this era?

5. Name at least two American writers who won the Nobel Prize for literature during this era.

6. What was the Harlem Renaissance?