The Modernist Period and the American Dream
There are many periods throughout history that have made and shaped the nation. Starting when the nation was founded and leading all the way up to present day. Throughout the years there has always been the idea of an American Dream. The Modernist period is a time in American history that starts the beginning of breaking away from tradition. This era is estimated by many to be between the years of 1910 to 1940. Society during the Modernist era emphasized an immense deal on the idea of becoming someone or making a name for oneself. It was a time of change and prosperity, and the formation of a new American Dream. During the American Modernist period, Americans broke away from traditional writing styles and conservative lifestyles; transforming the American dream, into living leisurely and to the fullest.
There is not a pinpoint as to where the Modernist era began. It was a time of change and transformations. The American Dream started shifting into the idea of bigger, better and reaching for the best. Many people believe that the beginning of this era is not exactly known (American Modernism: Greenhaven 13). People believe this because there was not a big enough event to start it. Of the many changes throughout the years, this period is seen to stand out more because of how big the transformations were. Not just were there shifts in the American Dream but also in the home life and in the writing styles. This time lead to even more time periods to come where all kinds of things were changing and things were becoming more cantered around the American Dream and about art and music and freedoms. People started focusing less on religion and became more open about religion. People started to ...
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...t have, portraying the American dream. The American Dream of this time seemed to be the idea of wanting money and a big house, but maybe not as much wanting to work for it. There dream was still focused around upward mobility. People seen in The Great Gatsby portrayed the ideals of the American Dream very well, which a great representations of the American Dream during that time.
The Modernist period was a time in history when there were many changes. These changes varied from the American Dream to the literary styles and techniques. The American Dream became less complex and was more flexible than ever. It varied from the changing lifestyles to the change in literature. Helping to shape the nation into what we see today. People were focusing more on themselves and wanting to be known, and they also wanted to have money. Living life with an optimistic viewpoint.
The American Dream had always been based on the idea that each person no matter who he or she is can become successful in life by his or her hard work. The dream also brought about the idea of a self-reliant man, a hard worker, making a successful living for him or herself. The Great Gatsby is about what happened to the American Dream in the 1920s, a time period when the many people with newfound wealth and the need to flaunt it had corrupted the dream. The pursuit of the American Dream is the one motivation for accomplishing one's goals, however when combined with wealth the dream becomes nothing more than selfishness.
The American Dream is a powerful thing in the lives and hopes of its citizens, as shown in Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby. It is, and was, faith in individualism, expectation of progress, and mainly the belief in America as a land of opportunity. However, it also is differs from person to person. This plays a great part in Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby. His book took place in the 1920 's, which is also called the 'Roaring 20 's '. During this time, many Americans were freely spending. Moreover, the economy was doing extremely well and thus provided citizens with a sense of security and intense freedom. Many used that freedom and economic boom to become rich in business.
Considering how to define Modernism and PostModernism required looking at how worldviews today play a large part of our perspectives towards society, culture and religion. Modernism is a sociological movement that began in the last decade of the 19th century and first decades of the 20th century that rejected the customary or traditional worldview to a new and improved way by asserting a shift in power and authority into the providence of leaders in politics and universities and away from the church.
Modernism is the term of deviating from the norm. In the early 1900s, modernism influenced women’s role in society by providing more opportunities, jobs, and role models for girls today, in society.
The Modernist Fiction period took place during the 1920’s and revolutionized the American way of life in literature, economically, and socially. There was a national vision of upward mobility during this time that represented the American Dream. The upward mobility was seen through the consumerism and materialism that dominated this decade economically. Popular novels of this time reflected the mass consumerism in the lives of those wrote them. During the American Modernist Fiction period, Americans became increasingly materialistic throughout the roaring twenties; therefore, the American Dream was to obtain upper class status through the possession of material goods, which was reflected in many of this period’s works.
The American Dream has altered over time. You will learn how it has changed from the 1930’s to now in 2015. The American Dream has revised a lot from then to now. Also I will tell how the women’s rights have altered over time. You will learn how that affected the American Dream. I will also tell what the American Dream means to me and why it means what it does to me. America has changed and because of that there are new possibilities and there is a new Dream and new Dream is better.
The twentieth century has American dream has dramatically morphed from the pursuit of happiness the Framers of the Declaration of Independence intended. Ben Franklin sought happiness in the virtues morality, industry, and frugality, but others for others it was the pursuit of capitalism, climbing the social ladder, or filling your life with possessions. The complexity of the American Dream is that it has mean something different for each culture. Literature has been the vehicle for capturing the appraised dream for those in search of its security. The notion that there is opportunity for life to be richer and fuller for everyone has been replaced by the bitter reality of the American Dream, it is only a fantasy.
After World War II, America had to take a step back and take a look at their country. The American Dream had been restored upon the atrocities of the war. In the 1930’s the American Dream was primarily focused on working hard, men providing for their families, and trying to rise from the depression. In the 1940’s, post World War II things changed and consumerism and feminism began to play a key role along with many other factors. There are many ways to describe the American dream and what aspects were influential to it, such as World War II, modernism, new technology and entertainment.
Following the Great War, new writers emerged and so did many cultural aspects of America, like music, poetry, and art. Americans were looking for a place in order to be able to express themselves. New York was becoming the cultural central of the new American life. American writers were slowly being discovered and this era is called Modernism. F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of those writers that quickly began to express himself though literature during the era of Modernism.
Americans live in constant pursuit of what they want more than anything, the American Dream. The perception of the American Dream varies from person to person, depending on what they hope to accomplish. In The Great Gatsby and Of Mice and Men the American Dream manifests in various extravagant and corrupt forms. The lives of these characters revolve around achieving their version of the American Dream.
Modernism is defined in Merriam-Webster's Dictionary as "a self-conscious break with the past and a search for new forms of expression." While this explanation does relate what modernism means, the intricacies of the term go much deeper. Modernism began around 1890 and waned around 1922. Virginia Wolf once wrote, "In or about December, 1910, human character changed." (Hurt and Wilkie 1443). D.H. Lawrence wrote a similar statement about 1915: "It was 1915 the old world ended." (Hurt and Wilkie 1444). The importance of the exact dates of the Modernist period are not so relevant as the fact that new ideas were implemented in the era. Ideas that had never before been approached in the world of literature suddenly began emerging in the works of many great authors. Two of the pioneer Modernist writers were Joseph Conrad and T.S. Eliot. The tendencies to question the incontestable beliefs embedded in all thinking and to focus on the inner self dominated. Old viewpoints were tossed aside to make way for the discovery of modern man's personal spirituality. Two works that are considered important forbears in the Modern period are T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
Comparing the perspective of the American dream in the 1920’s to the American Dream in the 1940’s and present day seems to be a repeating cycle. The American dream is always evolving and changing. The American dream for present day is similar to the dream of the 1920’s. An Ideal of the American life is to conform to what our society has determined is success. Money, materialism and status had replaced the teachings of our founding fathers in the 1920’s. A return to family values and hard work found its way back into American’s lives in the 1940’s. The same pursuit of that indulgent lifestyle that was popular in the roaring twenty’s has returned today for most Americans, many Americans are living on credit and thinking that money and the accumulation of material items can solve all problems. Through film, literature, art and music, an idealized version of what it means to be an American has changed from money, materialism, and status of the 1920s to hard work and family values of the forties.
Beliefs and thoughts change over time, values and characteristics on how society sees the world changes. In the nineteen century it was very different form today’s views, the romanticism time period came around and the values of the people were different. People could think that there was always more than the obvious things. Their dreams and goals were very different, material things did not have much value and it was more about thinking and analyzing everything. In art there were the poems, in music there was the message in the songs and in their daily lives there was the inspiration on how to achieve things that at times seen impossible. . American Dream was mostly about values, spiritual
A period of time when the American Dream was prevalent in the minds of everyone was the Great Depression, which took place in the 1930’s. It started after the crash of the stock market in 1929 (Great Depression), The Depression had an incredible impact on the United States’ economy. During
Modernists portray a dull, gloomy and pessimistic picture of culture in America during this time period. This despair is often caused by an apparent boredom and the people’s feeling of uncertainty, of changes to come. Modernism uncovered has an anti-traditionalist theme instilled in it, because of the inevitability that changes will occur. “Modern” itself possesses the qualities, such as being simple and spontaneous along with an indefinite time frame to allow people’s acceptance of unknown. In many ways, this movement is difficult to define, but it can be generally applied to the work o...