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Careless f. scott fitzgerald and the great gatsby
American culture in the 1920s
Culture in the 1920s in America
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Popular culture during the 1920s emphasized leisurely entertainment. Before the 1920s, Charles D. Herrold developed the very first radio station as an experiment. This experiment quickly inspired newspaper companies to further investigate in broadcasting through radio. By 1920 the KDKA news radio station became the first commercial station to go on air and three years later, the United States alone, had more than five hundred radio stations and by the end of the 1920s more than 12 million households owned radios. Additionally, the 1920s introduced long cross country flights, Charles Lindbergh became very popular after his long thirty-three and a half hour flight from Roosevelt Field near to New York City, to Paris across the Atlantic Ocean amounting to about 3,600 miles. After the trip, …show more content…
Lindbergh toured the country in order to promote aviation. Lindbergh's trip piqued interest in aviation and travel throughout the world. Another influential character during the roaring twenties was Jack Dempsey. Dempsey soon became proclaimed the best heavyweight boxer during the 20s. He began fighting in 1914 and by 1919 Dempsey accepted to fight Jess Williard, the heavyweight champion boxer. Dempsey won against Williard and in 1921 he fought Georges Carpentier.
The fight became very hyped among several fans, 80,000 people showed up in New Jersey to watch the fight creating the very first million-dollar gate ever in the history of boxing. Correspondingly, sports such as boxing became very popular in 1920s culture. Likewise, the 1920s experienced a religious revival. Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson became very famous due to originality and her unique cheerful preaching approach. McPherson dedicated her entire life to preaching, she traveled throughout several countries to share and spread Christianity. By 1944 McPherson’s church had about 22,000 members. Furthermore, literature developed during the roaring twenties especially throughout the Jazz Age. F. Scott Fitzgerald became an idolized writer through his first book “This Side of Paradise” in 1920, the book was highly esteemed making Fitzgerald very famous. By 1925 Fitzgerald finished “The Great Gatsby” which was very inspired by the jazz age. The book “The Great Gatsby” summarized economic and social dishonesties within the jazz age, a specific example of the economic corruptions was displayed through
advertising. Aforementioned, radios had become a necessity by the 20s several news radio stations were being paid by advertisers to sponsor their products. This style of advertising soon was restricted by The Radio Act of 1927 requiring the advertisements to be prefaced as a paid disclosure. In the 1940s, all network programs became sponsored by advertisers. Lastly, entertainment evolved through movies. Charlie Chaplin was an incredibly famous actor in the 1920s, he was renowned for the comic relief people gained after watching his movies. He represented a socially inept and a very outsider character, this persona allured immigrants who felt themselves like outsiders.
In October 1925, Lindbergh was hired by the Robertson Aircraft Corporation to lay out, and then serve as the chief pilot for a 278 mile air mail route to provide services between St...
The Age of Heroes during the 1920s was a period in United States history where athletes and other record-breakers became national icons. Largely able to happen because of the increase in newspaper readership and radio coverage of sports events, athletes such as Babe Ruth and Gertrude Ederle gained national recognition for their skills in their chosen game. Although, heros during this age were not always athletes. Charles Lindbergh instantly became a nationally recognized figure in May of 1927 when he flew solo from Long Island, New York to Paris France in thirty-three hours. The expansion of the media’s coverage, enabled American citizens across the country to be apart of sports and record-breaking events during the Age of
As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. It was also a decade of great economic and political confidence. However, with all the changes comes opposition. Social and cultural fears still caused dichotomous rifts in American society.
Entertainment in the 1920s began changing after World War I. Because people had more money and were more prosperous, they were able to go to theatres, clubs, and sporting events. Although the greatest form of entertainment had been motorcars, it was a form of freedom that people had never experienced. Sports began to become more popular. “Baseball became popular with the great mass of people for the first time”(Fischer). Because of another form of entertainment gaining popularity, the radio made it easier for fans to keep up
New technology in the 1920s attributed to the change. Inventions such as the radio helped improve communication. Court trials, conventions, and meetings were broadcasted. Electrical appliances improved homes. In 1922, Sinclair Lewis wrote, "These standard advertised wares- toothpastes, socks, tires, cameras, instantaneous hot-water heaters were his symbols and proofs of excellence, at first the signs, then the substitutes, for joy and passion and wisdom" (Document A.) The invention of the motion picture was also very significant. The invention of the airplane was influential as well. Charles Lindbergh's nonstop, 33-hour flight from New York to Paris helped increase interest in planes. Afterwards, Lindbergh became almost a world hero. Mary B. Mullett stated in The American Magazine, "When, because of what we believe him to be, we gave Lindbergh the greatest ovation in history, we convicted ourselves of having told a lie about ourselves. For we proved that the "things of good report" are the same today as they were nineteen hundred years ago . . . to have shown us this truth about ourselves is the biggest thing that Lindbergh has done" (Document F.) Within two years, William E. Boeing had created the first commercial airplane and was flying people from San Francisco to Chicago in it. The automobile was the biggest invention of its time. The automobile helped the tourist industry, and created some new businesses, such as gas...
The 1920s was a time of conservatism and it was a time of great social change. From the world of fashion to the world of politics, forces clashed to produce the most explosive decade of the century. It was the age of prohibition, it was the age of prosperity, and it was the age of downfall.
Charles Lindbergh helped shape the Jazz Age by his iconic solo flight from New York to Paris in May of 1927 (Gill 3) . In part due to the rapid growth of wealth and technology in the United State during the Jazz Age, when Lindbergh was born the airplane had not been invented by Wilbur and Orville Wright (Gill 13) . A typical example of the Jazz Age comes in the form of a wealthy man named Raymond Orteig. He found himself suddenly go from rags to riches and chose to spend some of his newfound wealth by offering a 25,000 dollar prize for the first person fly solo nonstop from New York to Paris (Gill 49). Lindbergh working as a mail pilot at the time saw the prize and decided to gather a team to build what would be known as The Spirit of St. Lois. When Lindbergh landed in Paris he instantly became famous and created an enormous interest in aviation (Gill 14). This helped contribute to the overall sense of growth, wealth, and new possibilities during the Jazz Age.
The year 1925 landed in the middle of the roaring twenties. In the 1920’s, a lot of things happened such as the prohibition of alcohol, social change where more people lived in the cities, and the overall boom of wealth as the economy grew. This change in the lifestyle of the people sparked a decade of riches. Once accumulating every dollar after dollar, millionaires bought mansions to throw extravagant parties, galas and balls to impress the rich, the richer, and the richest. Not only did money play an important part of this era, but literature also had a significant and vital role. One of the numerous writers was F. Scott Fitzgerald. Wanting to capture the twenties in its midst, Fitzgerald wrote the literary classic, The Great Gatsby. The
Considered as the defining work of the 1920s, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925, when America was just coming out of one of the most violent wars in the nation’s history. World War 1 had taken the lives of many young people who fought and sacrificed for our country on another continent. The war left many families without fathers, sons, and husbands. The 1920s is an era filled with rich and dazzling history, where Americans experienced changes in lifestyle from music to rebellion against the United States government. Those that were born into that era grew up in a more carefree, extravagant environment that would affect their interactions with others as well as their attitudes about themselves and societal expectations.
Music throughout time has not only reflected the feeling of the musician but rather the feelings of a group of people at any one time It is important when learning about a period of time to look at the music of the period because it most likely shows the mood of the people and current events of the country. One time period specifically music greatly reflected the political and social culture of the time is the United States of America in the 1960s. One artist during this time was Bob Dylan. His most widely known song was called, “The Times They Are A-Changin”.
F. Scott Fitzgerald was born Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. He was the author of The Great Gatsby and was born on September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and died on December 21, 1940 in Hollywood, California. Fitzgerald published the book The Great Gatsby on April 10, 1925, among other books like The Other Side of Paradise, another of Fitzgerald’s successes when living which permitted him to marry the woman he loved. Although The Great Gatsby was not much of a success during his time it became a very popular novel that appropriately portrayed the Jazz Age also known as the Roaring Twenties later in time. The author’s purpose for the book was to inform and at the same time entertain the audience of what the Jazz Age was mainly about and peoples
F. Scott Fitzgerald is known as the spokesman of the "Lost Generation" of Americans in the 1920s. The phrase, "Lost Generation," was coined by Gertrude Stein "to describe the young men who had served in World War I and were forced to grow up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken" (Charters 489). Fitzgerald exemplified the generation that Stein defined. His family, with help from an aunt, put him through preparatory school and then through Princeton University (Charters 489). Fitzgerald’s family hoped that he would stop "wasting his time scribbling" and would be serious about his studies (Charters 489). However, he left college before graduating and accepted a commission as a second lieutenant in the Regular Army during World War I (Charters 489). During his military service, he spent most of his time writing his first novel, This Side of Paradise (Charters 489). The peak of Fitzgerald’s fame as a writer came with the publication of The Great Gatsby, in 1925 (Charters 489). Fitzgerald, writing in the third person, reflected back fondly on the Jazz Age because "it bore him up, flattered him, and gave him more money than he had dreamed of, simply for telling people that he felt as they did, that something had to be done with all the nervous energy stored up and unexpended in the War" (Charters 489).
In the 1800’s and first half of the 1900’s the WASP was seen as unjust and cruel by many European immigrants in America. Every single one of those terms however was necessary for full acceptance into the American mainstream: white, Anglo-Saxon (from northern Europe although the Irish are the exception) and Protestant. In the nineteenth century America was undergoing a dramatic transformation; the rise of industrialization, a massive influx of immigrants and urbanization caused racism to become a powerful force in American culture, affecting all parts of the political spectrum. American culture became obsessed with crude and cruel racial and ethnic stereotypes in literature, the arts and in the press.
I believe that the Counterculture Movement of the 1960s and 1970s was a success. The Counterculture Movement helped shape the way that many Americans view life today by shifting American culture and social beliefs, and by challenging the traditional American values .
The year 1920 opened a decade that proved to be like none other before it, a decade that was to shake the world. The 1920's changed the way the world worked, for it was a time of discovery and achievement through improvisation and experimentation, when in the past everything had been carefully labored over, and thought out thoroughly. A few of these discoveries and achievements, and the men who accomplished them, stand out from the rest. With James Joyce and the publication of his massive masterpiece Ulysses, T.S. Eliot, and the publication of his brilliant and stunning poem The Waste Land, and F. Scott Fitzgerald and the publication of his complex and tragic The Great Gatsby, the 1920's were indeed a time of amazing discovery and achievement through experimentation and improvisation.