1. Modernism 1900 - 1950 “I had a world, and it slipped away from me. The War blew up more than bodies of men… It blew ideas away –” Sherwood Anderson in a letter To his son, 1929

2. Before the Great War (1914) - Einstein formulates his theory of relativity – 1905 Sigmund Freud lectures on Psychoanalysis – 1909 The Titanic sinks after striking an iceberg - 1912 World War I begins –1914

3. The Great War – a Bloodbath and a Destroyer of Innocence The machine gun was invented in 1914. More than 500,000 soldiers were killed in 10 months alone. Though fought under the banners of democratic righteousness and humanity, WWI was a bloodbath.

4. Historical Events That Led to Destruction of an “Ideal” • 1929 The U.S. stock market crashes, leading to the Great Depression. • 1933 Adolf Hitler comes to power in Germany • 1933 Three years of severe drought create the Great Dust Bowl across three states, and America’s farmers and the people struggle.

5. The Great Dust Bowl

6. As If Those Years Were not Enough: • U.S. is attacked at Pearl Harbor in 1941. • Allies move against German forces on D-Day – 1944 • U.S. explodes an atom bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Japan surrenders – 1945. • Korean War begins in 1950.

7. America Rapidly Lost Her Innocence • Idealism was turning to cynicism.

8. America’s sense of connection to her past seemed to be deteriorating.

9. American writers were beginning to question the authority of the past and tradition.

10. A disillusionment with tradition that seemed spiritually empty called for bold experimentation and a wholesale rejection of traditional themes and styles.

11. Writers of the Modern Period • Placed an emphasis on bold experimentation in style and form, reflecting the fragmentation of society. • Rejected traditional themes and subjects. • Had a deep sense of disillusionment and loss of faith in the American dream. • Rejected the traditional ideal of a hero in favor of a hero who is flawed and disillusioned but shows “grace under pressure.” • Emphasized the inner workings of the human mind by using new and unusual narrative techniques to “tell a story”