MOD - Modernism Module Overview

Modernism Module Overview

The Modernist period, which began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was a push against tradition in all of its forms. In the wake of rapid changes in Western civilization brought about by the Industrial Revolution and World War I, writers in the United States and Europe became determined not to rely on the beliefs and styles of the past that seemed to have failed their generation. Modernist writers experimented with new poetic forms, often expressed disillusionment, and frequently depicted hopeless situations and desperate characters. Some writers — called expatriates — even moved to Europe, specifically Paris, because they disagreed with the war and the direction in which American society seemed to be headed.

F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of these expatriates, a member of what has also been called "The Lost Generation." Along with short stories and other books, Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, a novel that vividly illustrates the era from the end of World War I in 1918 to the stock market crash of 1929. During this time period many Americans devoted themselves to the task of making and spending money, rather than being concerned about social or global issues. Corruption, conformity, and intolerance were widely accepted by people, just as Fitzgerald's characters accept one another's shady behavior.

Essential Questions

1. What influences did historical events have on the development of Modern literature?
2. How was Modernist poetry different from any poetry written before this time period?
3. What are the primary features and themes of Modern literature, and how are they reflected in the texts in this unit?
4. Is The Great Gatsby a Modernist text? Why or why not?
5. What does Fitzgerald want to tell us about life in America during the Roaring Twenties?
6. In The Great Gatsby, how do the choices the characters make affect their lives and the lives of others?

Key Terms

1. Modernism: an artistic movement of the first half of the 20^th century that sought a break from traditions of the past and featured experimentation along with themes of loss and alienation
2. Expatriates: American writers and artists who moved to Europe (primarily Paris) to live and work
3. The lost generation: American men and women who came of age during World War I and so grew up in an era of disillusionment caused primarily by the atrocities of war
4. Free verse: poetry that has no fixed rhyme or meter (rhythm)
5. Figurative language: any language that is not meant to be taken literally
6. Imagery: language and description that appeals to our five senses: sight, smell, taste, hearing, and touch
7. Personification: figure of speech in which a thing, an idea, or an animal is presented as if it is alive and has human characteristics
8. Atmosphere: the feeling, emotion, or mood a writer conveys through the description of setting and objects within it
9. Characterization: the way a writer helps the reader understand what kind of person a certain character is. Methods of characterization include direct description; the character's speech, actions, and thoughts; and other characters' thoughts and speech about the character.
10. Tone: the speaker's attitude toward the subject or the audience
11. Irony: a contrast between expectations and reality; types of irony include verbal, situational, dramatic, and ironic vision
12. Symbol: an object used to represent a larger or more significant idea
13. Alliteration: repetition of the same sounds at the beginning of several words placed close together
14. Assonance: repetition of vowel sounds in several words placed closed together
15. Consonance: repetition of consonant sounds in several words placed closed together
16. Enjambment: a poetic technique that carries the meaning from one line to the next without stopping for a comma or period
17. Connotation: all of the meanings associated with a word
18. Denotation: the literal meaning, or dictionary definition, of a word
19. Simile: a type of metaphor that is directly stated, usually with the words "like" or "as"
20. Metaphor: usually defined as a comparison between a familiar object and unfamiliar object that doesn't use "like" or "as," but it also means any use of a word or phrase that isn't meant to be taken literally
21. Stream of consciousness: writing that tries to capture the way thoughts enter and leave a person's head in a jumbled stream with frequent leaps and distractions and little censorship
22. Stanza: a group of lines in a poem separated by line spacing from other lines; its function is similar to that of a paragraph in prose
23. Point of view: the perspective from which a story is told
24. Speaker: the narrator of a story or the persona speaking in a poem
25. Theme: a text's central message or observation about life
26. Allusion: A reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, sports, politics, science, or some other branch of culture; these are a sort of code that add a lot of meaning to a text without taking up a lot of space
27. Juxtaposition: The placement of two items side by side to create some effect or make a point about them

Key Terms Review

Complete the activity check your understanding of the module's key terms.

 

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS