A presentation for high school students orienting them to the Modern Period in terms of social movements, historical events, artists, and writers.

1. The Modern Period Challenging the American Dream 1914-1939

3. What Is the American Dream? The independent, self-reliant individual will triumph. Everything is possible for the person who places trust in his or her own powers and potential. America is a new Eden, a “promised land” of beauty, unlimited resources, and endless opportunities. Progress is a good thing, and we can optimistically expect life to keep getting better and better. The American Dream

5. 1914:WW I begins in Europe 1920: Women gain the US Vote 1929: Beginning of the Great Depression 1930-36: Dust Bowl devastates western states 1939: WW II begins in Europe 1950 1917: Eliot’s “Prufrock” 1925: Eliot’s “The Hollow Men” Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby 1926: Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises 1930: Faulkner’s “A Rose For Emily” 1939: Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath 1949:Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye 1900 A Modernist Timeline