Section 2
A BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
OF THE ROARING TWENTIES
A BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
OF THE ROARING TWENTIES
This massive economic problem occurred between 1916–1920 due to government wartime spending and artificial injections of money.
What is extreme inflation?
Nick’s ties to the Midwest symbolize a “warm center,” contrasting with the East’s “ragged edge.” This tension illustrates Gatsby’s use of this larger theme.
What is the conflict of geography and identity?
In “Echoes of the Jazz Age,” Fitzgerald claims the Jazz Age ended in this abrupt emotional shift after the revelry of the ’20s.
What is disillusionment (or “the crash” into despair after the boom)?
This term refers to a word’s emotional flavor, which the packet says writers use to shade tone.
What is connotation?
Nick cites his father’s advice about “reserving judgments.” This advice shapes Nick’s reliability through this narrative quality.
What is selective objectivity (or limited reliability)?
The 1920 Census marked the first time this demographic threshold was crossed, changing the cultural center of American life.
What is a majority-urban population?
Although Gatsby's parties seem glamorous, Fitzgerald uses their chaos to critique this moral failing of 1920s high society.
What is moral hypocrisy?
Crane’s “Chaplinesque” honors a figure whose comedy depends on surviving indignities — a metaphor for this larger human experience.
What is resilience in the face of suffering?
A narrator who directly addresses the reader unusual in modern fiction is using this narrative technique.
What is intrusive narration?
Daisy’s voice is repeatedly described as “full of money,” connecting her to this symbolic theme in the novel.
What is the corruption of wealth / allure of materialism?
Despite gains in culture and artistry, northern cities enacted policies like this discriminatory housing practice that restricted Black neighborhoods
What is redlining?
Gatsby’s reinvention from James Gatz to “Jay Gatsby” illustrates the novel’s criticism of this national ideology.
What is the American Dream’s myth of self-creation?
In “The Weary Blues,” the structure and rhythm intentionally mimic this musical form’s emotional repetition.
What are the blues?
When an author references a historical or literary figure like “Tom of Coventry,” they are using this device.
What is an allusion?
The Valley of Ashes serves as the physical representation of this larger critique of the 1920s.
What is the moral and social decay hidden beneath wealth?
Although the 1920s are remembered for glamour, the packet notes these racist ideologies, promoted by figures like Madison Grant, shaped national fear of immigrants.
What is pseudo-scientific racism?
Tom’s racist reading material, referenced early in the novel, reflects a real 1920s fear connected to nativist ideas in which “civilization” was supposedly at risk.
What is the fear of racial degeneration or white supremacy panic?
Millay’s sonnet challenges expectations by reversing this traditional poetic role typically assigned to women.
What is passive emotional devotion (or submissive romantic ideal)?
The packet explains that when an abstract concept becomes easier to grasp through a concrete comparison, the writer is using this device.
What is figurative language (such as metaphor)?
Gatsby’s habit of calling everyone “old sport” symbolizes this constructed aspect of his identity.
What is his artificial aristocratic persona (or crafted self-invention)?
This term describes the aggressive marketing and mass purchasing patterns fueled by new technologies and rising wages, which the packet says helped define the decade’s identity.
What is consumer culture?
Although the novel is iconic to the “Jazz Age,” the packet emphasizes that Gatsby contains surprisingly little direct engagement with this cultural phenomenon beyond surface-level references.
What is jazz?
In Porter’s “Rope,” the domestic argument subtly exposes how minor irritations reveal this deeper issue in relationships.
What is unequal emotional labor?
A sentence whose intended meaning contrasts with its literal phrasing such as praising something while actually criticizing it relies on this technique.
What is irony?
Gatsby’s refusal to accept Daisy’s past with Tom reflects this psychological flaw related to memory.
What is his inability to distinguish desire from reality / nostalgia fixation?