JOE WANG, CIERRA SCOTT, MADELINE VALDES, MELISSA

POTTER

How did the Great Depression & the New Deal influence art & literature? Did

literature during the 1930’s present a positive or negative view of American

Society?

Edward Hopper Federal Theatre Project

(FTP) 1935

NY artistGenre: Realism(1942) Nighthawks

WPA sponseredTheatre production

jobsGoal: To employ

unemplyed artists, writers, directors

Grant Wood Thomas Hart Benton

American Gothic (1930)

Facial ExpressionStress

MuralistRealismMidwest

content/rootsCountry’s New Duet

Group

1930s Literature: Steinbeck and Wright

Federal Works Project (FWP) Employed writers to create guides and write about

immigrants, ethnic groups, South slaveryHelped Richard Wright achieve in writing Native

Son (1940) About challenges of a man in world of racismFWP helped John Steinbeck Steinbeck published The Grapes of Wrath (1939)Focuses on Okies fleeing Dust Bowl Okies go to California and face hardships

1930s Literature: Positive View

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941) –James Agee, Walker Evans Farmers’ dignity

Our Town (1938) –Thornton Wilder Beauty of New England

Gone with the Wind (1936) –Margaret Mitchell Virtues of American culture

1930s Literature: Negative View

Studs Lonigan Trilogy (1932-35) –James T. Farnell

Irish immigrant workers’ lives

U.S.A. (1930-36) –John dos Passos

Selfish rich class vs. nation’s promise

The Disinherited (1933) –John Conroy

Missouri coalfields violence Self-experience

KEY TERMS

WPA: Works Program Admin.- employed artists to do literacy projects to educate America

Federal Writer’s Project: funded writers (part of the New Deal.)

Federal Theater Project: funded artists

TIMELINE

1942- Nighthawks

1935- WPA

1940- Native Sun

1939- Grapes of Wrath

1936- Gone with the Wind (book)

1930- American Gothic

1930- 45

Photography

Question 1

What is the basis of Richard Wright’s book Native Son? A. An African American’s life in a racist world B. Lives of Okies (people who fled from the Dust

Bowl) in California C. The hardships of farmers D.A young boy’s adventures with a Native

American E. Wright’s tragic romantic past

Answer 1

A. An African American’s life in a racist world

Question 2

What genre of art surfaced in the 1930s? A. Realism B. Modernism C. Impressionism D. Romanticism E. Rococo

Answer 2

B. Modernism