Unit 5: The Harlem Renaissance and Modernism

As I started to read Unit 5: The Harlem Renaissance and Modernism, the topic begins about World War I and the Great Depression. After the troubled years, the Jazz age came along and brought a booming economy known as “the Roaring Twenties.” Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald called this decade “the greatest, gaudiest spree in history” this was the time where people experimented with new fashion and new attitudes. The Great Depression was a big struggle for many people, including the Dust Bowl era. Writer John Steinbeck was able to capture the “uncertainty and despair of the times.” Dying in need for help and support, in 1932 President Franklin Roosevelt was able to fulfill the country’s promise and create New Deal programs. During this time, the 1920s was the decade that created mass media, full of advertisements, commercials, and magazines. This was also the time when African-American arts started to rise with their literary talents, musicals, and arts. Journalism became a very popular literature during this time, many well known writers for their fiction made over thousands of dollars. Also such as the very popular magazine the “New Yorker” which first came out in 1925 founded by Harold Ross, became a big hit during the 1920s.