LITERATURE SINCE 1945 By Emmalie Cole and Lauren

LITERATURE SINCE 1945 By: Emmalie Cole and Lauren Daniell

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ABOUT THE TIME PERIOD The Great Depression- 1930 s, stock market crash, high unemployment, effected people’s faith in the government, Hoover was president when it started, President Roosevelt was president after Hoover and made the new deal. Nixon’s Resignation- He was involved in the Watergate scandal; broke into the democratic party’s national headquarters to sabotage their things so he could win. He was going to be impeached, but ended up resigning.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ABOUT THE TIME PERIOD Martin Luther King Jr. : Leader of Civil Rights movement during the 50 s and 60 s; Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, Most famous for his “I Have a Dream” Speech. Women’s Movement: Worked for greater social, economic, and political involvement for women. The fight for equality for women started in the 1800 s and eventually succeeded in the 60 s. John F. Kennedy: Youngest elected president; Democrat. He negotiated with the Soviet Union and they withdrew missiles from Cuba (Cuban Missile Crisis. ) He was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

THEMES Most of the books written in this time period were novels. Some authors wrote about small town life and growing up in the country, like Eudora Welty, and some wrote about history, like Arthur Miller. Most novels would include the bitter family rivals and problems/boredom with everyday life. During the 60 s social protest was a big theme with the wars. Tennessee Williams wrote about conflicts between different type of people, one usually poetic, and one usually more brutal.

TYPES OF LITERATURE Novels were very popular in the 1940’s and even now. There are many different kinds of novels such as romantic, realistic, mysteries or detective novels. They are meant to bring you into this fictional world and give you a break from every day society. Poetry was popular and was written so people could explain the way they felt. In the sixties people wrote poetry to express their political views and what they thought. Autobiographies were written to give first hand accounts of what happened in peoples lives. They would write about themselves or other people.

ARTHUR MILLER Arthur Asher Miller (1915 -2005) Born: October 17, 1915 in New York, New York Died: February 10, 2005 Attended the University of Michigan Family: His dad was manufacturer, suffered during the depression. Hew was married to Mary Scattery, Marilyn Monroe, Inge Moratn He was a playwright: The Crucible, All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, A View from The Bridge. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Death of a Salesman His work was based on realistic drama (shaped by depression. )

EUDORA WELTY Eudora Welty (1909 -2001) Born: April 13, 1909 in Jackson, Mississippi and lived there all of her life. Died: July 23, 2001 She attended Mississippi State for women and then the University of Wisconsin. She wrote about life in small, southern towns. Uses realism, humor, fantasy and human relationships. Her works: The Robber Bridegroom, The Ponder Heart, Delta Wedding. In 1973 she received the Pulitzer Prize for The Optimists Daughter.

MAYA ANGELOU Maya Angelou (1928 - ) Maya was born in St. Louis, MO on April 4, 1928. Her given family name was Marguerite Johnson and her brother nicknamed her Maya. Her first husband’s family name was Angelos but she changed the s to a u to make Angelou. She was an author, poet, playwright, actress, teacher, director. Best Known titles: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings (tells how life was growing up in the great depression), Gather Together in My Name, Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting Merry Like Christmas. Her autobiographical writings were realistic and exuberant. She wrote poetry on issues connected to the black experience. She published a book of all of her poems in the Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou in 1994.

JAMES BALDWIN James Baldwin (1924 -1987) James was born in the Harlem district of New York on August 2, 1924. After he graduated high school he started small jobs, self-studying, and a literary apprenticeship in Greenwich Village. He was the eldest of nine children and he grew up in the black ghetto of Harlem New York. He gained his fame for his works about racial conflicts and injustice the United States. Some of his works are Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni’s Room, and If Beale Street Could Talk and Just Above my Head.

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS Thomas Lanier Williams(1911 -1983) Born: March 26, 1911 in Columbus, Mississippi. Died: February 25, 1983 He attended the University of Missouri in Columbia and Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Iowa. Some of his works: The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar named Desire (won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (won the Pulitzer Prize in 1955) Frequently used the confrontation between sensitive and poetic people. He also wrote on the coarseness of modern life.

1940 S The picture on the left is an example of what some of the ladies might have worn in the 1940’s. Those outfits are what the women probably wore daily. The picture on the right is a very famous picture. A lot of the troops were in Time Square in New York and while they were they found out that the war was over. This man was so exstatic that he kissed the first lady he saw.

1950 S The picture on the left is Marilyn Monroe. She was a very famous actress. She was an icon in the 1950’s and many people enjoyed watching her in movies of all sorts. The picture on the right is a typical street in the 1950’s. Some people are walking from place to place and others are driving. There are many businesses all around and the cars were not very advanced.

1960 S In the 1960’s social protest was very popular and that is what the picture on the left shows. Everyone felt as if they deserved to have a say so in what was going on so they protested. The picture on the right is The Beatles were a very popular music group and many people still enjoy them today.

1970 S This is a picture of Farrah Fawcett. She was very popular in the 1970’s. This picture is a perfect representation of what people used to wear in the 70’s. They would wear bell bottom jeans, and all of the girls had to have their hair like Farah’s.

1980 S This is a picture of Erno Rubik, a Hungarian inventor, holding the Rubik’s cube. He invented this fun-filled toy in the 1980’s and it is in almost every house in America. This toy is very challenging but it is also fun and addictive.

1990 S This is a picture of one of the Backstreet Boys albums. The Backstreet Boys were very famous in the 90’s with young girls. The band’s style was very upbeat and fun. Some of their songs included: Quit Playing Games with My Heart and Everybody (Backstreet’s Back. )

RELATIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT This is a quote from the book The Rock Pile by James Baldwin. “Then for the moment they waved decorously back, they were intimidated. They watched the saint, man or woman, until he or she had disappeared out of sight. The passage of one of the redeemed made them consider, however vacantly, the wickedness in sitting where they sat; and made them think of their father, who came home early on Saturdays, and who would soon be turning this corner and entering the dark hall below them. ”

RELATIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT (CONT. ) These boys had grown up outside of the Bronx, so they lived in a hard neighborhood. This passage is talking about the fear that they experience in living on this side of town. The saints they were talking about were the people that went to church, they saw them as good people but they could never be like them. The “saints” lived somewhere else so they had different struggles to over come. They would realize how differently they lived their lives because of the different places they lived.

SOCIAL PROTEST The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller. The Crucible is a story about the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. It was written by Arthur Miller. This story is portraying the true story of what the girls and women went through when they were convicted of witchcraft. These women lived in a puritan village and they were seen dancing in the woods with a Haitian servant who was calling a spirit back from the dead. The book was based on real people and real events. A lot of books were based on real events during this time period.

SOCIAL PROTEST (CONT. ) Also in The Crucible they preacher and the judges are leading the people against the convicted women. They are protesting the “witchcraft” that they feel that the women stand for. The judges have their families, friends, and even spouses turning against them. They are locked up and the people want them hung. While they are standing at their death they are being ridiculed by the onlookers. They truly believed that the devil was going to help them and deliver them to the “promise land”.

BITTER FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS In the book The Optimists Daughter, a girl named laurel is thrown together with her step mother in her father’s house after he died. She and her step-mother, Fay, had never gotten along and she had to help her clean out her old house full of memories. They had tensions and eventually Fay took off to go on vacation, leaving Laurel with all the work, but luckily she had the help of old friends and neighbors.

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