Jazz Age

Linda De Roche, PhD, is professor of English and American studies at Wesley College, Dover, DE.

• Series Foreword,Acknowledgments,Introduction: The Jazz Age and the Culture of Change,Chronology of the Jazz Age,1 Babbitt (Sinclair Lewis, 1922),Synopsis of Babbitt,Historical Background: Babbitt and the Perils of Progress and Prosperity,About Sinclair Lewis: The Man Who Defined Babbittry,Why We Read Babbitt,Historical Explorations of Babbitt,Documenting Babbitt,The Religion of Business in the Jazz Age,Document: From "Passing Our Tenth Milestone," Paul P. Harris, 1915,Document: From The Man Nobody Knows, Bruce Barton, 1925,Conformity in the Jazz Age,Document: From "Knowledge in Contempt in America, Believe Europeans," H. L. Mencken, 1925,Suggested Readings,2 The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925),Synopsis of The Great Gatsby,Historical Background: The Great Gatsby and the Culture of Contradiction,About F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Man Who Wrote the Jazz Age,Why We Read The Great Gatsby,Historical Explorations of The Great Gatsby,Documenting The Great Gatsby,The Automobile and the Jazz Age,Document: From "How Many American People Can Afford Automobiles?" 1922,Document: From "Your Car and You," 1920,Document: From "On Which Side of the Windshield Do You Do Your Cussing?" H. I. Phillips, 1927,Prohibition and Bootleggers,Document: From The Volstead Act, 1920,Document: From "Nation-Wide Prohibition Ends Fight of 112 Years," 1920,Document: From "Volstead Law Draws Attack of Opponents," 1925,Document: From "Rich Bootleggers Sent to Prison," 1923,Celebrity Culture in the Jazz Age,Document: From "The Secret of Charlie Chaplin's Popularity," St. John Ervine, 1921,Document: From "Chance Writes the Lindbergh Saga," 1927,Document: From "My Friend Babe Ruth," 1924,Suggested Readings,3 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Anita Loos, 1925),Synopsis of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,Historical Background: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and the Gender Politics of the Jazz Age,About Anita Loos: A Life in Words and (Motion) Pictures,Why We Read Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,Historical Explorations of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,Documenting Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,The Flapper,Document: From The Flapper, 1922,Document: From "Flappers Flaunt Fads in Footwear," The New York Times, 1922,Document: From "The Flapper—A New Type," Alfredo Panzini, 1921,Document: From "Her Eternal Youth," New York Times, 1922,Hollywood and the Motion Picture Revolution,Document: From "Youth, the Spirit of the Movies," David Wark Griffith, 1921,Document: From "Flappers Here to Stay, Says Colleen Moore," Gladys Hall, 1922,Document: From "The Monstrous Movies," Charles Hanson Towne, 1921,Document: From "Through Hollywood with Gun and Camera," Robert E. Sherwood, 1922,Suggested Readings,4 The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway, 1926),Synopsis of The Sun Also Rises,Historical Background: Hemingway, Paris, and the Modern Moment,About Ernest Hemingway: The Man Who Wrote the Lost Generation,Why We Read The Sun Also Rises,Historical Explorations of The Sun Also Rises,Documenting The Sun Also Rises,The Lost Generation,Document: From Exile's Return: A Literary Odyssey of the 1920s, Malcolm Cowley, 1934,Document: From "American Bohemians in Paris," Ernest Hemingway, 1922,Document: From Being Geniuses Together 1920–1930, Robert McAlmon and Rev. Kay Boyle, 1968,Document: From Paris Was Yesterday. 1925–1939, Janet Flanner, 1972,The Art of the Bullfight,Document: From Being Geniuses Together 1920–1930, Robert McAlmon and Rev. Kay Boyle, 1968,Document: From "Bull Fighting a Tragedy," Ernest Hemingway, 1923,Document: From "Pamplona in July," Ernest Hemingway, 1923,Race, Ethnicity, and the Ku Klux Klan,Document: From "For Christian-Jewish Friendship HP," The Literary Digest, 1922,Document: From "New York and the Real Jew," Rollin Lynde Hartt, 1921,Document: From "The Klan Walks in Washington," The Literary Digest, 1925,Document: From "Klan and Church," Lowell Mellett, 1923,Document: From "A Judicial Spanking for the Klan," Literary Digest, 1928,Suggested Readings,5 Passing (Nella Larsen, 1929),Synopsis of Passing,Historical Background: Passing and the Harlem Renaissance,About Nella Larsen: A Life on the Color Line,Why We Read Passing,Historical Explorations of Passing,Documenting Passing,The Harlem Renaissance,Document: From The Big Sea, Langston Hughes, 1940,Document: From Negro Life in New York's Harlem, Wallace Thurman, 1928,Document: From " 'Charleston' Dance Sweeps New York City by Storm; Louis Chalif Is Forced to Instruct in Dance That Is Distasteful," Maxine Davis, 1925,The African American Elite,Document: From "The Talented Tenth," W. E. B. Du Bois, 1903,Document: From "The Task of Negro Womanhood," Elise Johnson McDougald, 1925,Race and the Eugenics Movement in the Jazz Age,Document: From "Eugenics Seeks to Improve the Natural, Physical, Mental and Temperamental Qualities of the Human Family," Eugenics Record Office, 1927,Document: From "Fitter Families for Future Firesides," 1924,Document: From "Body of Woman Shown to Jury," The Florence [AL] Times, 1925,Suggested Readings,Index,

Instructors would do well to include The Jazz Age on a class reading list for the background it would afford those unfamiliar with the period. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates; general readers.