Modernization In The American Twenieth Century

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Chante Watson 4-5-12 Honors English Mr. Joseph Essay question: How did modernization result in isolation and disillusionment in the early American twentieth century? Modernization in the early American twentieth century resulted in the booming of the economy. After World War I there was industrial growth, new technologies, economic prosperity, Harlem Renaissance (birth of jazz), prohibition, and a lot more. Since the economy was thriving it changed people’s life styles, which created more time for the society to question why were things the way they are. After World War I, people felt a loss of identity and started to lose their sense of morals and values which resulted in isolation and disillusionment. The lost generation was a group of writers during this time that described the people who rejected American post World War I values including F.Scott Fitzgerald and T.S Elliot. T.S Elliot, author of “ The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock” and F.Scott Fitzgerald, author of “The Great Gatsby” both convey isolation and disillusionment in the early American twentieth century through their literally works. “The Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock” by T.S Elliot, is about an insecure middle-aged man named J.Alfred Prufrock. Throughout the poem Prufrock expresses his ideas about dull, uneventful, and mediocre life. He wants to take a chance and make progress but he is too scared to make a fool of himself. His anxieties and obsession with making a fool of himself have isolated him from the world leaving him to feel disillusional. For example Prufrock says “And indeed there will be time to wonder, “Do I dare?” and ,”Do I dare?” time turn back and descend the

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