Editorials at the time of Gatsby Asher Weisz

Editorials at the time of Gatsby Asher Weisz L 6 JWP

BACKGROUND. Warren G. Harding’s smash victory in 1920. The Republicans are in Red. William Randolph Hearst

PROHIBITION: Wilmar Tribune, Minn. September 13 th 1922

IMMIGRATION: The Washington Post, September 20 th, 1922

TAX & ECONOMIC POLICY The Evening World, N. Y. , July 22 nd 1922

SPEAKEASIES: GLITTER ALLEY AND GREAT LIGHT WAY By Nizar Eltumi

WHAT IS A SPEAKEASY? • • • They were illegal places which sold alcohol during the prohibition. The came into prominence in the prohibition era, 1920 -1933. Roughly means speak soflty shop = smuggler’s house. They were some underground but the majority were above ground. They did not need to be big, just a building and a few chairs.

GLITTER ALLEY AND THE GREAT LIGHT WAY • Glitter Alley was a stretch of speakeasies on the South shore of Long Island. • They became so infamous amongst the population that they referred to them as the glitter alley and the great light way. • They were called so because of the lights they had along the road. • Merrick Road, as it was formerly known, which was full of nightclubs playing the latest jazz music.

WHO WENT THERE AND WHAT DID THEY SELL? • Once, the New York City Mayor was spotted on occasion at Glitter Alley at the speakeasies. • They were not restrictive, despite their high price, many people just wanted to drink. • Guy Lombardo, a famous musician played at the famous Pavilion Royal, which was infamous for its expensive champagne bottles. • Those who could not afford it would stay at home and make their own moonshine. • They were extremely popular however, from champagne to rum, everyone was welcome and they made a lot of money.

DIFFERENT SPEAKEASIES FOR DIFFERENT PEOPLE • Casa Blanca – opened by a mobster named Larry Fay, easy way to sell alcohol that he brought in from Canda. • Chumley’s – one of the more notorious ones, popular with influential writers like Ernest Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Steinbeck. They created the term ‘ 86’ which was shouted when police were coming. • 21 Club – one of the higher status speakeasies which were favourites of Frank Sinatra and Ernest Hemingway. After a police raid, they developed a system which hid their alcohol by flipping the shelf and dumping the bottles in the sewer.

WHAT DID THE GOVERNMENT DO? • No matter what the government did, everyone was able to enjoy alcohol, mainly due to the rum runners who out ran the US Coast Guard on their boats and cars. • The prohibition, later named The Noble Experiment, was repealed on December 5, ‘ 33. • This was done due to the Great Depression and Wall Street Crash which happened in ‘ 29, alcohol sales were a good way to stimulate the economy.

HOW THIS WAS MADE • Initially, I read some news articles looking back at them from places like the Daily Mail. This was to form a base understanding of the topic. • Then, I moved onto articles and websites that were more focused on the facts, there were a multitude of these, such as Wikipedia which gave me a solid foundation of the facts, and various website focused on alcohol. • After noting down key information from these websites, I put them into the Power. Point, keeping some extra facts to me to recite from memory so the presentation doesn’t become stale.

WHAT IS IT LIKE STUDYING ALEVEL ENGLISH LIT? • More interactive and stimulating then GCSE. The classes are smaller so it encourages discussion more. • The themes you cover are more mature and the actual content is relatable to the real world - it makes you think about how people’s thoughts have changed since the time the book, play or poem was written. • The essays are not a matter of point evidence explanation, but more so a debate where you take context and the history of the author into consideration, thus forming a more thoughtful and sophisticated essay.

Lifestyle in the Roaring 20 s & Gatsby Jonathan Abraha

Overview - “Lifestyle” as a title encompasses the music, living standards, socio-economic factors, and general trends of the period - The “Roaring 20 s” was notorious for the general shift in lifestyle to a more youthful, risque setting – whereby the clothing and general attitude to life had shifted to one in which the boundaries had changed. - The key issues, however, with the “Lifestyle” of the Roaring 20 s was its unsustainable nature (due to the socio-economic boom of the time), and the restricted accessibility of the happiness and prosperity that came with the boom in lifestyle - History Website: “The 1920 s were an age of dramatic social and political change. For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than on farms. The nation’s total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, and this economic growth swept many Americans into an affluent but unfamiliar “consumer society. ” People from coast to coast bought the same goods (thanks to nationwide advertising and the spread of chain stores), listened to the same music, did the same dances and even used the same slang! Many Americans were uncomfortable with this new, urban, sometimes racy “mass culture”; in fact, for many–even most–people in the United States, the 1920 s brought more conflict than celebration. However, for a small handful of young people in the nation’s big cities, the 1920 s were roaring indeed. ”

Socio-Economic Factors - The 1920 s brought about a period of Economic Boom, post World War 1, with a period of real unity within the American people – the 92 nd Infantry Division being an all black division who did fight with their white counterparts. - There was still substantial institutional racism and inequality for minorities and women. Tom’s Comment: on the ‘rise of the coloured empire’. - The period also brought about a boom in the ‘dark-economy’, that being illegal activity – bootleggers and alcohol smugglers along with people in the deep south ‘moonshining’. - Many of the trends of the period were driven by an emancipation of stereotypes for many of the American people, with many of the Christian values that were held in such high esteem (marriage, the importance of the Church, and abstinence) being disregarded. - First, between 1880 and World War I, the overall birth rate fell, and the divorce rate increased. In addition, rates of sexual activity both before and outside marriage increased. Finally, greater numbers of working-class women worked outside the home in factories, stores, and offices, and growing numbers of middle-class women attended college and entered professional careers. Grasping these transformations, moralists and social critics feared by the 1920 s that the American family was in crisis, and many wondered whether the institution was suited to the new social order at all. [Taken from ‘Gale Group Student Context Resources’].

Music: Jazz ‒ The Jazz era is similar to the breakout of hip/hop and rap in today’s youth, with the edgy and sexually suggestive dancing by the flappers to society’s lowest ranked people (the black’s) music being similar to today’s equivalent of the ‘whine’ Afro. Caribbean dance being enjoyed by people of all races. ‒ The Flappers were prominent at the time, with their short dresses and bobbed hair demonstrating a key shift in the self appreciation of women, along with the realisation of their capability being further than being confined to the role of the housewife – leading to the break out of feminism. ‒ Jazz music represented a shift in lifestyle, and as such the melodies reflected the shift. Arguably, one of the most famous Jazz songs of the time, James P. Johnson’s ‘Carolina Shout’ demonstrates the skippy, syncopated rhythm of happiness that made upper and middle class white folk fall in love with Jazz. ‒ https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=wwhy 5 zxr. AKI&app=desktop

Clothing

Lifestyle and The Great Gatsby - “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired. ” – Social Dichotomy of the 20 s, with an emphasis on the culture of people watching. - “All I kept thinking about, over and over, was 'You can't live forever; you can't live forever. ” – There is an inherent focus on the dwindling temporality of life. This was a driving factor for the breaking of social shackles as the futility of rules and regulations was fully exposed. - “So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight. ” – foreshadowing of penile automotive disaster (The Death of Myrtle – Tom’s Mistress)

Finally… - The focus of the time was based on the importance of appearance. Ah, " she cried, "you look so cool. " Their eyes met, and they stared together at each other, alone in space. With an effort she glanced down at the table. You always look so cool, " she repeated. She had told him that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. ”