How did the Great Depression and the New Deal Influence Art and Literature? Did Literature during

the 1930’s present a positive or negative view

Suzie MonetaCourtnee Portlock

Mikka CroskellKristina Sheyko

OutlineArt and Literature was more serious and sober• Depicted the real conditions of depression America• Focused on the hardships faced by average Americans • Much of artistic work conveyed a more uplifting message about the strength of

character and the democratic values of the American people• A number of artists and writers embraced the spirit of social and political changeArtists decorate America• The federal art project-paid a living wage to produce public art

– Two functions:• Increase public appreciation of art• promote positive images of American society

– Outcome: artists created posters, taught art in schools, and painted murals o the walls of public buildings (typically portraying the dignity of ordinary Americans at work.)

• A number of American artists produced outstanding works of art.– Edward Hopper- a New York who continued to depict scenes of urban life in a striking,

highly realistic style. – Thomas Hart Benton-helped create a regional style of painting that drew on

Midwestern cultural roots.– Grant wood-famous painting "America Gothic"

• Federal Theater project– Artists hired provided sage sets and props for the throatier productions– Featured noted actors such as John Houseman and Arlene Francis– Subsidized the work of important American playwrights

• Clifford Odets-play "waiting for the Lefty" dramatized the labor struggles of 1930's

Writers depict American Life• Federal writers project

– Gave writers relief support– Hired unemployed writers

– Gave many important artists assistance

• Saui Bellow- Future Pulitzer Prize winner with the first writing job • Richard Wright-African American writer, completed Native Son • Zara Neale Hurston with her stirring novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God • John Steinbeck with his novel The Grapes of Wrath (reveals the lives of

Oklahomans who left the dust bowl and ended up in the California where their hardships continued)

• Books examined the difficulties of life during the 1930's– James T. Farrell- studies Lonigan trilogy (A bleak picture of working class life in an irish

community of Chicago)– John Dos Passos- U.S.A (A detailed portrait of 20th century American history)– John Conroy- The Disinherited (Portrays violence and poverty of the Missouri Coalfields)

• Other writers found hope in the positive values of American Culture– James Agee- Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (A book about Alabama sharecroppers)– Thornton Wilder- the play Our Town (Captures warmth and beauty of small-town life in

New England)– William Saroyan- Play, The Time of your Life (A tender look at a diverse assortment of

characters in urban America)– Margret Mitchell- Novel, Gone with the Wind (Embraced cultural nationalism)

Key Terms• Grant Wood- From Iowa, was an artist who said that his best ideas,

"came while milking a cow," his work includes the famous painting American Gothic, which shows two stern-faced farmers, a father and daughter, standing stiffly in front of their farmhouse.

• Richard Wright- an African American author who completed his acclaimed novel Native Son in 1940, novel depicts the difficulty faced by a young man trying to survive in a racist world

• Federal writers project (FWP)- many writers received relief support through this, this project hired unemployed writers to produce a series of state and city guides and to write histories of ethnic and immigrant groups, including a major study of southern slavery.

• Federal Theater Project- Artists who provided stage sets and props for theater productions that played around the country

Diagram

Pictures and Cartoons

Questions1. How did the Great Depression and New Deal influence art and

literature?A. Led to more serious sober artB. Depicted the "real" conditionsC. Made people want to help each otherD. A and B

2. Did literature during the 1930's present a positive or negative view of American society?

Questions1. How did the Great Depression and New Deal influence art and

literature?A. Led to more serious sober artB. Depicted the "real" conditionsC. Made people want to help eachotherD. A and B

2. Did literature during the 1930's present a positive or negative view of American society?

Literature painted both a positive view and a negative view of American society in the 1930's. Some books examined the difficulties of life during the Great Depression while other writers found hope in the positive values of American Culture