The Lost Generation

What was the "Lost Generation," as described in the passage, and how did the trauma of World War I shape their identity?

It's 1926, and Ernest Hemingway's captivating novel, Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises, introduces the world to the term "Lost Generation." This intriguing phrase, coined by American modernist author Gertrude Stein, has an unexpected origin story. As Hemingway recounts in his 1964 novel A Moveable Feast, Stein heard a Parisian mechanic refer to young people as "generation perdue" - the lost generation. Inspired, she passed the term along to Hemingway, capturing the essence of those who sacrificed their youth in the throes of World War I.

Imagine the heartache and disillusionment of these young American writers, thrust into adulthood during the war. This Lost Generation, raised on Victorian values of patriotism, religion, family, and morality, found their world shattered by the harsh reality of conflict. Feeling alienated from their homeland, they rejected post-war America, believing the American dream had crumbled before their eyes.

Desperate for solace, they journeyed across the Atlantic to Europe, immersing themselves in its vibrant culture and hedonistic lifestyle. The trauma of war propelled them towards escapist pursuits like alcoholism, partying, and immorality, in a desperate attempt to forget the haunting memories of a time that stole their innocence.

You are a high school student studying American literature. Your teacher asks you to choose one of the Lost Generation writers to research and present. You want to choose a writer who was a mentor to other writers and regularly hosted gatherings in Paris. Which of the following writers would be the best choice?

The Lost Generation writers felt unsettled, purposeless, and directionless after World War I. Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, T. S. Eliot, and John Dos Passos are some of the most prominent authors of this generation. Their works skillfully incorporate their disillusionment with traditional values. Gertrude Stein, for example, was a mentor and literary critic to Hemingway and other expatriate writers in Paris, where she regularly hosted gatherings. Although known for her art expertise, she also published several books, including The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.

What was Ernest Hemingway's writing style, and how did it reflect the post-war era?

Ernest Hemingway (1899 - 1961) was an American writer and a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. He started his writing career as a newspaper reporter and journalist. Later, Hemingway left the United States to participate in WWI as an ambulance driver, where he got injured and was praised for heroism. In between World Wars, he mostly lived in Paris and worked as a writer. Being Gertrude Stein's friend, he became a part of the Lost Generation. Hemingway established his reputation with his authentic, sharp, and unique writing style. His sparse, realistic, harsh language, use of silence, and hidden meaning behind the dialogues were an exquisite mirror of the post-war era. He was bullfighting, fishing, and hiking enthusiast. Ernest Hemingway included plenty of autobiographical elements in his novels, making them relatable and relevant literary pieces for decades.

What was F. Scott Fitzgerald's contribution to American literature, and how did it differ from Hemingway's?

F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896 - 1940) was an American novelist and short-story writer. As a descendant of an aristocratic family, he struggled to find his own way as a writer. After publishing several novels and serving in the army as a lieutenant, Fitzgerald moved to Riviera to work as a writer, where he became a part of the Lost Generation. He worked closely with Hemingway and Gertrude Stein, where he often mingled with other artistic circles at their parties. In his works, he mostly explored the idea of the American dream, its damnation, and brilliance. His characters excellently portrayed the excessiveness and aimlessness of American post-war life. Similar to Hemingway, Fitzerald's work contains a lot of autobiographical details, including the loose lifestyle, partying, and trauma.

What is the significance of the phrase "chaotic modus vivendi" in relation to the Lost Generation writers?

The Lost Generation of the 1920s, a group of expatriate American writers, wrote about the effects of World War I on the post-war generation. Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms directly deals with the subject of war, while Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises explores it indirectly through the characters' behavior. F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby vividly presents the concept of the Roaring Twenties. The writers were greatly influenced by the European chaotic modus vivendi after WWI. "Chaotic modus vivendi" is a phrase that refers to the chaotic way of life that emerged in Europe after World War I. It describes a period of social, cultural, and political upheaval characterized by changes in traditional values and beliefs, artistic experimentation, and social unrest.

What is the key theme explored in the literature of the Lost Generation?

It was not a coincidence that the writers of the Lost Generation were American. The horrors of WWI echoed painfully in American society. What they had known as a place of comfort, religious and moral ideals, family-based values were no longer present. They sought their direction elsewhere - mostly in Europe, which cried out its shout of despair in a rebellious way.

The key theme explored in the Lost Generation literature was the psychological effect of the war. What is interesting is that this theme reoccurred in their work long after the war. It shows the trauma they experienced that was skillfully transmitted on paper, creating characters that were equally burdened and crippled by the horror. One of the most prominent novels of the Lost Generation, Hemingway's Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises, explores the psychological and physical consequences of war through several characters unable to carry out a healthy relationship with the world. By presenting alcoholism, excessive behavior, immorality, insensitivity, unstable friendships, Hemingway depicts the fundamentally terrorized ideals within an individual. The theme of PTSD or Shock Shell was a theme of many of Hemingway's short stories in his collection symbolically titled In Our Time.

Which theme is central to F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby?

Similarly, in his famous novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presents a picture of a loose lifestyle, money, self-doubt, broken relationships, and a web of lies. The theme that encompasses all of it is the disappointment in the American Dream and one's inability to deal with the harsh realities of the world.

Which of the following analogies best represents the different writing techniques used by Hemingway and Dos Passos?

The defining characteristics of the Lost Generation were not only themes and topics they explored in their work, but also their revolutionary style of writing. The desperation and aimlessness of the Lost Generation are evident in the tone and mood of writing. The Victorian ideals, which were shattered by war, were no longer used in literary works in any form. The break from the past was not made only through different lifestyles, environments, and themes of work, but also with the change of the writing form. In Hemingway's work, for instance, the reader is introduced with less theatrical, simple, and uncomplicated language, when in reality, there is a lot of hidden meaning between the lines. He rejected the descriptive language to show characters' emotions and intentions. Instead, he used the Iceberg technique, which employs silence, action, meaningful dialogues, and thought-provoking comments to present emotions. This style of writing is present in most of his works, including To Whom the Bell Tolls", "A Farwell to Arms", and"In Our Time.

On the other hand, John Dos Passos used the stream-of-consciousness technique, which allows the reader to see the character's thoughts as they are happening in the book. This style of writing was revolutionary at the time. Stream-of-consciousness used in Three Soldiers enabled Dos Passos to explore the trauma of war realistically and subjectively.

What was the name of the agreement that allowed gangsters to conduct business in St. Paul, Minnesota as long as they notified the police of their whereabouts?

F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The city was a thriving hub of commerce and finance at the time and also boasted many universities to further educate its residents. St. Paul also had an infamous side at the time, as its police had signed the now-famous Layover Agreement, which allowed gangsters to be in the area and conduct business, criminal or otherwise, as long as they let the police know their whereabouts.

Fitzgerald was born to an Irish Catholic middle-class family. He is named for his second cousin on his father's side, Francis Scott Key, the famed writer of the lyrics to the Star Bangled Banner. Fitzgerald's mother, Mary McQuillan, was from a family that had gained wealth through the grocery business. His father, Edward Fitzgerald, had opened a furniture business in St. Paul, then became a salesman for Proctor & Gamble. The family moved multiple times to Buffalo and Syracuse, N.Y., then finally back to St. Paul.

Fitzgerald as a boy was described as intelligent with a talent for writing. He attended the St. Paul Academy when he was 12, where he published his first writing in the school newspaper. At the age of 15, Fitzgerald was sent to the Newman School, a prominent religious prep school in New Jersey. There, he pursued his writing with the help of Father Sigourney Fay, a priest who recognized and encouraged his talent. Fitzgerald being away from home during these years may have been prescient, as his father had become an alcoholic, and the family was supported only through his mother's inheritance.

Group the following:

Fitzgerald chose to attend Princeton University to further his education. He wrote articles for the Princeton Tiger humor magazine and scripts for the university's well-known Triangle Club musicals. He also developed a romantic relationship with a young Chicago debutante, Ginevra King. That relationship didn't succeed, however, and coupled with being put on academic probation, Fitzgerald dropped out of school to join the U.S. Army in 1917.

Just before reporting to duty, Fitzgerald quickly wrote a novel called The Romantic Egotist. The novel was rejected by a publisher at the time, although a later, revised version would go on to become one of his famous works. In the army, Fitzgerald was assigned to Camp Sheridan outside of Montgomery, Alabama. The war ended in November 1918, though, so he never deployed. In Montgomery, however, he began dating Zelda Sayre, the wealthy granddaughter of a Confederate senator. Upon his discharge, Fitzgerald moved to New York City with one goal. He hoped to start a lucrative career in advertising, one that specifically would make him marriage material for his affluent Zelda. After only mediocre results in a short time, Fitzgerald quit his job and returned to his hometown, St. Paul, to rewrite his earlier novel.

Fitzgerald is best known for his novels that depict the Jazz Age in America in the 1920s. This Side of Paradise, published in 1920, was his first novel and launched Fitzgerald to instant celebrity and modest financial success. He followed it with The Beautiful and The Damned in 1922, which further reinforced his iconic storyteller status. In 1925, The Great Gatsby was published, which would in time be recognized as his greatest work.

During these years, the Fitzgeralds had moved to Paris, where they became friends with other well-known American ex-pat writers like Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, and Ezra Pound. This group famously is connected to the Lost Generation, a term coined for many World War I survivors of the 1920s.

Throughout his life, Fitzgerald also supported himself by writing short stories and selling them to magazines like The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire. A few of his most well-known include "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", "Bernice Bobs Her Hair", "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz", and "Babylon Revisited."

Which of the following options correctly completes this analogy?

Fitzgerald : financial struggles ::

As famous as Fitzgerald is today, he was not wealthy during his life. The expenses of an extravagant lifestyle, plus Zelda's ongoing health costs, caused Fitzgerald to experience continuous financial struggles. His long-standing drinking habit also progressed to alcoholism and his writing and health suffered. He attempted a comeback in 1937 as a screenwriter in Hollywood, where he was modestly successful, but again his expenses more than depleted his income. Fitzgerald died in 1940 from a heart attack, at the age of 44, believing that he was a failure and that his work would be forgotten.

Which of the following options correctly completes this analogy?

The Great Gatsby : portrayal of Jazz Age ::

The Great Gatsby is now considered Fitzgerald's finest novel. Published in 1925, the work portrays the affluence, carousing, and materialism of the Jazz Age along with two characters' search for love. The story is told famously by Nick Carraway, a Midwesterner who moves next door to the wealthy Jay Gatsby on West Egg, Long Island. The novel depicts their unique friendship while also showing the growing relationship between Gatsby and Daisy, a married woman.

Fitzgerald explores the theme of decaying social and moral values, as exemplified by the lavish parties thrown regularly by Gatsby. This theme also reflected Fitzgerald's view that the honorable desire for the American dream during this time had been corrupted by money and pleasure. The Great Gatsby was well-received when published, but it now is widely recognized as one of the greatest American novels ever written.

Which of the following options correctly completes this analogy?

Scott Fitzgerald : documenting Jazz Age ::

As a writer, F. Scott Fitzgerald will long be remembered for documenting the Jazz Age in American history. His novels depicted a generation seeking escape, affluence, and pleasure while pursuing their perception of the American dream. Fitzgerald is considered one of the premier American writers and most Americans have read at least one of his novels. His writing style is said to have influenced an entire generation of writers, including Charles Jackson, John O'Hara, and Richard Yates.