To really understand the culture of the 1920s (and the novel, The Great Gatsby), it helps to examine the culture of the early 1900s and the 1920s. The Victorian/Edwardian culture from 1900-1919 gave birth to the "Roaring 20s" or the "Jazz Age," but it was anything but "roaring" itself.
Click "The Victorian Era" button below to examine the early 1900s cultural artifacts and synthesize them into a general idea of what people valued, what they thought of as important or beautiful, and what society expected from them.
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Then, click "The Jazz Age" button to examine the cultural artifacts of the 1920s. Contrast the cultures and develop a synthesis of what the 1920s culture (especially on the East Coast) valued. Consider why their culture was the way it was.
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