Paris 1920's Honors Timeline

1919- Sherwood Anderson published his most well known book to this day called, Winesburg, Ohio and he was influenced by other well known 1920’s writers such as Earnest Hemmingway, William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and more.

1920- John Dos Pasos (who was considered to be part of the Lost Generation)

published his first book which was titled, One Man's Initiation: 1917. Although he was technically American and lived in the United States, he traveled to Europe often during the twenties.

Early 1920’s- Ford Madox Ford was a novelist, poet, critic and editor whose magazine articles, The English Review (a 1920’s magazine published in London) and The Transatlantic Review (a magazine based in Paris that would later also feature other members of the “Lost Generation” including Earnest Hemingway himself), was a main part of “the development of early 20th-century English literature”.

1925- F. Scott Fitzgerald published his arguably best novel, The Great Gatsby. He was close friends with Earnest Hemming way and made several trips to Paris during the 1920’s. He was considered to be part of the “Lost Generation” which was a group of famous authors who made their fame in Paris in the 1920’s.

1926- Ernest Hemingway wrote his first serious novel that came out while he was still in Paris. It was titled, The Sun Also Rises and it was the what thrust him into the literary spotlight. It became one of the most important books of the decade and it gave us an important view and understanding of the Lost Generation because Earnest Hemmingway was considered to be one of the main authors who were a part of it.

1929- F Scott Fitzgerald was working on his fourth novel, but had to stop because his financial issues and because his wife, Zelda had just developed schizophrenia in 1930.

1933- Gertrude stein published her novel, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas which not only was the piece of writing that made her famous, but it was written about her lesbian lover which at the time, was a very common trait to have in Paris because of France’s “Napoleonic Code” which didn’t propose that homosexual practices that were in private were a criminal act. In fact, for many woman artists during that century, being lesbian was, “a fundamental condition of artistic identity and professional achievement”.

Fit to Be Citizens Reflection

While reading the excerpts from Fit to Be Citizens by Natalie Molina, the thought that was on continuous repeat in my head was, I can't believe this was happening in America, the supposed "Land of the Free". However, at the same time I was also thinking about what it would be like if we were all equal and the description from Harrison Bergeron of what it would supposedly be like if that were true. This lead me to the conclusion that I am very confused on what I would actually like to have happen. All I know at this time is that I think the way that the Hispanic and Asian people that were described in the story should not have been treated the way that they were treated.

During the late 1800's and early 1900's, local health officials abused their power and trust that the people had in them in order to plant ideas and concerns about the public health to define racial groups at the time, especially people of Asian and Hispanic cultures. They convinced the public that these races were dirty and infested with disease and they even said that the people of Asian cultures had to be confined to a certain area of town in order to avoid the contamination of where the Anglo Saxon people lived.

These articles not only described and explained this issue while also showing how the people of Hispanic decent came to get their stereotypes through scientific discussion and and "public health practices", but it also explained how Asian stereotypes and china town came to be known as a place dominated by Asian culture. The articles provided a "valuable history of public health in Los Angeles, living conditions among Mexican immigrants, and the ways in which regional racial categories influenced national laws and practices."

My initial reaction to what I was reading and the facts that I was presented with was that I was appalled that such blatant wrongful actions we being committed where I live today during a time that was pretty much with in the century of today. I felt that while I was reading about California in the early 1900's, I was actually reading about the history of another country because of the obvious wrong-doings that were set forth. The situation and the people in it that were being described just sounded so ignorant to me that it seemed unreal what I was being told.

Although we as a country have come very far from how we were, there are still traces of the same prejudice and segregation that was happening in the early 1900's in our society today. For example, as we discussed in class, although it is not an established rule or law, our neighborhoods are still partially segregated by race. We still have Chinatown although it is not labeled as "filthy" or "diseased" because of the type of people living there as well. Again however, we come to the question of, do we really want to all be equal?

Honors Reading Response: Novel One

The Paris Wife....By: Paula Mclain

My typical experiences of reading assigned novels are honestly, filled with boredom. However, due to the nature of this reading (being that we could choose not only the topic, but the actual book we would read) I really enjoyed reading, The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain.

In the past, I have had to read several books as a requirement for school and so I have learned what characteristics I especially enjoy in a book, and I have developed a similar kind of knowledge on the different projects or certain topics that I know I will enjoy learning about. Going into this project I knew that I would enjoy learning and reading about French history in the 1920's. At the same time however, I knew that I would not enjoy reading a dry, nonfiction book so I was up against a challenge to find the perfect book for the situation I was in and the specifications I was looking for. I ended up finding The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain which was perfect because it is a fiction novel written from the perspective of Earnest Hemingway's first wife during the time of the 1920's in Paris when Hemingway became part of the fabled, "Lost Generation".

I have had a strong passion for and a deep desire to learn French and to learn about the culture of France for many years. I have taken a few courses in French and have always said that I will someday live in Paris so it was highly enjoyable for me to read about what it is like to live in Paris, France. One of my favorite parts of the book describing the French culture was the food. There were many quotes describing what the Hemingway's would eat and do for fun. For example, when Earnest Hemingway rushed home to describe to Hadley that he had just had "the best fish he'd ever eaten" which was described in the book as being a, "perfectly crisped river trout stuffed with fried ham and onions" and that he was taking her to that cafe to try it right then.

From reading this book I have learned many new little facts as well as developed a better all-around understanding of what it was like to live in Paris in the 1920's. For example, before reading this novel, I did not know anything about Earnest Hemingway except for the fact that he was a writer. Now however, I know that he lost all of his manuscripts at the beginning of his career as a writer, committed suicide, had several wives, but only one child, moved from Chicago when he came to Paris, and more. I also found it interesting that his father, brother, and sister all died by committing suicide as well.

The impressions that I got from reading this book were that Hadley Hemingway was a very credulous wife as she seemed to be easily taken advantage of or "walked all over". Earnest Hemingway on the other hand came off to me as being an unloyal, sort of slimy guy who previous to reading this book I had thought of as probably being an honest man. Another character or characters that surprised me in the way that they were described were F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. After reading the Great Gatsby last year, I had pictured the author as could have only being a very strait-laced proper guy. On the contrary, this novel described the Fitzgerald couple as being very spontaneous and zany instead.

As someone who loves to learn about history, I would definitely recommend this book to another person. Not only would I recommend it to one of my piers to read for a school project or even simply as an enjoyment read, but I would also recommend it to any adult that I know because it truly was a book for almost all ages and a highly enjoyable one at that!

Socratic Seminar Response

"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people."

George Bernaw Shaw

The one overarching theme that I took away from the Socratic Seminar and the other various readings that we completed was the theme of shifting paradigms. This could be tied up or shown through almost every one of the articles we read. The majority of the articles somehow communicated a change that needed to be made in society in order to further seek equality in our nation, yet in our seminar, we questioned if equality was really what we sought after.

Martin Luther King Junior took inspiration from Gandhi when he fought and encouraged others to fight against the unfair treatment of African American people during the 1960's. I feel that his peaceful protest tactics not only got what he sought after, but additionally, they made his opponents in the fight look badly. For example, MLK would have African American people walk into a restaurant that was designated for only Caucasian people and have them sit down and ask to be served. They would always dress in their best clothes and be extremely polite.

Malcolm X fought for the same goal as Martin Luther King however; he believed that, "it's only fair to expect elements to do whatever is necessary to protect themselves" and that violence was acceptable in certain instances such as the one he was in. He advocated that the African American people of the 1960's in the south arm themselves for protection and that it was all right to resort to violence when it seemed necessary.

The articles, Necessary to Protect Ourselves and A Stride Towards Freedom talked about two opposite approaches that both were attempting to do the same thing for the same cause, fighting for justice and equality for the African American population of the 1960's. In fighting the commonly accepted rules and morals of the time Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were purposely attempting to shift the paradigm of the 1960's for what they felt was "right" for the people. In our Socratic Seminar, I discussed what my personal opinions were and the reasoning's behind them. I said that I was fully behind MLK and his peaceful protest actions, however, once I heard my classmate's opinions on how if it got personal, they may have changed their ways, I myself began to change my opinion. I thought about if it did become personal and suddenly I felt my ways begin to change to support Malcolm X instead.

While the majority of the articles that we read and discussed in the Socratic Seminar concerned the issues that were happening in the South in the 1960's with segregation and the poor treatment of African Americans, Harrison Bergeron describes a world where total equality has been achieved and every one is the same, but the futuristic world that's described does not sound appealing. This lead the discussion of our Socratic Seminar to question, do we truly want equality?

A Martian Sends a Postcard Home and Sidewalks, both supplied me with a basic understanding of what examples of paradigms were before reading the additional articles. They talked about examples of paradigms that we have in our society, which helped me when I went to read, and make connections between all of the articles that we read for class. The Egg Horror Story also was a preparatory article because it forced me to start placing myself in "someone else's shoes" in order to gain perspective.

Honors Project Proposal

1920's Paris

The 1920s were a time of great enjoyment and a time that was viewed as carefree and celebratory due to the recent win for the Allied Powers over Germany and the Central Powers in World War one. The twenties were also a great economic time period when all was healthy with the economy in not only Paris, but the U.S. and other “Allies” countries as well. Paris not only was a rising country because of their joint victory in the war, but also because of the many artists, authors, and other various cultural innovators that were flocking to Paris at the time.

I have always been extremely interested in the two world wars, particularly the first one and the cultural aspects of the times as well. My interest was also sparked last year when we studied the 1920’s in the US and I would like to learn about what that time period was like for another country or city in the world such as Paris. I would like to focus my Honors Project on the time period of the 1920’s in Paris.

Paris is one of the world's most important places of experiments made in art and literature. In the 1920’s, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, and the “Lost Generation” of English-speaking writers that consisted of Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, James Baldwin, Gertrude Stein, and Ezra Pound (just to name a few) came to live in Paris.

For this project I would like to re-read the Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald (because according to my past experiences of reading books twice I tend to gain a lot more from them the second time they are read by me). I would also like to possibly read Earnest Hemmingway’s most well known novel, the old man and the sea. Since however only one of these two pieces of writing were technically written during the 1920’s, some other books that I propose I read are, Journey to the End of Night by Louis-Ferdinand Celiné, and The Crazy Years: Paris in the Twenties by William Wiser.

As a part of this project I would like to research and find any kind of art museums that are showing art that resemble or have something to do with Paris in the 1920’s and the art that was being produced at the time such as art done by the artist, Pablo Picasso. As a stem slightly off of this project I might like to incorporate researching the style of, surrealism and art deco since that was what was being “born” in the Parisian 1920’s and then try to incorporate that newly gained knowledge into trying my own hand at surrealism and art deco or writing an additional research paper on art from the Parisian 1920’s since art history is a subject that I am considering making my major in college.

Finally photography was also just becoming established as a form of art during the 1920s in Paris and so maybe I could do an additional assignment or even just one big on-going assignment where I research photography from the 1920s in Paris and again, try my hand at recreating it. I could somehow collect all my final photographs and display them in some way (perhaps a photo journal or a blog) as part of a final presentation of my honors project.

I am looking forward to taking this honors project head-on and I feel that I will enjoy learning about and researching Paris in the 1920s as a whole.