17.1 Lesson
Essential Questions
1. How would you define the 1920's?
2. What is a flapper?
Bellringer #27
How would your lives be different if the automobile had not been invented? Write a paragraph.
Lesson Instructions
Step 1: We will take a test/discussion to conclude WWI. This must be taken in person.
Step 2: To introduce the 1920's preview the following videos about the 1920's urbanization, immigration, and flappers.
Video #2:
WWI Legacies: Flappers
Links to an external site.
Video #3:Charlie Chaplin - Eating Machine
Links to an external site.
The 1920s introduced a new era of film and Charlie Chaplin was a key contributor this new age of movies.
Step 3: Read the following about flappers.
Life of the Flappers
FLAPPERS were northern, urban, single, young, middle-class women. Many held steady jobs in the changing American economy. The clerking jobs that blossomed in the Gilded Age were more numerous than ever. Increasing phone usage required more and more operators. The consumer-oriented economy of the 1920s saw a burgeoning number of department stores. Women were needed on the sales floor to relate to the most precious customers — other women. But the flapper was not all work and no play.
By night, flappers engaged in the active city nightlife. They frequented jazz clubs and vaudeville shows. Speakeasies were a common destination, as the new woman of the twenties adopted the same carefree attitude toward prohibition as her male counterpart. Ironically, more young women consumed alcohol in the decade it was illegal than ever before. Smoking, another activity previously reserved for men, became popular among flappers. With the political field leveled by the Nineteenth Amendment, women sought to eliminate social double standards. Consequently, the flapper was less hesitant to experiment sexually than previous generations. SIGMUND FREUD's declaration that the libido was one of the most natural of human needs seemed to give the green light to explore.
The Flapper Look
The flapper had an unmistakable look. The long locks of Victorian women lay on the floors of beauty parlors as young women cut their hair to shoulder length. Hemlines of dresses rose dramatically to the knee. The cosmetics industry flowered as women used make-up in large numbers. Flappers bound their chests and wore high heels. CLARA BOW, Hollywood's "It" Girl, captured the flapper image for the nation to see.
Many women celebrated the age of the flapper as a female declaration of independence. Experimentation with new looks, jobs, and lifestyles seemed liberating compared with the socially silenced woman in the Victorian Age. The flappers chose activities to please themselves, not a father or husband. But critics were quick to elucidate the shortcomings of flapperism. The political agenda embraced by the previous generation was largely ignored until the feminist revival of the 1960s. Many wondered if flappers were expressing themselves or acting like men. Smoking, drinking, and sexual experimentation were characteristic of the modern young woman. Short hair and bound chests added to the effect. One thing was certain: Despite the potential political and social gains or losses, the flappers of the 1920s sure managed to have a good time.
Step 4: Now, answer the essential questions:
1. How would you define the 1920's?
2. What is a flapper?
Step 5: We will divide into groups and begin a group project. We will choose our topics today.
Radio was the new thing during the 20's. You and your group are going to be responsible for creating a radio broadcast during the 1920's. Limit of 4 members per group.
Topics for interviews:
- Traditional v. Modern Values/Morals
- Changing view of women- flapper
- Consumerism and the Installment Plan/Buying on Credit
- The assembly line and the The Automobile (effects on society)
- Laissez Faire Government policies (Pro-Business policies/Coolidge)
- The Harlem Renaissance
- Prohibition and Organized Crime
- The Red Scare
- Nativism and Sacco and Vanzetti
- Scopes Trial (Fundamentalism v. Modernism)
- Jazz Music
- The Lost Generation Writers