1. Suzie Moneta Courtnee Portlock Mikka Croskell Kristina Sheyko
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 Moneta
Courtnee Portlock
Mikka Croskell
Kristina Sheyko

2. Outline Art 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 change
Artists 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"

3. Saui Bellow- Future Pulitzer Prize winner with the first writing job
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)

4. Other writers found hope in the positive values of American Culture
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)

5. 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

6. Diagram

7. Pictures and Cartoons

8. Questions
1. How did the Great Depression and New Deal influence art and literature?
A. Led to more serious sober art
B. Depicted the "real" conditions
C. Made people want to help each other
D. A and B
2. Did literature during the 1930's present a positive or negative view of American society?

9. Questions
1. How did the Great Depression and New Deal influence art and literature?
A. Led to more serious sober art
B. Depicted the "real" conditions
C. Made people want to help eachother
D. 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