Popular cultural is an important means of understanding any era in history. What people are watching, listening to, reading, making, and doing can tell us a lot about the time and society in which they lived the technology, the social norms, class difference, societal tensions, and more. In class we discussed how black culture started making its way into the mainstream in the 1930s. We also saw how music was used during the great depression era, and watched a film meant to illustrate the dangers of marijuana use amongst teens. For this exam, you are going to analyze an elemnt of 1930s popular culture. You will pick a topic ( a person, a film, an event, a radio show, a sport, etc.) and explain its history and background.
You will examine how the topic you picked reflects the time in which it was popular.
Why did it spread?
What did it mean to people?
What were the technologies involved?
Who was the audience?
was anyone excluded?
What else was going in America and around the world at the time?
These are just a few of the questions you can address in your essay as you try to understand a popular cultural phenomenon of the interwar period.
Topic ideas:
Speakeasies,dance halls and other hangouts.
Jazz( a specific jazz musician, a type of jazz, etc.)
Movies
Music
Popular literature
Boxing, basketball, &other sports Charles Lindbergh
Drug culture
Folklore & urban legends
Sensational crimes
American Studies- 201
research paper 7-8 pages
MLA format
Sources: scholarly journals, books, primary sources. NO wikipedia, encylopedia. Newspaper and magazines from the era are allowed.