Instructions:

Write a 3-4 page essay that answers the prompt below.  Your paper should be double spaced, and in Times New Roman, size 12 font.

In the decades preceding World War II, technological innovation, intense commercialization, and large-scale migrations contributed to the development of a true “national” popular culture in the United States. How did the development of this mass popular culture impact the economy, society, and politics in the United States? How did it challenge traditional American values and ways of life?

Required Secondary Sources – Use and footnote all secondary sources listed below as you use them in your paper.

  • The American Yawp (Links to an external site.) – Chapters 21-24 will be especially useful. Footnote the specific chapters you use. You do not have to use all the chapters, but your essay should demonstrate thorough reading and understanding of the content in the chapters.
  • Jim Cullen, “Mediating Communities: Popular Culture and Modern Technology, 1900-1945” in The Art of Democracy: A Concise History of Popular Culture in the United States, pgs. 135-199 (NYU Press, 2002). (Links to an external site.)This resource is available on JSTOR. You’ll need to access JSTOR using your FIU credentials. Visit library.fiu.edu, click on “Find,” then select A-Z list. Scroll down to JSTOR and sign in.

Required Primary Sources – Use and footnote 8 of the 14 primary sources listed below as you use them in your paper.

  • 1920s photograph of farmer and radio
  • 1923 Carlos Williams, “The Crowd at the Ballpark”
  • 1923 Edgar F. Wolfe, “The Benevolent Brotherhood of Baseball Bugs”
  • 1926 George S. Schuyler, “the Negro-Art Hokum”
  • 1933 high school “girl” autobiography of movie experiences
  • 1933 college “boy” autobiography of movie experiences
  • 1933 African American autobiography of movie experiences
  • 1933 other perspectives on moviegoing
  • 1950 Collier’s editorial on potential harm of radio programs, phonograph records, Western movies, and comic books
  • 1954 and 1955 Senate report on influence of television on juvenile delinquency
  • 1955 Congressional Subcommittee testimony from Freida Hennock
  • 1955 Senate Committee hearing on comic books and juvenile delinquency
  • 1956 Congressional testimonies on the advertisement of alcoholic beverages

 

 

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