Background. Three developments influenced American literature from 1900 to 1941, when the nation entered World War II

Three developments influenced American literature from 1900 to 1941, when the nation entered World War II. (1) The Industrial Revolution had reached its height in the United States during the late 1800's. Writers of the 1900's began to look realistically at the pressing social problems it brought. (2) World War I and the eco­nomic depression of the 1930's caused many authors to become critical of American life. (3) The psychoanalytic studies of Sigmund Freud in Austria pointed to new areas of the personality for writers to explore.

Realists and naturalists. Mark Twain, Henry James, and some of the local colorists had written realistic stories. During the 1890's, William Dean Howells set forth the principles he believed should serve as guides for American realists. Howells defined the aims of realism as «nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treat­ment of material». He called on writers to describe the average and the ordinary in the lives of the people of America.

Howells achieved his goals in «The Rise of Silas Lapham» (1885) and other novels. Many of the writers he encouraged went to far greater extremes. These writers became known as naturalists. They concentrated on crime, slum conditions, and the lowest aspects of society. They often showed their characters as victims of social con­ditions. Many of their works stirred up great controversy because of the degraded situations they pictured and the profanity they contained. The novels of Emile Zola in France and of Thomas Hardy in En­gland influenced the American realists and naturalists.

Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Harold Frederic, and Theodore Dreiser led the way toward powerful realistic and naturalistic writ­ing. Crane studied the battle reactions of a Civil War soldier in «The Red Badge of Courage» (1895). Norris concentrated on the struggles of California wheat ranchers in «The Octopus» (1901). Frederic portrayed the religious conflicts of a young clergyman in «The Damnation of Theron Ware» (1896). Dreiser shocked many readers with the frankness of «Sister Carrie» (1900). He based his best-known novel, «An American Tragedy» (1925), on an actual murder case.

Many other authors produced forceful, often brutal, stories and novels. Hamlin Garland wrote bitterly of the hardships of Mid­western farmers in «Main-Travelled Roads» (1891), a collection of short stories. Brutal violence characterizes many of the novels of Jack London. Readers still thrill to the adventures of Back, the dog hero of London's «The Call of the Wild» (1903J. In the «Studs Lonigan» series (1932-1935), James T. Farrell drew a dark picture of life on Chicago's South Side. John O'Hara specialized in realis­tic descriptions of upper middle class life in such novels as «Ap­pointment in Samara» (1934) and «Ten North Frederick» (1955). Henry Miller wrote his bestknown novels, «Tropic of Cancer» and «Tropic of Capricorn», during the 1930's. Both were banned from publication in the United States until the 1960's.

Social critics. Some writers used realism and naturalism to ex­pose social evils and to achieve reforms. During the early 1900's, a group of journalists and novelists attacked dishonesty in politics and business. They became known as muckrakers. This group in­cluded Lincoln Steflens, Ida M. Tarbell, and Upton Sinclair. Sinclair's novel «The Jungle» (1906) helped bring about the fed­eral pure-food laws. It describes unsanitary conditions that existed in Chicago's meat-packing industry.

Many aspects of American life came under literary attack af­ter the end of World War I in 1918. The critic H. L. Mencken blasted the narrowness of American taste and culture in a scries of essays called «Prejudices» (1919-1927). Sherwood Anderson and Sinclair Lewis directed their criticisms at small town life. Each story in Anderson's «Winesburg, Ohio» (1919) explores, from a psychological viewpoint, a different personality in a small Ohio town. Lewis' «Main Street» (1920) satirizes the hypocrisy and dullness of the people living in a small town in the Midwest. In 1930, Lewis became the first American to receive a Nobel Prize for literature.

Social criticism grew more intense during the Great Depression of the 1930's. Thomas Wolfe studied American morals and values in four huge poetic novels. Each novel, beginning with «Look Home­ward, Angel» (1929), is based on Wolfe's own life. Nalhanacl West exposed the shallowness of American society in «Miss Lonclyhearts» (1933) and «The Day of the Locust» (1939). John Dos Passos brought

social classes under critical examination in U.S.A. (1930-1936), a tril­ogy (scries of three works). «The Grapes of Wrath» (1939) by John Steinhcck stands out as one of the most powerful novel of social pro­test in American literature. It describes the sufferings of the «Okies» as they traveled from Oklahoma to California during the depression.

The Harlem Renaissance. During the 1920's, black litera­ture began to flourish in Harlem, a district of New York City. There had been notable black writers earlier, particularly the po­ets Paul Laurence Dunbar and James Wleldon Johnson. But Harlem in the 1920's brought together many black intellectuals and writers who began to explore black American culture in depth for the first time.

Several writers of special distinction emerged during (lie Harlem Renaissance. Jean Toomcr wrote an unusual work called «Сапе» (1923). This book combines fiction, poetry, and poetic prose to describe black life in both the North and the South. Countee Cullen wrote traditional poems on black themes. Claude McKay wrote «Home to Harlem» (1928), perhaps the first best-selling novel by a black. Langston Hughes was the best-known Harlem writer. He wrote many volumes of poetry, short stories, and humorous but shrewd sketches of black life.

The «lost generation». The writer Gertrude Stein defined a new literary movement when she told Ernest Hemingway: «You are all a lost generation». Stein was referring to the many restless young American writers who gathered in Paris after World War I. Hemingway wrote about the lost generation in his first novel, «The Sun Also Rises» (1926). The rootless Americans in the story roam France and Spain in a desperate search for fun and for a faith to believe in. This novel established Hemingway as one of the most influential writers of the 1900's. Many young authors modeled their writing on his simple, blunt style. Hemingway won new admirers with such later works as «For Whom the Bell Tolls» (1940) and «The Old Man and the Sea» (1952).

One of the most important members of the «lost generation» of writers was F. Scolt Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald won fame with his novel «This Side of Paradise» (1920). This story deals with the wild, rebel­lious young men and women of the «jazz age» after World War I. Most critics regard «The Great Gatsby» (1925) as Fitzgerald's finest

work. This novel tells of an idealist who is gradually destroyed by the influence of wealthy, pleasure-seeking people around him.

William Faulkner is perhaps the greatest novelist of this period. He set most of his stories in the make-believe Mississippi county of Yoknapatawpha. In «The Sound and the Fury» (1929) and other novels, Faulkner used a «stream of consciousness» technique. He showed in great detail how thoughts flowed through his charac­ters' minds. Faulkner's unusual stories and complicated style seem to weave a magic spell that grips the reader's attention.

Regionalists, like the local colorists, used particular geographic areas as backgrounds for their works. Many regionalists used real­ism and naturalism to create true-to-life pictures.

Some of the finest regional writing has come from the South. Outstanding Southern authors include Ellen Glasgow, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Erskine Caldwell, and Robert Penn Warren. Glasgow's novel «In This Our Life» (1941) deals with upper-class life in Virginia. «The Yearling» (1938), by Rawlings, tells a sensi­tive story of a boy's love for his pet fawn. Like most of her novels, it takes place in the Florida backwoods. Caldwell's novel «Tobacco Road» (1932) pictures the misery of a Georgia sharecropper's fam­ily. Warrens novel «All the King's Men» (1946) describes the ca­reer of a powerful Southern politician.

Other regionalists have written about city and country life in various sections of the United States. Willa Calher and Ole Rolvaag told of the hardships of Western pioneers during the 1880's and 1890's. In her novel «My Antonia» (1918), Cather described pio­neer life on the Nebraska frontier. Rolvaag's «Giants in the Earth» (1924—1925) concerns the Norwegian immigrants who settled South Dakota. Edith Wharton analyzed New York City's society life in «The Age of Innocence» (1920). John P. Marquand told of Boston's aristocracy in «The Late George Apley» (1937).

Pearl S. Buck and William Saroyan wrote about a variety of subjects. But they are often classified as regionalists because some of their works have vivid regional details. Buck became known for «The Good Earth» (1931) and other moving novels about China. Saroyan often wrote about the Armenian-American community in Fresno, Calif. His works include «The Time of Your Life» (1939), a play, and «The Human Comedy» (1943), a novel.

A popular form of fiction, the historical novel, is closely re­lated to regional writing. Authors of historical novels often empha­size geographic regions. Margaret Mitchell wrote one of the best- selling historical novels of all time, «Gone with the Wind» (1936). It tells a dramatic story of the South during and after the Civil War. Edna Ferber wrote many historical novels set in various regions. They include «Show Boat» (1926) and «Giant» (1952).

Poetry reborn. American poetry suffered a sharp decline for about 20 years after Walt Whitman died in 1892. In 1912, Harriet Monroe paved the way for a vigorous revival when she founded «Poetry: A Magazine of Verse» in Chicago. This was one of the first magazines devoted exclusively to poetry. It sewn became the rallying point for some of the greatest poets of the 1900's.

Edwin Arlington Robinson and Robert Frost had written im­portant poetry long before 1912. But they first won public recogni­tion as a result of the new interest in poetry awakened by «Poetry» magazine. Robinson wrote several long narrative poems based on popular legends. He also excelled in character sketches, such as «Miniver Cheevy» (1910). Frost became one of America's most beloved poets. His poems have a deceptively simple and readable style. But they delve deeply into human psychology. Such poems as «Mending Wall» (1914) and «Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening» (1923) are modern classics.

Three major poets came from and wrote about the Middle West. Edgar Lee Masters established his reputation with «Spoon River Anthology» (1915), a series of small-town sketches. Vachcl Lind­say produced brilliant poems that have strong, chantlike rhythms. Lindsay stirred readers with such poems as «General William Booth Enters into Heaven» (1913) and «The Congo» (1914). Carl Sandburg aroused controversy with his blunt, realistic free verse. Sandburg's collections of poetry, «Chicago Poems» (1916) and «The People, Yes» (1936), show his sympathy and love for common people. Sandburg also wrote a masterful biography, «Abraham Lin­coln» (1926, 1939).

A long Civil War poem, «John Brown's Body» (1928), brought fame to Stephen Vincent Bcnet. Other poets who contributed to the rebirth of American poetry include Edna St. Vincent Millay, Will­iam Carlos Williams, and Robinson Jeffers. Archibald MacLeish,

a poet, dramatist, and statesman, became known during the 1930's for his powerful social protest verse.

Experiments in poelry. A number of poets who contributed to «Poetry» magazine experimented with form far more than did Frost or Robinson. These poets wanted lo break with all tradition and to create a «new poetry» suited to their own times.

Among the most radical «new poets» were Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell. They became leaders of a group of poets called imagists. The imagists emphasized everyday speech, new rhythms, and the use of clear, sharp images. Pound's early imagist works had a strong influence on young American and British poets. Many of the po­ems in his later Cantos are vague and difficult to understand. Lowell carried out the imagist goals in such sensitive poems as «Patterns» (1916) and «Lilacs» (1925).

Many other poets experimented with both form and content in their works. Probably the most influential was T. S. Eliot. His po­ems, such as «The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock» (1917) and «The Waste Land» (1922), established a modern tradition of diffi­cult, symbolic poetry. Eliot also wrote important works of literary criticism. His theories on analyzing poetry influenced a group of American writers known as New Critics. These critics concentrated on analyzing an authors style, language, and writing techniques. They paid less attention to the author's life or the times in which the author lived. Eliot became a British citizcn in 1927, and many critics consider him an English, rather than an American, poet.

American poets who showed the influence of Eliot's style in­clude Hart Crane, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, and Allen Tate. E. E. Cummings experimented in a somewhat different way. He used unusual punctuation and no capital letters.

The rise of American drama. Drama lagged far behind other literary forms in the United States. Most American plays of the 1700's and 1800's were either melodramatic tragedies or sentimental comedies. Few had any literary value. The first truly creative pe­riod came in the early 1900's.

Eugene O'Neill revolutionized the theater with his realistic themes and daring stage techniques. O'Neill won national and in­ternational fame in 1920 with «Beyond the Horizon», a brutally realistic play. His later works include symbolic tragedies, such as

«The Hairy Аре» (1922), and penetrating psychological dramas, such as «Mourning Becomes Electra» (1931). His tragic «Long Day's Journey into Night» was first produced in 1956, after O'Neill's death. It is based on his own family life.

Led by O'Neill, American drama nourished during the 1920's and 1930's. Outstanding plays of this period include «The Adding Machine» (1923) and «Street Scene» (1929) by Elmer Rice and «Winterset» (1935) by Maxwell Anderson. Robert Sherwood con­tributed «Abe Lincoln in Illinois» (1938) and other important his­torical dramas, George S. Kaufman, Moss Hart, and Marc Connelly entertained audiences with witty, satiric comedies. Clifford Odets took a more serious view of social problems in «Waiting for Lefty» (1935) and «Awake and Sing!» (1935). The realism of «The Children's Hour» by Lillian Hellman shocked the public in 1934. Hcllman won praise in 1941 for «Watch on the Rhine». Thornton Wilder influ­enced later dramatists by omitting scenery and stage settings from his play «Our Town» (1938).

The humorous «Life with Father» by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse set a record by playing on Broadway for almost eight years, from November 1939 to June 1947. This play was based on short stories by Clarence Day. Lindsay and Crouse also wrote «State of the Union» (1945), a political satire.

Many playwrights got their start through the little theater move­ment that grew up during the early 1900's. Outstanding litde the­ater groups included the Province-town (Mass.) Players and the Washington Square Players of New York City. They encouraged experiments in drama and acting.

Short-story writers and humorists. The short story grew in importance during the 1900's. Many leading novelists, including Hemingway and Faulkner, also devoted their skills to short stories. The author most closely associated with the short story is 0. Henry, the pen name of William Sydney Porter. He used suqirise endings so effectively that his technique became known as the «0. Henry twist». Millions of readers have enjoyed such favorites as «The Furnished Room» (1904) and «The Gift of die Magi» (1905).

Kathcrine Anne Porter wrote sensitive, carefully organized short stories. Many of Porter's stories deal with adolescent girls and young women. Her best-known stories were collected in «Flowering Ju- das» (1930) and «Pale Horse, Pale Rider» (1939). Porier also wrote one novel, «Ship of Fools» (1962).

Humorous stories, essays, and poems have attracted a large au­dience. Ring Lardner and Damon Runyon achieved comic effects by their use of slang and dialect in their stories and sketches. Rob­ert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, and E. B. While wrote many hilarious talcs and essays. Dorothy Parker startled some readers with the sarcasm and wit of her poems.

The most quoted humorists include James Thurbcr and Ogdcn Nash. Thurbcr often made humorous little drawings to accompany his stories. Nash amused readers with the distorted words, strange puns, and unexpected rhymes of his verse.