Modernism The Assault On Tradition Study Guide

This week reading lesson was on Modernism: The Assault on Tradition. In this chapter the subject were about the new directions (modernism took), war and revolution, modern literature, modern art, modern architecture, music and dance. Modernism era took place from 1890-1950 and it broke traditions more than any other time.

1) The new directions modernism took physics to another level. Two physicists Albert Michelson and Edward Morley concluded the speed of light constant throughout the universe. Science took a dramatic change with quantum physics developed by Albert Einstein, when he made public “his special theory of relatively in 1905” (384). Bringing new ideas and concepts about time, space, and motion. Another innovator is Werner Heisenberg

World War one would bring much change to the world. “The cost of four years of war was approximately $350 billion” (386). This is the first time the world seen a war that cost this much and with an extremely high death toll. Because of the war cost it put the economy into “The Great Depression”. The accounts of this horrific event can be found in John Steinbeck’s book The Grapes of Wrath. Another event that happened was the “Harlem Renaissance”. This movement showed black expression through literature and different arts. This was a result of racism towards blacks who migrated into urban cities. Notable people from the Renaissance is Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. Other events that were going on during this time was the Russian revolution and World War two. The most graphic event of World War two is the persecution of the Jews by the orders of Adolf Hitler. A survivor of this event Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel wrote the accounts in his memoirs called

The most influential is Pablo Picasso and his paintings. “Les Demoiselles was the precursor of a new style called cubism” (395). Cubism was a new style of modern art. With the spread of technology and finding its’ way into the art realm, it produced a new style art called “Futurism”. Since the Modernism era was about expression away from tradition, this idea was the birth of “expressionism” in art. A landmark painting of expressionism is Scream by painter Edvard Munch. The architecture of this time is different from the past work we read about. They were using cement and steel rods to build the buildings and other things we see every day. A landmark Architecture is Frank Lloyd being the first American to use these components to alter