FilmQ_Ch20-21_The Roaring Twenties: Politics & Lifestyles

How to Use Video as a Source

Step #1: Familiarize yourself with film questions prior to viewing the film. By reading the questions and understanding
the vocabulary contained within, you allow yourself the luxury of viewing the film without having to look at the
questions continuously.
Step #2: View and Listen Attentively. Unlike a book, a video provides information via visual images and audio. Both
forms of data are more valuable together than separately. For example, turn the volume off on your TV during your
favorite program. Then, raise the volume while blacking-out the image. Under which conditions was the data most
richly delivered? Always make sure that you have unobstructed viewing of a film and that the sound is audible.
As you view the video, pay attention to visual and/ or audio cues that reflect the issues raised by the questions
below. Your responses should refer to video content as well as your current knowledge and understanding of history.
Step #3: Organize Your Thoughts. Unlike a book, the data from a video is often delivered at a constant rate. With a
book, you can slow your reading speed when you encounter a particular segment that is complicated. You can also
turn back to a previous page to review information. A film is a bit different in that you may not always have the option
to use slow motion or rewind. Therefore, maintaining focus on the imagery and sound is important. Targeted Notes
will reduce the amount of time you're looking away from the film. By writing quick and simple phrases of a few words
each, you maintain greater attention to film events. Targeted notes use key words/ phrases that will ignite a thought or
idea when you read them later. There is no concern for grammar or spelling while doing this. After the film has ended,
you look at your targeted notes and manipulate the data to compile responses in complete sentences.

Organizational Tip: Vertically divide the sheet of paper where your responses will go. On the left half, take targeted
notes for each question given. After viewing the video, use the targeted notes to compose complete responses to
each question (on the right half of the sheet).
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Overview: It has been a century like no other. And ABC news is proud to present this extraordinary visual
encyclopedia of America's last one hundred years. Unprecedented in scope The century: America's time
recounts the defining moments, people, and trends that have shaped the United States and the World.
The series is narrated by Peter Jennings.

BOOM AND BUST [~14 min per episode (3 parts), ~42 min. Total.]
The 1920s ushered in an era of great social change, general prosperity, Prohibition and what
historians refer to as modernity. This episode examines these great cultural changes and their affects on
the nation. The 1920s, in stark contrast to the Victorian era, roared, as bathtub gin flowed and more and
more Americans moved to urban areas. But the decade also saw limited prosperity for many, especially
farmers, and the unrest and discord between the values of small town America and the rapid pace of
science and technology. The optimism of the decade would end in the most severe economic depression
in American history. Episode 3 presents some of the major events that shaped the decade including The
Scopes Monkey Trial, Prohibition, the rise of leisure pastimes, and the impact of inventions such as the
automobile, radio, movies and electricity.

SOURCE: The Century: America's Time Video Series by CenturyAmericasTime
at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC8D9DC28C3EC5223

Context: United States, 1920 - 1929, The tumultuous economic, cultural, & political changes of the 'Roaring
Twenties'.

1. How did Prohibition help increase the presence of organized crime in America?
2. Identify two cultural trends of the 1920s that broke and transgressed different boundaries in American
society, especially the accepted roles for women.
3. The media has had a tremendous influence on the twentieth century. Identify and describe an impact
that mass media had on the 1920s?
4. The 1920s saw a burgeoning of African-American culture and talent, centered in the Harlem section of
New York City. Identify at least three contributions of the Harlem Renaissance to American art and
literature.
5. Describe three of the social tenets ('rules') of the Harlem Renaissance.
6. In the 1920s, for the first time in the countrys history, more Americans lived in an urban setting than a
rural one. Explain why the country would undergo such a population shift. How would the shift from a
'rural' to an 'urban' population affect the nation?
7. Compare/ Contrast rural and urban areas in the 1920s.
8. How did advertising develop as the nation increasingly consumed products in the 1920s.
9. How did the roles of women change by the close of the 1920s.
10. How did the Scopes trial illustrate the clash between science and religion that was a hallmark of the
early century.