|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Part III: The 1920s
|
|
| |
by Jeff Bloodworth
Gannon University
Erie, Pennsylvania
|
|
| |
Clash of Cultures
Most students bring some knowledge of the 1920s into the classroom. The Clash of Cultures Web site is a straightforward introduction to the social history of the 1920s, touching on themes many students are already familiar with. By focusing on the era's representative events and issues such as Prohibition, the New Woman, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Scopes Trial, students can use the site without much guidance or fear of being overwhelmed with information. The site's "Introduction" nicely illustrates and summarizes the big issues and gives students the information necessary for exploring the sections further detailing the era.
The "Prohibition" section offers a concise yet fairly sophisticated explanation of the movement and its failures, successes, and controversies. Using political cartoons, photographs, and primary documents, the site effectively examines the issue in detail and offers students a subtle and complex accounting of the movement. On the whole, the four major sections of the Web site are equally well suited for AP students. However, this is not always the case. For example, the section on sexuality and the "New Woman" is not particularly useful, as the author laces the text with politically charged phrases, such as "saturated with heterosexuality," in describing the social scene of 1920s dating.
The site offers several useful extras, including teaching tips and a very detailed list of links, most of which lead to Web sites that are visual and interesting. For example, the links attached to the "New Woman" section include images of women's fashion and an exhibition portfolio on Harlem. Both of these links are representative of the care the site's creators took in selecting additional resources.
The site's major shortcoming is that in choosing its "culture war" theme it risks propagating the stereotypes that many hold of the 1920s. Despite this fault, the site is a good introduction to the social history of the 1920s and is well suited for AP students.
 Clash of Cultures
Monkey Trial
The Scopes "Monkey Trial" was America's first major media event. The trial neatly brought together political themes and cultural fault lines that ran through twentieth-century American life. PBS's award-winning series American Experience produced a documentary and a Web site detailing the event, both of which weave together interviews with historians and eyewitnesses to tell the story of the world-famous 1925 trial in Dayton, Tennessee.
First, teachers need not use the documentary to utilize the Web site. Students only need a general understanding of events before they encounter the site. In fact, the Web site boasts a very useful summation of the trial and the era.
The site offers an array of useful features that will supplement a unit on 1920s American cultural life. The "Gallery" portion of the Web site offers many practical uses for the classroom. In this section's short summation of the trial, students can click on key names and places for further background information. In addition, the "Gallery" features political cartoons lambasting William Jennings Bryan and folk songs advocating for the opposing side. The site offers additional links so students can learn more about issues such as the social gospel and the Jazz Age, and can hear the first radio broadcast of the trial.
Of prime interest to instructors is the "Teacher's Guide," which presents an array of activities for the classroom. Moreover, these activities use the Monkey Trial to create activities suitable to four subjects: history, economics, geography, and civics. The site effectively establishes the trial's context. This Web site is a useful tool and offers many ideas for teachers.
Monkey Trial
|
|
|
|
|
|
