History 476

20th Century Youth Culture

Devine

STUDY QUESTIONS FOR FEBRUARY 20th

 

  1. What effect did World War I have on the younger generation?

 

  1. Why is John F. Carter so critical of the older generation?

 

  1. According to Carter, how did the older generation take away the idealism of the younger generation?

 

  1. In the “Petting and Necking” article, what seems to concern the author the most?  What criticisms of the “modern girl” does she make?

 

  1. How do the author’s fears about the blurring of class lines emerge in her article, “Petting and the Campus?”

 

  1. In the Literary Digest forum, to what extent is the “youth problem” really a “girl problem”?  Why do you think women’s appearance and behavior raised such public concern?

 

  1. In one college newspaper editorial, the (male) editor complains about the behavior of the “new woman.” Why might young men be just as opposed to the “new woman” as matronly reformers of the older generation?

 

  1. What arguments are used to defend the younger generation?  What evidence do they cite to show that the concerns of critics are overblown?

 

  1. According to Wechsler’s Revolt on Campus, how did the attitudes of college students toward war change between the U.S. entry into World War I and the end of the war?

 

  1. What forms did student rebellion take during the 1920s?  What, if any, goals did the rebels espouse?

 

  1. What did the radical or rebellious students find most disturbing about American society during the 1920s? 

 

  1. How did the prosperity or “boom” of the 1920s affect the attitudes and behavior of college students?  By 1925, why had student radicals become frustrated?

 

  1. Why did the journalist H.L. Mencken become influential among middle-class college rebels?  Was Mencken’s social criticism “radical?” 

 

  1. How did the emergence of “King Football” affect the spirit of rebellion on campus?