Sources for America’s History: Printed Page 526
Using the sources in this chapter, construct an argument demonstrating the role that ideas, beliefs, and creative expression played in effecting a cultural transformation in the period from 1877 to 1917.
Compare Howells’s advocacy of realism with Cortissoz’s rejection of the abstract qualities of modern art. Do you think their criticism of fiction and painting, respectively, share common assumptions about what makes great art? Explain.
Compare Sumner’s views with those of Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Document 18-5) for evidence of Social Darwinism’s impact on American intellectuals. How did each use Darwinian ideas to structure a critique of the late nineteenth century?
How do the values and attitudes toward gender roles demonstrated in Ticknor’s satire compare with those of Theodore Roosevelt (Document 18-1), Elizabeth Shipley Sergeant (Document 18-2), and Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Document 18-5)? To what extent did race and class intersect with gender to shape society’s ideals for both sexes?
Is the period 1877 to 1917 better defined as the end of Victorianism or the birth of modernism? Which is the more convincing way of interpreting the period? Identify the sources that support your argument.