Contemporary Literature 1939 to Present Feature Menu Interactive Time Line Milestone: World War II Milestone: The Cold War Milestone: Civil Rights Movement Milestone: Digital Revolution Milestone: Postmodernism What Have You Learned?
Contemporary Literature 1939 to Present Choose a link on the time line to go to a milestone. 1939 1945 World War II 1950s 1970s Civil Rights Movement 1950s Present Digital Revolution 1900 1950 2000 Detailed timeline 1945 1991 The Cold War 1960s Present Postmodernism
1929 Stock market crashes 1930 1950 Contemporary Literature 1939 to Present 1955 1975 Vietnam War 1963 President John F. Kennedy assassinated 1969 Americans walk on the moon 1991 Soviet Union breaks up 2003 War in Iraq begins 1970 1990 2010 1939 1945 World War II 1964 Civil Rights Act 1989 Berlin Wall knocked down 1974 President Nixon resigns; Watergate scandal 2001 Attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon
World War II 1939 1945 U.S. Involvement in World War II Initially, the U.S. views war as a foreign problem and remains neutral. 1941 The U.S. enters war after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. War is fought on two fronts in Europe and in Pacific.
World War II 1939 1945 European Front
World War II 1939 1945 Pacific Front
World War II 1939 1945 On the U.S. Home Front Food and goods are rationed; scrap drives are held. Billions of dollars worth of war bonds are bought. Women go to work in factories. Fear of spies is prevalent. 1942 The U.S. begins internment of Japanese Americans. A-town Boogie
The End of the War World War II 1939 1945 May 1945 Germany surrenders to the Allies. August 1945 Japan surrenders to the Allies after the U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hiroshima, Japan, after the atomic bombing
The Cold War 1945 1991 Fighting Communism in Europe After World War II, the Soviet Union controls Eastern Europe. 1948 1951 The U.S. offers aid to Western Europe under the Marshall Plan. 1949 The Soviet Union explodes atomic bomb. The U.S. quadruples defense spending and develops more powerful nuclear weapons. Cold War Alliances in Europe
The Cold War 1945 1991 Cold War Alliances in Europe, 1955
Fighting Communism in Europe Western pressure and internal problems weaken Soviet Union. 1991 Soviet Union collapses; new Russian republic is formed. The Cold War 1945 1991 President Reagan speaks at Moscow State University, 1988 Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989
The Cold War 1945 1991 Breakup of the Soviet Sphere, 1989 1993
The Cold War 1945 1991 Fighting Communism in the World 1945 1975 The U. S. supports France and then South Vietnam in fight against communism in Vietnam. 1950 1953 The U. S. supports South Korea in the Korean War. 1961 The U. S. finances the invasion of Bay of Pigs in Cuba, which fails. 1962 Cuban missile crisis brings the U. S. and the Soviet Union to brink of nuclear war.
The Cold War 1945 1991 Vietnam War Listen to facts about the Vietnam War and its aftermath
The Cold War 1945 1991 Korean War
The Cold War 1945 1991 Cuban Missile Crisis
Atomic Anxiety The Cold War 1945 1991 In the 1950s, people were afraid of a nuclear attack by the Soviets. By 1960, about one million bomb shelters had been constructed in the U. S. Today, several countries have nuclear-weapon capabilities.
The Cold War 1945 1991 Anti-Communism in America Americans worry about spread of Communism in the U.S. 1952 1954 Senator McCarthy conducts anti- Communist hearings; thousands lose jobs and credibility. Fear of Communism leads to conformist society in the 1950s. Senator Joseph McCarthy
Civil Rights Movement 1950s 1970s Nonviolent Resistance Leads to Change 1954 The U. S. Supreme Court rules that segregation in public schools is illegal in Brown v. Board of Education. 1955 The arrest of Rosa Parks sparks the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Alabama. 1957 The Little Rock Nine attend Central High School after federal troops are sent to enforce desegregation.
Civil Rights Movement 1950s 1970s Nonviolent Resistance Leads to Change 1963 At the March on Washington, over 250,000 people demonstrate in support of civil rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans segregation in public places and prohibits discrimination by businesses and organizations that receive federal funds. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 protects all citizens voting rights.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Movement 1950s 1970s Advocates nonviolent political action 1963 Delivers I Have a Dream speech during the March on Washington Martin Luther King, Jr. 1964 Wins the Nobel Peace Prize 1968 Is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee
The Digital Revolution 1950s Present New Communication and Technology 1900s 1950s Rotary dial telephones are in use. Touchtone service is introduced in 1960s. 1925 1950 Golden Age of radio. Radio is primary source of entertainment and news.
The Digital Revolution 1950s Present New Communication and Technology 1939 Television broadcasts begin. Color broadcasts begin in 1953. Sixty million sets are in use by the 1960s. 1945 1970s Supercomputers and mainframes are in use. UNIVAC
New Communication and Technology Apple II The Digital Revolution 1950s Present 1970s The development of microprocessors allows for smaller computers. First personal computer is designed in 1975. The Apple II is introduced in 1977. 1980s Cellular phones are introduced.
The Digital Revolution 1950s Present New Communication and Technology 1980s present Computers become common in homes, offices, schools. 1990s Internet becomes commercial and takes off. Tech boom in stock market ends with sharp downturn in 2000.
Characteristics Allows multiple meanings and worlds Nontraditional structures and forms Intensely personal Features cultural diversity Blends fiction and nonfiction Postmodernism 1960s Present
Postmodernism 1960s Present Multiple Meanings and Worlds Narrators and characters may tell different versions of a story. Stories may accommodate several valid interpretations. Works such as Toni Morrison s Beloved may merge realistic and literal worlds, past worlds, and dreamlike metaphorical worlds. Toni Morrison
Postmodernism 1960s Present Nontraditional Structures and Forms Postmodern writers may ignore conventional structures or experiment with language. Self-conscious works comment on themselves. Open-form poets avoid traditional forms. Beat poets use intense language to speak out against social injustice and conformity. Dave Eggers
Postmodernism 1960s Present Beat Poets Howl by Allen Ginsberg and On the Road by Jack Kerouac become a kind of bible for the beat generation Embrace dissent and experimentation Address concerns of contemporary life Hold poetry readings and jazz performances in coffeehouses Allen Ginsberg
Intensely Personal Postmodernism 1960s Present 1959 Robert Lowell publishes Life Studies, a very personal collection of poems. Confessional poets reveal their private lives with brutal frankness. Other famous confessional poets: Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and John Berryman Sylvia Plath
Cultural Diversity Postmodernism 1960s Present The counterculture movement of the late 1960s rejects conformity in politics and art and favors greater diversity and social justice. Proponents of multiculturalism challenge traditional views of what writers should write and what students should read.
Postmodernism 1960s Present Blend of Fiction and Nonfiction Nonfiction is now considered an art form. Literary journalism allows writer s opinion to appear and often blurs lines of truth and accuracy. Joan Didion visiting the closed Alcatraz Prison (1967)
What Have You Learned? Indicate whether the following statements refer to the time before, during, or after the Cold War. before The United States drops atomic bombs on Japan. during Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his I Have a Dream speech. during The United States finances an invasion of the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. after Computers became common in homes.
The End
Viewing the Art Ocean Park No. 31 Richard Diebenkorn (1922 1993) painted both abstract works and figurative works. In his Ocean Park series, he uses abstract forms line, shape, and color to depict the landscape of the American West. Activity: What sort of landscape does this painting remind you of?
The works in Diebenkorn s Ocean Park series were inspired by the Santa Monica neighborhood where the artist lived.