1. 1950-59:
The Cold War, Age of
Conformity, Civil Rights
Movement
1950’s Literature Unit
11th Grade English
Miss Tomlinson
2. Lecture Objectives & CA Standards
How do our novels reflect the time in which they were written?
Lecture Objective: Students will be able to make connections between the six novels of the unit and
the period in which they were written. Students will demonstrate an active understanding of the Cold War,
the Age of Conformity, and the Civil Rights Movement in order to make these connections.
CA Standards Covered:
- Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with
diverse partners
- Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature,
including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.
- Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in
order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting
any discrepancies among the data.
- Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account;
provide an objective summary of the text.
3. Based on your past
knowledge of the decade
and what you’ve read of
your novels so far-
What was it like to live
through the 1950s era?
On the guided lecture notes page,
spend some time on this question
independently. Also consider and note
anything you know about:
- The end of World War II
- The Cold War
- The early Civil Rights Movement
- New technology of the 1950s
- Our novels’ themes
- Dominant figures of the decade
*Share your insights in small groups*
Educational Hook
6. Beginning of the Cold War: 1945
● End of World War II (1945): Allies vs Axis Powers-
U.S prevails
● Nuclear Age:
○ Use of the first atomic weapons over
Hiroshima and Nagasaki during WWII- led to
worldwide anxiety about nuclear war.
■ Full scale nuclear exchange between
the U.S and Russia could destroy all of
civilization
● Beginning of the Cold War: U.S (capitalist) and
Soviet Union (communist) decide the future of
postwar Europe.
○ Both sides wanted to expand influence in
Europe = main conflict
The Cold War was a proxy war: “an armed
conflict between two states or non-state actors
which act on the instigation or on behalf of other
parties that are not directly involved in the
hostilities”
7. McCarthy Era (1950-1955)
● In the early Cold War, there was a widespread
fear and paranoia about the threat of
communism to the U.S
● Joseph McCarthy (U.S Senator) convinced
millions of Americans that communists were
infiltrating American institutions (the
government, Hollywood, Universities)
○ A LOT of paranoia during this time. Although the Soviet
Union was a threat because of their nuclear weapons,
the paranoia went beyond justified fears. Widespread
propaganda, etc.
8. Dystopian Novels That
Could Reflect These
Circumstances:
1) 1984: Published June 1949
2) Fahrenheit 451: Published October 1953
3) Lord of the Flies: Published September
1954
9. Check for Understanding:
Let’s Consider
This..
Lecture Question (Respond on your
“Consider This” Chart):
Can you think of any present events
or political figures that mirror this
McCarthyism paranoia?
12. Spread of Existentialism (1945-
1965)
This philosophy spread from France & Germany
to the U.S during this time. Authors were greatly
influenced by it- many characters and plots were
driven by this concept.
Existentialism: freeing ourselves from the
definitions that others impose on us, inventing
who we are through actions and choices
EXISTENCE PRECEDES ESSENCE
The idea that humans cannot and should not be
defined in advance. Each individual chooses how
they are defined through actions and choices.
Sigmund Freud, inventor of psychoanalysis.
- Humans, like animals, are motivated by the
instinct to procreate and instinct to
survive- which manifests through sexuality
and aggressive behavior.
- Minds have conscious and unconscious
element: Id, Superego, Ego
People in the U.S became more interested in
psychotherapy in hopes to uncover reasons why
they may be unhappy.
This also had influence on literature in the 1950s,
many characters show this interest.
Growth of Interest in
Psychoanalysis
13. Video: US Post World War II Boom - The American Dream - Conformity - Boomers, "Teen" Agers
14. Age of Conformity (1953-1961)
● President Dwight Eisenhower oversaw a country
dealing with McCarthy paranoia, racial injustice,
and fear of a nuclear war- but country was
prospering economically post World World II
○ Largest economic expansion in US history (1948-1973)
○ Introduction of broadcast TV in the home
○ Levittown, New York (1949)- America’s first massive
Suburban housing development
Spread of suburbianization throughout the U.S + Sitcom TV
portraying suburban nuclear family = enforcement of gender
roles and conforming to new normal. Americans felt they must
follow these conventions or they would lose out on general
prosperity of the country
15. Novels That Could
Reflect These Concepts:
1) 1984: Published June 1949
2) Catcher in the Rye: Published July 1951
3) Invisible Man: Published April 1952
4) Lord of the Flies: Published September 1954
5) A Separate Peace: Published 1959
16. Check for Understanding:
Let’s Consider
This..
Lecture Question (Respond on your
“Consider This” Chart):
How might existentialism be
controversial to the “average
American” living in the age of
conformity?
19. Civil Rights Movement: Key Events in the 1950s
● Brown vs. Board of Education (1954): landmark
decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the
Court ruled that U.S. state laws establishing
racial segregation in public schools are
unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools
are otherwise equal in quality.
● Martin Luther King Jr. leads the Montgomery,
Alabama bus boycott after Rosa Parks is
arrested (1955)
○ The modern Civil Rights movement begins
20.
21. Novels That Could
Reflect These
Concepts:
1) Invisible Man: Published April 1952
(*note: this was published before 1954)
22. Check for Understanding:
Let’s Consider
This..
Lecture Question (Respond on your
“Consider This” Chart):
Why is the Brown vs Board of
Education ruling so important?
24. Final Activity:
How do our novels reflect the time in
which they were written?
1. Meet with your novel small
groups
2. Discuss the final row of your
“Consider This” together and
add some notes from your
discussion
3. Each group will share out their
connections with the larger
class
4. While you listen to other groups
make connections to their own
novels, take note!
