The document discusses how urbanization led to changes in American culture and psychology in the late 19th century as people moved from rural to urban areas. It then explores how life in cities paradoxically led to isolation despite density, as analyzed by various writers, artists, and filmmakers over the 20th century. Finally, it prompts the reader to write an essay discussing this topic and whether modern technology promotes isolation by catering to individual tastes, or if Americans now prefer isolation.

1. Urbanization and Isolation in post-WWI America Honors American Literature Final Exam

4. O.K. – Let’s begin

6. And in this genre painting, “Farmers Nooning” by William Sydney Mount (1836) we see something more. Though mostly an idyllic view, it is also paternalistic : note that the white men lounge in the shade , while the black man sleeps in the sun , imputing a kind of laziness to the African-American which the other men tolerate with quiet amusement. One of the men reads, indicating his “intellectual superiority.” And the child takes the opportunity to make the black man an object of his humor, even ridicule. Benign, perhaps, and intended to be bucolic (simple and folksy) but the lines are clearly drawn. NOTE: this slide has been kept in by request; you do not have to include it in your analysis unless you wish.

9. John Trumbull, “Battle of Bunker’s Hill”

10. Photograph of dead Confederate soldier at Spotsylvania Courthouse, 1863 (by Matthew Brady) Instead, they saw this…

11. Photograph of dead Confederate soldier at Petersburg, 1865 (by Matthew Brady) and this…

13. Photographs like the one above surely must have dispelled any belief in the bloodless death of General Wolfe. The death of General Wolfe in Benjamin West’s painting is more reminiscent of a scene from “Camille” than a scene from war. (Note: “Camille” was a play written in the 1840’s about a courtesan – i.e., high-priced prostitute -- dying of tuberculosis. The photo at right is from a 1936 film based on the play.)

32. Good Luck !