Man has always been desirous of material success. Countless works of literature have revolved around this particular idea. And yet, desiring material success is not synonymous with attaining it; and attaining success is not synonymous with knowing how to live with it.

The popular term to describe this idea is The American Dream. The American Dream is quite prevalent in today’s culture. We have state lotteries that promise instant millions. We have quiz shows that guarantee untold riches. And to those who can offer in cyberspace a new slant on the micro-chip, life seems very golden, indeed.

In the inner-city high schools of our nation, our young people have role models who seemingly have attained this affluent life-style. And to those living in distant villages and cities around the globe, America has been depicted as the greatest land of opportunity.

Daniel J. Boorstein, the historian, writes in his book The Image or What Happened to the American Dream, the following: "A dream is a vision or an aspiration to which we can compare reality. An illusion, on the other hand, is an image we have mistaken for reality. We cannot reach for it, aspire to it, or be exhilarated by it; for we live in it … (239)".

Boorstein continues with this idea as he states:

The American dream was the most accurate way of describing the hopes of men in America. It was an exhilaration and an inspiration precisely because it symbolized the disparity between the possibilities of new America and the old hard facts of life …if America was also a land of dreams come true, that was so because generations suffered to discover that the dream was here to be reached for, and not to be lived in (240).

Boorstein’s last statement hits home: "The unprecedented American opportunities have always tempted us to confuse the visionary with the real"(240).

It is with these ideas in mind that I have created this unit entitled: "The American Dream vs. Reality: Illusion vs. Truth." The unit is designed for mainstream eleventh graders, though it certainly is applicable for more advanced classes. The students for whom this unit is written ,however, are young people with average intelligence and average skills. Most of these students come from working class families. A single parent heads many of these families. Some of these students are parents themselves. Most have part-time jobs; all are about a year away from graduation and their future.

After taking the seminar "American History Through Art" offered by the Pittsburgh Teachers Institute at Chatham College, I decided to combine my expertise in literature with the fine arts. Most mainstream students may have a cursory experience with American artists, but the majority find museums alien to their daily lives. This dual subject is really an unfamiliar vista for most of the teens, and yet literature and art are really two halves of the same coin, as they will soon realize.

As eleventh grade English primarily is a study of American literature, I have decided to integrate three literary works with three specific areas of American art. These works and the schools of art lend themselves quite nicely to the dream theme. The first of these is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. The second selection is Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. The last choice is Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. Both Jay Gatsby and Willy Loman fail in their attempt to attain their dreams. The Younger family, headed by the matriarch, Mama Lena, tentatively achieves their "fair housing, but the path is tenuous and filled with twists and turns.

My focus in art will revolve around the period from 1900 to 1940---twentieth century American art. The movements or schools, which I will highlight, include the Ashcan school, the Regionalists, and those who call themselves Social Realists.

In Wayne Craven’s text, American Art: History and Culture, which is one of the sources for class readings, he tells us that: "The history of American painting during the first four decades of the century…consists of two parallel traditions---realism and abstraction. The former seemed to arise naturally out of America itself, while the latter followed the lead of the dynamic European experiments in visual imagery"(423). It is this realistic trend from which I will draw my slides and my lessons. The students, I believe, will respond better to the art that they can recognize.

I envision this unit as a separate entity that will be taught after the three works of literature have been covered in class. The students will, at this point, have a certain familiarity with the characters, and will be aware of some of the themes and concepts that the literary selections espouse. I project this curricular unit to last approximately six weeks, but certainly can be extended for a longer period. As I flash a slide on the screen, I will bring in a reference to the story or a particular character’s actions. My plan, then, is to use this art to develop the key themes, which have been studied in the literature. I also wish to demonstrate to the students that paintings, much like written texts, can be "read" and interpreted to learn more about the time, place, and people represented. This will be a unique opportunity to demonstrate such a concept to the students.

The slides that I have chosen are those that fit in well with the "American Dream" motif. The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh is my chief source. However, before the unit is taught, I hope to pay a visit to the art museums of New York City where many of these artists have original work on display. There, I hope to purchase posters, or perhaps slides that I have been unable to obtain here in Pittsburgh. I have selected artists that either I personally like, within the framework of the unit, or that I feel embody the points I wish to highlight. There is room in this curriculum for one to deviate from my choices. And perhaps, there may be more extensive choices of slides or posters elsewhere that might be more easily incorporated into the unit.

A visit to one’s local museum is a plus for this unit, only to expose the students to real works of art, and to other artists and other styles. In Pittsburgh, the Carnegie Museum of Art is user-friendly and certainly student oriented. Certain art galleries may open up opportunities for class visitations, particularly if they are exhibiting realistic work of the period 1900-1940. Research on a particular school of art, or of the artist in focus, is necessary. Therefore, library visitations should be a vital part of the unit.

The focus of this unit will be on the idealized dream. However, I do want the student to see that it is not easily attainable, and there are many hills to climb to be able to reach it. Some of these problems are related to the acquisition of money, or class struggles and racial bias. There is, in short, an underside to the American urban landscape, that follows along with the attainment of material success. I do want the young people to be free to follow their own goals, however. Langston Hughes says it well in a poem, which appears in the class anthology:

Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die,
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Besides discussing the dream motif, I will use art that illustrate symbols of materialism. Jay Gatsby has a magnificent yellow car---certainly a symbol of his upward mobility. Walter Lee Younger does not own a car, as he is a lowly chauffeur—a position at the bottom of the social scale. He continually has to polish this automobile, and nod courteously at his employer. This causes within him a great deal of frustration and anger. Willy Loman sees his past ownership of cars as symbols of happier times with his family, especially his son, Biff. In terms of plot structure of Gatsby and Death of a Salesman, the heroes’ cars cause their ultimate demise. Gatsby, with Daisy driving, kills a woman, and her husband exacts revenge on Gatsby. Willy uses his car to commit suicide. He offers himself up as a sacrificial lamb, hoping that his insurance money will enable Biff to achieve his American Dream.

There are a number of artists who showcase public transportation as the centerpiece of their art. They depict the boredom, the empty faces, as these "poorer" members of society make their way to minimum wage jobs. Mary Loomis Wilson illustrates this in Men on a Subway, (1936), as does Albert Gold in Trolley Crowd, (1940). People who have not yet attained their dream cars, such as the likes of Jay Gatsby, use public transportation. The majority of public school teenagers use this type of transit. And they can certainly empathize with the delays, the surly drivers, the utter boredom of this type of transportation. Wilson and Gold understand these "customers." And because they are depicting real-life scenes with all its "warts," we classify them as representatives of the social realist school of art.

Certain art works from the 1930’s and the 1940’s cry out for narration. This activity will allow the student to employ his/her vivid imagination in telling a story behind the scene. Edward Hopper is one artist who paints lonely urban scenes. As the students gaze at Hopper’s work, a creative story telling mode can be utilized by the teacher. Two of the artist’s works will be focused for these reasons. They are: Nighthawks (1942), and Early Sunday Morning (1930). We find this isolationist theme especially in Death of a Salesman. Willy Loman is unable to connect to the present. He lives in the past and for the past. Then, times were happy and he did not have to worry about losing his job. Willy’s house, when first purchased was cozy. As the mortgage comes to an end, the house is run-down and shabby, surrounded by shadowing apartment buildings. Willy tells his sons, Biff and Happy, that "…the woods are burning…there’s a big blaze going on all around …" Willy is isolated from his past, and the present is going up in smoke. He is very much disconnected to his current life. Teenagers also can understand this loneliness. Therefore, Hopper should be a very appealing artist to them.

We can see from these examples, that the attainment of the American Dream is an uphill battle. There are harsh aspects to urban living. The public transportation scenes reflect the angst depicted in common people’s faces. In Hopper’s work, we see that along with the loneliness, there is a certain impersonality to city living.

In relation to A Raisin in the Sun, certain African-American artists depict the race struggle brilliantly. Jacob Lawrence comes to mind, with his Migration scenes. William H. Johnson, Robert Blackburn, and Palmer Hayden show African-American life in interesting and unique ways. They all deal with the underside of American life---illustrating the actual social conditions that many have to overcome to realize their dream.

In contrast, many of the Regionalists show the greatness and the abundance of riches, which can be found in our country, especially through the depiction of their heroes and their landscapes. Wayne Craven tells us: " To some, landscapes became a metaphor for moral, religious, and poetic sentiments, and so it must be perceived. To others, it represents the American Dream because of the opportunities it offered, and so it must be utilized" (199). The major artists that I will draw upon will be Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, and Grant Wood.

While there are a number of other works that could be incorporated into this unit, my choices of A Raisin in the Sun, The Great Gatsby, and Death of a Salesman, seem to be more appealing to students than others. Besides being classics and winners of numerous literary and drama awards, their subject matter and concepts are those that students on the fringe of life can identify with, as they make their way through their life’s experiences. To the minority student and those of other ethnic ties, affordable housing is a major problem today, especially in "safe" areas. The Younger struggle can almost be equated with everyman’s struggle in the urban centers of America. Gatsby believed that money would achieve his dream of attaining Daisy. To students who believe in this same concept, that money is the only way to achieve success, will find the novel disturbing. And to those who believe that life is all about "who you know" and not "what you know," Willy Loman’s ethics will be questionable. All of these works showcase the failure of the dream. While the over-all tone of this unit is not meant to be entirely pessimistic, it is, however, designed to be realistic. Students should come away from this study with the understanding that there are no free rides in life now or in the future.

I would begin by asking the students to jot down on a sheet of paper what their definition of The American Dream is. After discussion of this concept, I would write a working definition on the blackboard so that the students will become familiar with the term. I would ask them secondly, what they would want their own personal "American Dream" to include. And thirdly, I would ask them to jot down on this same sheet of paper, what they believe their greatest obstacle might be, which would prevent them from attaining their dream.

After a fairly complete discussion on both what the term means and what their own dream entails, and why we may not attain it, I would then focus on American art. I would ask the students what their knowledge of art is in general, American art in particular, and what their experiences are in museum visitations.

I would then show a poster or an enlarged picture on any topic, and ask the students to respond to it in some way. For example, an initial question might be: What do you see? (Describe the scene). Another question might be, what message do you think the artist is presenting to the audience? And finally, I would ask the class if they see any parallels in this painting and in a class topic that might have been discussed. An informal class discussion will take place.

After establishing the student framework I would be ready to move on to a description of this unit, making sure that the students know that this is new material and the class will be the first to study the integration of art and literature. Students sometimes enjoy being "the guinea pigs."

After reviewing the topic of discussion, aspects of the "American Dream", I would introduce the three schools of art that we will be stressing. Since most of the artists who we will cover painted in the 1930’s, it is important for the students to be aware of the background of the time. The Great Depression should be familiar to them from American history class, but I would cover briefly the American scene during that period of time---the abject poverty, the bread lines, the sense of hopelessness. I would also point out that the WPA sponsored a number of murals, and this spurred artists to become even more creative. Then I would set up the requirements of the unit

1. Every student will go to the library and do research on the artist whose work is discussed in the unit, or on the historical period in which the artist painted. Another choice is to look up information on the three schools of art focused upon in this unit, which are the Ashcan artists, the Regionalists, and the Social Realists.

2. The research, which will be orally presented at various times throughout the course of the unit, with a written copy showing the documentation, will be turned into the instructor.

Artists

1. Edward Hopper
2. Robert Henri
3. George Luks
4. George Bellows
5. Jacob Lawrence
6. Grant Wood
7. John Steuart Curry
8. Thomas Hart Benton
9. Reginald Marsh
10. Charles Burchfield
11. Robert Blackburn
12. William H. Johnson
13. Palmer Hayden
14. Raphael Soyer
15. Ben Shahn
16. Mary Loomis Wilson
17. Albert Gold
18. Moses Soyer
19. John Sloan

Schools of Art

1. The Ashcan artists
2. The Regionalists
3. The Social Realists

Other Related Topics

1. Federally funded murals
2. The "Jazz" Age
3. The Great Depression
4. F. Scott Fitzgerald
5. Arthur Miller
6. Lorraine Hansberry

Students will spend approximately two days in the school library. They will be encouraged to use the Internet on the school computers, and/or visit their local Carnegie neighborhood libraries. Students will basically include the following in each of the artist reports:

1. Describe the life of the artist.
2. Discuss whether or not this artist was influenced by other artists.
3. Explain the purpose of the artist’s work
4. Identify the school to which the artist belongs.

The student will receive 75 points for this presentation. The grading will be based on the clarity of the message, the extent of information forthcoming—their thoroughness, and their posture/ poise in front of the class.

All of these activities should cover the first week of the unit.

The second requirement will be that a student must bring to class a notebook-spiral or loose-leaf- which would be the personal choice of the student. This notebook will serve as a depository for all the journal writings and questions assigned. The primary grade will be based on this notebook. The basis for the grade will be the following criteria:

1. Completeness of the questions (were they all answered?)
2. Thoughtfulness of journal writings (has the student made an honest attempt to answer the questions?)
3. Has the student grown in his powers of observation and detail?

The importance of the student keeping a notebook is paramount to this unit. It allows the student to keep a ready reference of the art that is discussed, and allows the student to write creatively when journal assignments are given. I would assign a massive number of points for this notebook/ activity. As the student sees the art, he will write his answers in the notebook. Certain longer questions may necessitate the student taking his notebook out, but most of the questioning will be done in class.

 

The unit will begin with this play. I will pull out several passages from the drama, which illustrate the theme of the "American Dream." One, in particular, is Lena Younger’s dream. She tells her errant son, Walter Lee, that:

money is life. Once upon a time freedom used to be life—now it’s
money…In my time we was worried about not being lynched and
getting to the North if we could and how to stay alive and still have
a pinch of dignity too…We kept you out of trouble till you was grown;
that you don’t have to ride to work on the back of nobody’s streetcar—
you my children but how different we become(870).

Lena speaks of her dream, which was migration to the North with the hope of human dignity and a better life. To her, money is not the answer for decent human existence. She tries to impart this to Walter Lee, her son, who is representative of the modern generation. I would impart this to the current crop of teenagers, who believe that money is a panacea for all that ails mankind.

I would begin the art coverage of this play by asking for reports from those who have selected the lives of Jacob Lawrence, William H. Johnson, Robert Blackburn and Palmer Hayden. After these are presented to the class, a report about the author, Lorraine Hansberry, would be appropriate at this time. I will then exhibit the slides that I want to integrate with the literature.

The first slide I would use would be Robert Blackburn’s People in a Boat (! 939). I would ask the students to answer the following questions in their notebook.

1. What are the people doing in the boat?
2. Are they surrounded by other people or do they seem isolated?
3. Does it appear that they are on a journey or having a joy ride?
4. What details can you cite to support your answers?
5. Where do they seem to be heading?
6. What do you think the artist is trying to tell us here?

After answering the questions, I would point out that it appears that the land in the background of this slide suggests America, the land of opportunity. Yet for the African-Americans there were few benefits or opportunities to achieve a better life. They appear isolated in every way from our country’s riches.

I would then flash two slides of the better-known artist, Jacob Lawrence. This painter created approximately sixty panels dealing with the migration of the African-Americans from the rural South to large Northern urban centers, during and after World War I. I will show Migration#3. This scene depicts groups of people on a journey. I would ask the following:

1. Describe what you see.
2. What seems to be the mood of the painting---happy, sad, etc?
3. What message does the artist seem to be sending here?
4. Why do we not see their faces clearly?
5. Why do you think the artist included birds flying above?
6. As a journal entry, I would ask the students to write several paragraphs comparing the art of Blackburn and Lawrence. Which artist do you prefer in terms of how the message was communicated? Which style of painting seems to be more successful? Lawrence’s art is more colorful. Does this affect your opinion of the painting?

I would ask the students to look a bit more closely and see the migrating groups in the shape of a pyramid. I would point out that the pyramid is generally a symbol of progress, which is what these Southerners hoped to achieve in the North.

Another of Lawrence’s paintings that I would flash onto the screen would be Migration #1 .In this canvas we see crowds of African-Americans flocking to the gates of large urban centers of Black population---St. Louis, Chicago, and New York. I would ask the students the following:

1. Why do you think Lawrence painted his people without any recognizable human features?
2. What is significant about the hats?
3. Do the figures seem out of proportion or somewhat angular? If so, why do you think the artist painted them this way?
4. What message is Lawrence is attempting to convey?
5. Compare this painting to the previous one. What differences and similarities do you notice? (Identify at least three differences).

I would project three more urban scenes depicting life in Harlem, which would be similar in Chicago, the setting for A Raisin in the Sun. These slides are by other African-American artists, including Palmer Hayden, William H. Johnson, and another by Jacob Lawrence.

Palmer Hayden’s Midsummer Night in Harlem (1938), is considered to be his most famous work. Midsummer is generally the time of the summer solstice, when supernatural beings are thought to roam. This work is a satire of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and if one looks closely at the figures, they seem almost stereotypical, almost like Black face minstrels. I would ask the students to do the following in their notebooks:

1. Explain what they perceive the picture to be about.
2. Why the prominence of the Church?
3. Why the presence of the car?
4. What do you think Hayden’s message is?
5. What do you like about the scene, or dislike about it?

I would make certain that the students see this painting as a depiction of an urban community that thrived as a city within a city, much like all the urban centers of the North.

William H. Johnson is the next artist that I would present, flashing a slide of his painting, Café (1939-40). The questions are:

1. What obvious differences are there between this painting and Hayden’s?
2. Describe the clothing each of the figures is wearing.
3. Describe the facial expressions of the man and the woman.
4. Notice the intertwining of the legs under the table. Why do you think Johnson included this in his painting?
5. Notice the "high fashion" of the man and woman. What can you gather were the fashion styles of the day from this depiction?
6. Notice the angularity of the two people in the painting? Do you think this adds to the charm of the picture? Why/why not?

 

The last urban neighborhood scene that I would show is Jacob Lawrence’s Tombstones (1942). As students observe the scene, my questions would be:

1. Explain the scene.
2. Why do you think that tombstones are featured under the steps?
3. Give evidence whether you think this is a happy or sad scene.
4. What is the symbolism of the crucifix?
5. Why are the steps so prominent?
6. How do the colors make this scene more vivid?
7. Compare this scene with the other scenes of urban neighborhoods.
8. Which of the scenes do you like the best? Why?

 

Lena Younger and her son, Walter Lee, see life differently. We might say that there are "generational" differences. Our teen-agers can attest to these same problems with their parents in terms of many life choices. However, Lena wants simpler pleasures, such as a sense of human dignity and a chance to have a new life in a new home. Walter Lee is a little more cynical. He tells us: "…Life just like it is. Who gets and who don’t get. You know it’s all divided up. Life is between the takers and the tooken… There ain’t no causes—there ain’t nothing but taking in this world, and he who takes most is the smartest---and it don’t make a damn bit of difference how"(143).

And so we have the quandary about the "American Dream." Do we aim small and look for basic rights and appreciate basic human values? Do we work within the confines of law and order, and hope that there are other decent human beings who will do the "right thing" by us? Or do we do as Walter tells us—take as much as we can and don’t worry on whose toes we trample? What is the proper way to attain the "American Dream?"

In the student notebook, I would have the class answer this question at length, with accompanying reasons for their choices. The essay should run to several paragraphs, and students are encouraged to draw from their life experiences and the art they have just seen.

We will now move on to the second literary selection named above, which will be integrated into the art studies. Marius Bewley’s critical essay on Fitzgerald’s work is included in a series of critical reviews about the author and several of his works. However, in discussing The Great Gatsby, Bewley tells us: " The Great Gatsby is an exploration of the American Dream as it exists in a corrupt period, and it is an attempt to determine that concealed boundary that divides the reality from illusions. The illusions seem more real than the reality itself (32)".

Continuing to elucidate his major premise, Bewley continues:

Thus, the American Dream, which begins in the past, gives
the green light through which alone the American returns to
his traditional roots, retreating into the pattern of history while
trying to exploit the possibilities of the future. The American
dream, stretched between the nostalgic past and a golden future,
is always betrayed by a desolate present. Imprisoned in his
present, Gatsby belongs even more to the past than the future.
his aspirations have been rehearsed and his tragedy suffered,
by all generations of Americans who have gone before (24).

It is with these ideas that the art of the Social Realists can be brought in to illustrate the "desolate present." The Social Realists depict the stark reality of urban life vividly and with great emotion. Students can certainly relate to their art. Yet before this type of art is shown, a better starting point would be that of the Regionalists. For Bewley explains in this same essay: "Historically, (the American dream)…believes in the goodness of nature and man. It is accordingly, a product of the frontier and the West rather than of the New England and the Puritan traditions (28)."

Keeping the ideas of Bewley in mind, I will try to illustrate how Gatsby is very much a hero with his roots in rural America. The first artist and slide I will utilize will be Thomas Hart Benton’s Cradling Wheat, (1938). The following questions will be answered in the student notebook:

1. Describe the activities of the workers.
2. What would you say the mood or the atmosphere of the scene is?
3. Describe the landscape (the topography).
4. What message do you think Benton is trying to convey?
5. Do you like the painting? Why/why not?
6. Does life seem simpler there?
7. Would you be stifled by that type of life? Why/ why not?
8. Would that type of life be easier than the lives we lead today?

Another painting I would show in the classroom would be John Steuart Curry’s Wisconsin Landscape (1938-1939). In the class notebooks I would ask the students to answer the following:

1. Describe the scene.
2. What do you think the clouds are intending to illustrate?
3. What do these clouds symbolize
4. Does Curry need people to finish off the scene?
5. Why/why not are they needed?
6. Any difference between this painting and the former?

The third artist I would include would be Grant Wood. His painting, entitled Young Corn (1931) would be illustrative of his work. I would ask the students to answer these questions in their notebooks:

1. Describe what you see.
2. How is this art different from either Benton’s or Curry’s work?
3. Is there a sense of reality here, or not? Why?
4. From what point of view is the scene painted?
5. What makes this painting pleasing or not?
6. Give reasons why you like or dislike the scene.

 

Finally, I would move on to Charles Burchfield’s work The painting that I would use to illustrate his early work, which is more Regionalist than some of the others is November Evening (1934). The artist states in the text, American Painting in the Twentieth Century, that : "I have tried to express the coming of winter over the middle-west as it must have felt to the pioneers—great black clouds sweep out of the west at twilight as if to overwhelm not only the pitiful attempt at a town, but also the earth itself (98)."

The houses look almost deserted. We see the theme of isolation and loneliness expressed here. The students should note the eccentric shape of the clouds, and the almost face-like house fronts. The questions I would ask the class to answer in their notebooks would be:

1. What mood is conveyed by this scene?
2. Describe the light/dark shadowing.
3. Give evidence of the season from what you observe.
4. How is the scene different/similar to the other art of the Regionalist school?
5. Do you like this better or less than the other scenes? Why/ why not?

As a culminating activity in the student notebook I would ask the students to address in their journals/notebooks this issue. The answers should run for several paragraphs. The scenes we have observed go back to a simpler and less complicated America. The choices were not as myriad or as complex as students today have to make. Can you think of a time when life for you was less complicated, and perhaps, happier in its simplicity? Describe that period of life in detail. How old were you? Were you happier then or do you like being in control of your life now? Do you wish to go back in time and relive those experiences?

Bringing this part of the instructional plan to a close, I would like to quote from an essay by the literary critic, Robert Ornstein. He explains in his work entitled Scott Fitzgerald’s Fable of East and West: "I would agree that in Gatsby Fitzgerald did create a myth with the imaginative sweep of America’s historical adventure across an untamed continent. But his fable of East and West is little concerned with twentieth century materialism and moral anarchy, for its theme is the unending quest of the romantic dream, which is forever betrayed in fact and redeemed in men’s minds (73)".

I would also include at some point in this section of the unit the library reports on the Regionalist artists discussed, plus informative material on the federally funded murals, the Great Depression, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Another group of artists who painted the underside of life, warts and all, is the school known as the "Social Realists." These artists primarily draw the urban landscape with accompanying themes of loneliness and despair. These represent Gatsby’s and Willy Loman’s "desolate present." Perhaps the students have also experienced many of these emotions as well. Life in urban America is challenging, and while experiences in Pittsburgh may not be on the same scale as other larger cities, students can relate quite well to these scenes for the basic emotions they arouse.

I would begin this discussion with the art of Edward Hopper. The library report on the life of this man is appropriate here. The first slide I would start with would be Early Sunday Morning (1930). I would begin with the following:

          1. Describe the scene.
          2. What is the mood of the scene?
          3. From what point of view is the scene painted?
          4. How do the colors add to the mood?
          5. Do you sense the impersonality and dehumanizing feelings? Why?
          6. Do you like the painting? Why/ why not?
          7. For those of you who are "early risers," can you describe a Pittsburgh scene in the early morning hours?

I would also point out to the students that in the upper right hand corner of the painting is a dark brown passage of paint, which suggests the side of a large building. This suggests the possible encroachment of the corporate world on this street, in conflict with more modern realities. This similar idea is echoed in Death of a Salesman, when Willy Loman complains: "The way they boxed us in here. Bricks and windows, windows and bricks…They should’ve had a law against apartment houses…"

The second slide of Hopper’s that I would discuss would be Nighthawks (1942). I would ask the students the following:

1. Describe the scene.
2. What mood do you sense and why?
3. Is there a feeling of warmth in the diner? Would you want to go in? Why/why not?
4. What feeling do you get about the third figure? Do you sense that he is a frightening presence?
5. Write a short description of what the people are doing in the diner. Make sure you use all the details in evidence.
6. Why do you think Mr. Hopper entitled this painting, Nighthawks?
7. What are nighthawks? Look the term up in a dictionary.

To depict the vibrancy of the city, along with a certain amount of tawdriness that is present, I would choose next, Reginald Marsh. In his painting entitled Ten

Shots, Ten Cents (1939), he shows a typical scene of the crass elements of "entertainment" available in cityscapes. I would ask the students:

1. Describe this scene.
2. How is this scene typically urban as compared to a rural one?
3. Is the message here that the city can be fun? Why/ why not? Or do you sense that there is something menacing underneath all the gaiety? Why/why not?
4. How is this work different from Hopper’s, or do you see any similarities?
5. Which scene (Hopper’s or Marsh’s) do you like better? Why?
6. Can you describe a scene similar to this that you have seen or experienced in Pittsburgh?

I would also point out that in William Heyen’s essay entitled Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and the American Dream, he explains: "…Willy’s lost elms, the horrible tearing scene in which he attempts to plant seeds, Biff’s desire to work out in the open with his shirt off, the picture of Willy’s father banging around the country in a horse-drawn carriage—these are the truths of the American heart…The American dream is rural, not urban, and the perfect world is out there somewhere, and when we can’t find it out there ahead of us, we go back to the elm-shaded past…(54)"

In keeping with the idea that the city does not permit the "Dream" to be realized, I would show some examples of that premise with slides by the Soyer brothers---Raphael and Moses. The first slide I would utilize would be Raphael’s Waiting Room (1940). I would ask the students:

1. Describe the scene.
2. From what point of view is the scene being illustrated?
3. Where do you think these people are waiting?
4. What is the mood of the scene?
5. Have you ever "waited" in such a situation? Describe your experience.

The next slide would be Moses’ Employment Agency (1935). I would ask the students to answer these questions:

1. What is the mood of the scene?
2. Do you think that Biff Loman shared these same feelings? Where in the play might he have felt similar to these people?
3. What similarities do you find in the two scenes that the Soyers have painted?
4. How are the paintings similar to those done by Hopper?

 

The final Social Realist I would describe in the classroom would be Ben Shahn, the most political artist of all. The slide that I would show would be Unemployed (1938). I would continue in the oral presentation of his life after a discussion of his art. I would ask the students the following:

1. Describe the scene.
2. What is the mood of the scene?
3. Do the men look as they are hopeless, or do they look angry?
4. How is the scene similar to those depicted by the Soyers?
5. Have you or any member of your family shared these feelings of anger and hopelessness?
6. Do you see Willy Loman standing in this type of line after Howard fires him? Why/why not?
7. As a concluding activity I would ask the students to answer this question: Choose one of the Social Realists and explain how he has captured the sense or mood of an urban landscape. Give reasons for your choice.

I would conclude this unit by showing representative art from what is known as the Ashcan school of art. I would choose one or two artists to represent this school. I would select art from the work of John Sloan, Robert Henri, George Bellows, or George Luks. Two of John Sloan’s paintings that might be described and illustrated along the lines of the other questions would be The Wake of the Ferry (1907), and McSorley’s Bar (1912). George Bellows shows many boxing scenes that would appeal to the young teens, but a favorite of mine is entitled Paddy Flannigan (1908). Students could certainly relate to this depiction of arrogant youth, along with a touch of sauciness and defiance. George Luks’ The Wrestlers (1905), is most appealing to the modern-day wrestlers in high school. Finally, I would show the art of Robert Henri---the leader of the Ashcan school, with his painting of West Fifty-seventh Street (1902). The oral reports would be given after the art is shown.

It is interesting to note here that in the text of The American Scene we are told that: "Henri’s realism, which was realism of his disciples Sloan, Luks, … lay in acute observation of the activity he saw about him. It differed from the realism of his predecessors Homer and Eakins in that the scenes were almost exclusively urban. Henri’s view was that art must be a record of an involvement in daily life, with no glossing over of its harsher aspects (16 )."

I would let the students know that this art appeared earlier than the Social Realists, and while their scenes may not be as relevant as the latter, the Social Realists built on the art that came in this early part of the twentieth century.

As the unit draws to a close, I would use the transportation images to illustrate status symbols. To Gatsby, his magnificent yellow car was a sign of upward mobility, but to others not in his financial straits, the subway scenes defer to the common man. One of those pieces would be Mary Loomis Wilson’s Men on the Subway ( 1936).

The other slide I would show would be Albert Gold’s Trolley Crowd (1940). And perhaps the most poignant scene of all is Reginald Marsh’s Why Not Use the L? (1940). All lend themselves to contrast and comparison. And of course, the oral reports will be given following a discussion of the art of each of the artists.

The culminating question I would pose to the students would be in the form of a journal entry, in which they would answer the following:

Choose one of the many artists that we have studied and discussed. Which of these artists best represents the American Dream? Does Jacob Lawrence, with his images of hope for the African-Americans, best illustrate this theme? Do the Regionalist artists—Curry, Wood, Benton or Burchfield show this theme by reaching backward into the past and depicting the greatness of America that was, and will perhaps be again? What of the Social Realists? Do they give us room for thought about what we experience daily? Reginald Marsh, with his coarse scene of street life—or Edward Hopper, with his view that man is lonely and life is impersonal---do they allow us to hope that life can get better?

I would want the student to think very deeply and be very clear in why he is choosing as he does. The answers should be detailed, with reasons for the student’s choice. It will be most interesting to see whom the student chooses and the reasoning behind his choice.

As stated earlier, most of the discussion and the illustrating of the slides will be done in class. Students often lose notebooks, so it is important to keep them in a secure area while the unit is in progress. That is why the notebooks will be primarily kept in class. When the writing assignments run several paragraphs, students can take these notebooks/ journals out of class to work on them. It is important to have the discussion in class, as the students may not know what to observe as they see these slides, and I gently want to point out messages that the artist may be illustrating. Evaluation is always part of any unit, but the main focus here is to have the students be aware of the schools of art and the artists who worked within those boundaries. More than anything, this type of unit is primarily designed to foster an appreciation of the art, which has made an impact on American life, and American thought, and to show how art is very much connected to literature.

Again, the point of the unit is to allow students to be exposed to American art in such a way that they can see that art and literature are outgrowths of each other. The unit is flexible, with other choices or works of art being entirely acceptable. However, whatever is chosen, should in some way illustrate the concepts and themes of the American Dream as found in the works of literature mentioned.

Hopefully, the students will come away from this unit with a deep appreciation for art, and the artists who depicted America in a myriad of ways. As the students make their way through life, hopefully they will understand that the American Dream is illusory, yet perhaps a necessary part of life.

Blackburn, Robert, People in a Boat 1939. Location unknown.

Lawrence, Jacob, Migration Series #3 1940-41. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

Lawrence, Jacob, Migration of the Negro, Panel #1 1940-41 The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

Hayden, Palmer, Midsummer Night in Harlem (1938). Location unknown.

Johnson, William H. Café 1939-40. National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the Harmon Foundation.

Lawrence, Jacob, Tombstones 1942. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Benton, Thomas Hart, Cradling Wheat1938. Collection of the City Art Museum of Saint Louis.

Curry, John Steuart, Wisconsin Landscape1938-39. George A. Hearn Fund.

Wood, Grant,Young Corn 1931. Cedar Rapids Community Schools, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Burchfield, Charles, November Evening 1934. George A. Hearn Fund.

Hopper, Edward, Early Sunday Morning 1930. Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Hopper, Edward, Nighthawks1942. The Art Institute of Chicago, Friends of American Art.

Marsh, Reginald, Ten Shots, Ten Cents1939. The St. Louis Art Museum; Gift of Eliza McMillan Fund.

Soyer, Raphael, Waiting Room 1938-40. Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Soyer, Moses, Employment Agency 1935. Collection of the artist.

Washington, D.C.

Shahn, Ben, Unemployed 1938. Private Collection.

Sloan, John The Wake of the Ferry 1907. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

Sloan, John, McSorley’s Bar 1912. Detroit Institute of Arts.

Bellows, George, Paddy Flannigan 1908. Collection of Erving and Joyce Wolf.

Luks, George , The Wrestlers 1905. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: The Hayden Collection.

Henri, Robert, West Fifty-seventh Street 1902. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.

Wilson, Mary Loomis, Men on a Subway 1936. Courtesy of D.Wigmore Fine Arts, Inc., New York.

Gold, Albert, Trolley Crowd 1940. Courtesy of D. Wigmore Fine Arts, Inc., New York.

Marsh, Reginald, Why Not Use the "L" ?, 1930. Whitney Museum of American Art, Purchase.

 

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Macmillan, 1986.

Hansberry, Lorraine. Literature and Language. Evanston,Ill: MacDougal, Littell and Company, 1992.

Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. New York: Penguin, 1976.

Literature and Language, Evanston, Ill.: MacDougal, Littell and

Company, 1992. (Class anthology).

Baigell, Matthew, ed. The American Scene: American Painting of the 1930’s.

Praeger: New York, 1974. This is an excellent resource for information on

The Regionalists. It also gives good background on life in America during

Great Depression.

Baigell, Matthew text. Thomas Hart Benton. Harry N. Abrams: New York, 1975.

Benton, Thomas Hart. An American in Art. The University Press of Kansas:

Lawrence, Kansas. 1969. Good info on the life of this artist.

Bloom, Harold, ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald Modern Critical Views. Chelsea House:

New York, 1985. Excellent critical views from a number of writers who

Specifically write about the "American Dream."

Bloom, Harold, ed. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Chelsea House: New

York, 1988. Excellent critical reviews of Miller’s masterpiece.

Boorstein, Daniel J. The Image or What Happened to the American Dream.

Atheneum: New York, 1962. Good for understanding of the term.

Brown, Milton W. Jacob Lawrence. Whitney Museum of American Art:

New York, 1974. Good insights on the artist and his life.

Craven, Wayne. American Art: History and Culture. Harry N. Abrams: New

York, 1994. An excellent overview of American Art. Wonderful illustrations of the major American artists.

Haskell, Barbara. The American Century: Art and Culture: 1900-1950.

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York in association with

W. W. Norton: New York, 1999. Fabulous overview of the art of this

century, especially artists of the period from 1900-1940.

Hobbs, Robert. Edward Hopper. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. in association with The

National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution: 1987.

Levin, Gail, ed. Edward Hopper: The Art and the Artist. W.W. Norton in

Association with the Whitney Museum of American Art: New York, 1980.

The better of the two books on Hopper. Complete in explanations about the

Man and his work.

Pohl, Frances K. with Ben Shahn’s Writings. Ben Shahn. Pomegranate

Art Books: San Francisco, 1993.

Powell, Richard J. The Art and Life of William H. Johnson. National

Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution: Washington, D.C. 1991.

A thorough explanation of this artist, his work, and his tribulations.

Highly recommended.

Townsend, J. Benjamin, ed. Charles Burchfield, Journals: the Poetry of

Place. State University of New York Press: Albany, New York, 1993.

Turner, Elizabeth Hutton, ed. Jacob Lawrence: The Migration Series. The 3.

Rappahannock Press in association with the Phillips Collection:

Washington, D.C. 1993. In depth explanation of how the artist works,

With good information in understanding how his life affected his art.

Young, Mahonri Sharp. The Painting of George Bellows. Watson-Guptill

Publications: New York, 1973.

1. All students describe meanings they find in various works from the visual and performing arts and literature on the basis of aesthetic understanding of the art form.

2. All students evaluate and respond critically to works from the visual and performing arts and literature of various individuals and cultures, showing that they understand the important features of the works.

3. All students relate various works from the visual and performing arts and literature to the historical and cultural context within which they were created.

4. All students produce, perform, or exhibit their work in the visual arts, music, dance or theater, and describe the meanings their work has for them.

Standard#1

1. Notebook exercises

2. Observation of various slides

3. Literary readings of the plays and novel.

Standard #2

1. Notebook exercises which call for an evaluation of the art.

2. Writing critical opinions of the artist.

3. Comparing/contrasting written entries.

4. Responses through essays and journal writings.

Standard #3

1. Studies of Raisin in the Sun, which discuss progress among African –Americans, including art by the artists such as Lawrence, Johnson, Hayden, etc, which depict the race struggle.

Standard #4

1. Since this is not a performance-based unit, this standard would not apply.