1. What conditions contributed to the outbreak of World War I? What series of events provoked the war? How did it end, and what was the political situation of Europe after?
2. What conditions made the Russian Revolution possible? How did the revolution begin? How did it proceed, and what were its results?
3. Who were the leading soldier-authors of the war, and how did they represent the experience of modern warfare? How did Thomas Mann portray the condition of European culture on the eve of the war?
4. How did World War I affect the United States? Who were the "lost generation," and how did they conceive of post-war American and European culture? Who were the leading authors of the "Roaring Twenties"? For what works are they best known, and how do these respond post-war American society?
5. What authors continued the tradition of Modernist experimentation? What are their most notable works? What thematic concerns and formal characteristics do these works display?
6. What changes in American society made the Harlem Renaissance possible? Who were the leading intellectuals of this movement, and what ideas about African-American experience did they advance? Who were the major novelists and poets? For what works are they known, and how do these represent African-American experience?
7. What were the major currents in post-war painting? Who were the leading artists of the period, and to what movements did they contribute? What aesthetic values and cultural concerns do their styles exemplify?
8. How did sculpture develop after World War I? Who were the major sculptors of the period, and from what influences did they draw? What are the distinctive features of their styles?
9. How did ragtime and blues develop as distinct musical forms? Who were the major practitioners of both, and what stylistic features do their songs display?
10. What are the musical characteristics of jazz? What forms did early jazz take, and what were the distinguishing features of each? Who were the leading figures of early jazz, and for what are they best known?
11. How did World War I affect European consciousness? What were the social, intellectual, and political results of the war?