Aids to Comprehension
"The Sad Young Men" and "the Lost Generation" refer to the same group of people. The first name was created by F. Scott Fitzgerald in his book All the Sad Young Men and the second by Gertrude Stein. These names names were applied to the disillusioned intellectuals and aesthetes of the years following World War I, who rebelled against former ideals and values, but could replace them only by despair or a cynical hedonism. The remark of Gertrude Stein, "you are all a lost generation, addressed to Hemingway, was used as a preface to the latters novel, The Sun Also Rises, which brilliantly describes an expatriate group typical of the"Lost Generation.
The essay "The Sad Young Men"is a piece of expository writing by two American writers explaining a certain period in American literary and social history. It focuses especially on the attitudes and revolt of the young people who returned from World War I, disappointed and disillusioned. In this revolt the young intellectuals, writers and artists, stood in the van and were the most vocal group. Many of these intellectuals lived abroad, especially in Paris, as expatriates, but most of them later returned to the United States voluntarily. These intellectuals were called"Sad Young Men, "or"the Lost Generation, "because they were critical and rebellious. However, they were never lost because they were also very creative and productive and as this essay says: "gave the nation the liveliest, freshest, most stimulating writing in its literary experience.
The structural organization of this essay is clear and simple. The essay divides logically into paragraphs with particular functions: to introduce the subject (introduction) in Paragraph 1, to support and develop the thesis (the body or the middle)in Paragraphs 2 through 9, to bring the discussion to an end(conclusion)in Paragraphs 10 and 11.
In "The Sad Young Men, "Horton and Edwards state their thesis in the last paragraph of the essay: "The intellectuals of the Twenties, the sad young men, as F. Scott Fitzgerald called them, cursed their luck but did not die: escaped but voluntarily returned: flayed the Babbitts but loved their country, and in so doing gave the nation the liveliest freshest, most stimulating writing in its literary experience.
They support their thesis by providing historical material concerning the revolt of the younger generation of the Twenties in a series of paragraphs and paragraph units between the introduction and the conclusion. Each paragraph or paragraph unit develops a new but related aspect of the thought stated in the thesis. Frequently the first sentence of these middle paragraphs states clearly the main idea of the material that follows and indicates a new but related stage of the developing thought. For example:
The rejection of Victorian gentility was, in any case, inevitable (Paragraph 3)
The rebellion started with World War 1.(Paragraph 5)
Greenwich Village set the pattern (Paragraph 7)
Meanwhile the true intellectuals were far from flattered. (Paragraph 9)
In "The Sad Young Men, "the first paragraph is introductory. Horton and Edwards begin by mentioning the interest in the twenties by young people today. In addition,they discuss the questions that present-day students are asking their parents and teachers: Was there really a Younger Generation problem? Were young people really so wild? Their answers are yes and no.
Rod W. Horton: Rod W(William)Horton was born in 1910 in White Plains, N. Y. He taught in New York University, N. Y, as instructor(1937-1945), assistant professor (1945-1949), and associate professor of general literature (1947-1957). He worked for United States Information Service, in Brazil and Portugal as cultural affairs officer(1957-1964). He was a professor of English at Temple Buell College (formerly Colorado Women's College), Denver, Colorado from 1964 and a visiting professor at University of Brazil (1954-1956)and University of Coimbra(1961-1964). Publications include (with Herbert W. Edwards )Backgrounds of American Literary Thought(1952),(with Vincent F Hopper)Backgrounds of European Literature(1954).
Herbert W. Edwards: Co-author of Backgrounds of American Literary Thought.
No aspect of life in the Twenties has been more commented upon and
sensationally romanticized than the so-called Revolt of the Younger Generation.
The slightest mention of the decade brings nostalgic recollections to the
middle-aged and curious questionings by the young: memories of the deliciously
illicit thrill of the first visit to a speakeasy, of the brave denunciation of
Puritan morality, and of the fashionable experimentations in amour in the
parked sedan on a country road; questions about the naughty, jazzy parties, the
flask-toting "sheik," and the moral and stylistic vagaries of the
"flapper" and the "drug-store cowboy." "Were young
people really so wild?" present-day students ask their parents and teachers.
"Was there really a Younger Generation problem?" The answers to such
inquiries must of necessity be "yes" and "no" "Yes" because the business of growing up is always accompanied by a Younger Generation Problem; "no" because what seemed so wild, irresponsible, and immoral in social behavior at the time can now be seen in perspective as being something considerably less sensational than the degenerau on of our jazz mad youth.
Actually, the revolt of the young people was a logical outcome of conditions in
the age: First of all, it must be remembered that the rebellion was not
confined to the Unit- ed States, but affected the entire Western world as a
result of the aftermath of the first serious war in a century. Second, in the
United States it was reluctantly realized by some- subconsciously if not openly that our country was no longer isolated in either politics or tradition and that we had reached an international stature that would forever prevent us from retreating behind the artificial walls of aprovincial morality or the geographical protection of our two bordering oceans.
The rejection of Victorian gentility was, in any case, inevitable. The booming of American industry, with its gigantic, roaring factories, its corporate impersonality, and its largescale aggressiveness, no longer left any room for the code of polite behavior and well-bred morality fashioned in a quieter and less competitive age. War or no war, as the generations passed, it became increasingly difficult for our young people to accept standards of behavior that bore no relationship to the bustling business medium in which they were expected to battle for success. The war acted merely as a catalytic agent in this breakdown of the Victorian social structure, and by precipitating our young people into a pattern of mass murder it released their inhibited violent energies which, after the shooting was over, were turned in both Europe and America to the destruction of an obsolescent nineteenth-century society.
Thus in a changing world youth was faced with the challenge of bringing our
mores up to date. But at the same time it was tempted, in America at least, to
escape its responsibilities and retreat behind an air of naughty alcoholic
sophistication and a pose of Bohemian immorality. The faddishness , the wild
spending of money on transitory pleasures and momentary novelties , the hectic
air of gaiety, the experimentation in sensation sex,
drugs, alcohol, perversions were all part of the pattern of escape, an escape made possible by a general prosperity and a post-war fatigue with politics, economic restrictions, and international responsibilities. Prohibition afforded the young the additional opportunity of making their pleasures illicit , and the much-publicized orgies and defiant manifestoes of the intellectuals crowding into Greenwich Village gave them a pattern and a philosophic defense for their escapism. And like most escapistsprees, this one lasted until the money ran out, until the crash of the world economic structure at the end of the decade called the party to a halt and forced the revelers to sober up and face the problems of the new age.
The rebellion started with World War I. The prolonged stalemate of 1915 1916, the increasing insolence of Germany toward the United States,
and our official reluctance to declare our status as a belligerent were
intolerable to many of our idealistic citizens, and with typical American
adventurousness enhanced somewhat by the strenuousjingoism of Theodore Roosevelt, our young men began to enlist under foreign
flags. In the words of Joe Williams, in John Dos Passos' U. S. A., they
"wanted to get into the fun before the whole thing turned belly up."
For military service, in 1916 1917, was still a
romantic occupation. The young men of college age in 1917 knew nothing of
modern warfare. The strife of 1861 1865 had popularly become, in motion picture and story, a magnolia-scented soap opera, while the one hundred-days' fracas with Spain in 1898 had dissolved into a one-sided victory at Manila and a cinematic charge up San Juan Hill. Furthermore, there were enough high school assembly orators proclaiming the character-forming force of the strenuous life to convince more than enough otherwise sensible boys that service in the European conflict would be of great personal value, in addition to being idealistic and exciting. Accordingly, they began to join the various armies in increasing numbers, the "intellectuals" in the ambulance corps, others in the infantry, merchant marine, or wherever else they could find a place. Those who were reluctant to serve in a foreign army talked excitedly about Preparedness, occasionally considered joining the National Guard, and rushed to enlist when we finally did enter the conflict. Sotremendous was the storming of recruitment centers that harassed sergeant sactually pleaded with volunteers to "go home and wait for the draft, "but since no self-respecting person wanted to suffer the disgrace of being drafted, the enlistment craze continued unabated.
Naturally, the spirit of carnival and the enthusiasm for high military adventure were soon dissipated once the eager young men had received a good taste of twentieth- century warfare. To their lasting glory, they fought with distinction, but it was a much altered group of soldiers who returned from the battlefields in 1919. Especially was this true of the college contingent, whose idealism had led them to enlist early and who had generally seen a considerable amount of action. To them, it was bitter to return to a home town virtually untouched by the conflict, where citizens still talked with the naive Fourth-of-duly bombast they themselves had been guilty of two or three years earlier. It was even more bitter to find that their old jobs had been taken by the stay-at-homes, that business was suffering a recession that prevented the opening up of new jobs, and that veterans were considered problem children and less desirable than non-veterans for whatever business opportunities that did exist. Their very homes were often uncomfortable to them; they had out growntown and families and had developed a sudden bewildering world-weariness which neither they nor their relatives could understand. Their energies had beenwhipped up and their naivete destroyed by the war and now, in sleepy Gopher Prairies all over the country, they were being asked to curb those energies and resume the pose of self-deceiving Victorian innocence that they now felt to beas outmoded as the notion that their fighting had "made the world safe for democracy." And, as if home town conditions were not enough, the returning veteran also had to face the sodden, Napoleonic cynicism of Versailles, the hypocritical do-goodism of Prohibition, and the smug patriotism of the war profiteers. Something in the tension-ridden youth of America had to "give" and, after a short period of bitter resentment, it "gave" in the form of a complete overthrow of genteel standards of behavior.
Greenwich Village set the pattern. Since the Seven-ties a dwelling place for artists and writers who settled there because living was cheap, the village had long enjoyed a dubious reputation for Bohemianism and eccentricity. It had also harbored enough major writers, especially in the decade before World War I, to support its claim to being the intellectual center of the nation. After the war, it was only natural that hopeful young writers, their minds and pensin flamed against war, Babbittry, and "Puritanical" gentility ,,should flock to the traditional artistic center (where living was still cheapin 1919) to pour out their new-found creative strength, to tear down the old world, to flout the morality of their grandfathers, and to give all to art, love, and sensation.
Soon they found their imitators among the non-intellectuals. As it became more
and more fashionable throughout the country for young persons to defy the law
and the conventions and to add their own little matchsticks to the
conflagration of "flaming youth", it was Greenwich Village that
fanned the flames. "Bohemian" living became a fad. Each town had its
"fast" set which prided itself on its unconventionality , although in
reality this self-conscious unconventionality was rapidly becoming a standard
feature of the country club class and its less
affluent imitators throughout the nation. Before long the movement had be-come officially recognized by the pulpit (which denounced it), by the movies and magazines (which made it attractively naughty while pretending to denounce it), and by advertising (which obliquely encouraged it by 'selling everything from cigarettes to automobiles with the implied promise that their owners would be rendered sexually irresistible). Younger brothers and sisters of the war generation, who had been playing with marbles and dolls during the battles of Belleau Wood and Chateau-Thierry, and who had suffered no real disillusionment or sense of loss, now began to imitate the manners of their elders and play with the toys of vulgar rebellion. Their parents were shocked, but before long they found themselves and their friends adopting the new gaiety. By the middle of the decade, the "wild party" had become as commonplace a factor in American life as the flapper, the Model T, or the Dutch Colonial home in Floral Heights.
Meanwhile, the true intellectuals were far from flattered. What they had wanted was an America more sensitive to art and culture, less avid for material gain, and less susceptible to standardization. Instead, their ideas had been generally, ignored, , while their behavior had contributed to that standardization by furnishing a pattern of Bohemianism that had become as conventionalized as a Rotary luncheon. As a result, their dissatisfaction with their native country, already acute upon their return from the war, now became even more intolerable. Flaming diatribes poured from their pens denouncing the materialism and what they considered to be the cultural boobery of our society. An important book rather grandiosely entitled Civilization in the United States, written by, "thirty intellectuals" under the editorship of J. Harold Stearns, was the rallying point of sensitive persons disgusted with America. The burden of the volume was that the best minds in the country were being ignored, that art was unappreciated, and that big business had corrupted everything. Journalism was a mere adjunct to moneymaking, politics were corrupt and filled with incompetents and crooks, and American family life so devoted to making money and keeping up with the Joneses that it had become joyless, patterned, hypocritical, and sexually inadequate. These defects would disappear if only creative art were allowed to show the way to better things, but since the country was blind and deaf to everything save the glint and ring of the dollar, there was little remedy for the sensitive mind but to emigrate to Europe where "they do things better." By the time Civilization in the United States was published (1921), most of its contributors had taken their own advice and were Wing abroad, and many more of the artistic and would-be artistic had followed suit.
It was in their defiant, but generally short-lived, European expatriation that our leading writers of the Twenties learned to think of themselves, in the words of Gertrude Stein, as the "lost generation". In no sense a movement in itself, the "lost generation" attitude nevertheless acted as a common denominator of the writing of the times. The war and the cynical power politics of Versailles had convinced these young men and women that spirituality was dead; they felt as stunned as John Andrews, the defeated aesthete In Dos Passos' Three Soldiers, as rootless as Hemingway's wanderin galcoholics in The Sun Also Rises. Besides Stein, Dos Passos, and Hemingway, there were Lewis Mumford, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, Matthew Josephson, d. Harold Stearns, T. S. Eliot, E. E. Cumminss, Malcolm Cowley, and many other novelists, dramatists, poets, and critics who tried to find their souls in the Antibes and on the Left Bank, who directed sad and bitter blasts at their native land and who, almost to a man, drifted back within a few years out of sheer homesickness, to take up residence on coastal islands and in New England farmhouses and to produce works ripened by the tempering of an older, more sophisticated society.
For actually the "lost generation" was never lost. It was shocked,
uprooted for a time, bitter, critical, rebellious, iconoclastic, experimental,
often absurd, more often misdirected- but never "lost." A decade that
produced, in addition to the writers listed above, such fisures as Eugene
O'Neill, Edna St. Vincent Millay, F. Scott Fitzserald, William Faulkner,
Sinclair Lewis, Stephen Vincent Benét, Hart Crane,Thomas Wolfe, and innumerable others could never be written off as sterile ,evenby itself in a moment of self-pity. The intellectuals of the Twenties, the"sad young men," as F. Scot Fitzserald called them, cursed their luck but didn't die; escaped but voluntarily returned; flayed the Babbitts but loved their country, and in so doing gave the nation the Iiveliest, freshest, most stimulating writing in its literary experience.
(fromRhetoric and Literature by P. Joseph Canavan)
nostalgic (adj.) :
looking for something far away or long ago or for former happy circumstance怀旧的
illicit (adj.) : not
allowed by law，custom，rule，etc．：unlawful；prohibited违法的，违禁的，非法的
thrill (n.) : tremor
of excitement(一阵)激动
speakeasy (n.) :
[slang]a place where alcoholic drinks are sold illegally，esp. such a place in the U．S．during Prohibition[俚](美国禁酒期的)非法的酒店
denunciation (n.) :
the act of denouncing控告；指责，斥责
amour (n.) : a love
affair，esp. of an illicit
or secret nature 恋情；(尤指)不正当的男女关系
sedan (n.) : an
enclosed automobile with two or four doors．and two wide seats．front and rear(两扇或四扇门、双排座的)轿车
naughty (adj.) :
improper，obscene不得体的；猥亵的
jazzy (adj.) : (a
party)playing jazz music(舞会)放爵士音乐的
flask-toting (adj.)
:always carrying a small flask filled with whisky or other strong liquor身带烈性酒的
sheik (n.) :
(Americanism)a masterful man to whom women are supposed to be irresistably
attracted[美国语](能使女子倾心的)美男子
vagary (n.) : an odd，eccentric，or unexpected action or bit of conduct古怪行径；难以预测的行为
flapper (n.) :
[colloq．](in the 1920's)a
young woman considered bold and unconventional in actions and dress [口](在20世纪20年代被认为)举止与衣着不受传统拘束的年轻女子，轻佻女郎
perspective (n.) : a
specific point of view in understanding or judging things or events，esp. one that shows them in their true
relations to one another正确理解或判断事物相互关系的能力
jazzmad (adj.) :
blindly and foolishly fond of jazz music爵士乐狂
aftermath (n.) : a
result or consequence，esp. an unpleasant one结果，后果(尤指令人不愉快的后果)
provincial (adj.) :
narrow，limited like that of
rural provinces狭窄的；偏狭的；地方性的
gentility (n.) : he
quality of being genteel；now，specifically，excessive or affected refinement and
elegance有教养，斯文，温文尔雅；(现尤指)假装文雅，假装斯文
aggressiveness (n.)
: bold and energetic pursuit of one's end，enterprise有进取心，进取精神
bustle (v.) : hurry
busily or with much fuss and bother繁忙，奔忙
medium (n.) :
environment环境
catalytic (adj.) :
acting as the stimulus in bringing about or hastening a result起催化作用的；起刺激作用的
precipitate (v.) :
throw headlong；cause to happen
before expected，needed；bring on猛抛，猛投；突然发生；促使
obsolescent (adj.) :
in the process of becoming obsolete即将过时的；逐渐被废弃的
mores (n.) : customs，esp. the fixed or traditional customs of a
society，often acquiring the
force of law习俗
sophistication (n.)
: the state of being artificial，worldly-wise，urbane，etc．老于世故
faddishness (n.) :
the following of fads赶时髦，赶时尚
hectic (adj.) :
characterized by excitement，rush，confusion，etc．兴奋的；忙乱的；混乱的
gaiety (n.) :
cheerfulness；the state of being
gay高兴，快乐
perversion (n.) : a
perverting or being perverted；corruption走入邪路；堕落；败坏
Prohibition (n.) :
the forbidding by law of the manufacture，transportation，and sale of alcoholic liquors for beverage purposes；specifically in the U．S．，the period(1920-1933)of prohibition by Federal law(特指美国20~30年代的)禁酒法令
orgy (n.) : any wild
riotous licentious merry-making；debauchery纵酒饮乐；狂欢
spree (n.) : a
lively，noisy frolic狂欢，纵乐
reveler (n.) : a
person who makes merry or is noisily festive狂欢者，狂宴者
sober (v.) : make or
become serious，solemn变清醒；变严肃
prolong (v.) :
lengthen or extend in time or space延长；拖长；使持久
stalemate (n.) : any
unresolved situation in which further action is impossible or useless；deadlock僵持；困境
insolence (n.) :
being boldly disrespectful in speech-or behavior；impudence(言行)无礼，鲁莽；傲慢
belligerent (adj.) :
at war；of war处于交战状态的；战争的
adventurousness (n.)
: being fond of adventure；willingness to take chances喜欢冒险；大胆
strenuous (adj.) : vigorous，arduous, zealous，etc．奋发的；使劲的
jingoism (n.) :
chauvinism characterized by an aggressive。threatening，warlike foreign policy侵略主义，沙文主义
fracas (n.) : a
noisy fight 0r loud quarrel；brawl大声吵架；打闹
infantry (n.) : foot
soldiers collectively；esp. that branch of an army consisting of soldiers trained and equipped
to fight chiefly on foot步兵；(尤指)步兵部队
harass (v.) : trouble，worry．or torment，as with cares, debts，repeated questions，etc．使烦恼(或困忧)，折磨
sergeant (n.) : noncommissioned officer of the fifth grade．ranking above a corporal and below a staff
sergeant in the U．S．Army and Marine
Corps；generally. any of
the noncommissioned officers in the U．S．armed forces with
sergeant as part of the title of their rank中士；军士
draft (n.) : the choosing or taking of an individual or individuals from
a group for some special purpose，esp. for compulsory military service征兵：挑选
carnival (n.) : a reveling or time of revelry；festivity； merrymaking狂欢，尽情作乐
contingent (n.) : a share, proportion，or quota，as of troops．ships。laborers，delegates，etc．小分队，分遣部队
bombast (n.) : talk or writing that sounds grand or important but has
little meaning；pompous language词藻华丽而空洞无物的淡话(或文章)；夸大的语言
recession (n.) : a temporary falling off()f business activity during a
period when such activity has been generally increasing商业暂时衰退现象；萧条
whip up : rouse，excite激起
outmoded (adj.) : no longer in fashion or accepted；obsoletc 旧式的；过时的；废弃了的
sodden (adj.) : dull or stupefied，as from overindulgence in liquor(因沉迷于酒而变得)迟钝的，麻木的
dubious (adj.) : rousing suspicion；feeling doubt；skeptical引起怀疑的；感到怀疑的；怀疑的
flout (n.) : be scornful；show contempt；jeer；scoff轻蔑，藐视；嘲弄；侮辱
conflagration (n.) : a big, destructive fire(毁灭性的)大火．大火灾
fast (adj.) : living in a reckless, wild, dissipated way放汤的，放纵的
pulpit (n.) : preachers collectively教士们
vulgar (adj.) : common to the great mass of people in general：common；popular普通的，一般的；流行的
avid (adj.) : having an intense desire or craving；greedy渴望的，热望的；贪婪的
susceptible (adj.) : easily affected emotionally；having a sensitive nature of feelings易被感动的；易受影响的；敏感的
diatribe (n.) : a bitter，abusive criticism or denunciation 谩骂；讽刺；诽谤
grandiose (adj.) :having grandeur or magnificence imposing;impressive雄伟的;壮观的;庄严的;给人深刻印象的
ally (v.) :come bark to normal strength；revive恢复；复元
burden (n.) : central idea；theme主题；重点，要点
adjunct (n.) :a thing added to something else; a person connected with
another as a helper or subordinate associate附属物，附加物；帮手，助手
incompetent (n.) :a person who is completely incapable无能力者，不能胜任者
expatriate (v.) : withdraw (oneself) from one's nativeland or from
allegiance to it(使自己)移居国外，放弃原国籍
denominator (n.) :a shared characteristic共同特性，共性
iconoclastic (adj.) :opposing to the religious use of images or
advocating the destruction of such images反对崇拜偶像的
sterile (adj.) : barren；unfruitful贫瘠的，不长庄稼的；无成效的
flay (v.) :criticize or scold mercilessly严厉斥责；怒骂
drugstore cowboy : a young man who hangs around drugstores
and other public places trying to impress women在杂货店和其他公共场所徘徊试图打动女人的年轻男人
例： You don't see the old drugstore cowboys around this part of town
anymore．在这个镇的这片地方你再也看不到以往那些杂货店牛仔了。
see sth.in perspective : view or judge things in a way that
show their true relations to one another以联系的观点正确地看待或判断事物
例：We should see these events in perspective．我们应该注意这些事件间的本质联系以正确评价它们。
precipitate sb.／sth:into sth． : thrust violently into(a condition)使突然陷入某种状态
例： precipitate the country into war使国家突然陷人战争
sober up : tfree from drunkenness；become not drunk变清醒
例： Put him t0 bed until he sobers up．送他上床等他清醒过来。
whip up : rouse；excite煽动，激起
例： whip up the mob煽动暴民／whip up enthusiasm激起热情
keep up with the Joneses : compete with one's neighbors．etc．(in the purchase 0f articles，e．g．clothes，a car，indicating social
status)和琼斯一家人比(在购买物品如衣物、汽车等方面与邻人等相比以示社会地位)，与他人攀比
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common denominator : a commonly shared theme or trait共同点，共同特色
例： All these accidents have a comnlon denominator that they are related
with drunk driving．所有这些事故的共同点是它们都与酒后驾车有关。
write off : drop from consideration看不起，认为无价值
例： We'Ve written the project ofr as a nonstarter．我们认为这个项目毫无成功的希望，已经对它不予以考虑了。
