This discussion board will be a unique one. You will be divided into groups based on your last name, and each group will be assigned a historical persona. You will then express the point of view of your assigned persona, imagining that it is the 1920s in America. Here are your groups:
A-F: You will be portraying the perspective of poor, working-class urban Americans.
G-L: You will be portraying the perspective of the wealthy.
M-R: You will be portraying the perspective of the drinking, smoking, dancing party scene, including flappers and celebrities.
S-Z: You will be portraying the perspective of African Americans.
Now that you’ve found which group you’re in, here’s what you need to do for the discussion. Choose one of the issues that came up during the Jazz Age. There are many to choose from! For example:
Unequal prosperity.
Prohibition.
Continuing racism.
The Harlem Renaissance
New products, and new ways to buy them.
Buying on credit.
Or something else.
Now that you’ve chosen a topic, give your character’s perspective on it. Write as if you are a flapper, or a poor Kansas farmer, or a factory worker, or resident of Harlem. Describe your point of view (as that person), why it makes sense to you, and why you think you’re right. The point is to put yourself in the shoes of historical people! When you’ve given your perspective, comment on a classmate’s post, disagreeing and giving your side of things (again, as your assigned character).
The point here is to see that the issues at this time were multifaceted, and everyone had perspectives that made sense to them.
