The Sad Young Men

Text Appreciation

Ⅰ. Text Analysis：Introduction

The text explains a period in American history; it focuses on attitudes, revolt of the young people—disappointed and disillusioned writers and artists, back from World War I (1914-1918), once lived abroad as expatriates, later returned voluntarily. They were called the Lost Generation because they were critical and rebellious. However, they never lost because they were creative and productive.

Ⅰ. Text Analysis：Theme

The authors reveal the thesis of the essay in the final paragraph: “The intellectuals of the twenties, the ‘sad young men,’ 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 liveliest, freshest, most stimulating writing in literary experience.”

Ⅰ. Text Analysis：Text Organization

Part 1 (Para. 1): Introduction of the subject — the Revolt of the Younger Generation. Part 2 (Paras. 2-9): Development: a detailed analysis of the hows and whys of the revolt of the young men who came of age during and shortly after World War I. Part 3 (Paras. 10-11): Conclusion: it points out that these young men of the twenties were actually misunderstood. Instead, they were never “lost” and made their own contributions to the society.

Aids to Comprehension 重点解读

“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 were applied to the disillusioned intellectuals and aesthetes of the yeas following World War I, who rebelled against former ideals and valued 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 latter's 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."

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 didn't die; escaped but voluntarily returned; flayed the Babbitts but loved their country, and in doing so 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 I. (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.

Ⅰ. Text Analysis：Further Understanding

1) No aspect of life in the Twenties has been more commented upon and sensationally romanticized than _________.

    A. the naive Fourth-of-July bombast

    B. the rejection of Victorian gentility

    C. the expatriation of the true intellectuals

    D. The so-called Revolt of the Younger Generation

2) The young men began to enlist for ________.

    A. fun in the war

    B. the war before it was too late

    C. the democracy before the war ended

    D. the Victorian gentility after the war

3) “The Sad Young Men” actually refers to _________.

    A.  the lost generation

    B.  the angry young men

    C.  Beat generation

    D.  the war profiteers

4) The Sad Young Men included a group of young intellectuals except ______.

    A.  Hemingway and Dos Passos

    B.  Rod W. Horton and Herbert W. Edwards

    C.  F. Scott Fitzgerald and Eugene O’Neill

    D.  Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot and E. E. Cummings

5) Which of the following did the Sad Young Men enjoy ?

    A. the Babbitts

    B. Victorian gentility

    C. Bohemianism and eccentricity

    D. The hypocritical do-goodism of Prohibition