Modern American Literature and Poetry Practice Test

The Lost Generation rejected the idea that wealth and money were the measure of a good life. After the upheaval of World War I, many writers felt that chasing money and social status hollowed out meaning, art, and authentic human connections. Their work, especially Fitzgerald’s depictions of the Jazz Age, portrays wealth as glittering on the surface while masking moral emptiness and spiritual dissatisfaction. The focus on material success is seen as a false promise that corrupts relationships and distorts values, which is why materialism is identified as what they disliked about the pursuit of wealth. Puritanism is a historical ethos of restraint, not the specific critique the Lost Generation makes about modern money culture; Bohemianism refers to a carefree, artistic lifestyle rather than the broader critique of wealth as a corrupting force; despair is an emotional response, not the cultural stance they critique.