Sinclair Lewis
Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist and the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature (1930).
His satirical novels skewered American middle-class values and small-town provincialism: *Main Street* (1920), *Babbitt* (1922), *Arrowsmith* (1925), and *Elmer Gantry* (1927).
The name Babbitt entered the language for a smugly conformist businessman.
Town's central thoroughfare
- ArrowsmithProjectile craftsman's trade name
- ZenithCulminating high point
- social realismUnidealized portrayal of workers' lives
- characterizationDescribing distinctive qualities
Meaning opposite to words
- middle-classIntermediate socioeconomic group
- conformityAdherence to norms
- provincialismNarrow regional mindset
- boosterismZealous local advocacy
materialism · hypocrisy · American Dream · small-town life · bourgeoisie · caricature · mockery · business culture
Adherence to norms
- provincialismNarrow regional mindset
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- American DreamUS ethos of opportunity
- middle-classIntermediate socioeconomic group
social norms · boosterism · small-town · disillusionment · idealism · rebellion · conservatism · isolation
Post-WWI American decade
- prohibitionAuthoritative legal ban
- jazz age1920s American cultural era
- roaring twentiesProsperous 1920s period
- naturalismWorldview excluding the supernatural
Celebrated achievement recipient
- 1930Year after '29 crash
- StockholmSweden's seat of government
- acceptance speechRemarks after winning
- recognitionPerceiving something as known
controversy · achievement · distinction · ceremony · medal · banquet · international acclaim
Main Street
Town's central thoroughfare
- ArrowsmithProjectile craftsman's trade name
- ZenithCulminating high point
- social realismUnidealized portrayal of workers' lives
irony
Meaning opposite to words
- middle-classIntermediate socioeconomic group
- conformityAdherence to norms
- provincialismNarrow regional mindset
boosterism · materialism · hypocrisy · American Dream · small-town life · bourgeoisie · caricature · mockery · business culture · civic clubs
conformity
Adherence to norms
- provincialismNarrow regional mindset
- materialismPrioritizing goods over spirit
- American DreamUS ethos of opportunity
middle-class · social norms · boosterism · small-town · disillusionment · idealism · rebellion · conservatism · isolation · cultural clash
1920s
Post-WWI American decade
- prohibitionAuthoritative legal ban
- jazz age1920s American cultural era
- roaring twentiesProsperous 1920s period
naturalism · muckraking · progressive era · interwar period · modernism
laureate
Celebrated achievement recipient
- 1930Year after '29 crash
- StockholmSweden's seat of government
- acceptance speechRemarks after winning
recognition · controversy · achievement · distinction · ceremony · medal · banquet · international acclaim
Sinclair LewisAyn Rand
Objectivist movement founder
Dale Carnegie · Billy Graham · Saturday Evening Post · Rotary Club · Tom Clancy
Sinclair LewisJames Joyce
William Faulkner · Virginia Woolf · Gertrude Stein · Marcel Proust · Thomas Pynchon