The term “modern” brings to mind words like bold and captivating. Literary modernism is just that. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, poets and writers moved away from traditional literary styles and toward expressing the true sensibilities of their time. Some writers who followed this trend are Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and TS Eliot. The techniques used by these exceptional literary enthusiasts were the rejection of traditional themes, subjects and forms; bold experimentation in style and form that reflects the fragmentation of society; sense of disillusionment and loss of faith in the American dream; rejection of sentimentality; rejection of the ideal hero and use of the imperfect hero instead; interest in the functioning of the human mind; and revolted against the spiritual degradation of the modern world. Many early authors, such as those mentioned above, used these techniques to help create a unique American voice. In TS Eliot's poem, The Waste Land, modernism is sprinkled on every page. In the period in which it was composed, The Waste Land was a truly unique poem that displayed many modern characteristics. Here, the concept behind modernism was to show rejection of society. Eliot lived in a time when the traditional norms of the 1800s were set aside and writers wrote more realistically and about what life was really like. The poem breaks the traditional form by not having the usual stanzas and lines; not to mention the random bursts of foreign language. Unlike typical poems of his time, he did not use excessive imagery to paint a picture or rhyme. Eliot sought a new type of poetry that used individual fragments to create a sense of desolation that he believed the world was suffering from... middle of paper... in which the novel is set is one of moral debauchery. Whether their money is inherited or earned, those who live in “The Great Gatsby” society are morally corrupt. They live their lives in search of cheap pleasures and with seemingly no moral purpose. Anyone who tries to rise in the social order becomes corrupt in the process. Fitzgerald's unique American voice develops by carefully examining the American Dream. Each of these poets or writers contributed to the great period of literary modernism. The use of this modernism contributed to each man's unique American voice. The Waste Land, “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” and “The Great Gatsby” are undoubtedly some of the best literary pieces to exemplify this unique voice. Without the contribution of writings like these, the literary world today would be very different.