Were the intellectual critics of the 1920s really disillusioned with the fundamental character of American life, or were they actually loyal to a vision of a better America, and only hiding their idealism behind a veneer of disillusionment and irony?

I think there was disillusionment with the evils of WWI and modernity to some extent. There were literary figures like F. Scott Fitzgerald who obviously felt conflicted about the prosperity of the 1920s and the direction where American society was heading.

Explanation:

The 1920s were a decade of contradictions and profound cultural changes. There was the rise of mass culture and important advances in women's rights as women started to go out to jazz clubs and converse with men and other women, their intellectual contributions and agency were recognized more than in the past. But there was also prohibition during the 1920s and a struggle to maintain the conservatism of the old traditional America. There was also a rise in organized crime but advances in technology like Charles Lindbergh's flight and the massification of cars by Henry Ford that also showed some idealism and pride in American ingenuity.

question - in 1827, john walker, a druggist in a small english town, tipped a splint with sulphur, chlorate of potash, and sulphid of antimony, and rubbed it on sandpaper, and it burst into flame. the druggist had discovered the first friction-chemical match, the kind we use to-day. it is called friction-chemical because it is made by mixing certain chemicals together and rubbing them. although walker's match did not require the bottle of acid, nevertheless it was not a good one. it could be lighted only by hard rubbing, and it sputtered and threw fire in all directions. in a few years, however, phosphorus was substituted on the tip for antimony, and the change worked wonders. the match could now be lighted with very little rubbing, and it was no longer necessary to have sandpaper upon which to rub it. it would ignite when rubbed on any dry surface, and there was no longer any sputtering. this was the phosphorus match, the match with which we are so familiar. according the paragraph what was the benefit of the new phosphorus match? it burst into flame when rubbed on sandpaper. it was made by mixing chemicals. it could be ignited on any dry surface. it threw fire in all directions.

answer - matches required natural chemicals