What was the main philosophy of the Modern Era?

• A. Life is chaotic and meaningless, but meaning can be created through deliberate living.
• B. Truth is found only in universal, unchanging rules.
• C. Since life is chaotic, uncertain, confusing, and apparently meaningless, the only way we can give it meaning is in the way we choose to live it.
• D. Literature should preserve traditional forms.

Answer: (C)

At the heart of Modern Era thinking in American literature is the idea that life often feels chaotic and uncertain, and that real meaning isn’t handed down by universal rules or authorities. Instead, meaning is created through the choices a person makes and the way they live in the face of ambiguity. This focus on individual agency, authenticity, and subjective experience reflects the modernist move away from fixed truths and toward personal responsibility in a disordered world. That’s why the statement about meaning arising from how one chooses to live it best captures the era’s philosophy. The other options lean toward older or opposite ideas—universal, unchanging truths or preserving traditional forms—that don’t fit the modernist emphasis on doubt, fragmentation, and self-authored meaning.