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F. Scott Fitzgerald
A little bit about F. Scott…Born in Minnesota; 1896-1940 (age 44)Published 4 novels, 160 short storiesNamed the 1920’s “The Jazz Age” and… “the most expensive orgy in
history”Lived the glam party life with wife
Zelda in Long Island and as an expatriate in France
Fitzgerald Timeline
1896-born in St Paul, Minnesota to upper-class Catholic family
1913-enters Princeton, but drops out and enlists in army
1918: Stationed near Montgomery, Alabama, meets Zelda Sayre, a celebrated dancer, socialite and local beauty
He moves to NY to seek his fortune. :( Zelda won’t marry him…he doesn’t have the $!
Fitzgerald Timeline (cont’d)
1920: Publishes This Side of Paradise-becomes enormously famous and marries Zelda
1920’s - begins drinking heavily. Turbulent marriage to Zelda who is mentally unstable
Publishes two more novels and several short stories
1925 - goes to France and writes The Great Gatsby. The book is well-received, but sales are disappointing.
Fitzeralds are part of partying expatriate crowd in Paris, which includes Ernest Hemingway.
Fitzgerald Timeline (cont’d)
1930’s - Zelda is hospitalized several times with nervous breakdowns
Scott is a drunk and broke; he lives in hotels near Zelda’s hospital.
Writes short stories for Esquire magazine
1940: Writes much of The Love of the Last Tycoon, but dies of a heart attack on December 21, 1940
“An author ought to write for the youth of his generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward.”
-Fitzgerald, 1920
1925-The Great Gatsby publishedThis is a book about people and
relationships during the 1920’s. It shows the effect of wealth on people’s lives and the values they hold most important.
We read this book to help examine the values we hold most important today and in the future. What are some movies or people in the news where core values – hard work & honesty – come in conflict with money, material things?
$$ Old Money vs. New Money $$ Old Money vs. New Money $$$$ Nouveau Riche:
French for “new money” Refers to someone who
acquires wealth in his own generation
The term is often used in a derogatory manner by people with “old money”
Nouveau Riche people are often stereotyped as: Lacking the experience
or finesse as someone with old money
Discussing matters of money (how uncouth!)
Purchasing gaudy and numerous items to “show off” their wealth
$$ New Money – Whohoo! $$
"They call me new money, say I have no class, I from the bottom, I came up too fast." - 50 Cent
John D. Rockefeller
Andrew Mellon
Andrew CarnegieJP Morgan
$Old Money$
Narrative point of view & structure
Nick Carraway-narrator
Central figure of the novel: story will be about Gatsby, but it’s a story about Nick as well
Voice of the novel: Nick is 1st person narrator
What do you think Fitzgerald achieves by having Nick Carraway tell Gatsby’s story?
CHAPTER I-ExpositionThe Characters; The Setting
P. 1 Dad’s advice: “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone…just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” Advantages and disadvantages of following this
advice?p.1 Nick:“I’m inclined to reserve all judgements .. …
reserving judgements is a matter of infinite hope.” What does this mean? Is it true?
How do you expect Nick to react to people he disapproves of?
CHAPTER I (cont’d)The Characters; The Background
p. 2 Nick: “When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever…” What kinds of experiences would make a person want the
world around them to be more “moral?”
P.2 Nick: “Only Gatsby was exempt…Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn…it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.”
How does this passage place Gatsby in a special category, apart from other characters?
“Twenty miles from the city a pair of enormous eggs…jut out into the most domesticated body of salt water in the Western Hemisphere, the great wet barnyard of Long Island Sound” (9)
Answer the following in your notes with your
partner:
• Buddy One: Identify lines of text which fully describe West Egg
•Buddy Two: Identify lines of text which fully describe East Egg
Together: What is the purpose of
Fitzgerald’s description?