F. Scott Fitzgerald

• A Man and a Dream

http://www.zeldafitzgerald.com/chronology/chronology_5.asp

Early Life

• F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 24, 1896.

• His parents came from two different socio-economic classes.

http://libserv3.Princeton.edu/rbsc2/portfolio/fs1/fi/00000002.htm

Class Conflict

• Fitzgerald developed a complex about money and social status early on. His father’s family was very poor; his mother’s family was rich and well-connected (Novels for Students 65).

• This complex may have contributed to his success and eventual failure.

Teenage Dreams

• Fitzgerald, like most boys at this time, wanted to be a football star.

• But, he wasn’t talented enough to pursue this dream.

Education

• Fitzgerald was supposed to graduate in 1917 from Princeton, but he was in poor academic standing.

http://libserv3.princeton.edu/rbsc2/portfolio/fs1/fi/0000000d.htm

To the Army

• Fitzgerald entered the army in 1917 because he knew he wouldn’t graduate.

Fate Intervenes

• “Fate, in the form of the U.S. army, stationed him near Montgomery, Alabama in 1918, where he met and fell in love with an 18-year-old Southern belle - Zelda Sayre”

(Willet).

Zelda, the Wonderful

• Zelda was the youngest daughter of six children from a very rich family.

• Her father was a Supreme Court Justice.

http://libserv3.princeton.edu/rbsc2/portfolio/fs3/fi/00000000.htm

The Affair

• Fitzgerald falls madly in love with Zelda, and they get engaged.

• However, she breaks off the engagement because he isn’t rich enough.

Success Despite Heartbreak

• Fitzgerald returns to New York.

• He completes This Side of Paradise.

• It’s an overnight success.

• One week later, Zelda marries him.

Newly Weds/New Lifestyle

• The Fitzgeralds lived in Long Island.

• Their life was an on-going party-they entertained, drank excessively, and lived well beyond their means.

http://libserv3.princeton.edu/rbsc2/portfolio/fs2/fi/00000016.htm

Marriage

• Zelda and F. Scott only had one child, named Francis Scott or Scottie. She was named after F. Scott’s distant cousin, Francis Scott Key.

• While in France, Zelda cheats on Fitzgerald with a French Army Pilot.

Zelda’s Demise

• Zelda’s life quickly unraveled after the affair. She attempted to become a ballerina; but, the eight hour practices damaged her health.

Zelda’s Final Home

• Zelda was committed to an asylum for the insane.

• She was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

                                          

http://www.fitzgerald-museum.org/paintings.htm

Zelda the Painter

• While hospitalized, Zelda became a talented painter.

• Her great aunt mused that Zelda’s sickness was caused by her inability to focus on one talent in life.

http://www.fitzgerald-museum.org/paintings.htm

More Paintings

•

The Demise of F. Scott and Zelda

• F. Scott Fitzgerald died of a heart attack on December 21, 1940. He was 44 years old. Zelda Fitzgerald perished at a fire in Highland Hospital in 1948.

Works Cited

Bruccoli, Matthew. “A Brief Life of Fitzgerald.” F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters, ed.

Bruccoli with the assistance of Judith S. Baughman. New York: Scribners,

1994.); essay reprinted courtesy of  Simon & Schuster. 2003. Lincoln-Way East

Library. URL http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/biography.html

“The F. Scott Fitzgerald Society.” Lincoln-Way East, Frankfort IL. 10 March 2004

http://www.fitzgeraldsociety.org/life/index.html

F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum.” Lincoln-Way East High School, Frankfort, IL. 10

March 2004. http://www.fitzgerald-museum.org/chrono.htm

The Great Gatsby

• Written in 1925• One of the greatest

literary documents of the 1920’s

The 1920’s

• “Roaring Twenties”• “The Jazz Age”• “The Era of

Wonderful Nonsense”• “The Golden Age”• “The Lawless Decade”

How did this happen?

• There was an economic boom after WWI.

• Lower production costs made it possible for people to buy things such as automobiles and refrigerators-things previously owned only by the wealthy.

Social Changes

• Inventions like canned goods and electric appliances help liberate women from the home. Many took jobs for the first time.

The Age of LawlessnessThe Era of the Gangster and the Bootlegger

• The 18th Amendment prohibited the sale and manufacture of alcoholic beverages in the U.S.

• This prompted the establishment of “speakeasies”-secret clubs that sold alcohol.

• This in turn boosted crime as gangsters competed for control of these businesses.

Fast Times

• “Flappers-” some of the younger women bobbed their hair, wore short skirts, and threw caution to the wind.

• They smoked, drank cocktails, and danced a new dance called the Charleston.

Unit Questions for 3rd and 4th Quarter The American Dream

• What is the American Dream?

• Has the American Dream changed over time? If so, how?

• What conflicts are there in the American Dream?

• Is the American Dream for everyone?

SOME THEMES OF THE GREAT GATSBY

• Each theme relates to an essential question.

• Have essential questions in mind while reading.

• These are just a few themes found in the novel. Look for these, and look for evidence of other themes and ideas!

REPEATING THE PASTREPEATING THE PAST

ESSENTIAL QUESTION #1:ESSENTIAL QUESTION #1:

Is searching for the happiness of Is searching for the happiness of your past healthy? How is the themeyour past healthy? How is the theme of “living in the past” developed of “living in the past” developed through Gatsby? Explain.through Gatsby? Explain.

Disintegration of the American Disintegration of the American Dream/Decay of Society Dream/Decay of Society

ESSENTIAL QUESTION #2:ESSENTIAL QUESTION #2:

How does How does The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby reflect reflect the dark side of the American the dark side of the American Dream in the 1920s and today?Dream in the 1920s and today? What are the dangers of What are the dangers of ambitiously following one’s ambitiously following one’s dream?dream?

Loss of Spirituality/Religious Loss of Spirituality/Religious ImageryImagery

ESSENTIAL QUESTION #3:ESSENTIAL QUESTION #3:

Given the immorality and Given the immorality and decadence of the 1920s and decadence of the 1920s and today’s today’s society, how dsociety, how does oes

Fitzgerald portray a Fitzgerald portray a Loss of Loss of SpiritualitySpirituality??

Loss of SpiritualityLoss of Spirituality

• World has become immoral

• Excess of violence

• Money & Prestige = goal of the individual

Loss of SpiritualityLoss of Spirituality

• Excess of sex

• Excess of drugs/alcohol abuse

• Flappers/Parties

THE HOLLOWNESS OF THE THE HOLLOWNESS OF THE UPPER CLASSUPPER CLASS

ESSENTIAL QUESTION #4:ESSENTIAL QUESTION #4:

What makes a person hollow? What makes a person hollow? In what ways are the characters In what ways are the characters from from The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby hollow? hollow? What hollow men & women exist in What hollow men & women exist in our society?our society?

THE HOLLOWNESS OF THE THE HOLLOWNESS OF THE UPPER CLASSUPPER CLASS

• $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$• Social standing more

important than character

• Man is inherently reckless and self-serving

SUBSEARCH Requirements

• Character list in back of book

• Connect EVERY chapter to an essential Q.

• Bracket & label themes (we just went over them)

• Bracket & label symbolism

• Underline/marginal note what you deem significant to characters