F. Scott Fitzgerald

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F. Scott Fitzgerald

• The Great Gatsby

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What you really need to know to do well on
Jeopardy! and in Trivial Pursuit.

• From St. Paul
• So?
• Look for evidence in GG that concerns Midwest
  values and the where the Nick comes from

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What you really need to know to do well on
Jeopardy! and in Trivial Pursuit.

• Was affluent growing up
• Went to Princeton (party boy)
• Was an overnight success with This Side of
  Paradise
• After it was published, he promptly married . . .

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ZELDA
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• He was in the Army when he met her
• She was a much sought after belle.
• He was broke she broke off the engagement UNTIL
  he got his book published

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• They had one daughter, Frances Fitzgerald
  (Scottie)
• Zelda was tough on him in many ways
• Drinkers
• Pressure for money
• Affairs

• Watch for parallels in GG

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Literary Impact

• He was considered an Ex-patriot
• Lived in Paris and other European cities for many
  years
• Was friends with Hemingway
• Very interesting stories
• Read A Moveable Feast if youre interested

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Jazz Age

• Coined the term Jazz Age
• It was an age of miracles, it was an age of art,
  it was an age of excess, and it was an age of
  satire.
• from Echoes of the Jazz Age.

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Zeldas Health

• Eccentric
• Ballet Dancer in her 30s
• Very strained marriage
• She was admitted into multiple asylums
• Perished in a fire at Highland Hospital in 1948

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Death

• After many failures, he moved to Hollywood to be
  a screenwriter
• Mild success
• He died of a heart attack on December 21, 1940
  believing himself a failure.
• The obituaries were condescending, and he seemed
  destined for literary obscurity.

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• Between 1945 and 1950, GG was reexamined and by
  1960 he had achieved a secure place among
  Americas enduring writers. The Great Gatsby, a
  work that seriously examines the theme of
  aspiration in an American setting, defines the
  classic American novel.

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Epitaph
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What to Watch for in GG

• Disillusionment
• Time (and lack thereof)
• Old Money and New Money
• East and West
• Colors (white, yellow, and GREEN)