F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby

1. F. Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby Created by Ms. Sorrese Lefkow

2. Biography: born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1896 Father- business man of moderate 
success. Mother- daughter of wealthy family. father's business folded in 1897, moved to 
New York (Buffalo, then Syracuse). Lived 
there until 1908. Family returned to St. Paul, where 
Fitzgerald's mother's family lived. Lived off 
mother's family fortune. Middle-class parents constantly extended 
themselves financially Lived on the outskirts of the city's most 
fashionable residential neighborhood. As a child, played with rich children of the 
neighborhood, all the time knowing he was 
never entirely a part of their society.

3. Academic Career: Attended St. Paul Academy from 1908-1911 and the Newman School (Hackensack, NJ) from 1911-1913. Wrote articles for his school paper Now. Excelled in debate and athletics. Not a scholar. Entered Princeton University in 1913. Wrote scripts and lyrics for the Triangle Club. By 1917, on academic probation. Unlikely to graduate. Joined army as second lieutenant in the infantry. Continued to write while serving.

4. First Love --Ginevra King. She was the daughter of Ginevra and Charles Garfield King. Charles G. King was a wealthy Chicago businessman and financier. -She was a beautiful and wealthy debutante from Lake Forest, Ill., with whom Fitzgerald had a romantic relationship from 1915 to 1917. -Broke up with Fitzgerald in 1917 because he was too poor. -Ginevra's father reportedly told Fitzgerald, "Poor boys shouldn't think of marrying rich girls." -Fitzgerald's original "golden girl," the model for Isabelle in This Side of Paradise and (in part) Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby.

5. Marriage and Work: In 1918, while assigned to Camp Sheridan 
(Montgomery, Alabama) met 18-year-old debutante Zelda 
Sayre. Youngest daughter of Alabama Supreme Court judge. Engaged, but she refused marriage until he could 
support her in the manner to which she was accustomed. War ends before he could be sent overseas. 
Discharged from army in 1919, moved to New York and 
worked for an advertising agency to earn money. June of 1919, Zelda tired of waiting and calls off 
engagement. Fitzgerald quits and returns to St. Paul and revises The 
Romantic Egotist. An instant success. One week after publication, marries Zelda on March 26, 
1920.

6. Scott and Zelda: lived the extravagant life of young celebrities. lived in Connecticut, NYC, traveled abroad. 1921- settle in St. Paul for birth of their daughter, 
Francis Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald. 1922- move to Great Neck, Long Island to be close 
to Broadway. Fitzgerald expected to do well with his 
play, The Vegetable. Distractions of New York impeded his work. Drinking, elaborate parties, domestic rows, 
spending money. Alcoholic, but always wrote sober- myth that he was irresponsible writer. Painstaking reviser, multiple drafts. Fitzgerald utterly devoted to Zelda. F. Scott and Zelda- Honeymoon photograph- 1920

7. Fitzgerald's Silver Hip Flask the engraving reads: "To 1st Lt. F. Scott Fitzgerald 65th Infantry Camp Sheridan Forget-me-not Zelda 9-13-18 Montgomery, Ala"

8. Expatriots: 1924- go to France seeking tranquility for 
his work. Writes The Great Gatsby. Zelda has affair with French naval aviator. 1925 The GreatGatsby published. Meets Ernest Hemingway- then an 
unknown- forms friendship. A member of the "Lost Generation" of 
American expatriates in Paris. Zelda frequently drunk. Causes scenes in 
public places. Hemingway and Fitzgerald's 
friendship strained over Zelda. Remain in France until 1926, alternating 
between Paris and the Riviera.

9. Writing: Return to America in 1926. Attempts to write more 
novels. Unsuccessful stint of screen writing in Hollywood. Zelda commences ballet training, intent on becoming 
a professional dancer. Often separated for work and 
ballet training. Continue to throw elaborate parties. Zelda's behavior 
becomes more erratic. 1927-Zelda suffers first mental breakdown and goes 
to Prangins clinic in Switzerland. Diagnosed with 
schizophrenia. Zelda relapses in 1932- hospitalized in Baltimore. 
Spends the rest of her life in sanitariums. Fitzgerald forced to write short stories to pay the 
medical bills. Writes for The Saturday Evening Post. $4,000 peak story fee (equivalent to $40,000 in 1994). Fitzgerald frustrated with writing stories. Wants to 
write novels.

10. F. Scott Fitzgerald, his wife, Zelda, and daughter, Scotty, in their Paris apartment in 1926.

11. The End: Remains married to Zelda for 
the rest of his life. She requires more care than he 
can provide. Falls into debt trying to pay for 
her round-the-clock care. Eventually meets Sheilah 
Graham, a movie columnist and 
spends remaining years with her. Dies in Graham's apartment on 
December 21, 1940 of a heart 
attack. Dies believing he is a failure. Zelda dies in a fire in 1948. F. Scott Fitzgerald died of a heart attack on December 21, 1940. His grave is located in 
the cemetery of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Rockville, Maryland. The site is a fitting 
tribute to one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century.

12. The 1920's: Nicknames for the Decade: The Roaring Twenties The Jazz Age (term attributed to Fitzgerald) The Flapper Era The Aspirin Age The Age of Wonderful Nonsense Prohibition- the 18th Amendment prohibited manufacture and sale of alcohol. Thousands turned to bootlegging. Mob activity increased to supply what was 
once legal. America Values Post- WWI: Post- WWI- Americans begin to question 
traditional values Standard of living increased for most abandoned small towns for urban living economy prospered as Americans tried to 
forget the war: frivilous spending, illegal alcohol, 
immorality

13. Modernism: the philosophy of the Jazz Age -Literature, art, and music reflected changing values -Many authors attacked traditional values -Authors moved to Paris, becoming "the Lost 
Generation" or expatriates (including Fitzgerald, 
Hemingway, Pound, Stein) -Belief that there are multiple ways of looking at the 
world- no one right way. -No thing or person was born for a specific use; 
instead, they found or made their own meaning in 
the world. -Themes of individualism, the randomness of life, 
mistrust of institutions (government, religion) and the disbelief in any absolute truths, literary structure that departs from conventionality and realism. -Modernism as a literary movement reached its 
height in Europe between 1900 and the middle 
1920s

14. Works Cited "Scott F. Fitzgerald." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Apr 24 2013, 10:36 http://www.biography.com/people/f-scott-fitzgerald-9296261. http://www.fscottfitzgeraldsociety.org/ http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/