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The Man, The Myth, Creator of the Jazz Age

The Man, The Myth, Creator of the Jazz Age. What influenced the writing of F. Scott ? Personal life, Zelda, his dreams, and alcohol. Born 1896, St. Paul, Minnesota Princeton dropout- joined the army in 1917 Met Zelda Sayre,1918 in Alabama War ended before he saw any action

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The Man, The Myth, Creator of the Jazz Age

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  1. The Man, The Myth, Creator of the Jazz Age

  2. What influenced the writing of F. Scott ? Personal life, Zelda, his dreams, and alcohol

  3. Born 1896, St. Paul, Minnesota Princeton dropout- joined the army in 1917 Met Zelda Sayre,1918 in Alabama War ended before he saw any action Zelda unwilling to wait for a “poor” F. Scott, called off wedding

  4. F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald

  5. 1920, This Side of Paradise gained overnight fame A week later Zelda agrees to marriage F. Scott believed love as a means to life

  6. The Great Gatsby, 1925 Critique of the “American Dream” People of talent could reach material success Human conditions of an era Themes transcend time- The novel is the stuff that myths are made of

  7. A Nation Craving Excitement Changes in values and lifestyles 18th Amendment

  8. Entertainment for escapism from everyday life Economic boom in leisure items Excitement touched less than half of the nation 50% still word for word Bible readers

  9. Wrote his way out of debt with short stories Spent money faster than he earned it Peak story fee- $4,000, Saturday Evening Post $40,000 today Averaged $25,000 yearly Gatsby earned enough to get out of debt Chief theme- aspiration of the American character

  10. Nothing measured up to Gatsby Drinking heavily, limited the quality and amount of writing, yet he wrote sober Wrote just to pay the bills 1937-’38 earned $91,000 from MGM studios

  11. Zelda- 1930 diagnosed as a schizophrenic Hospitalized on and off 1948 died in a hospital fire Zelda, F. Scott and Scottie in happier times

  12. Every morning, Every eveningAin't we got funNot much money, Oh, but honeyAin't we got fun There's nothing surerThe rich get rich and the poor get childrenIn the meantime, In between timeAin't we got fun

  13. Birth of the Flapper silk stockings skirts showing leg cheeks painted deep red lips bobbed hair smoking

  14. Boys will be Boys Car - # 1 item on their wish list College life- center of cultural shake-up No interest in politics- too disenchanted Colleges changed with the times- Allowed smoking, dress code changed drinking at parties

  15. Attitudes in dress and literature reflected the Age

  16. With newfound freedom, women took on the challenges of the times. Flapper- symbol of recklessness and wonder

  17. The Birth of the Auto Industry No single item has ever represented an Age as the American car did in the 1920s

  18. Auto Industry Number 1 business - 4 million jobs Ford in 1927 took out a full page newspaper ad ran 5 days in 2,000 papers, $1,300 per day

  19. Ford - Gospel of Business high wages, low prices, standardized manufacturing 2 cars per 3 families 60/123 ‘average’ families owned a car 26/60 lived in ‘poor’ housing 21/26 didn’t have a bathtub New businesses were started

  20. 1919- 6,771,000 cars - 1929- 23,121,000 cars Painted black and made of tin

  21. Growth in other fields Radio- 1922- $60,000,000 in sales 1929- $842,548,000 – up 141% Newspapers- national circulation between 28,000,000 – 36,000,000 55 chains controlling 230 daily papers Movies- single month – 4 times the population Growth in advertising- break down resistance

  22. Ideas and Thought behind the Great Gatsby

  23. Themes to The Great Gatsby “The American Dream” Nothing is as it seems All sparkle and no substance Commentary on the Jazz Age

  24. East vs. West in the Gatsby East West Old families New settlers Traditions Creating culture Formal, stiff No Holds Barred Urban Rural Old Money New Wealth “Parents” “Children” “Family Name” “New Democracy” Planned life Future dreams

  25. Gatsby- dreams of having what the East possessed Life is a Dream – the perfect life, perfect girl, eternal hope Humanitarianism- not found in the novel Place little value on others Self centered- no time for society Class struggles dominate

  26. Nick Carraway- Narrator Through his eyes others are presented Reserves judgment, and doesn’t act on the faults of others Sees the “Dream” for what it really is – Corrupted by materialism

  27. We get a clear picture of class structure from Nick- Yet, his own social position is ambiguous- and he is uneasy as to what his position is Well-educated, related to Daisy, but has a low paying job and lives simply Only character which really ‘grows’ and develops over the course of the novel.

  28. Jay Gatsby – a.k.a. James Gatz Tragic character- Imprisoned in the present, belonged more to the past or to a future which never really existed but in his dreams. He fails to see the cheapness of his love affair with Daisy, due to the ‘price’ he places on her.

  29. Class boundaries separate Gatsby and Daisy Gatsby doesn’t have the family wealth standing behind him Old money vs. new money

  30. Daisy- the symbol of Gatsby’s dream Pure and naïve Purity of his dream is shown in the use of color- Daisy is always wearing white. Daisy is shallow, careless and self-centered Portrays the empty and careless side of her class

  31. Eyes of T.J. Eckleburg- located in the Valley of Ashes, it was a billboard for an out of work eye doctor Nation’s new and false god- a god which sees everything Commentary on America’s commercialism and materialism

  32. Valley of the Ashes Area of land between The Big City where money was made and the “Eggs,” where the wealthy lived off the labor of others. Corruption of “The American Dream” by materialism Empty, hollow America lacking hope

  33. Green Light- Dream to re-capture the past, Symbol of Gatsby’s faith and all that he believed in. Dream might be false, but he is faithful to that dream

  34. Gatsby and Socialism Artificial world- money is the desire of all Socialism- value others place, not market value Gatsby – sets market value on Daisy in terms of obtaining her Daisy – value placed on her by others increases her value in Gatsby’s eyes

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