Bell Ringer: The Great Gatsby

1. Bell Ringer: The Great Gatsby For the next ten minutes I want you to write a short paragraph in response to the following question: Jay Gatsby totally reinvents himself. Imagine that as you go off to college, you decide to change your name and to alter large portions of your personal history. Who do you become? In your paragraph retain at least one true detail from your past. (Crowther, 28)

2. The Great Gatsby Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald

3. The Roaring Twenties • History.com The Roaring Twenties http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ecstudents.net/10spring/meredithwallace/images/flappers.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ecstudents.net/10spring/meredithwallace/&usg=__lT2t-vtjeNaszNTfC8Re2Qy6xC8=&h=490&w=574&sz=150&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=QrhQlOQtqkxdTM:&tbnh=136&tbnw=154&ei=S0WfTYu8EMfhiALXnciMAw&prev=/images%3Fq%3D1920s%2Bflappers%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26biw%3D1266%26bih%3D629%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=236&vpy=123&dur=2196&hovh=207&hovw=243&tx=118&ty=142&oei=P0WfTefgHcfciAKhx7GGAw&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0

4. Fitzgerald's own tempestuous relationship with his wife Zelda would be reflected in his many short stories and novels, first serialised in such literary journals as Scribner's and the Saturday Evening Post. Their lives are a classic study of the American Dream in all its highs, lows, excesses, and joys. Highly lauded as a writer, Fitzgerald was often mired in debt because of his and Zelda's lavish lifestyle, living beyond their means. The Great Gatsby and Fitzgerald's characters Daisy and Tom Buchanan, Myrtle, Jay Gatsby, and Nick Carraway epitomise the Jazz Age but I[t] has also remained timeless in its examination of man's obsessions with and need for money, power, knowledge, and hope. (Retrieved April 8, 2011 from http://www.online-literature.com/fitzgerald/)

5. Reinvention You were asked to write a paragraph where you invent large portions of your personal history. Who did you become? Did you make yourself more glamorous? More powerful? Why or why not?

6. Setting • 1920’s New York City • East Egg/ West Egg Long Island • Importance? http://www.wgrl.net/Friends/Neva%20Lomason/Big%20Read%202011/Programs.htm

7. The Life of a Genius • Born into an upper-middle class family on September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota • Attends Princeton (1913-1917) • Spends life trying to obtain literary success and happiness. • Meets Zelda Sayre in 1918 in Montgomery, Alabama, gets engaged in 1919, but Zelda breaks it off three months later and doesn’t agree to marry him until he obtains literary success. • Fitzgerald succeeds after publishing This Side of Paradise (1920). http://kswriter1.com/$book3_web/fitzgerald_1.htm

8. Living the Life of the Rich and Famous • The Great Gatsby (1926) • Tender is the Night (1934) • Alcoholism, raucous parties, turbulent marriage • Zelda has a mental breakdown (1930) • Fitzgerald dies after suffering two heart attacks ( Dec. 1940) The Home at Edgemoor http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20061117/LIFE/611170324/F-Scott-Zelda-Fitzgerald

9. Exit Slip Take out a piece of paper and write: one thing that you didn’t know before today. Rate your attention today (1-5). Rate your participation (1-5). Did you enjoy today’s lesson? Rate today’s lesson (1-5). What is something I could’ve done that would have helped you learn better? Be specific. What is something you could’ve done better today to help yourself learn?