F. Scott Fitzgerald

 Motivation – refers to the reasons for a character’s behavior  Inference – making an educated guess based on facts presented in the text and on your own life experiences  Point of view – the vantage point from which the writer tells the story

 The story begins at the end of the progressive era  Laws were passed to protect public health and factory workers, to increase educational opportunities, to improve housing  By the time the story ends, it is the Jazz Age—a time of rapid change in America

 Popular sports  Golf and tennis were popular among the wealthy  Women began to participate in sports  Jazz music flourished  Machines entered homes and began affecting daily life  Radio, vacuum cleaner, washing machine

 Automobiles  By 1929, the typical middle-class family had an automobile  23 million cars were on the road  Some saw automobiles as one reason for the decline in morals  Provided opportunities for young people to socialize away from the watchful eyes of chaperones

 Flappers – young women who broke conventions  Cut their hair short  Wore form-fitting dresses  Danced the Charleston  Acted zany

 Fitzgerald wrote this, as well as several other short stories, about the dreams and illusions that marked the Jazz Age  Written in 1922  Seen as a “first draft” for his novel The Great Gatsby  Both share the same theme  There are significant differences, though

 Story opens around 1911  Dexter is a fourteen-year-old boy who is caddying for wealthy golfers  The story spans eighteen years of Dexter’s life  Told from Dexter’s point of view  He is a grown man looking back at his youth  He realizes that his dreams have been shattered