1. The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald

2. About the Author Birth: September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, Minnesota Death: December 21, 1940 in Hollywood, California Married Zelda Fitzgerald (1920) Child: Frances Scott Fitzgerald (born 1921) Education: St. Paul Academy, Newman School, Princeton University

3. Author’s Work Novels – This Side of Paradise (1920) – The Beautiful and Damned (1922) – The Great Gatsby (1925) – Tender is the Night (1934) – The Love of the Last Tycoon (1941, unfinished) Other Notables – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (1921)

4. Author’s Impact on Society coined “The Jazz Age” wrote screenplays for Metro-Goldwyn Mayer The Great Gatsby has been said to be the most accurate description of the 1920’s

5. The 1920’s World War I ended – generation that fought and survived has come to be called “the lost generation” Flu Epidemic ended – 20-40 million people died Roaring Twenties – America threw itself headlong into a decade of madcap behavior and materialism

6. 1920’s Politics Warren G. Harding elected as President in 1920 – Teapot Dome Scandal (secret leasing of oil fields) Calvin Coolidge became President after Harding died of a heart attack in 1921 – Coolidge was re-elected in 1924 and worked most of his Presidency to clean up scandals after Harding Herbert Hoover elected as President in 1928 – raised country’s prosperity until the Great Depression began

7. 1920’s Social Culture Red Scares (fear of Communism) reappearance of Ku Klux Klan restrictive immigration laws population in urban areas was bigger than rural for the first time Scopes Trial of 1925 (creationism vs. evolution)

8. Prohibition 18 th Amendment to the Constitution – banned the public sale of alcoholic beverages from 1919 to 1933 speak-easies, nightclubs, taverns gangsters, bootleggers

10. Gambling illegal Black Sox Scandal of 1919 – eight members of the Chicago White Sox were indicted for accepting bribes to throw the World Series

11. Flappers women who rebelled against the fashion and social norms of the early 1900’s demanded the right to vote and work outside the home married at a later age drank and smoked in public known for carefree lifestyles knee-length shapeless dresses; short “bob” hair “gender bending”

13. Automobile Henry Ford began production of the Model T and created assembly lines cars became a status symbol of the time billboards along roadways became a new way for the booming advertising industry to reach customers both cars and billboards play an important role in The Great Gatsby

15. 1920’s Arts Art Deco architecture, art, clothing, hairstyles, décor, furnishings Harlem Renaissance American writers: Sinclair Lewis, Willa Cather, William Faulkner, Carl Sandburg, Ernest Hemingway

17. 1920’s Music Jazz Age – jazz music from New Orleans captured national attention through recent inventions (phonograph and radio) – jazz was seen as improvised, wild, and rule breaking Jazz Greats: Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson George Gershwin and Cole Porter brought jazz to Broadway and concert halls Bessie Smith became a famous Blues singer

18. Louis Armstrong Performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l3sqs pXlao http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l3sqs pXlao first 2 minutes Popular 1920’s Dances: http://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=psch9N4PmO4 http://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=psch9N4PmO4 3 minutes

19. 1920’s Film first movie with sound, The Jazz Singer, starred Al Jolson Walt Disney produced his first cartoon, Alice’s Wonderland Charlie Chaplin and Rudolph Valentino created box office hits Technicolor

21. 1920’s Technology & Science Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic canned/frozen food and household appliance liberated homemakers Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921 Diphtheria immunization created in 1923 electric razor was patented in 1928

22. 1920’s Sports baseball’s Negro National League created in 1920 National Football League founded in 1920 1924 Summer Olympics hosted by France first Winter Olympic games held in 1924 women compete in Summer Olympics for the first time in 1928

23. CHARACTERS “There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.”

24. Jay Gatsby self-made wealthy man lives next to Nick Carraway loves Daisy Buchanan

25. Nick Carraway narrator Daisy’s cousin Gatsby’s neighbor

26. Daisy Buchanan married to Tom Buchanan Gatsby’s love interest before the war popular socialite

27. Others Tom Buchanan – Daisy’s husband – has an affair with Myrtle Myrtle Wilson – Tom’s woman in the city – married to George George Wilson – owns the gas station Jordan Baker – Daisy’s friend – professional golfer

28. SETTING “And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”

29. Settings New York City – characters escape for work and play Valley of Ashes – between the NYC and West Egg – Wilson’s gas station is located here West Egg – where Nick and Gatsby live – represents new money East Egg – where Daisy lives – more fashionable area – represents old money