1. The Great Gatsby The epitome of the American Dream novel

2. About the author- Fitzgerald 1896-1940 (died at the age of 40) Drunk and shunned by the literary establishment most of his life Well born, descendant of Francis Scott Key (author of “Star Spangled Banner”) Never popular- At sixth birthday, parents threw him a party but no one showed up He ate all of the cake himself, “Parties,” he later wrote “are a kind of suicide.”

3. Good looks got him far- voted “prettiest boy” at Princeton Lousy at school, he signed up for the Army, hoping he would be killed at war (WWI), leave behind a good looking corpse and unfinished novel, and thereby achieve literary immortality Never saw combat, wrote This Side of Paradise and it was a success Married and lived beyond his means Foot fetish, but couldn’t stand his own feet (socks and shoes to the beach)

4. Wrote Gatsby, but it only sold 30,000 copies Turned to Hollywood to make more money- worked on re-write of Gone With the Wind for 2 weeks, but was fired Aug 1940 he had $706 to his name, immersed in the writing of his latest novel, he took a break to eat a Hersey bar and read an article about the Princeton football team. He had a heart attack (had a few before this as well) and died Funeral cost $613.25, will stated to have “the cheapest funeral possible”

5. 1920s paradigm Jazz Age killed off the Great Depression Decadence in reaction to prohibition Women’s rights began to change; fashion changed More leisure time for wealthy Wages were up Organized crime and government corruption

6. “Tea Pot Dome,” The ENRON of the ‘20s President Harding Helped big business Tax cuts for rich Scandal = millions of $$ from Veterans Admin. siphoned

7. two federal oil reserves were earmarked for use by US Navy, but were sold for profits in bribes and “kickbacks” to Harding’s men Harding escaped impeachment by dying Replaced by Coolidge Secretary Fall was 1 st cabinet member to go to jail

8. The Great Gatsby background Told by narrator Nick Carraway who says he reserves judgment but still makes judgments about characters

9. F. Scott Fitzgerald Uses imagery and symbolism skillfully Motifs (repeated images, colors, which mean something) Eyes, animals, colors associated with certain characters

10. Onomastics The study of the origins of proper names Watch for names which have deeper meanings Daisy, Tom, Wolfsheim, Myrtle, Gatsby

11. Daisy Purity, innocence

12. Wolfsheim Dangerous, animal-like

13. Myrtle A trailing vine, clings, produces blue flowers

14. Tom Tom cats wander and are not loyal

15. Gatsby “Gat” is archaic term for “got” “Got by” or “gets by” He just made it

16. Fitzgerald makes a statement about class in America The rich use people and discard them afterward

17. Reading Homework Read chapters 1-3 by the end of the week Reading quizzes will be similar to The Jungle