1. The Roaring 20s and F. Scott Fitzgerald Background Notes

2. What do you already know about the 20s? Prohibition Flappers Organized Crime Jazz Post WWI Post Industrialism Others…?

3. F. Scott Fitzgerald

4. General Information BORN IN ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA (1896) AND DIED OF HEART FAILURE IN 1940. NAMED FOR HIS RELATIVE, FRANCIS SCOTT KEY, COMPOSER OF "THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER".

5. The Early Years… DID POORLY IN SCHOOL AND ATHLETICS. EXCELLED AT WRITING AND WAS A DAYDREAMER. IN 1916, HE ENROLLED IN OFFICER'S TRAINING SCHOOL, IN HOPES TO JOIN WWI. HE WAS NEVER SENT OVERSEAS.

6. Love and Marriage… PUBLISHED HIS FIRST NOVEL THIS SIDE OF PARADISE IN 1919. HE ALSO MARRIED HIS WIFE, ZELDA. HE AND ZELDA WERE CELEBRITIES AND IT TOOK A TOLL ON THEIR MARRIAGE.

7. The Great Gatsby… THE GREAT GATSBY WAS PUBLISHED IN 1925. GATSBY SPEAKS ABOUT WEALTH- "THAT IT IS A DEHUMANIZING FORCE THAT CAN DESTROY THE HEART.” - F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

8. More Gatsby… THE NARRATION IS ENGAGED, YET OBJECTIVE. CHARACTERS IN HIS NOVELS CLOSELY MIRROR PEOPLE IN HIS LIFE AND IN SOCIETY.

9. Trouble in Paradise… IN 1929, ZELDA HAD A MENTAL BREAKDOWN AND SHE WAS INSTITUTIONALIZED. SHE WROTE SAVE ME THE WALTZ AS A COMMENTARY ON HER MARRIAGE TO FITZGERALD.

10. Back at Ya… IN 1934, FITZGERALD WROTE TENDER IS THE NIGHT AS A "REBUTTAL" TO ZELDA'S NOVEL. IT IS ABOUT A CHARACTER (DICK DIVER) WHO MUST TAKE CARE OF NICOLE, THE MAD (CRAZY) HEROINE.