2. F. Scott Fitzgerald Biography
• Fitzgerald was named after his distant
relative, Francis Scott Key.
• Fitzgerald was born into an upper middle
class family. He split his childhood
between New York and Minnesota.
• Fitzgerald attended three different
preparatory schools before entering
Princeton University in 1913.
3. F. Scott Fitzgerald Biography
• Fitzgerald was a mediocre student at best
and spent more time in the Princeton
Triangle Club (a campus theatre group)
than he spent on his studies.
• In his senior year Fitzgerald dropped out
of school rather than flunk out.
• Upon dropping out Fitzgerald enlisted in
the United States Army after the United
States entered World War I.
4. F. Scott Fitzgerald Biography
• While in the army Fitzgerald wrote the
novel The Romantic Egoist. Though his
writing was praised the novel was rejected
by publishers.
• The war ended shortly after Fitzgerald’s
enlistment.
5. Art Imitates Life
• While stationed at Camp Sheridan
(Montgomery, Alabama) Fitzgerald met Zelda
Sayre (1900 – 1948).
• Zelda was a member of Alabama society and
the daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court
judge.
• Fitzgerald took a job working in advertising after
the war and became engaged to Zelda.
• Feeling that he could not support the two, Zelda
broke off the engagement.
6. Art Imitates Life
• Fitzgerald moved back to Minnesota to
work on rejected novel The Romantic
Egoist.
• He adapted the novel to This Side of
Paradise.
• The novel was published later the same
year and became one of the most popular
novels of the year.
• Fitzgerald became an instant celebrity and
resumed his engagement with Zelda.
7. The American Dream-
Instant Celebrity
• In 1921 Frances Scott “Scottie” Fitzgerald
was born.
• Having a child did not slow down the
extravagant lifestyle that Zelda and
Fitzgerald shared.
• Fitzgerald is credited with creating the
term “The Jazz Age”, he and Zelda would
attend wild parties and spend time with
many popular celebrities of the time.
8. Modernists
• Fitzgerald was part of the American
literature movement known as Modernism.
• Modernism lasted from 1914 – 1945, the
period between the two world wars.
• Modernists felt that due to the war
America had lost it’s innocence, their
literature was marked with the idea of
living for the moment.
9. Modernists
• Modernist ideals coincided nicely with the
roaring twenties.
• Major Modernist authors include: Ernest
Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Zora Neale
Hurston, T.S. Eliot and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
• Fitzgerald belonged to a group of authors known
as the Expatriates. These were American artists
who disillusioned with the break down of the
American dream spent a considerable amount of
time in Europe.
10. The Great Gatsby
• The Great Gatsby is based partially on
Fitzgerald’s own life. Connections can be
made between Fitzgerald and the title
character of Gatsby as well as the narrator
of the story.
• The story takes place in 1922, during the
roaring twenties.
11. The Great Gatsby
• Nick Carraway
• Nick is the narrator of the story.
• Though the story is told from Carraway’s
point of view he attempts to be detached
from what is happening, however he is
part of the story.
• This poses a question for the reader: “Can
we totally trust Nick’s account of the
story?”
12. The Great Gatsby
• Jay Gatsby
• Gatsby is the main character of the story.
• Little is known about Gatsby other than he
throws extravagant parties and has
accumulated a vast wealth.
13. The Great Gatsby
• Daisy Fey Buchanan
• Daisy is Nick’s cousin (though a distant
cousin).
• Daisy is married to Tom Buchanan.
• Daisy is the main female character in the
story.
14. The Great Gatsby
• Tom Buchanan
• Tom is roughly the same age as Nick, the
two went to college together.
• Tom is a man of enormous wealth.
• Tom expresses racist views and is a serial
adulterer.
15. The Great Gatsby
• Myrtle Wilson
• A woman considerably farther down the
social ladder than main characters such as
Tom or Gatbsy.
• A woman who has dreams bigger than
what she can actually attain.
