Preview

The Great Gatsby context

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2193 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Great Gatsby context
The Great Gatsby: Contextual knowledge
F. Scott Fitzgerald (FSF)
September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940
Born into an upper-middle-class Catholic family of Irish and English descent, whom he was bought up by in New York
In 1908, the family returned to Minnesota, when his father was fired from Procter & Gamble, where Father Sigourney Fay encouraged FSF’s writing talent
FSF went on to study at Princeton, where his writing took priority leading to him dropping out and join the U.S. Army
Fearful he may die unfulfilled FSF reeled off a hasty novel (The Romantic Egotist); though rejected, the reviewer noted its originality and encouraged future submissions
Commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the infantry and assigned to Camp Sherdian in Alabama where he met, at a country club, and fell in love with Zelda Sayre (FSF was never deployed)
Zelda Sayre: daughter of an Alabama Supreme Court justice and “the golden girl”, in Fitzgerald’s terms, of Montgomery youth society
Upon discharge he moved to NYC to launch a career in advertising, to try and become rich enough to convince Zelda to marry him (he lived in a single room on Manhattan’s west side)
Zelda accepted his marriage proposal, but after some time and despite working at an advertising firm and writing short stories, he was unable to convince her that he would be able to support her, leading her to break off the engagement
1919: the revision of The Romantic Egoist, a semi-autobiographical of his Princeton years, This Side of Paradise was accepted by Scribner’s; leading to FSF and Zelda’s engagement to resume
Frances Scott “Scottie” Fitzgerald, their daughter and only child, was born in October 1921
‘The Jazz Age’ (a nuance coined by FSF) was the most influential decade for FSF, notably his excursions to Europe, particularly to Paris and the French Riviera; became friends with the Parisian expatriate Americans, notably Ernest Hemingway (who deemed Zelda “insane” and claimed she “encouraged her husband to

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    After the war Tommy returned home and went back to school, entering Bishop Field College in…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    worked the long hours across the state from his lover. After the canary he had decided to marry…

    • 614 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    WLC History Oral Brief 4

    • 579 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Oral History Brief Subject: Ret. MSG Raul (Roy) Perez Benavidez Medal of Honor Recipient (1981) • Low • Use the nearest exit in case of evacuation emergency (out the class room to the left) • Exit the class room and building in a orderly manner • Leaders maintain accountability of all personnel • Maintain a respectful and professional environment Risk Assessment • • • • • • Personal life Military life Medal of Honor Post military life Present day Questions Contents…

    • 579 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    After the war McKinley studied law, and opened a practice in Canton, Ohio.He married Ida…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Kennedy 14e Skills Ch31

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Page

    In what ways did the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald (pp.792–793) or musical developments like jazz (pp. 790–791) especially appeal to people living amid the social and economic changes of the 1920s? Did these cultural developments simply mirror existing politics and society, or were they in some ways a challenge to them?…

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    old and his heart was not in it. Military matters meant nothing to him. He did not care one…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896 in Paul, Minn, US. Was the only son of an unsuccessful aristocratic father and energetic mother. His intensely romantic imagination led him what he once called “ A heightened sensitivity to the promise of life”. The most important alteration in his life was when he began to drink too much that almost conduct him to came close to begin an incurable alcoholic. All of this was by the battle lost to keep his life with Zelda. As a result, his life was disorderly and unhappy prove it by his quote “ I left my capacity on the little roads that led to Zelda’s sanitarium”.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In addition, the unique structure is evident in both “Chronicles of A death Foretold” and “The Great Gatsby”, but the use of structure was used to play the same purpose in both novel; and that is to demonstrate the chronology and its effect in justifying the death evident in both novels. In Chronicle of a death foretold the most prominent form of structure that was evident is narrative structure. The way in which the author divided the narrative structure of the plot and events is through 5 sections. The first section is the morning of Santiago Nasar’s Death, the second section is the historical aspect were the reader learns about the past of Bayardo San Roman and Angela Vicario, the third section is the morning of Santiago’s death which is…

    • 608 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Answer: He became a casualty-reporting officer in 1957 when he was stationed in Alaska. Before then, he was generally pro-war, but after telling two or three wives that their husbands were dead, he became more passive. He said his job as a casualty-reporting officer changed his view towards war and caused him to question the Vietnam War and the policies of President Bush.…

    • 1711 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character Jay Gatsby always has an air of mystery surrounding him. Is Jay his real name? How did he get all of his money? What is he doing in New York? No one knows, that’s what makes him mysterious. Being ambiguous is a big trait of the color orange. However, that is not the only trait of the color orange. Optimistic attitudes, Impulsiveness, and Risk taking are also common traits of the color orange. After analyzing the story, it becomes blatantly obvious that Jay Gatsby displays every last one of these characteristics.…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    With the moonlight beating down on Gatsby with an almost sad, dim glow, Gatsby’s heart slowly breaks watching Daisy and Tom share a meal, talking, neither of them unhappy, just peaceful. Gatsby knows he has lost, but he is unable to let go of Daisy, and thus, he waits outside of her and Tom’s apartment until the early hours of the next morning just holding on to the smallest bit of hope that he has left. At this point, Gatsby is pathetically waiting for what he had been hoping for throughout the whole novel, something he knows he cannot have. Perpetually stuck in his past and obsessed with his love for Daisy, Gatsby is unable live a day of his current life without striving to make the past become reality.…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Memberships

    • 324 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Military Service: an Army veteran of World War II, he reached the rank of Capt. and led a company of soldiers in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, where he earned a Silver Star for valor.…

    • 324 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Richard Peck Biography

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages

    After college, he was drafted into the US Army as a chaplain's Assistant and spent two years serving in Stuttgart, Germany.…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Great Gatsby Analysis

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is often referred to as the great American novel. The book’s immense symbolism and its many messages make The Great Gatsby a novel that has the ability to appeal to all who read it. Religion plays a key role in the book. For instance, religious beliefs in the 1920s influenced the main characters of the story in a significant way. The Valley of Ashes that is described in chapter two may also help to represent the moral dilapidation that the rich undergo in the 1920s. Lastly, Gatsby seems to represent Jesus in the novel, while T.J. Eckleburg represents God Himself and Wilson represents Judas. Overall, while there are many symbols in the Great Gatsby, religion is one that seems to come up…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    and was honorably discharged in 1955. First he taught high school, and then went to…

    • 1652 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics