The Great Gatsby by

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Historical Context:

Welcome to the Jazz Age

• Knowing the time helps understand The Great Gatsby.

•F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel was published in 1925.

• The novel is set during the Roaring Twenties, a time period known for its sound: Jazz.

•The 1920s embodied optimism and economic prosperity

Historical Context:

Welcome to the Jazz Age

Flapper Culture

The Jazz Age

Resurgence of the American

Dream

Bootlegging

Jazz Music

Flapper Culture

•Flappers redefined women’s roles in the 1920’s

•They wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, participated in sports, and behaved in what was considered a promiscuous manner

•Flappers were instrumental in the development of dance styles like the Charleston and the Shimmy

Bootlegging

• The Great Gatsby takes place during the Prohibition era, which is the time period in which the 18th amendment prohibited the sale and consumption of alcohol.

•Bootleggers emerged millionaires during this era because of their dealing with the illegal sales and creation of liquor.

Jazz Music

• A mixture of Blues and marching band music created in 1895 and played by African Americans and Creoles.

• Once the mainstream (read “white”) culture took notice of the genre, European and African music culture melded to form a new style of Jazz during the 1920s.

•This is the style of Jazz that serves as a soundtrack throughout the novel.

Resurgence of the American

Dream

• What is the American Dream?

• Did it exist in the 1920s? Does it exist today? Has it ever really existed?

•Can someone truly become a self-made person?

•Let’s take a look at Gatsby’s story to find out.

New York in the 1920s

West Egg

East Egg

• Represents old aristocracy or old money and exude grace, taste, and elegance

• This social status is best represented by the Buchanans, who are residents of East Egg.

West Egg

• Represents new money or the recently rich.

•This social status is portrayed as gaudy, vulgar, and lack of social gentility.

•West Egg is home of our protagonist Jay Gatsby and our narrator Nick Carraway.

Meet the Starring Cast

Nick Carraway

Jordan Baker

Jay Gatsby

Tom Buchanan

Daisy Buchanan

Myrtle Wilson

George Wilson

Gatsby’s Yellow

Roadster

Nick Carraway

• First-person narrator

• Midwesterner who graduated from Yale

• Moves to New York to start his life as a bond salesman

• Gatsby’s next door neighbor in West Egg

Tom Buchanan

• A millionaire from East Egg

• Married to Daisy Buchanan

• Former football star at Yale

• Generally, awful guy (you’ll see why later)

Daisy Buchanan

• The beautiful, young woman

• Cousin to Nick Carraway, married to Tom Buchanan, and object of affection and hope to Jay Gatsby

• Is she shallow or simply misunderstood?

Jay Gatsby

• A mysterious millionaire bachelor who lives in West Egg

•Rumored to have killed a man and to have received his millions through lucrative means

•Obsessed with the hope that one day Daisy will be his wife

Jordan Baker

• Daisy’s friend and Nick’s potential love interest in the novel

•Jordan represents the “New Woman” of the 1920s. She is a cynical, boyish, beautiful, dishonest pro-golfer.

Myrtle Wilson

• Tom’s mistress and George Wilson’s wife

• Desperately wants to improve her status in society and her quality of life

George Wilson

• Myrtle’s husband

• Lifeless owner of an auto mechanic shop in the Valley of Ashes

Gatsby’s Yellow

Roadster

Trust me. That car is important.

Let’s Review

1. What year was Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby published?

A. 1929

B. 1865

C. 1932

D. 1925

Let’s Review

2. What era was this novel set in?

A. The Stone Age

B. The Reconstruction Era

C. The Great Depression

D. The Jazz Age

Let’s Review

3. What part of New York does Gatsby live in?

A. East Egg

B. Brooklyn

C. West Egg

D. Easter Egg

D. Hard-boiled Egg

Let’s Review

4. Who is the narrator of this novel?A. Jay Gatsby

B. Nick Carraway

C. Tom Buchanan

D. Daisy Buchanan

Let’s Review

5. The Jazz Age includes all of the following except:A. Flapper Culture

B. Prohibition

C. Sense of Devastation

D. Resurgence of the American Dream

E. Jazz Music

Great Job, Old Sport!

For Homework: Read chapters 1-3 and Party like it’s 1922!