1. THE AUTHOR
1.1. Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24,1896 ,Minnesota - December 21,1940, Hollywood
1.1.1. -One of the 20th century great writers gained a reputation as one of the pre-eminent authors in the history of American literature
1.1.1.1. American short-story writer and novelist known for his famous novel The Great Gatsby. He perfectly captured America in the 1920
1.1.1.2. -Alcoholic - celebrity status an extravagant lifestyle
1.1.2. incipient talent and literary ambitions.
1.1.2.1. Princeton University
1.1.3. Zelda Fitzgerald=wife, muse and an icon of the Roaring Twenties daughter named Frances Scott Fitzgerald,
1.1.3.1. "The Romantic Egotist " "This Side of Paradise, a largely "(autobiographical story about love and greed) "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
2. THE CONTENTS
2.1. Literary fiction ( focuses more on character development), modernism, satire
2.2. Setting: summer 1922 Long island and NYC
2.3. SUMMARY :The Great Gatsby is narrated by Nick Carraway,
2.4. moved, next door to a mansion owned by Jay Gatsby, a rich and mysterious man
2.5. Gatsby's strange friendship and Gatsby's pursuit of a married woman named Daisy.
2.6. Myrtle's death
2.7. George Wilson shoots Gatsby..
2.8. Nick leaves New York, disillusioned with the Jazz Age
2.9. Mian characters :
2.9.1. Jay Gatsby : fabulously wealthy young man living in a Gothic mansion in West Egg. willing to do anything to gain the social position he thought necessary to win Daisy.
2.9.1.1. "(...) I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd. "His tanned skin was drawn attractively tight on his face and his short hair looked as though it were trimmed every day."
2.9.2. Nick Carraway : -The novel’s narrator - young man from . Honest, tolerant, and inclined to reserve judgment, Nick often serves as a confidant for those with troubling secrets.
2.9.2.1. “whenever you feel like criticizing anyone just remember that all people in this world haven t had the advantages that you ve had"
2.9.3. Daisy Buchanan : Nick’s cousin, and the woman Gatsby loves. Lives with Tom across from Gatsby in the fashionable East Egg district of Long Island, behaves superficially to mask her pain at her husband’s constant infidelity
2.9.3.1. "Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth--but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget (...)
2.10. Secondary characters:
2.10.1. Tom Buchanan - antagonist. Daisy’s immensely wealthy husband / arrogant, hypocritical bully. no moral about his own extramarital affair with Myrtle,
2.10.2. Myrtle Wilson : Tom’s lover desperately looks for a way to improve her situation.
2.10.3. George Wilson : Myrtle’s husband, owner of a run-down auto shop -loves and idealizes Myrtle, and is devastated by her affair with Tom.
2.10.4. Jordan Baker : Daisy’s friend,Nick becomes romantically involved during the novel. -represents one of the “new women” of the 1920s—cynical, boyish, and self-centered. -beautiful, but also dishonest.
2.10.5. Meyer Wolfsheim - Gatsby’s friend, organized crime. helped Gatsby to make his fortune (illegal liquor).
2.10.6. Ewing Klipspringer : hangs arouns Gatsby's place and lives there he doesn't really care about Gatsby, just uses him
2.10.7. Owl Eyes : The eccentric, drunk ( Nick meets at the first party ) Nick finds him looking through Gatsby’s library.
3. MY WORK RESOURCES
3.1. Book
3.2. google :
3.2.1. Cliffsnotes.com
3.2.2. Biography
3.2.3. Prepscholar
3.2.4. TheGreatGatsby.com - The Great Gatsby
4. MEANING
4.1. Fitzgerald’ s style as the observer, partial participant: Nick is our guide
4.1.1. Point of view: First Person (Peripheral Narrator) Nick Carraway is our first-person narrator, but he's not the center of the story—always on the outside looking in
4.1.1.1. Nick alternates sections where he presents events objectively, , with sections where he gives his own interpretations of the story’s meaning and of the motivations of the other characters
4.1.2. Tone : implicitly criticize cynica ( Nick’s attitudes toward Gatsby and Gatsby’s story : -disapprove of Gatsby’s excesses and breaches of manners and ethics -also romanticizes and admires Gatsby, describing the events of the novel in a nostalgic and elegiac tone)
4.1.3. Type of language : changes = Nick’s perception of the world around him
4.2. Message : the American dream is illusory. It makes men do extraordinary and unethical things
4.2.1. symbolism:- 2 places /Gatsby's parties /decline of the 1920s; social issues/ colors(green , yellow, white gold/ eyes
4.2.1.1. The decline of the American dream, the spirit of the 1920s, the difference between social classes, the role of the past in dreams of the future
5. MY PERONAL OPINION
5.1. The Great Gatsby is an amazing book that highlights class issues and it takes us into a great romance.
5.2. The end was incredibly predictable and cliché with the murder of one of the many people involved in the affairs.
5.3. The plot itself take the reader deep into the novel so as to make it a first hand experience.
6. THE BOOK AS AN OBJECT
6.1. date of first publication · 1925
6.2. time and place written : 1923–1924, America and France
6.3. cover: front cover : Daisy
6.4. back cover: Gtasby : kissing trhough the book
6.4.1. romantic novel ?
6.4.1.1. The decline of the American dream, the spirit of the 1920s, the difference between social classes, the role of the past in dreams of the future