AO3: The Great Gatsby Flashcards

1
Q

What were Fitzgerald’s views on drinking and partying?

A

Fitzgerald’s own addiction to alcohol contributed to his premature death and dangers reflected in his novel
Arguably alcoholism and excessive lifestyle led to Zelda’s nervous breakdown

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2
Q

How can Gatsby’s past be linked to Europe?

A

James Gatz breaks away from his past and becomes Jay Gatsby, similar to the way American colonies break away from British Empire

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3
Q

When was the novel published?

A

1925

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4
Q

What group did Fitzgerald belong to?

A
  • A rich group of American writers who were disillusioned with wealth + immigrated to Europe
  • They believed society lacked idealism and vision
  • They felt a sense of personal alienation and believed Americans were obsessed with materialism + outmoded moral values
  • the lost generation
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5
Q

What did Stein coin Fitzgerald and other middle-upper-class American writers?

A

The Lost Generation

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6
Q

What did the 1920s economic boom result in?

A
  • Manufacturing rose by 60%
  • Gross national goods rose 5% a year caused by the destruction of European economies during WWI leaving US as the only major industrial nation + advances in technology
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7
Q

What amendment gave women the right to vote?

A

The 19th amendment

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8
Q

Why was the 1920s called the Roaring Twenties?

A

Due to rowdy jazz age parties and get-rich-quick financial schemes

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9
Q

What amendment started Prohibition?

A

The 18th amendment

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10
Q

What is a speakeasy?

A

Secret bars where illegal alcohol was sold to those in the know - mainly rich white people

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11
Q

Who is Wolfshiem based on?

A

Arnold Rothstein:
- Professional gambler charged with fixing the 1919 world series
- Later became involved in bootlegging
- Never charged with a crime in his lifetime

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12
Q

What was the idea of the New woman / Flapper?

A

“new breed” of women—known as the flapper—went against the gender proscriptions of the era, bobbing their hair, wearing short dresses, listening to jazz, and flouting social and sexual norms flaunted their disdain for “acceptable behavior”

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13
Q

What is the Puritan Work Ethic?

A

The idea that through hard work Protestants would be rewarded by God in heaven

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14
Q

When did the pilgrims first ravel to America?

A

The Mayflower was an English ship that transported the first English Puritans, known today as the Pilgrims, from Plymouth, England, to the New World in 1620 where they sought religious freedom in the Eden like America

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15
Q

Who criticised the materialistic ways of the noveu riche in the Gospel of Wealth (1899)?

A

Andrew Carneige 1889 stated that the wealthy have a responsibility to use their wealth for public good by utilizing their surplus means in a responsible way to help the poor. Particularly talking about the NR as their wealth caused major class divide not helped by materialistic ways.

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16
Q

What was Andrew Carneige statement about being rich?

A

he said “I should consider it a disgrace to die a rich man”

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17
Q

What did Andrew Carnegie do in the late 18 years of his life?

A

He became a leading philanthropist in the US and gave away $350 million to charities, foundations, and universities - almost 90% of his fortune!

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18
Q

What is another name for the newly rich?

A

Noveau riche

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19
Q

Who were the robber barons?

A

“Robber Barons” is a derogatory metaphor of social criticism originally applied to certain late 19th-century American businessmen who were accused of using unscrupulous methods to get rich or expand their wealth

20
Q

What genre is the novel?

A

Considered both:
- Modernism
- Realism

21
Q

What period did realism occur?

A

1880 - 1940 ALL OF UNSEEN IS REALISM

22
Q

What is the content of realism? (5)

A
  • Social realism + regional realism
  • Common characters NOT idealised (immigrants + labourers)
  • Class systems
  • Society corrupted by materialism
  • Moralism through observation
23
Q

What is the style of realism?

A
  • Objective narrator
  • The dialogue has many voices
24
Q

What is the effect of realism?

A
  • Social realism aims to change social problems
  • Civil war demands truer literature
25
Q

What period did modernism occur?

A

1900 - 1946

26
Q

What is the content of modernism? (4)

A
  • Alientaion + disconnection
  • People unable tp communicate effectively
  • Grief over loss of the past
  • deluded with the AD (TGG)
27
Q

What is the style of modernism?

A
  • Experimental
  • Allusions to classics
  • Fragmented
  • Juxtaposition
  • Stream of consciousness
  • writers seek unique style
28
Q

What is the effect of modernism?

A

Alienation

29
Q

What did Fitzgerald call the 1920s?

A

The Jazz Age

30
Q

Where did Fitzgerald go to college?

A

1) mediocre student at boarding school but managed to enroll in Princeton 1913
2) Academic troubles and apathy plagued him throughout college
3) Never graduated
4) Enlisten in army 1917 as WWI neared the end

31
Q

What was Fitzgerald’s wife?

A

Zelda Sayre

32
Q

What was the background of Fitzgerald and Zeldas love?

A

1) Met when Zeldas was 17
2) she postponed their marriage due to her overpowering desire for wealth/fun and leisure until he could prove success
3) Publication of “The Side of Paradise 1920” - became a literary success
4) earned enough money + reputation to convince Zelda to marry him

33
Q

How is Fitzgerlad similar to Nick?

A

Thoughtful man educated at Ivy League school - in Nicks’s case Yale + moved to NYC after war

34
Q

How is Fitzgerlad similar to Gatsby?

A

Sensitive young man whom idolises wealth and luxury and falls in love with a young, rich woman while stationed at a military camp in the south

35
Q

What are bootlegeers?

A

Illegal traffickers of alcohol, an underground culture of revelry sprang up making millions

36
Q

How did WWI affect society?

A

The chaos + violence of WWI left America in a state of shock and the generation that fought the war turned wild + extravagant living to compensate

37
Q

What is significant about gatsby’s car killing Myrtle?

A

the sudden skyrocketing prevalence of cars on the road in the 1920s, connecting them to increased danger, status symbol consumerism, and modern life so Fitzgerald is criticising excess wealth through Myrtles death

38
Q

where did Fitzgerald write The Great Gatsby?

A

Fitzgerald was part of a circle of modernist writers who met in Paris (e.g Hemmingway, Sinclair Lewis)
Fitzgerald wrote TGG while in Paris, surrounded by this group

39
Q

Why was alcohol outlawed by the 18th amendment?

A

Socially progressive activists in both democratic + Republican parties united to pressure the government to ban alcohol which was blamed for social ills such as:
- Drug abuse
- Gambling
- Domestic violence

40
Q

Why did prohibition fail? (4)

A
  • lack of public support ( many were “wets” meaning it was impossible to persuade drinkers to change lifetime habits
  • Alcohol was readily available from bootleggers
  • Enforcement of Prohibition by government officials was INEFFECTIVE (patrolling thousands of km of US + Canada + Mexico
  • Prohibition led to growth of organised crimes e.g Mafia, gangsters such as Al capone
41
Q

When was prohibition repealed?

A

5th Dec 1993 by the 21st amendment

42
Q

How were jewish minorities treated in the 1920s/

A

Jewish Americans were at the forefron t promoting issues such as workers, civil and woman’s rights
- Jews also served in American military of high no
- Their prominence gave rise to anti-Semitic backlash and revival of KKK began with lynching of Jewish man 1915

43
Q

What was the Harlem Renaissance?

A

A cultural, social and artistic flowering among American-Americans that took place Harlem, NY during 1920s
Artists such as Louis Armstrong + Billie Holiday

44
Q

How is white supremacy seen in the novel?

A

the second Klan (active 1915-44) influenced UC American’s views of African-Americans and Jews which can be seen in Nick’s description of Tom’s racist rants

45
Q

When was the declaration of independence made?

A

4th July 1776

46
Q

What parts of Zelda’s life influenced the novel? (3)

A
  • Scott + Zelda’s 1st encounter = country club dance Montgomery fictionalised in TGG between Gatsby + Daisy hjowever transposed location in novel to train station
  • 1921 Zelda gave birth to “Scottie” emerging from anesthesia Scott recorded Zelda saying “a beautiful little fool
  • Illsuions of lost fidelity in TGG - while Fitzgerald was absorbed in writing TGG Zelda became infatuated with young crench pilot