The Great Gatsby Introduction Test Flashcards
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born where?
St. Paul, Minneosta
When was Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald born?
September 24, 1896
Who was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on September 24, 1896?
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald
His parents, although poor, had some ____________
social status
Fitzgerald was named after his second cousin, Francis Scott Key, the author of _____________________
“The Star Spangled Banner”
While his family was not prosperous, Fitzgerald’s __________ nurtured ____________ ambitions in her only son.
mother, social
How many children did Fitzgerald’s parents have?
1
Who helped finance Fitzgerald’s tuition at a private Catholic boarding school in New Jersey?
an elderly aunt
What was Fitzgerald’s private Catholic school called?
The Newman School
In 1913, what school did Fitzgerald attend?
Princeton University
At the time, Princeton University was viewed as a training ground for the American upper class. Coming from a background of ___________________, while at Princeton, Fitzgerald developed a fascination with the ___________.
financial anxiety, very rich
While his grades were low, he excelled in his writings for the ________________________________
Princeton Triangle Club Dramatic Society and the Princeton Tiger
Fitzgerald’s writing from that time shows that he was self-conscious about _________________________________.
the differences between himself and his wealthy classmates
In 1917, during his third year at Princeton, Fitzgerald left school in order to __________________________.
enlist in the United States army
After passing a special examination, Fitzgerald was commissioned a _______________________ in the infantry.
Second Liutenant
In June 1918, while stationed at Camp Sheridan, near Montgomery, Alabama, twenty-one year old Fitzgerald met and fell madly in love with eighteen-year old _________________.
Zelda Sayre
Zelda was a local debutante, the youngest daughter of an __________________________
Alabama Supreme Court Judge
After being discharged from the Army in 1919, Fitzgerald went to New York to _______________________________.
seek his fortune so that he could marry Zelda
By day Fitzgerald worked _____________________
By night he _________________________-
advertising agency, wrote stories - submitting them to magazines
For his efforts, he collected nothing but _________________-
rejection slips
Why did Zelda break off their engagement?
Fitzgerald was failing financially as a writer, and she was unwilling to live on his small salary in the advertisement business.
Fitzgerald returned to his parents’ house in St. Paul to rewrite his novel, changing the title to
This Side of Paradise
This time the novel was accepted by __________ and published in _____________ when Fitzgerald was ________ years old.
Scribner;s, May 1920, twenty-three
Fitzgerald called his book the story of _________________.
the youth of our operation
Considered daring and intellectual, This Side of Paradise was a smashing success and immediate bestseller. Fitzgerald was perceived as the _____________________ and he achieved _____________________.
style-setter for the times, celebrity status
Following his great success, Fitzgerald and Zelda resumed their engagement and were married in ______________________.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York in 1920.
Fitzgerald’s only child, a daughter, was named _________________ and born in ________________.
Frances Scott (Scottie) Fitzgerald, October 1921
When was the Great Gatsby published?
1925
What is the Great Gatsby frequently nominated as?
the great novel
A quintessential story of not only the 1920s, but also of the American experience, the novel chronicles the ______________, as well as the ___________- of the decade, showing hos America’s fascination with ______________________ was ____________________-.
exuberance, malaise, material success, eroding values
The Great Gatsby received critical praise, but ______________.
sales were mediocre
In 1930, Zelda suffered the first of several complete ________________________. She spent the last _________ years of her life in ___________________ in Europe and the U.S.
nervous breakdowns, eighteen, sanatoriums
To pay Zelda’s high medical bills, Fitzgerald focused on writing short stories for popular magazines, including _______________ and __________. He also worked where as a screenwriter?
The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, Hollywood
While he was in Hollywood, how and when did Fitzgerald die?
heart attack, December 21, 1940
How old was Fitzgerald when he died?
44
Fitzgerald’s early death is often attributed to:
his alcoholism, the pressure to earn money to pay his debts, and the collapse of the decade into the Great Depression.
Reaction to the ________/____________/loss of ___________ from WWI (post-war prosperity), gave the 1920s the name of _____________.
death, destruction, innocence, Jazz Age
During the Jazz Age, their was a mass migration from _________ areas to ________ where “parties were bigger, the pace was faster, the buildings were higher, the morals looser” (Fitzgerald)
rural, cities
Some called the Jazz Age the first truly _________ decade.
modern
which amendment granted women suffrage (right to vote)
19th (1920)
new jobs opened up during WWI and the women didn’t want to give their jobs up when the men came back home - so… more women began to _______________
go to college
modern women of the 1920s - young rebellious, fun-loving, and bold
Flappers
What did Flappers look like typically?
short hair, short dresses (to the knees), more makeup (esp. lipstick), and attitude changes - began to smoke and drink in public
which amendment prohibited the making, selling, or transportation of alcohol
18th (1919)
law passed by Congress to enforce prohibition
Volstead Act
which cities ignored the Volstead Act
most of the ones on the East coast
the crime wave that began made most people think the 18th amendment should be ______________
impealed
organized crime got involved in _______________
boatlegging (the illegal selling of alcohol)
the most famous gangster of the 1920s was
Al Capone from Chicago
______________ jacket design for The Great Gatsby is the most celebrated and widely discriminated jacket art in American Literature.
Francis Cugat’s
After appearing on the first printing in 1925, the jacket was revised more than a half-century later for the ______________ paperback editions (1979-present)
“Scribner Library”
Cugat’s painting is iconic: the sad, hypnotic, heavily outlined eyes of a woman beam like ___________ through a cobalt night sky. Their irises are transfigured into reclining female forms. From one of the eyes stream a ___________________; bright rouged _______ complete the sensual triangle. Below, on earth, brightly colored __________ lights blaze before a ________________ skyline.
headlights, green luminescent tear, lips, carnival, metropolitan
Jay Gatsby: the title character, a former mid-westerner who moved east in order to _____________
win over Daisy Buchanan, the love he lost 5 years earlier.
Jay Gatsby’s desire to win over Daisy leads him from ____________ to _______________. He is considered ______________.
poverty, wealth, “new money”
Nick Carraway: the novel’s narrator, also a mid-westerner who moved east. He happens to be _______________. He also happens to move into a small house next to Gatsby’s ___________ in West Egg. His mid-western sensibilities give us an __________________ perspective on how the wealthy societies like the Buchanan’s lead their lives.
Daisy’s cousin. mansion, outsider’s
Daisy is beautiful and ___________. Gatsby is obsessed with winning her back. She grew up in a ___________ family, and married a wealthy man, Tom Buchanan, who is considered a part of the __________ elite.
delicate, wealthy and privileged, “old money”
Tom Buchanan - Daisy’s hulking brute of a _____________, who comes from an old, wealthy Chicago family and takes pride in his ____________.
husband, rough ways
Tom leads a life of luxury in __________, playing polo, riding horses, and driving fast cars.
East Egg
Jordan Baker - professional _________, known for her _______________.
golfer, questionable integrity
Jordan is a friend of Daisy’s and also represents ____________________.
women of this elite social class
Fitzgerald often wrote about __________ women who played sports such as _______________. This was considered very _________ at the time.
athletic, golf, tennis, modern
Meyer Wolfsheim - Gatsby’s business ____________ and link to ______________.
associate, organized crime
A professional _________, Wolfsheim is attributed with fixing the _______________.
gambler, 1919 World Series
George and Myrtle Wilson
George -
Myrtle -
a local automechanic, wife (Tom’s mistress)
New Money: not as ________ in the 1920s
respected
Old Money: money from ____________, born rich, not earned from work done _______________, respected above _____ in the 1920s
family wealth, by yourself, all
West Egg - where Nick and Gatsby live, represents ___________
East Egg - where Daisy lives, the more _______ area, represents ________
new money, fashionable, old money
The City - New York City - where the characters escape to for _________.
work and play
The Valley of Ashes - an ________________ between the City and West Egg where Wilson’s ________ is located.
industrial waste area, garage
Green light - at the end of Daisy’s dock and visible from Gatsby’s mansion. Represents _______________.
Gatsby’s hopes and dreams about Daisy
The Valley of Ashes - the area between West Egg and New York City, it is an area filled with industrial waste. It represents __________________.
the social and moral of society during the 1920s; also shows the negative effects of greed
The Eyes of Dr. T. J. Ekleburg - a decaying in the Valley of Ashes with eyes advertising an _____________
optometrist
There are multiple proposed meeting of the Eyes of Dr T. J. , including the representation of ____________________.
God’s moral judgement on society
