The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby

Research the origin of the work and the era that produced it, and then demonstrate the influence the work has had since its inception. Include the following (but you are not limited to these):


· Author’s background as it relates to the work. Why did the author write the work?
· Similar literary works that predate this work and how they may have influenced it.
· Social and historical influences on the work.
· Controversies (if any) surrounding the work.
· The work’s influence on literature, society, and history.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald's life is an example of both sides of the American Dream, the joys of young love, wealth and success, and the tragedies associated with success and failure. Named for another famous American, a distant cousin who authored the Star Spangled Banner, Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul Minnesota on September 24, 1896. The son of a wicker furniture salesman, Edward Fitzgerald, and an Irish immigrant with a lot of money Mary McQuillan, Fitzgerald grew up in a strict, strong Catholic family in an upper to middle class styled environment. Fitzgerald started writing at an early age, and expanded throughout the years. His high school newspaper published his detective stories, encouraging him to pursue writing more than academics. He dropped out of Princeton university where Fitzgerald continued his obsession and love for writing along. (Bruccoli)
At the age of 21, he submitted his first novel for publication and Charles Scribner's Sons rejected it, but with words of encouragement. Beginning a pattern of constant revising that would characterize his writing style for the rest of his career. The U.S. army, stationed him near Montgomery, Alabama in 1918, where he met and fell in love with Zelda Sayre.
Three years into marriage, after the birth of their first and only child, Scottie, Fitzgerald completed his best-known work: "The Great Gatsby." The extravagant living made possible by such...

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