...Age of Human Error” (Florence King). This quote brings to light the fact that the American Dream is nigh impossible to achieve. This is simply because people are so caught up in dreaming about what other people have obtained rather than taking the necessary steps to live the dream themselves. American author F. Scott Fitzgerald has an unparalleled impact on the idea of the American Dream. Fitzgerald’s novels This Side of Paradise and The Great Gatsby have consistent themes that feature small aspects of the American Dream that conflicts him. Both the main male characters, Armory Blaine and Jay Gatsby showcase men in 1920s America who have come into wealth, yet their money and shiny trinkets do not bring them happiness, even though that is what both characters legitimately yearned for. Together, Gatsby and Blaine expose a perception of the American Dream that F. Scott Fitzgerald investigated thoroughly throughout his life. The idea that when a society is consumed by materialism and the promises it could bring the real American Dream is lost in the shuffle. Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1869 in St. Paul, Minnesota. The author was named after his second cousin Scott Francis Key, who wrote the lyrics to the “Star-Spangled Banner”. As a young boy he went to two Catholic schools the most prestigious of the two being the Newman school where he graduated high school in 1912 and was admitted to Princeton the following year. During his time at the university he dismissed his studies...
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...essay suggests that the biographical element in Scott Key Fitzgerald’s writing is a notable quality of his novels. As evidence, it provides a brief comment about how his life is intertwine with The Great Gatsby plot and character. Finally, the essay provides the reader the biography of Scott Fitzgerald as representative of the claim. Overall, the writer’s research on Scott Fitzgerald’s novels is poor and doesn’t address the thesis. Thesis A thesis is a statement or a theory that is put forward as a premise to be maintained or proved (Dictionary.com). In this case the thesis is persuasive because the writer chooses one quality of Scott Fitzgerald writing over others that could also describe his writing as the most obviously notable quality. The purpose of the document is to convince the audience that the thesis is a correct statement. In order to convince the audience, the writer needs to provide information that is representative of the claim about the topic (p.358). The thesis suggests that “the biographical element in Fitzgerald’s writing is one of the most obviously notable qualities about his novels”. To prove the statement correct, the writer needs to provide information about Fitzgerald’s novels in relation with his life. In the document only one novel is cited, The Great Gatsby, but there is no specific information about how the novel is related to Fitzgerald’s biography. Although there is little information about Fitzgerald work as a writer, there is a considerable amount...
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...The Glamour and Heartbreak of Scott Fitzgerald’s American Dream When one is moving to the United States of America, all they must be able to think about is living the American Dream. They must imagine having a family, a nice house, a good job, money and maybe even being famous. Those who live in America must know that the American Dream is not an easy thing to achieve nor is it as great as it seems. Those lucky few who manage to achieve the American Dream sometimes get so caught up in all the glamour that they let it get to their heads. When that happens, the American Dream usually ends in heartbreak for that person. A perfect example of this situation was F. Scott Fitzgerald. He went from being a nobody to becoming a rich and successful American novel writer. Although, he did not stay that way for long as his doomed marriage, drinking problems, and partying habits put him on such a decline, that his books stopped being printed at one point. Therefore, no writer has more closely personified the glamour and heartbreak of the American Dream than F. Scott Fitzgerald in his early, middle, and late life. Even as a young man, Fitzgerald strived to achieve the American Dream for himself. In school, Fitzgerald gained a reputation as a show off. He used his high levelled writing skills as a way to become popular and become the centre of attention. In university, Fitzgerald began to seriously write. He began to write for the campus magazines and his lyrics for a Princeton musical caused...
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...Symbolism of Houses and Cars in The Great Gatsby Francis Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, is full of symbolism, which is portrayed by the houses and cars in an array of ways. One of the more important qualities of symbolism within The Great Gatsby is the way in which it is so completely incorporated into the plot and structure. Symbols, such as Gatsby's house and car, symbolize material wealth. Gatsby's house "[is] a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy" which contains "a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy" is a symbol of Gatsby's large illegal income (Fitzgerald 9). Gatsby's large income isn't enough to keep him happy. He needs "The house he feels he needs in order to win happiness" and it is also the perfect symbol of carelessness with money which is a major part of his personality (Bewley 24). Gatsby's house like his car symbolizes his vulgar and excessive trait of getting attention. Gatz's house is a mixture of different styles and periods which symbolizes an owner who does not know their true identity. The Buchanan's house is symbolic of their ideals. East Egg is home to the more prominent established wealth families. Tom's and Daisy's home is on the East Egg. Their house, a "red and white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay" with its "wine-colored rug[s]" is just as impressive as Gatsby's house but much more low-key (Fitzgerald 11) (13). East egg and Tom's home represents the established wealth and...
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...Literary Biography December 13, 2013 Ernest Hemingway led a life one can only imagine in stories, but started from a rather boring town called Oak Park in Illinois. This life began on July 21, 1899. Perhaps his own stories are a place you can get an idea of this author’s life. Many critics say that he mirrored a lot of stories from his own life, and knowing a little about his real life, you can draw the parallels from fact to fiction. Hemingway spent his summers in Michigan, in a small cabin in the woods next to the Ojibway Indians, whom he was very good friends with. His father, Clarence, taught him the way of nature, including how to identify plants, hunt and fish, among other things. Ernest liked his father, who committed suicide in his mid-fifties. Two of his siblings also committed suicide (he was one of six). His mother was “cold and domineering,” and some say she emasculated his father. In his adult life, he was married four times, but “When I saw my wife again standing at the tracks as the train came in by the piled logs at the station, I wished I had died before I ever loved anyone but her.” This quote, which I think gives a testament to how beautifully he could write, is speaking of his first wife, Hadley, whom he met and married within a year. They had a son together, but after Hadley was at fault in getting his collection of stories stolen, their relationship wouldn’t recover. When in high school, Hemingway’s love for writing started to show. He wrote for...
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...The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (published on April 10, 1925) is one novel that anyone would regret not reading. It has gone down in history as one of the most important works in American literature — and, to many, the great American novel. Fitzgerald has succeeded in offering up commentary on a variety of themes — justice, power, greed, betrayal, the American dream and so on through Nick as a narrator. There are two most impressive symbols in the novel. The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock and the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg remains obsessing in readers’ minds. The first is a perfect example of the manner in which characters The Great Gatsby. Situated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn, the green light represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, to whom “ he bought house to be near her, he threw all those parties hoping she would wander in one night”. In Chapter 1 he reaches toward the green light on the other side of the river, in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal. Gatsby’s quest for Daisy is broadly associated with the American dream: “all man are created equal and that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness”, the green light also symbolizes that more generalized ideal. Though, The Great Gatsby illustrates the downgrade value of American Dream, instead of...
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...(disambiguation). The Great Gatsby is a 1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion and obsession for the beautiful debutante Daisy Buchanan. Considered to be Fitzgerald's magnum opus, The Great Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding theAmerican Dream.[1][2] Fitzgerald, inspired by the parties he had attended while visiting Long Island's north shore, began planning the novel in 1923 desiring to produce, in his words, "something new—something extraordinary and beautiful and simple and intricately patterned."[3] Progress was slow with Fitzgerald completing his first draft following a move to the French Riviera in 1924. His editor, Maxwell Perkins, felt the book was too vague and convinced the author to revise over the next winter. Fitzgerald was ambivalent about the book's title, at various times wishing to re-title the novel Trimalchio in West Egg. First published by Scribner's in April 1925, The Great Gatsby received mixed reviews and sold poorly; in its first year, the book sold only 20,000 copies. Fitzgerald died in 1940, believing himself to be...
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...With The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald made a conscious departure from the writing process of his previous novels. He started planning it in June 1922,[citation needed] after completing his play The Vegetable and began composing The Great Gatsby in 1923.[2] He ended up discarding most of it as a false start, some of which resurfaced in the story "Absolution".[3] Unlike his previous works, Fitzgerald intended to edit and reshape Gatsby thoroughly, believing that it held the potential to launch him toward literary acclaim. He told his editor Maxwell Perkins that the novel was a "consciously artistic achievement" and a "purely creative work — not trashy imaginings as in my stories but the sustained imagination of a sincere and yet radiant world". He added later, during editing, that he felt "an enormous power in me now, more than I've ever had".[4] Oheka Castle on the Gold Coast of Long Island was a partial inspiration for Gatsby's estate.[5] After the birth of their child, the Fitzgeralds moved to Great Neck, Long Island in October 1922, a setting used as the scene for The Great Gatsby.[6] Fitzgerald's neighbors in Great Neck included such prominent and newly wealthy New Yorkers as writer Ring Lardner, actor Lew Fields and comedian Ed Wynn.[3] These figures were all considered to be 'new money', unlike those who came from Manhasset Neck or Cow Neck Peninsula, places which were home to many of New York's wealthiest established families, and which sat across a bay from Great Neck...
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...Hamlet: William Shakespeare biography: * William Shakespeare is the grand literary figure of the Western world. During England's Elizabethan period he wrote dozens of plays which continue to dominate World Theater 400 years later. Shakespeare handled high drama, romance and slapstick comedy with equal ease, and so famous are his words that his quotes, from "To be or not to be" to "Parting is such sweet sorrow," take up more than 70 pages in recent editions of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. His works rival the King James Bible (also produced in the 1600s) as a source of oft-quoted English phrases. Shakespeare is known as "the Bard of Avon," in a nod to his birthplace, and many of his plays were originally performed in the famous Globe Theater in London. Among his best-known plays are Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and MacBeth. He is also known for his poetry, especially his sonnets. (Who2biographies) * William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582. Their daughter Susannah was born in 1583, and the twins Judith and Hamnet were born in 1585. Hamnet died in 1596... William Shakespeare's precise birthdate is not known; he was baptized on 26 April 1564, and over time 23 April has become the accepted date of birth, in part because he also died on 23 April in 1616.( Who2biographies) * Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, and these are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these...
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...Tale). INDEX OF SINGLE TEXTS Wuthering Heights The Great Gatsby The Grass Is Singing Macbeth Antigone − Page 2 − Page 2 − Page 3 − Page 3 − Page 3 Page 1 of 8 SECTION I THE SINGLE TEXT (60 marks) Candidates must answer one question from this section (A – E). A WUTHERING HEIGHTS – Emily Brontë (i) In your opinion, to what extent are the values represented by the world of Thrushcross Grange defeated, in Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights? Support your answer with suitable reference to the text. OR (ii) “Emily Brontë makes effective use of both Nelly Dean and Mr Lockwood in a variety of ways.” Discuss this statement, supporting your answer with suitable reference to the novel, Wuthering Heights. B THE GREAT GATSBY – F. Scott Fitzgerald (i) “Readers of The Great Gatsby are greatly influenced by the narrator, Nick Carraway.” Discuss this statement, supporting your answer with suitable reference to the text. OR (ii) “Readers often find aspects of The Great Gatsby attractive but ultimately the world of the novel is not admirable.” Discuss this view, supporting your answer with suitable reference to the text. Page 2 of 8 C THE GRASS IS SINGING – Doris Lessing (i) “Lessing offers a disturbing vision of...
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...The Great Gatsby: Summary: Nick Carraway, a young man from Minnesota, moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn about the bond business. He rents a house in the West Egg, Long Island, a wealthy area populated by the new rich, people who made their fortunes due to the economic upswing of the Roaring Twenties. Nick’s next-door neighbor in West Egg is a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby, who lives in a huge mansion and throws extravagant parties on the weekends. Nick is unlike the other inhabitants of West Egg—he was educated at Yale and has social connections in East Egg, a fashionable area of Long Island and the home of the upper class. Nick drives out to East Egg one evening to have dinner with his cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom, a former classmate of Nick during his time at Yale. Daisy and Tom introduce Nick to Jordan Baker, a beautiful, cynical young woman with whom Nick begins a romantic relationship. Nick also learns a bit about Daisy and Tom’s marriage: Jordan tells him that Tom has a lover, Myrtle Wilson, who lives in the valley of ashes, a gray industrial dumping ground between West Egg and New York City. Not long after this revelation, Nick travels to New York City with Tom and Myrtle. At a random, vulgar party in the apartment that Tom bought because of his affair, Myrtle begins to taunt Tom about Daisy, and Tom responds by breaking her nose. As the summer progresses, Nick eventually gets an invitation to one of Gatsby’s legendary parties. He encounters...
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...The Great Gatsby: Obsession with Self Worth The desperation found in the lack of affection an individual receives can lead one to alter themselves and their lives to achieve the affection they desire. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald shows the desperate lengths one may go to in order to be with the person they want. Gatsby changes his entire life to win Daisy’s heart, chasing the dream which her lifestyle represents to him. Daisy also happens to risk her marriage to be with someone who appreciates her, unlike her husband who tries to relive his glory days through an affair. Some characters go to more creative actions to achieve their desires. In Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, the main character is a sex addict and a conman, dealing with his lost childhood his mother provided. His mother faces mental illness in a nursing home, after being unstable her whole life and never understanding the affect she had on her son. His best friend is also a sex addict, but his tendencies come out in different ways which tend to drive people away. Every character in this book has a different way of dealing with the feeling of insignificance the lack of love instilled in them. The characters from Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, all show an insatiable craving for affection and purpose among the people around them because they never possessed it themselves. Although expressed in different ways, these characters all have personal issues relating to an obsession...
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...Rhetorical Analysis Any great novelist knows that a good story entails an intensive amount of detail. Literary elements really help bring a story to life and capture the event or time period that the author is writing about. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote an “over-the-top” novel, The Great Gatsby , using diction, tone, and selection of details to portray life in an upper echelon high class environment, as well as create an aesthetic impact on the reader. Diction is the choice of words that’s makes the author’s writing unique. No two authors can capture an element the same using words . “So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight- watching over nothing.”(98) Mr. Gatsby was really watching over Daisy outside over her home , but since nick had seen her and Tom reconciling, he know that Gatsby had no chance. F. Scott Fitzgerald uses abstract diction to set the scene, Fitzgerald is giving one's mind something to think about metaphorically or figuratively. Throughout The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald uses plenty of styles of diction ture the audiences attention . He uses concrete diction after the tragic accident of Myrtle's death. “It was a yellow car, a big yellow car (94.)” The African American man was describing the car that had hit Myrtle in the accident to the police, because Tom had been driving the yellow car on the way to New York and Daisy had been driving it on the way home it was a significant piece of work in The Great Gatsby. The crime could have been pinned...
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...The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel shown through Nick Carraway’s eyes. Nick is the narrator of the story who describes his person accounts with people he met throughout his life. Nick, growing up in the Midwest, moves to the East Coast to learn the bond business. He encounters a man named Jay Gatsby, his next door neighbor, who is a main character in the story. Nick and Gatsby spend plenty of time together but how did Nick actually feel about Gatsby? Fitzgerald expresses Nick’s admiring attitude toward Gatsby by the use of imagery and polysyndeton. Nick’s admiring attitude is shown through the use of imagery. Nick is packed and ready to leave but returns to Gatsby’s house one last time. Nick notices Gatsby’s house was vandalized, “On the white steps an obscene word, scrawled by some boy with a piece of brick, stood out clearly in the moonlight, and I erased it, drawing my shoe raspingly along the stone.” Nick cared about and admired Gatsby. The imagery portrays the feeling of Gatsby by many people but Nick erases the word to show the Nick feels the direct opposite of most people. If Nick had hated Gatsby he would have left the obscene word on the steps but he returns to Gatsby’s house and is willing to show Gatsby respect by taking off the word from Gatsby’s steps. He wipes off the word with his shoe which shows he cares enough for Gatsby to ruin his personal things. Nick admires that Gatsby was willing to do everything in his power to try to get Daisy to love...
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...In the secluded areas of India lie barren and desolate wastelands, and those who reside in such places are ruthlessly oppressed by the British-Indian Trading Company. One man caused change. That man known as Mahatma Gandhi once mused, "We must become the change we want to see." Change is a necessary part of the human life that is motivated by pain, such as the death of a loved one; the seeking of acceptance, such as gaining social approval; or to seek personal desires, such as those in Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby. When a sudden, unexpected event such as the death of a loved one occurs at a point in one's life, it causes a very solemn impact to one's mentality. A void is formed and a sense of emptiness will overcome you, memories of a past relative or friend constantly bombarding your everyday life. In mournful situations such as this, people tend to change to mold themselves to the decease's teachings or personality in order to preserve his or her legacy. On a more social viewpoint, lies the common situation of peer pressure or to seek the acceptance of others. It is human nature to seek acceptance by one's peers and this is usually a source of change. Known to many as peer pressure, one will adapt and change to the norms that will allow him to be accepted by others. This often leaves one of the greatest changes on one's life as it is how he or she will learn to act. Change can also be sought after in order to be more appealing to that of the opposite sex, as can be viewed...
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