2. Childhood
• Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born to Mary
McQuillan and Edward Fitzgerald on the 24th of
September, 1896, in St. Paul Minnesota, and raised
alongside his younger sister, Annabel.
• Through most of Francis’s childhood, Edward was
unemployed, but coming from a rich Irish ancestry,
the household was able to live comfortably off of
the McQuillan family fortune.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
3. Education
✤ In 1908, Fitzgerald began school at St. Paul Academy, and he was
recognized literary talents. After three years in St. Paul, he withdrew with
poor grades and entered a Catholic boarding school in Hackensack, New
Jersey. However, he continued to fail.
✤ In 1913, Fitzgerald entered Princeton University, but in 1917 he left without a
degree. His reasons for going to Princeton did not involve a desire for higher
education, he knew that he was an awful student. Instead, he went for the
drama and writing clubs.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
4. FAMILY LIFE
While on academic probation, and with the unlikelihood of
graduation, Fitzgerald joined the army in 1917.
When World War I ended, he was discharged from the military
in 1919 and went to live in New York City in order to seek fortune
and marry.
In the advertising business, Fitzgerald’s salary was very small; too
small to satisfy his fiancée, Zelda Sayre, into marriage. She
explained that in order for him to have her hand, he must be
successful.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
5. FAMILY LIFE
When his rewritten novel, This Side of
Paradise , was published, it made
Fitzgerald famous almost overnight. A
week after publication, Zelda Sayre and F.
Scott Fitzgerald married.
After about two years of marriage the
couple had a daughter, nicknamed
“Scottie.”
In 1929 Zelda went through a mental
breakdown after injuring herself in ballet.
She was institutionalized, and this
estranged the couple.
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6. Death and Success
• In debt in Zelda’s medical bills, Fitzgerald had not much of a
choice other than to work hard and sell. As a depressed man,
he became an alcoholic.
• In the late 1930’s he got a job writing screenplays for MGM,
which gave him enough wealth to pay off his debts.
• Fitzgerald died of a heart attack while working on his final and
unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon, at the age of forty-four.
Fitzgerald passed with a personal outlook of himself as a
failure.
• However, long after his death, by the 1960’s, his spirit had
achieved a secure position amongst the influential American
writers.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
7. Influences
As an admirer for the arts, and it is rumored that his
bestseller, The Great Gatsby, was written after being
inspired by Charels Scribner’s painting called
“Celestial Eyes.”
Theater was his inspiration since his college days.
His wife had influenced him to pursue is career, and he
based many of his characters off of his wife and
daughter.
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8. Themes
Major themes in Fitzgerald’s literature dealt with
loss or fickleness in the American character.
The characters in his writing may have been
different in outward appearance, but they were all
intended to be autobiographical to himself.
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10. Bestseller
THE GREAT
GATSBY
WAS PUBLISHED
IN 1925, BUT WAS
NOT A HIT UNTIL
THE 1960’S.
JAY GATSBY IS
THE MAN WHO
TRIES TO BUY
LOVE AND
HAPPINESS WITH
WEALTH, BUT THE
STORY ENDS IN
TRAGEDY.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
11. Bibliography: Content
Brucolli, Matthew “A Brief Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald.” The Great Gatsby. Vol 1. Ed. Eleanor
Lanahan. New York. Simon & Schuster, 1995. 1-5.
Hermanson, Casie “The Great Gatsby.” Novels for Students. Vol. 2. Ed. Diane Telgen. Detroit:
Gale, 1997. 64-86.
Magnum, Bryant “F. Scott Fitzgerald.” Notable American Novelists. Vol 1. Ed. Carl Rollyson.
Pasadena: Salem Press, 2000. 365-377.
Rosenblum, Joseph “F. Scott Fitzgerald.” Great American Writers. Vol. 4. Ed. R.Baird Shuman.
New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2002. 515-538.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
12. Bibliography: Images
DefinitiveTouch. "F. Scott Fitzgerald: An American Icon." Definitive Touch - Men's Contemporary Style. Every Guyed Network. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://
definitivetouch.com/features/scott-fitzgerald-american-icon/>.
Hilton, Gregory. "The Timeless Message of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” by Gregory Hilton | The DC World Affairs Blog." The DC World Affairs
Blog | This Blog Is Focused on Students in the National Security Studies Program, the DC Diplomatic Community, and Anyone Else Who Has Assisted My
Course, "The United States in World Affairs.". DC World Affairs, 24 Apr. 2009. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://diplomatdc.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/the-great-
gatsby-and-f-scott-fitzgeralds-grave/>.
"The American Novel . Literary Timeline . Authors . F. Scott Fitzgerald | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. PBS. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://
www.pbs.org/wnet/americannovel/timeline/fitzgerald.html>.
Churchwell, Sarah. "Babylon Revisited: When the Money Runs out - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph Online, Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph -
Telegraph. The Telegraph, 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8289335/Babylon-Revisited-When-the-money-runs-
out.html>.
"Courting the Classics: This Side of Paradise | Fictionista Workshop." Fictionista Workshop | The Online Community For Your Creative Fiction. Web. 12 May
2011. <http://www.fictionistaworkshop.com/projects/courting-the-classics-this-side-of-paradise/>.
"Cover Candy: F. Scott Fitzgerald Editions." Attic Salt: A Literary Blog. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://atticsaltblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/cover-candy-f-scott-
fitzgerald-editions.html>.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
