Title Slide: America as an Argument: The Great Gatsby
Slide 1: “The Great Gatsby”, 1925
The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925.
Although the book was not an automatic success, today the book has become a core part of most American high school English courses and a part of American pop culture.
The Great Gatsby is widely regarded as a literary masterpiece and a contender for the title of the Great American Novel.
The book takes place at the height of The Jazz Age. The Jazz Age, or the Roaring 20s, played a significant role in the cultural changes of the period and its influence on pop culture continued for a long time after.
Slide 2: The 1920s
The 1920s were an era of change and growth for the United States. The
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He came from a poor family, was a self-starter, and he worked hard to accumulate his wealth and social status. Yet he still doesn’t feel as though he has achieved it. He feels like there's always someone better than him. Not part of the privileged class no matter what he does or how hard he works.
Gatsby tells Nick that he was born "James Gatz," and was the son of poor farmers, in North Dakota.
Throughout the story, readers can see the lies Gatsby crafted about himself. He created lies so that people would think better about him, and maybe it would make him feel better about himself as well.
Gatsby idealizes social position, wealth, and popularity, all of which Daisy Buchanan has. Daisy represents the elite class in 1920s America and Gatsby desperately wants to be accepted by her, and them.
Gatsby feels as though he cannot fully, truly achieve the American Dream unless he is with Daisy. To him, the true American Dream is just out of reach.
Slide 9: The Great Gatsby and America
The Great Gatsby is the representation of privilege and social status in America
The book highlights the haves and the have-nots in American society and it portrays the American Dream as wealth, privilege, opportunity, and social