The Roaring 20s and the Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Dear Reader,

To start off our Great Gatsby unit, we will be reading this ebook witch outlines what life was like during the setting of the book as well as who the author, F Scott Fitzgerald was. Since this ebook is in a multimodal format, be sure to have access to audio through headphones or a small group and one screen. There are a few questions to answer throughout the ebook, follow along with them with the assignment on google classroom!

Jazz Music

Jazz music was one of the most popular genres of music during the 1920s. It was new, exciting, and allowed for a variety of musicians and dancers to express themselves. It even had an influence on the fashion!

Watch the video to the write and write a paragraph about how the music, dancing, and looks of the musicians differ or are similar to the music, dancing, and look of what we see today!

The Stock Exchange

By far one of the most interesting things about the Roaring 20s was the relative peace and stability of the country during the time. This peace and stability led to many new inventions and way of doing things which ushered in an era of economic growth never seen before. Through the stock market, money was easily made hand over fist, and almost anyone could own anything! It seemed the success wound never end!
Question: If you were a millionaire during this time, how would you spend your money?

During his time as an author, F. Scott Fitzgerald was surrounded by other authors and creatives including the woman who became his wife, Zelda. Both were figures of literary excellence, celebrities, and symbols of the ideals and standards of the times.

The couple also spent time with famous author and adventurer Ernest Hemingway as well as the painter Pablo Picasso. The group lived in and around Paris for a short time.
Question: How do you think being surrounded by creatives impacted Fitzgerald's work? How do you think it would impact your own work?

That's all! I hope you learned a lot and feel more confident about going into our next unit. Context is key when it comes to texts written well before our time!

Speak with a partner and share one thing exciting you learned with this ebook and a question you have about the Roaring 20s!