1920s

=The 1920s=

GATSBY GROUP INTRO WORK Group Grade: 15 Points

 * Honesty1 || Honesty2 ||
 * Corruption1 || Corruption2 ||
 * Love1 || Love2 ||
 * Respect1 || Respect2 ||
 * Technology1 || Technology2 ||

THE GREAT GATSBY CHAPTER ANALYSIS As you read your chapter, think about the following question: What does the novel have to say about the 1920's? You will find one quote to analyze from your chapter that you can use to answer the question. People working on the same chapter cannot use the same quotes. When you post...
 * copy your quote from this online version of the book.
 * write a complete paragraph answering the question above. In this paragraph, discuss what is happening in the quote and, most importantly, what that shows about the life and times 1920's.

The first person to post for each chapter can use the quote I provide. Anyone who posts after that will have to find his or her own quote to use. Do your work on Microsoft Word, and then copy it over upon completion.


 * // Grading: 15 points. //**
 * 10 Points for depth of analysis/original thought, paragraph organization, and using appropriate parts of the quote
 * 5 Points for one example of each type of syntax: semicolon, comma with fanboys, and nonessential commas

Here is the example from class.


 * //Chapter 2: Due before class on Monday 12/6: Volk, Van Den Heuvel, Stengart, Skibin//**

1) "This is a valley of ashes — a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight." Though the 1920’s was a time of prosperity, happiness, and most importantly fun there was still, of course, the alternate side of the decade that included the average to low-class citizens who lived boring, “dim”, and “ash-grey” lives. In Chapter two of the book //The Great Gatsby// by F. Scott Fitzgerald Nick, the narrator and main character, takes the reader into the lower class society of the 1920’s. Nick feels a sense of distaste and somewhat of a pity for the lower class. He describes the lives of the people in this quote as lifeless, dull, and colorless and makes it clear that he wishes to never be in such a position on the social scale. Even though he is not in the upper social class, which he has always desired to be in, he is still in one class higher then the lower class known as the middle or average class. Nick is a figure of the middle class society in the 1920’s. Everyone aspired to be rich, for having money meant being able to have as much fun as possible during this great time of opulence in American history. Though prosperity was alive in the 1920’s some people today still may be mislead to think that there was no such thing as a lower or middle social class. There was still the set of people who went to work each day just to be able to afford dinner for their family as there was also those who lived in the "slums" and attended gangs and drug-deals. There has and always will be the separation of social classes in America and even though the 1920’s did a good job of hiding this, history still shows that life was not all that great for everyone. -Scott Skibin

2) **“He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He's so dumb he doesn't know he's alive.”** In chapter two of //The Great Gatsby//, one of the characters, Tom Buchanan, brings our narrator to a village between the Eggs and New York. Here Nick meets Tom’s “mistress” Myrtle. Myrtle however is married but goes off with Tom. He describes to Nick that her husband doesn’t care and that he is brainless, in a sense. They live in a filthy village and have no sense of what is around them. Myrtle tells him that she goes off with Tom to visit her sister. Her husband believes her, but we as reader we know otherwise.  – Chris Volk

3) "I’ll say it whenever I want to!" In chapter two of The Great Gatsby, Tom introduces Nick to Myrtle his mistress, and as time goes on in the chapter Tom and Myrtle argue and Nick is getting annoyed that Myrtle keeps on saying Daisy's name. Myrtle then says to "Nick I’ll say it whenever I want to," and Nick hits her and breaks her nose. This shows that the respect for women back then in the 1920s is not where it is today. Not only that, but it shows that Nick is used to getting everything that he wants and when Myrtle did not stop mentioning Daisy's name he did not take it well. So as the readers we learn that the respect for women is still not that high and that the rich men back then could do what they wanted. -Kyle Van Den Heuvel

4) “I almost made a mistake, too,” she declared vigorously. “I almost married a little kyke who’d been after me for years. I knew he was below me. Everybody kept saying to me: ‘Lucille, that man’s ‘way below you!’ But if I hadn’t met Chester, he’d of got me sure.”

In chapter 2 of "The Great Gatsby", Tom, Nick, and Myrtle go to a party in Morningside Heights apartment where they meet the Mckees and Myrtle's sister, Catherine. This quote is said by Mrs. Mckee who is telling everyone at the party that she met a jew who she almost fell for, but she is so greatful that she met her current husband becuase the jew is so much "below" her. This statementt got Nick really mad because he thought it was very innapropriate. The quote relates to the life and times of the 1920's because during this time many people put themselves "above" other people just based on race or religion. In this quote Mrs. Mckee is calling herself "above" the jew just because of his religion.

-Sammy Stengart


 * Chapter 3: Due before class on Wednesday 12/8: Seco, Saieva, Rosenberg, Rojas**

1) "The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. Laughter is easier minute by minute..." The 1920’s was a time where people loved to have fun, party, and have the latest fashions or technology. In Chapter Three of //The Great Gatsby,// it portrays this idea very well. In the quote above it says, “The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. Laughter is easier minute by minute..." This is proving that as the party goes on, they drink, and have more fun by the minute. Unlike the rich, the lower class people didn’t have the luxury of being able to drink such fine beverages. Also the orchestra and opera singers that they have at the gala displays how prestigious the rich parties are because not everyday do you see live orchestras playing at a common gathering. Most people who attended Gatsby’s party weren’t even invited. This shows that in the 1920’s they didn’t care who you were, you could just come to a party and have fun. The 1920’s was a time were people loved to party and pamper themselves. -Sal Saieva

"At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears, repairing the ravages of the night before." During the 1920s people loved to have fun, the rich loved that they were so. Parties were thrown all the time. Chapter Three of //The Great Gatsby// emphasizes this throughout. The quote is talking about a party being thrown by Gatsby. Gatsby was a great example of the rich people of the 1920's. Mr. Gatsby, as stated in the quote above, had a beach, two boats, aquaplanes, a Rolls-Royce, and eight servants. Not many people own a beach, Rolls-Royce is an expensive car as well. As time passes the parties get better and better. He hosts parties all the time, as rich people do. The parties often got intense and crazy. Rich people had no worries, they had every luxury they could ask for at their fingertips. The rich don't even care who attends their parties; what they did care about was having the best party of all. During the 1920's the rich were distinguished from the poor through the lives that they lived. -Jordan Rosenberg

"I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby's house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited-they went there. They got into automobiles which bore them out to Long Island and some introduced by somebody who knew Gatsby and after that they conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with amusement parks. Sometimes they came and went without having met Gatsby at all, came for the party with a simplicity of heart that was its own ticket of admission." During the 1920's life of the upper class people was lavish and over exaggerated. The rich people loved to have fun, and loved to party. Much of the gatherings were help depending on your social status. In this chapter, Gatsby was introduced, he was a very "lonely" but wealthy man; he had events held at his house every weekend. He would have these in order to impress the people, but he would only have the glamourous people of the town or people would randomly show up. These people were shown to be of money because they would show up in their Rolls Royce, dressed to impress. The people would be invited because they were handed an invitation or others would show up in order to get in. At these social events, many wanted to meet Gatsby, this man having these grand parties. But every time Nick, who in this case wanted to meet the man behind these parties, was nowhere to be found. To this point we know that Gatsby is always kept to himself, even though he has these grand events. The 1920's is still known as an over exaggerated time, when men and women over higher class would always be having fun, and doing whatever they needed in order to be recognized by anyone, anywhere and at whatever time. [Angelica Rojas]

The 1920’s were about having fun and embracing the fact that the stock market was going so well for some people. The wealthy loved to show off their money; if they could throw a party, they would. The parties were always something people wanted to go to and have fun at. In “The Great Gatsby”, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there has been a lot of partying and celebration mentioned already. Chapter three discusses Gatsby’s party that Nick was invited too. He was invited by someone of a high class, and received a handwritten invitation. The invitation, different from how we invite people today, was signed by Jay Gatsby himself, which showed how formal it was. The quote expands on how the wealthy could use their money for having a good time. Gatsby had a chauffeur and was throwing a party. Those two things are expensive, but to the wealthy, everything was cheap. Although Gatsby does seem different from the majority of the rich people we’ve encountered, since he is so mysterious, he still posses some traits that other wealthy characters have showed. Miss Baker was discussing his parties in chapter one, and she said she had heard so much about them. She is a woman of a high class, and if she heard about his parties, he must be in a high class himself. Gatsby is an example of what people believed the 1920’s typical wealthy man was like: a wealthy, mysterious, high class man. Jenna Seco
 * “I had been actually invited. A chauffeur in a uniform of robin’s-egg blue crossed my lawn early that Saturday morning with a surprisingly formal note from his employer: the honor would be entirely Gatsby’s, it said, if I would attend his “little party.” that night. He had seen me several times, and had intended to call on me long before, but a peculiar combination of circumstances had prevented it — signed Jay Gatsby, in a majestic hand.”**


 * Chapter 4: Due before class on Friday 12/10: Prezant, Previdi, Pellacchia, Nicholson**

1) “Who is he, anyhow, an actor?” “No.”“A dentist?”“Meyer Wolfsheim? No, he’s a gambler.” Gatsby hesitated, then added coolly: “He’s the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919.”“Fixed the World’s Series?” I repeated.The idea staggered me. I remembered, of course, that the World’s Series had been fixed in 1919, but if I had thought of it at all I would have thought of it as a thing that merely HAPPENED, the end of some inevitable chain. It never occurred to me that one man could start to play with the faith of fifty million people — with the single-mindedness of a burglar blowing a safe. In both the book //The Great Gatsby// and in the 1920s, corruption played a major role. In the book, Gatsby brought Nick to an upscale restaurant, where they met a Jewish person named Meyer Wolfsheim, who knew Gatsby beforehand. When Nick asked Meyer what he does as a profession, Gatsby replied for him and said that Meyer was a gambler, and was the person who fixed the World Series in 1919. This shows that Meyer was a very corrupt person because he did something that hurt the world in order to help himself get some money. The real world outside of the book was very similar during the 1920s, filled with corruption. During this time, people would do almost anything to stuff their wallets. People were guilty of corruption because some would do things as bad as killing other human beings. For example, Al Capone, a very illustrious mobster, was very corrupt. He would illegally sell alcohol, also known as bootlegging. Also, Capone was suspected of being involved in hundreds of unsolved murders. The government was also guilty because they would not always act fair during trials and court cases. One example would be the trials for Sacco and Vanzetti. Saco and Vanzetti were two Italians who were immigrants in the United States that were accused of a robbery-murder. The two would end up being sentenced to death and being executed, even though there was no proof that they even committed the felony. Corruption is a horrible crime in life; it unfortunately took place in both //The Great Gatsby// and in the 1920s.  -Jason Prezant "If he left the room for a minute she’d look around uneasily, and say: “Where’s Tom gone?” and wear the most abstracted expression until she saw him coming in the door."

This quote from //The Great Gatsby// is about a young, beautiful woman named Daisy, whom after being cheated on blaitantly by her husband, is marrying him. This is not unusual for this time. The 19th amendment was passed in the US in 1920. This amendment granted suffrage to women. Although this was supposed to change the look on women and to give them more freedom and a bigger voice, the law did take a long time to take proper effect. Women were still being cheated on and treated as a lower person by the men; they would be taken advantage of because they would not properly stand up for themselves. Daisy is a prime example of a woman who is just keeping her mouth shut while her husband is doing her wrong. Before her wedding she makes sure to get drunk in order to forget about the mistake she will soon be making. -Chrisitne Nicholson

“Yeah, Gatsby’s very careful about women. He would never so much as look at a friend’s wife.”

In chapter four of //The Great Gatsby//, Nick, Mr. Gatsby and Mr. Wolfsheim sit down for lunch and start talking. Gatsby gets up to take a phone call; Nick and Mr. Wolfsheim start talking about Gatsby. They talk about how well educated Mr. Gatsby is and how well respected he is of women. Mr. Wolfsheim says, “He would never so much as look at a friend’s wife.” Mr. Gatsby is one of few men who are respectful to another mans woman. In the 1920s, women were not all treated like Mr. Gatsby would. Most men would just look to most flappers for what they need and they treat them badly. In the novel //The Great Gatsby//, Tom also treated Daisy his soon to be wife in a disrespectful way. This shows that Mr. Gatsby is of a select few men from the 1920s who treated women the way they should be treated. -Toni Ann Pellecchia


 * Chapter 5: Due before class on Monday 12/13: Moose, Michael, Meyers, Martin**

1) “I thought you didn’t, if you’ll pardon my — You see, I carry on a little business on the side, a sort of side line, you understand. And I thought that if you don’t make very much — You’re selling bonds, aren’t you, old sport?”

“Trying to.” “Well, this would interest you. It wouldn’t take up much of your time and you might pick up a nice bit of money. It happens to be a rather confidential sort of thing.” **“The evening had made me light-headed and happy.”**

A persistent theme throughout //The Great Gatsby// and the 1920’s is having a good time; people seemed to have a new vitality about them like no other time in American History. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of //The Great Gatsby// writes “the evening had made me light-headed and happy.” This quote simply typifies the roaring 20’s; here, Nick is talking about his night out in the city while he arrives back home at 3 a.m. As we’ve seen in class, it was an era that had a new energy. It was the Jazz era; people became excited about going to jazz clubs, or parties where they could socialize and have fun. The 20’s were a vivacious time period, and Nick is experiences it in this quote; after a night out in the town, he is drunk and just feeling good. Also, the period was fun because people began making money; the stock market was thriving and so were the people. The wealthy liked spending their money, and doing expensive things. So, when Tom takes Nick out, you see the roaring 20’s at its best.

- Matt Michael

//The Great Gatsby// is a novel that supplies the imagery of what life was like back in the 1920's. The never ending parties and the unlimited amounts of alcohol were seen as a daily routine from the wealthy. The wealthy people would host these events to show off their extraordinary houses and their most prized possessions. In this chapter Gatsby is about to show Daisy (the love of his life) his incredible house and his most valuable items, hoping that it will win her back. Giving Daisy a tour of the Gatsby mansion is showing her the life she could have if she was willing to go back to her previous love. During the 1920's the wealthy were never fully satisfied, they were always searching for more. For example, Jay Gatsby will not be satisfied until he has won Daisy back. The lifestyle of the wealthy during this time period was luxurious and care-free. In the 1920's the wealthy would compete with each other by bragging about their valuable items and showing off their houses. - Alyssa Martin
 * “That huge place THERE?” she cried pointing.**
 * “Do you like it?”**
 * “I love it, but I don’t see how you live there all alone.”**
 * “I keep it always full of interesting people, night and day. People who do interesting things. Celebrated people.”**

**When Klipspringer had played THE LOVE NEST. he turned around on the bench and searched unhappily for Gatsby in the gloom.** **“I’m all out of practice, you see. I told you I couldn’t play. I’m all out of prac ——”** **“Don’t talk so much, old sport,” commanded Gatsby. “Play!”**

In //The Great Gatsby,// practical things are appreciated. In the 1920's there was no such thing as cellphones, computers, or video games. In this chapter, Gatsby, Daisy and Nick mention things that people today do not appreciate. Beautiful clothes from Italy, the bay, pianos, beautifully decorated houses, and more. As Klipspringer plays and tries to explain that he is "out of practice", Gatsby hushes him and urges him to continue playing. Today, people seem to be more judgmental with certain things; one living now wouldn't want to watch a sports game unless their team was playing and doing well, or hear someone playing piano unless they were extraordinarily good at it. Since technology was prospering at this time and not as advanced as it is today, people still enjoyed simple things. -Amelia Moose


 * "At first I thought it was another party, a wild rout that had resolved itself into “hide-and-go-seek.” or “sardines-in-the-box.” with all the house thrown open to the game."**

This quote says how in the 1920s, it was almost expected of someone that they have a party every weekend if they were wealthy. When alcohol became banned all throughout America, people would just got to wealthy peoples' parties. Some how those wealthy people always had alcohol for their guests. In //The Great Gatsby//, there are rumors that Gatsby had murdered a man before, along with many other wild accusations. Even though many people believed these accusations, they still went to Gatsby's parties. So I can see how Nick is confused when he sees all the lights on at Gatsby’s house when there is no party going on. -Casey Meyers


 * Chapter 6: Due before class on Wednesday 12/15: Kozar, Kelemen, Kahanec, Johnson**


 * “I didn’t hear it. I imagined it. A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers, you know” (Fitzgerald 114)**

This quote shows the feelings the “old” rich had toward the “new” rich during the 1920s. They believed that they must have acquired their mass amounts of wealth in some less eloquent way then they have in ways such as killing for the mob, making homemade alcohol, or investing in many stocks. The quote also shows that Tom gives himself no time to find out anything about Gatsby before he makes up some crazy reason as to why he was so rich. This is a theme that has been present throughout the whole novel. This theme is that money is power and in this quote one can see that even the people who have a lot of money still believe that they are better than the "new" rich because these people got so rich so fast, thus they must have done it in an illegal way.

-Richie Johnson


 * “There were the same people, or at least the same sort of people, the same profusion of champagne, the same many-colored, many-keyed commotion”**

The decade of the 1920’s was often called “The Roaring Twenties,” and flappers, partying, and alcohol characterized these joyful ten years. Nick uses the word “profusion” of champagne to really show the abundance of alcohol at these parties. Flappers were also a big part of the 1920s and Nick describes them as “many-colored. ” Flappers were huge drinkers, partygoers, and dancers and those were the type of people that Nick was around usually. When Nick says “many-keyed commotion” it can be understood as the many keys of music. This is because the 1920s was also known as the Jazz Age and many famous artists like Louis Armstrong filled the air with music at these wealthy parties. The 1920s were a time of fun, change, and prosperity.

- Carl Kozar


 * “Sit right down. Have a cigarette or a cigar.” He walked around the room quickly, ringing bells. “I’ll have something to drink for you in just a minute.” (Fitzgerald 101)**

This quote is just another way of showing that the 20’s were all about having fun, laying back, and relaxing. In this context it shows that Tom is telling Gatsby to sit and enjoy his time at their residence. Although both men have some sort of hatred towards each other they put things aside to have fun, have a drink, and forget about important things in their life. The 1920’s was a time of high wealth and prosperity. All people wanted to do was party and celebrate life to its fullest, and this quote gives the reader an idea as to how much people wanted to relax and have a good time with a few good friends (or enemies).

-Julianna Kelemen

“She never loved you, do you hear?” he cried. “She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me. It was a terrible mistake, but in her heart she never loved any one except me!”-Gatsby
 * Chapter 7: Due before class on Friday 12/17: Jacobs, Gutgarts, Greehnheim, Graef**

Some main topics of the 1920’s were love and greed, but what about being greedy over love? This quote said by Gatsby shows how much he wants Daisy, saying he is better for her over Tom, her husband. In the 20s love was all over the place there were flappers dating freely, rich men and women starting families and, affairs all over the place. Greed was everywhere too there was gangs and bootleggers getting money left and right and they want more of it. From Gatsby and Daisy’s past meeting there was speculation of a new grown affair but this event stopped it in its tracks, Tom was having an affair and was “ok” but now that Daisy has feelings for another man Tom does not approve. Even thought Tom is married and having an affair he seems to want love from both women I would say that is very greedy and Gatsby wanted the love from Daisy as well and pressuring her to choose makes him greedy too. Truthfully I don’t think love and greed should be separate categories during the 1920s they seem to go hand and hand.

Kyle Graef


 * “Several times he turned his head and looked back for their car, and if the traffic delayed them he slowed up until they came into sight. I think he was afraid they would dart down a side street and out of his life forever.” (Fitzgerald 132)**

The 1920s was a decade full of wealth, prosperity, parties, and love, but it was also full of scandal, and everyone paid the price for their actions eventually. The ‘Roaring 20s’ included 10 years of mistakes made by the majority of married couples. It was extremely common to discover your wife or husband active in an affair. Tom, from //The Great Gatsby//, is a very sexist and hypocritical man whose views became clearer in Chapter Seven of the book. He has no set morals about his own affair with a woman named Myrtle, but becomes outraged at the though of his wife’s, Daisy’s, infidelity. Many men thought this way during the 20s because numerous people were still not adjusted to the new lifestyle of the equilibrium between men and women. Tom clearly does not realize the jealousy, outrage, and panic of a person when they find out their spouse is not being true to them until he is with Gatsby, the man involved with his wife, and Daisy together. He is in a state of true fright when he cannot see the car Gatsby and Daisy are in together. He does anything he can to make sure they are always in his sight. He knows now that there is something between them, and Tom Buchanan is evidently petrified. The tables have turned and it’s time for him to learn the pain of heartbreak in the 1920s.

-Emily Greenheim

“She’s got an indiscreet voice,” I remarked. “It’s full of ——” I hesitated. <span style="display: block; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 2em;">“Her voice is full of money,” he said suddenly. <span style="display: block; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 2em;">That was it. I’d never understood before. It was full of money — that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it. . . . high in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl. . ..

<span style="display: block; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 2em;">This is a conversation between Nick and Gatsby as they are left alone in the Buchanan household. Gatsby was commenting on how he has to watch what he says because Daisy will carelessly blurt out information in response or show some guilt in her tone. By "indiscreet voice", Nick means that her voice sounds like a stereotypical group. Gatsby comments that her voice sounds like that of someone of means. Before World War I, people such as Carnegie, Hearst and Rockefeller were the wealthy and the rest were just other people. The 1920's was when the idea of old money and new money started to develop. Gatsby is what is considered bourgeoise. The way Nick is describing Daisy is as if she's had money in her family for generations and generations. - Billy Eisenberg


 * Chapter 8: Due before class on Monday 12/20: Goldstein, Gerace, Formicola**


 * Chapter 9: Due before class on Wednesday 12/22: Eisenberg, Cudequest**


 * "I couldn't forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let people clean up the mess they has made".**

This quote talks about how even back in the 1920's, people with all the cash could control everything that went on. Good, bad, or just plain stupid if the rich had the money then they could get themselves out of it. Nick is trying to say in this quote that Tom and Daisy are just rich, heartless people that only care about themselves and have no respect for other people. That's what it was like in the 1920's, everyone cared about the money and the greed but no one really cared about other people. In the final chapter of __The Great Gatsby__ Nick finally realizes that the group of people he was associating himself with was a bunch of snobby, rich, heartless people. That is the whole reason why Nick wants to move and get out of there and start a new life all over again. Money controls peoples lives and it affects society back then and even now.