Paving the Way for the Jazz Age

Essay by mollyearlyJunior High, 9th gradeA, September 2014

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Molly Broekman #4

Mrs. Tar

Honors English

25 November 2013

Paving the Way for the Jazz Age

F. Scott Fitzgerald once remarked, "The loneliest moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly" (Fitzgerald). The writings of Fitzgerald, a popular author during the 1920's, followed the consistent theme of romantic loss. Fitzgerald made a large impact on the Jazz Age, experienced of the situations he wrote about, and wrote novels that people could relate to during that time period.

First, F. Scott Fitzgerald made a great impact on the Jazz Age in the nineteen twenties with his romantic novels. Fitzgerald went to Newman School, a prep school in New Jersey, and Princeton University (Mizener 1). "At both St. Paul Academy (1908-10) and Newman School (1911-13) he tried too hard and made himself unpopular, but at Princeton he came close to realizing his dream of a brilliant success (1)" Fitzgerald moved quite a bit, but his hometown was St.

Paul, Minnesota (Bruccoli par. 2). During his time in the army, he lived for a short period of time in Montgomery, Alabama (Carson xii). Later Fitzgerald moved into an apartment in New York City where he wrote The Beautiful and Damned (xiii). "The novels and short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald are famous for portraying the "lost generation" of the post-World War I era. They depict the rich, disenchanted youth of what he called the Jazz Age (F. Scott Fitzgerald par. 1)." Many characters in Fitzgerald's books were flappers, who became extremely popular during the jazz age. Fitzgerald reached his peak during the Jazz Age, with the writing of The Great Gatsby (The Jazz Age par. 1).

Additionally, Fitzgerald based many of his characters on himself, and had gone...