The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Bruccoli, Matthew J. "A Brief Life of Fitzgerald." Online. Webcrawler. Available at:

This web site is a biography of Fitzgerald's life. It begins with his childhood and continues until his death. In between, his literary career is written about. This was a good web site. It is by the University of South Carolina and is very factual. His life is condensed into three pages, but it is very detailed and informative.

"Convention on Fitzgerald." Online. Webcrawler. Available at:

This site was kept up by the University of Minnesota. It was in support of a convention being held there on F. Scott Fitzgerald. It contained essays written on him and biographical information. This site was reliable because it was put out by the university and was very informative.

Eble, Kenneth. F. Scott Fitzgerald. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1977.

This book is a collection of critical studies by Eble. Each chapter is a study of a different Fitzgerald novel. The chapter on The Great Gatsby studies the structure, Fitzgerald's romantic vision, and his earlier works. This was a helpful source because Eble analyzes the novel well and compares it to other Fitzgerald works.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1925. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1953.

This novel is a story about a man who tries to win love with money and big parties, but he eventually dies tragically. This story is told from the point of view of a neutral character named Nick Carraway. This story was sad, but it was honest it its depiction of upper class America in the 1920's.

"Fitzgerald: use of scenery." Online. Webcrawler. Available at:

This site contained many essays on Fitzgerald's use of scenery. It contained articles on many of his stories which were printed in journals. This site was informative and gave insight into how Fitzgerald used scenery to add to his stories. This site was reliable because it contained authors who wrote for educational journals.

"The Great Gatsby." The Young Reader's Companion. Eds. Carruth, Gorton and Eugene Ehrlich. New

This entry of The Great Gatsby summarized the book's main plot. The important events in the novel are stated, but the details are not given. The main characters are described also. There are also related suggested readings given in the entry. This source was helpful because it gave a short summary, but it was informative enough to give the reader a sense of the novel.

"Great Gatsby Themes." Online. Yahoo. Available at

This site includes a very detailed description of the themes of the novel, but sites no author, and therefore may not be credible at all. It seems to be a school assignment, as it has essay questions posted at the end. The questions are good food for thought when writing your own account.

"The Great Gatsby, A Beginner's Guide." Online. Yahoo. Available at:

Cool site with historical and author background taken from reliable sources. Information on other Fitzgerald work, great character analyses, and a review of the movie. Best part of the site- background page on the 1920's and its relation to Gatsby.

"The Great Gatsby. High School Authors and their Thoughts." Online. Yahoo. Available at:

Because this is a site dedicated to student essays about the novel, it provides little or no usable factual information. It does give insight into what other kids thought about the novel. This would be a good sight to go to if asked to write a paper on the novel based on what you thought.

Helmkamp, Ryan. "Why The Great Gatsby is so Appealing to Readers...My Essay." Online. Yahoo.

Though the author is most likely a high school student, he provides a really good page for links to other Fitzgerald sites. Good place to get started because of the links.

Kuehl, John. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Study of the Short Fiction. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1991.

Kuehl focuses mainly on Fitzgerald's short stories in this book. Many of his stories are analyzed and compared to his novels. One chapter compares The Great Gatsby to his short story "The Pierian Springs and the Last Straw." This book was interesting because it showed Fitzgerald's writing past. It also showed how Fitzgerald repeated themes from his short stories into his novels.

Layng, George W. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." Explicator 56 (1998) : 93-95.

This article is about the narrator of The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway. It focuses on how Fitzgerald uses Nick as a narrator and a character. Layng writes how "Nick's realizations are what save him." This article was good because it was about the narrator. Layng's assertions make sense and are accurate.

Miller, James E. F. Scott Fitzgerald: His Art and His Technique. New York: New York University Press,

This book focuses on Fitzgerald's writing technique. Writing devices like perspective are analyzed for different Fitzgerald works. His short stories are compared to their novel counterparts. This book was very interesting from a writing point of view. All of his writing is broken down and analyzed by Miller. The result is a study of Fitzgerald's writing style.

Mizener, Arthur, ed. F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey:

This book is a collection of essays about Fitzgerald's written works. There are four essays on The Great Gatsby. Each examines different aspects of the novel. One analyzes the book itself while another studies Fitzgerald's message in the novel. This book was useful because it had different essays by different people. The different interpretations give the reader a deeper understanding of Fitzgerald and his written works.

Phillips, Gene D. Fiction, Film, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1986.

This source is about F. Scott Fitzgerald, his written works, and the film adaptions of his work. The book contains pictures from his movies and information about the movies and books. It is interesting to see how his written works were adapted into movies. Even the remakes are different from each other.

Skylar, Robert. F. Scott Fitzgerald. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967.

This book is about F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing career. The book progresses through his career in magazines to his life as a novelist. The Great Gatsby is mentioned throughout the book. This source was great because it showed different sources that Fitzgerald used in his writing. For example, his home in Great Neck, New York was the setting for The Great Gatsby.

Stern, Milton R. The Golden Moment: The Novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1970.

Stern analyzes Fitzgerald's novels in this book. The Great Gatsby written about, but his other novels This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and the Damned, and Tender is the Night are studied. The chapter on The Great Gatsby has observations by Stern, but it also has quotes from Fitzgerald about The Great Gatsby. This source was interesting because the writing and message of The Great Gatsby are analyzed, but the quotes by Fitzgerald show what he was thinking while writing the novel.

Sutton, Brian. "Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby." Explicator 55 (1997) : 94-96.

This article is about The Great Gatsby as a collection of four interlocking images. The four images are Nick Carraway's first glimpse of Gatsby, Gatsby's brief moment of triumph, the reversal of Gatsby's fortune, and Gatsby's final view of Daisy's window. This is an interesting article because it gives a new view of the novel. The four image concept is new and different, but it makes sense.

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