Breaking Down Fitzgerald
2022; Penn State University Press; Volume: 20; Linguagem: Inglês
10.5325/fscotfitzrevi.20.0269
ISSN1755-6333
Autores Tópico(s)Literature, Film, and Journalism Analysis
ResumoF. Scott Fitzgerald has long enjoyed the dubious honor of being one of the most frequently taught authors in high school English classes. In fact, a brief search on any online search engine will quickly reveal that Fitzgerald’s ever-popular The Great Gatsby is grouped within the top five books taught at the secondary school level in the United States; often, it is listed as the most frequently work of literature and appears on the syllabi of general education and Advanced Placement courses alike. As a high school English teacher myself, I have had the distinct pleasure of teaching this classic multiple times, and, as always, I am fascinated by what draws the attention and speculation of contemporary younger audiences. The more enthusiastic members of the class speak volubly on the revulsion they feel toward Tom Buchanan, their sympathy toward Daisy that, at times, turns toward disdain as the novel closes, and their relative confusion as to where Nick Carraway fits into this complicated social (and romantic) affair. And while I am fielding questions and ideas and asking these students to work with the language, I find myself pondering where the quieter students, those who may have stopped reading, those who may have misunderstood, or those who do not know what to think, were lost. Did they simply give in to the ever-present call of their social lives or the newest iteration of Call of Duty, or are they embodying a concern brought up (and subsequently reworked) by Maureen Corrigan in So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Still Matters (2014): that “the first time we read [The Great Gatsby], we’re too young,” that “we can’t know enough about regret and loss to really appreciate the novel” (285–86)?Thus, I was inevitably fascinated by the premise of Helen M. Turner’s Breaking Down Fitzgerald, a book that, on its back cover, positions itself as “the only book of its kind aimed to help middle and secondary students experience the wonder and delight of Fitzgerald’s writing.” Part of a series of books, each focused on a separate author (Sylvia Plath, Kurt Vonnegut), Turner’s work espouses three key purposes: to explore The Great Gatsby, to contextualize Fitzgerald’s work (including his other three-and-a-half novels) within his life and time, and to “garner more interest in Fitzgerald” (1). While one may, upon initial review, be concerned that the section on Gatsby, described as “the longest in the book” and possessing “detailed consideration . . . [of] the novel’s composition, motifs, themes, and characters” (1), would simply function as a way for students to ignore reading the novel, other sections come across as far more important. In fact, this may be one of the first times Fitzgerald’s other novels have been detailed and discussed in a book aimed at high school learners. Likewise, Turner briefly touches upon a small selection of the author’s short stories and essays, an area otherwise untouched in practically any collection of literature intended for the secondary school English classroom.Turner’s book is organized in an approachable manner. Chapter 1 functions as a brief overview of Fitzgerald’s life and subsequently shifts toward a discussion of the cultural and literary context behind the author and his works in chapter 2. From there, the author employs a chronological approach: chapter 3 condenses This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and Damned into a section titled “Early Novels” (25–46); here, readers are given notes on the composition of each novel and brief (roughly two pages each) plot synopses. Chapter 4 is centered upon The Great Gatsby and it is in this section that Turner provides a deeper analysis reminiscent of what one might find on any online study guide, such as notes on the themes, structure, motifs, and characters (47–76). Chapter 5, like chapter 3, condenses two works into one smaller section; this time, Tender Is the Night and The Last Tycoon are discussed as “Later Novels” (77–88). Chapter 6 (89–97) provides very brief overviews of a small selection of Fitzgerald’s stories and essays: “The Ice Palace” (1920; F&P 36–60), “May Day” (1920; TJA 61–114), “Winter Dreams” (1922; ASYM 43–65), “Jacob’s Ladder” (1927; ASYM 333–58), “The Last of the Belles” (1929; TAR 50–66), “Babylon Revisited” (1931; TAR 157–77), “What I Think and Feel at 25” (1922; MLC 16–26), “Imagination––and a Few Mothers” (1923; MLC 58–65), “How to Live on $36,000 a Year” (1924; MLC 27–39), “How to Live on Practically Nothing a Year” (1924; MLC 40–57), “Echoes of the Jazz Age” (1931; MLC 130–38), “My Lost City” (1935/1940; MLC 106–15), and “The Crack-Up” (1936; MLC 139–54). Each selection contains a rather simplistic summary accompanied by the occasional biographical detail.As a veteran of the secondary classroom, I found much to like in this small volume. Its simplicity gives it an air of approachability; I could very easily envision my students picking it up and scanning the pages. Students that struggle with the complexity of the ideas found in The Great Gatsby would find a great starting point here, and, while there is plenty of information, it is not meant to describe the entire work. In fact, Turner provides just enough information upon which students can build their own interpretations. And while it is clear that students could very easily pick up a copy of Breaking Down Fitzgerald and convince themselves that it has told them all they need to know, I believe it would function best as a means of establishing the basic concepts of a text that would assist students as they begin to build their own conceptualizations of the ideas in that text.On another note, I have invariably found that many high school students are drawn in quickly by the biographies of the Fitzgeralds, with particular emphasis upon their marriage. Even my less enthused students speak up to ask questions about their lifestyle, their marriage, and, more often, about their partying and marital issues. Turner’s book anticipates this interest, and the roughly thirteen pages devoted to Fitzgerald’s biography are refreshingly straightforward (6–18). While there are mentions of marital strife and Zelda Fitzgerald’s mental illness, they are not the focus of the chapter (which, unfortunately, is not true of many biographical materials meant for middle/secondary school audiences). Instead, Turner enumerates Fitzgerald’s upbringing, his rise to fame, and his decline—with an eye toward linking them naturally and poignantly to what students will have noticed in his fiction. While there is less information about Zelda than one might desire, what is written is balanced well; notably, Turner mentions her interest in writing, art, and ballet, which might have piqued student interest if detailed further (10). Chapter 2’s apt and approachable delineation of the social, cultural, and historical context in which Fitzgerald was writing (19–34) pairs well with this biography and serves to provide a comprehensible guide for student use; these two chapters would serve as great supplemental materials in units on both Fitzgerald’s work and/or introductions to Modernist literature.While it is hard to recommend this work to a seasoned Fitzgerald scholar, I would note that there is much to be excited about when we consider its effect on younger readers. It has been noted numerous times within the F. Scott Fitzgerald Society and academia at large that The Great Gatsby has long been the focal point of Fitzgerald studies and that there remains much work to be done on Fitzgerald’s copious other works. While Turner’s work does preference Gatsby, the smaller sections on his other novels and her discussion of a selection of essays and short stories are likely to be the only mentions of Fitzgerald’s other work that students may come across before college; importantly, Turner notes that “a closer look at not only his other novels but his short stories and essays reveals a man who consistently produced high-quality work throughout his career” (89). There is a subtle brilliance here that makes Breaking Down Fitzgerald important for both the scholar and classroom teacher: in its methodical, approachable, and concise discussion of Fitzgerald’s life and works, it simultaneously makes his work more digestible to his younger audience while also inviting them to engage in further exploration of his writings, an exploration that is lacking even in ongoing scholarly conversations. In a way, Turner is laying the groundwork for future academics to engage in the author’s catalog beyond his magnum opus. It is a book that did not surprise me with new information, but one that I will gladly encourage interested students and those who struggle with The Great Gatsby to pull from my classroom library.
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