Directions: Use the themes, questions and video clips below to teach and learn with portions of C-SPAN's American Writers program featuring F. Scott Fitzgerald, and The Great Gatsby. Link to the complete video clip list to identify clip descriptions and create your own lessons. Each theme contains questions and video clips appropriate for varying grade levels. Lesson Credit:
Curriculum Advisory Team Member, Don Leibold.

1. Gertrude Stein referred to people of the Twenties as the "lost generation." Why were they "lost"?
2. Why were American writers and artists in France during the Twenties?
3. What do Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, embody about the Twenties, according to Fitzgerald's granddaughter, Eleanor Lanahan?
4. What led to the 18th Amendment? Why did America have prohibition? What role did alcohol play in the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald?
5. How did Fitzgerald's writing reflect the Twenties? Identify at least two ways.

1. How does The Great Gatsby embody what is good and what is bad about America?
2. How does the character of Gatsby resonate with Fitzgerald, according to David Page?
3. What does The Great Gatsby have to say about America in the Twenties?
4. In much of his work, Fitzgerald explored the ways financial wealth can have a negative impact on an individual (and the society as a whole.) Describe at least one specific way Fitzgerald depicts wealth and its negative impact. How have other writers or artists explored this theme? What are your own views on the subject?
5. Is the American Dream a myth? How can Fitzgerald's book, The Great Gatsby, be used to support your opinion?

1. Is F. Scott Fitzgerald's work relevant to today's America? How so?
2. How does Eleanor Lanahan think Americans view her grandfather today?
3. Describe the ambivalence for Fitzgerald in St. Paul.
4. What popular misconceptions have plagued the Fitzgerald legacy?
5. "There are no second acts in American lives," Fitzgerald once said. Does this idea apply to Fitzgerald's own life and legacy?