TheAmericanDreaminTheGreaGasby_开题报告

Francis Scott Fitzgerald was a famous American writer, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers in the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost Generation" in the 1920s. Fitzgerald’s special life experiences offered a rich source for his creation, made him understand the United States more deeply than other writers at that time. He finished four novels, This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender is the Night and his most famous, The Great Gatsby. In 1925, the publication of his masterpiece The Great Gatsby made him well-known in literary history. The Great Gatsby mainly tells about the selfish and rude in the United States at that time. Fitzgerald pointed out that the tragedy of the character Gatsby comes from his fantasy of love for Daisy Buchanan---unrealistic American Dream.

The American dream was originally about discovery, individualism, and the pursuit of happiness. During the 1920s,the values have totally changed, instead of striving for equality, they just want to get as rich as they could get. However, easy money and relaxed social values have corrupted this great American dream. After getting the material wealth, there are no clearly outlined steps to take. So it is doomed that American dream will fail at last.

In Foreign countries, there are a lot of studies on "American dream". The Great Gatsby is a good works which reflects the "American dream" in the 1920s.By analyzing the Gatsby’s "American dream" in The Great Gatsby, Lehan Richard told that “Gatsby's dream is the dream for an era”(Richard, 1990). John f. Callahan has portrayed the American "jazz age" and showed the young generation’s decline about "American dream" (Callahan, 1996). Analyzing the origin of "American dream" , Marius Bewley discussed the bust of "American dream" and the tragic inevitability of the lost generation (Bewley, 1985). Gatsby is a representative of the "jazz age". Donaldson Scott revealed the true appearance of American society during the 1920s and the disillusionment about Gatsby’s "American dream". (Scott, 1984). 

In China, there are also many studies on "American dream". According to the studies about The Great Gatsby, some scholars have focused on the analysis of the characters’ personality (王晓慧, 2007: 4). Some have analyzed Gatsby’s disillusionment about "American dream" to study the root reason for Gatsby’s tragedy. And it also reveals the dark and empty aspects of American society  (赵宏伟, 2005: 95). Some people have thought of Gatsby’s tragic life to reveal the decline of the "American dream" (王慧丽, 2008: 96). Some scholars regard The Great Gatsby as the fable story of American society in the 1920s. Gatsby's death is the result of the serious clash between materialism and idealism, which symbolizes the bursting of the "American dream" (范登伟, 2006:1). Some people have claimed that Gatsby is a dream chaser. It is doomed that Gatsby’s life ended in tragedy (江虹, 2010: 185). 

II. Outline

Part I  Introduction

1.1 About the author--- F. Scott .Fitzgerald

1.1.1The Life of Fitzgerald

1.1.2The Works of Fitzgerald

       1.2 About the novel---The Great Gatsby

Part II  American Dream and its Disillusionment

2.1 The American Dream

2.2 American Dream Reflected inThe Great Gatsby

2.2.1 Gatsby ’s American Dream

2.2.2 Nick Carraway’s American Dream

2.2.3 Tom, Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker’s American Dream 

Part III  The causes of the failure of American Dream

3.1 Social background ---The Jazz Age

3.2 People factors in the novel

Part IV  Conclusion

Bibliography

III.  References

[1] Donaldson Scott. Critical Essays on F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s The Great Gatsby [M]. Boston: G.K. Hall ＆Co. 1984.

[2] Fitzgerald. Scott. F. The Great Gatsby [M]. Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. 2000

[3] John F. Callahan. F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s evolving American dream: The pursuit of happiness in Gatsby, Tender is the Night, and the Last Tycoon [J]. Twenties Century Literature,1996, 3

[4] Lehan Richard. The Great Gatsby The Limits of Wonder [J] Boston Massachusetts: Twayne Publishers, 1990.

[5] Marius Bewley. Fitzgerald and the Collapse of the American Dream in Harold Bloom(ed). Modern Critical Views; F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s [M] Yale University Press, 1985, 28.

[6] 范登伟. 美国梦的破灭—论《了不起的盖茨比》中的物质主义和理想主义 [J]. 郑州大学外语学院, 2006 , 1.

[7]江虹.浅析《了不起的盖茨比》中主人公盖茨比的悲剧人生 [J]. 太原城市职业技术学院学报，2010, 185-186. 

[8] 王晓慧. 人性的扭曲梦想的破灭—《了不起的盖茨比》人物性格及艺术特色评析 [J]. 哈尔滨师范大学阿城学院外语系, 2007 , 4.

[9] 王慧丽.对《了不起的盖茨比》之悲剧性的思考[J].中北大学学报,2008，96-97.

[10] 赵宏伟.社会透视下美国梦的幻灭—剖析《了不起的盖茨比》的深刻内涵 [J]. 哈尔滨学院学报, 2005,8.