Catcher+Biographicalism

See Symbolism page, Amanda and I have tied them together.
 * Opening Activity:**


 * Background Information on J.D. Salinger:**

Jeromme David Salinger, is most famous for writing __Catcher In The Rye__ which was published in 1951. Salinger was born January 19th 1919 in Manhattan New York. Salinger came from a jewish background, and he had one sister named Doris. He attended many private schools and received a lot of pressure from his parents, especially his mom. He went to countries abroad and when he came back he attended Columbia University and met his most influencial teacher, Whit Burnett. Burnett believed in Salinger and helped him publish things including his first published work, "The Young Folks". Later in his life Salinger was drafted to fight in WWII, shortly after losing his girlfriend to Charlie Chaplin. He fought in battles such as the Battle of the Bulge, and D-Day. He met Ernest Hemmingway During one of these times and Hemmingway admired Salinger's work. It is more than likely that Salinger's experiances here affected him emotionally and influenced the way he wrote. He was quoted to say "My boyhood was very much the same as that of the boy in the book....it was a great relief telling people about it." That statement there explains how he directly relates to at least the main character in __Catcher In The Rye.__ Overall one could argue that J.D. Salinger put a lot more than just a story into it when he wrote __Catcher In The Rye,__


 * Review Information of Mark Twain and F. Scott Fitzgerald:

Mark Twain:**

Samuel Clemens was born in [|Florida, Missouri], on November 30, 1835 to Tennessee country merchant, John Marshall Clemens ([|August 11], [|1798]–[|March 24], [|1847]) and Jane Lampton Clemens (June 18,1803–October 27, 1890) He was the sixth of seven children. Only two of his siblings survived childhood, his brother Orion ([|July 17], [|1825]–[|December 11], [|1897] and sister Pamela (September 19, 1[|82]-[|August 31], [|1904]). His sister Margaret ([|Ma]31, 1830–August 17, 1839) died when he was four years old, and his brother Benjamin ([|June 8], [|1832]–[|May 12], [|1842]) died three years later. Another brother, Pleasant ([|1828]–[|1829]), only lived three months before Samuel was born. In addition to his older siblings, Samuel had one younger brother, Henry ([|July 13], [|1838]–[|June 21], [|1858]).When Samuel was four, his family moved to Hannibal, a port town on the [|Mississippi River] that would serve as the inspiration for the fictional town of St. Petersburg in //The Adventures of Tom Sawyer// and //Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.// At that time, Missouri was a [|slave state] in the union, and young Samuel became familiar with the institution of [|slavery], a theme he later explored in his writing. Samuel Clemens wascolor blind, a condition that fueled his witty banter in the social circles of the day //__In March 1847, when Samuel was 11, his father died of pneumonia__//The following year, he became a printer's apprentice. In 1851, he began working as a typesetter and contributor of articles and humorous sketches for the //Hannibal Journal//, a newspaper owned by his brother, Orion. When he was 18, he left Hannibal and worked as a printer in New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. At 22, Clemens returned to Missouri. On a voyage to New Orleans down the Mississippi, the steamboat pilot, "Bixby", inspired Clemens to pursue a career as a steamboat pilot, the third highest paying profession in America at the time, earning $250 per month ($155,000 today). //While training for his pilot's license, Samuel convinced his younger brother Henry to work with him on the Mississippi. Henry was killed on June 21, [|1858], when the steamboat he was working on exploded. Samuel was guilt-stricken over his brother's death and held himself responsible for the rest of his life. However, he continued to work on the river and served as a river pilot until the American Civil War broke out in 1861 and traffic along the Mississippi was curtailed. (Wikipedia.com)


 * F. Scott Fitzgerald:**

Born in [|St. Paul, Minnesota], to an upper-middle class [|Irish Catholic] family, Fitzgerald was named for his distant and famous relative [|Francis Scott Key], but was commonly known as 'Scott'. He spent 1898–1901 and 1903–1908 in [|Buffalo], [|New York], where his father worked for [|Procter & Gamble]. When Fitzgerald, Sr. was fired, the family moved back to Minnesota, where Fitzgerald attended [|St. Paul Academy and Summit School] in St. Paul from 1908–1911. His first piece of literature was published in his school newspaper when he was 13. He attended Newman School, a prep school in [|Hackensack, New Jersey], in 1911–1912. He entered [|Princeton University] in [|1913] as a member of the Class of 1917 and became friends with the future critics and writers [|Edmund Wilson] (Class of [|1916]) and [|John Peale Bishop] (Class of [|1917]), and while there wrote for the [|Princeton Triangle Club]. A mediocre student throughout his three-year career at the university, Fitzgerald dropped out in 1917 to enlist in the United States Army when the US entered [|World War I]. Fitzgerald wrote a novel titled// The Romantic Egotist//, portions of which later largely were reincarnated as the first half of// This Side of Paradise//, while at Princeton and edited, to some extent, at [|Camp Zachary Taylor] and [|Camp Sheridan]. When Fitzgerald submitted the novel to [|Charles Scribner's Sons], the editor praised the writing but ultimately rejected the book. The war ended shortly after Fitzgerald's enlistment. (Gracias para Wikipedia.com tambien)

Questions:

1) In what ways do these authors compare and contrast? (writing styles and life styles) 2) How would you say each author's view of the american dream is affected by their life? 3) How would you explain the difference in their views of the American Dream? 4) Do you think that each's greatest novel was inspired by themself? Why, or Why not? 5) How does Salinger's past specifically relate to Cather in the Rye?

Josh F-R