This document provides biographical information about author F. Scott Fitzgerald. It notes that he was born in 1896 in Minnesota to an Irish Catholic family and was the only son. It discusses how he met his wife Zelda Sayre in Alabama and they married in 1920. Fitzgerald wrote several famous novels and short stories during his lifetime and died in 1940 of a heart attack. His daughter Frances Scott was born in 1921. The biography provides personal details about Fitzgerald's life and family to give context about the author.

1. About the Author
By: Florina Wang

2. Author’s Biography
 Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald
 Born: St. Paul, Minnesota
 September 24, 1896 –
December 21, 1940
 An American author of novels
and short stories
 Born in an upper-middle class
Irish Catholic Family
 The only son of Edward
Fitzgerald (1853-1931) and
Mary 'Mollie' McQuillan (1860-
1936), but had one sister,
Annabel (1901)

3.  Met Zelda Sayre (1900-1948) in
Montgomery, Alabama.
 A year later they were engaged, but
Zelda broke it off a few months
later.
 Francis and Zelda married on April
3, 1920, at St Patrick‟s Cathedral in
New York City. He died of a
massive heart attack in 1940,
where Zelda died in a fire on 1948.
 Their daughter Frances Scott
„Scottie‟ was born on October 26,
1921 and died on June 16, 1986.

4. Summary
 Donald Plant landed in an airport in the western part
of a city and he has three hours of free time before
his next flight.
 He decided to visit his childhood friend by the name
of Nancy Holmes since his wife has passed away.
Nancy Holmes is now known as Mrs Walter Gifford.
 After giving her a call, he went to her house and they
spent some time chatting.
 Since her husband wasn’t in, she and Daniel began to
go close to each other to the point that they almost
kissed.

5. Summary
By: Chew Sook Rui

6.  This led to Mrs Gifford to switch to looking at their
childhood photos. She showed Donald a photo who she
thinks is him as a child.
 Donald tells her that it is not him in the photo.
 She realised that she has mistaken Donald Plant as
Donald Bowers, her childhood lover.
 She is distraught because she has been reminiscing her
childhood romance with the wrong Donald.
 Ashamed, she asked Donald to leave her house. Donald
left with a heavy heart.

7. Significance of the Title
By: Sharleena Jaelyn

8.  Those three hours between his planes were the very
hours that changed Donald Plant from:
 a passionate ex-lover to an empty, worn out
man
 a man who held on tight to the past to one who
looks ahead of the future
 a man who was still a part of his 10-year-old
childhood to a grown man of thirty-two
 a man whose mind was clouded by unresolved
dreams to a down-to-earth man of maturity

9. Reference quotes for evidence:
 “I told her you were the girl I loved almost as much
as I loved her. But I think I really loved you just as
much. When we moved out of town, I carried you like
a cannon ball in my insides.”
 “For five binding minutes, he had lived like a
madman in two worlds at once. He had been a boy
of twelve and a man of thirty-two, indissolubly and
helplessly comingled.”
 “Donald had lost a good deal, too, in those hours
between the planes – but since the second half of
life is a long process of getting rid of things, that part
of the experience probably didn‟t matter.”

10. Literary Criticism Theories
Ahmad Muzakkir bin Mohamad

11.  From the short story that we have read and
discussed, Three Hours between Planes by F. Scott
Fitzgerald, we can identify two theories of literary
criticism that are social and cultural.
 From the social criticism perspectives, we can
identify bits of unfaithful relationship between Mr.
and Mrs. Walter Gifford. Mrs. Gifford could sense
that her husband is straying away from their
marriage. It is proven from the text when Mrs. Gifford
told Donald Plant that she felt something amiss with
her husband

12.  “She hesitated, '--and I think he's interested in
someone in New York--and I don't know.”
 In general, the husband should not make a mockery
out of his marriage. Mockery here is meant by
having affairs with other women and disregarding his
own wife. From our point of view, we feel that the
writer should shed some light on what the husband
actually did in New York. This is to lift the burden of
the reader in figuring out the doings of the husband.

13.  From the cultural criticism perspectives, there are
two events that reflect the westerners. One of the
events in the story that clearly distinguishes the
easterners and the westerners is the usage of
alcohol as a company for loneliness. In our opinion,
alcohol is not the appropriate solution to cure
loneliness. It will only bring more harm than good.
Instead, we should resort to other positive
alternatives such as sports, arts or music. Mrs
Gifford uses whisky to compensate her loneliness.
This can be found from the story,
'Have a highball?' she asked. 'No? Please don't think
I've become a secret drinker, but this was a blue
night.

14.  Another event that shows the complete distinction
between western and eastern culture is their
openness in expressing their feelings. The way they
show their feelings towards each other is too open.
Donald Plant asked Mrs. Gifford to kiss her and
never tell the story to her husband. In the short story
Donald tell something to Mrs. Gifford.
 'Kiss me once more,' he said inconsistently, but
Nancy had turned a page and was pointing eagerly
at a picture.
 From our eastern viewpoint, it is not proper for a
woman to simply kiss a man although he is her
childhood friend.