The Jazz Age The Roaring 20s
"The Great Gatsby takes place during the summer of 1922. Fitzgerald coined the phrase, 'the Jazz Age' that same year to describe the flamboyant—'anything goes'—era that emerged in America after World War I. Find out more about the popular culture and historical events that shaped and defined the 1920s" Click HERE for source |
Task: Teach the rest of the class about the 1920s through a Padlet web board. Include relevant photos, statistics, anecdotes, videos, and information. Your classmates should be able to interact with this web board on their own in order to learn more about the topic.
website: www.padlet.com
website: www.padlet.com
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great American Dreamer Part 1 of a documentary about the author of The Great Gatsby. Note down information on the following:
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The American Dream What is "The American Dream"? After watching the video clip, create a definition in your booklet. Describe the American Dream in your own words. |
While I am away at camp, complete the following activities:
- Complete both worksheets posted below. The character worksheet is in your booklet but the setting one is not.
- Re-read chapters 1 and 2. On Monday, 16 March, we will have a socratic seminar-type discussion using the questions below as our guide. Read with these questions in mind.
Activity 1: Setting and Characters
chapter_1_-_setting,_east_and_west_egg.docx | |
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chapter_1_adverb_characters.doc | |
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Activity 2: Reading and socratic seminar preparation
Chapter 1:
Chapter 1:
- What is your impression of Tom and Daisy?
- How is Gatsby described when he appears at the end of chapter 1?
- Why is Gatsby looking at the green light while standing on the dock at the end of chapter 1? What does the light symbolize?
- In what way is the description in the opening paragraphs appropriate to the total atmosphere of this chapter?
- Myrtle buys a dog in the city, the furniture in Tom’s apartment is overabundant and gaudy, and Myrtle changes outfits several times. What do these actions reveal about her character or symbolize?
- What does the scene in this New York apartment reveal about Tom?
- What does Nick say to prove that he is being corrupted by the East?
The Valley of Ashes
Essential Question:
How are the different settings indicative of Fitzgerald’s attitude towards society?
Essential Question:
How are the different settings indicative of Fitzgerald’s attitude towards society?
- Diction: Identify all of the adjectives, adverbs and phrases that are used to describe the valley of ashes.
- Characters: Who lives here? What is their life like?
- Symbolism: Pick apart the billboard of the eyes of T.J. Eckleburg. In what ways could the billboard be symbolic of modernism? What connections do you see between these eyes and the poem "The Wasteland"?
- Themes: Based on our quick analysis, what are some central themes that are emerging from this scene?
extract_-_valley_of_ashes.docx | |
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Gatsby's Parties: Chapter 3
What is the purpose of chapter 3? How is this chapter a social critique?
What is the purpose of chapter 3? How is this chapter a social critique?
Task: With a partner, analyze your assigned passage from chapter 3. Use the questions as a guide for your analysis. Your task is to create a ONE-slide presentation to explain your ideas to the class. Presentations will occur on Tuesday or Wednesday (time dependent) and we will upload your slides to the website for reference later on in the course.
gatsby_-_party_scene,_ch3_passages.docx | |
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Who is Gatsby? - Chapter 4
- What is Gatsby's relationship with Meyer Wolfsheim? What can we infer about their relationship?
- What's the purpose of introducing the character of Meyer Wolfsheim?
ch._4_-_gatsby_and_nick_passage.docx | |
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Find two quotations from chapter 4 to support each of the following questions.
- What is Gatsby's dream? How does his dream connect to the symbolism of the green light?
- In what ways does Gatsby live a life of illusion rather than reality?
Chapter 5: Gatsby meets Daisy after 5...long...years.
Task: Answer the questions on the provided outline. Your image must include 3 important quotations (could be phrases or words), notes to answer the questions, and an original image that further represents your ideas. Individual notations should go on the symbols page in your booklet (p. 95).
- What is the symbolism of the object and how does it connect to the larger ideas in the novel?
- What do we learn about each character through the symbol?
Gatsby, his hands still in his pockets, was reclining against the mantelpiece in a strained counterfeit of perfect ease, even of boredom. His head leaned back so far that it rested against the face of a defunct mantelpiece clock, and from this position his distraught eyes stared down at Daisy, who was sitting, frightened but graceful, on the edge of a stiff chair.
“We’ve met before,” muttered Gatsby. His eyes glanced momentarily at me, and his lips parted with an abortive attempt at a laugh. Luckily the clock took this moment to tilt dangerously at the pressure of his head, whereupon he turned and caught it with trembling fingers, and set it back in place. Then he sat down, rigidly, his elbow on the arm of the sofa and his chin in his hand. “I’m sorry about the clock,” he said. My own face had now assumed a deep tropical burn. I couldn’t muster up a single commonplace out of the thousand in my head. “It’s an old clock,” I told them idiotically. I think we all believed for a moment that it had smashed in pieces on the floor (p. 69). |
After the house, we were to see the grounds and the swimming-pool, and the hydroplane, and the mid-summer flowers – but outside Gatsby’s window it began to rain again, so we stood in a row looking at the corrugated surface of the Sound.
“If it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay,” said Gatsby. “You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock.” Daisy put her arm through his abruptly, but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one (p. 74). |
Chapter 6: Can't repeat the past?!
Essential Question:
What does Gatsby's declaration about recreating the past reveal about his character?
Essential Question:
What does Gatsby's declaration about recreating the past reveal about his character?
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Blog Post: Write a blog post that answers the question below. Be specific with your response and use quotations for support. As this is a blog post, you do not need write in formal paragraphs, but ensure that you are analysing and offering your own opinion throughout the post. Use the purple section to begin your analysis, but feel free to reference any section of the book for further support.
Length: 300 words minimum Due Wednesday
Question: What type of character has Fitzgerald created in Gatsby? How does Gatsby's character help to develop larger themes in the novel?
"He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: "I never loved you." After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken. One of them was that, after she was free, they were to go back to Louisville and be married from her house -- just as if it were five years ago.
'And she doesn't understand,' he said. 'She used to be able to understand. We'd sit for hours--'
He broke off and began to walk up and down a desolate path of fruit rinds and discarded favors and crushed flowers.
'I wouldn't ask too much of her,' I ventured. 'You can't repeat the past.'
'Can't repeat the past?' he cried incredulously. 'Why of course you can!'
He looked around him wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand.
'I'm going to fix everything just the way it was before,' he said, nodding determinedly. 'She'll see.'
He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was..." (88).
Chapter 7: Myrtle and Social Class
Plot:
- How do the settings play a vital role in the events of this chapter? NYC and the valley of ashes?
- How does Myrtle die? What correlation can you make between Myrtle’s death and her desire for material possessions? In what way is this scene a social commentary?
- Is the final scene in this chapter pathetic or heartwarming? Why?
- On page 104, what is the significance of the fact that only Gatsby and Tom are speaking?
- How do Tom and Daisy’s reactions to the evening’s events show their alikeness/true characters?
Chapter 8: Gatsby's Death
chapter_8_-_gatsbys_death.docx | |
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- Gatsby - Characterization
- How does Gatsby act in this scene? How does he interact with his environment, and what does this tell us about his attitude?
- How does Gatsby's characterization highlight key ideas in the novel?
2. Mood and Imagery
- What is the mood/atmosphere of this passage? Identify an adjective
- Identify the imagery (simile, alliteration, metaphors, too). How does the imagery support the overall mood?
- How does the imagery reveal Wilson's character and what is about to happen?
3. Language/Stylistic Features - Identify and discuss the intended effect of:
- Weather motif - How is the changing weather connected to the plot?
- Significance of Gatsby's use of his own material possessions (pool and mattress)
- Significance of the phone call
- Symbolism of the rose
- Irony of being killed by Wilson
- Significance of Gatsby and Wilson dying.
- Pace and narration: Why is it only narrated by Nick?
- Connotation of the word "holocaust" - to what extent could this be a metaphor?
- What is Fitzgerald saying about dreams?
- To what extent is this section a social commentary? How does Gatsby's character reveal the social commentary?