The Roaring Twenties by The Third Industrial Revolution Fordism Urbanization The Revolution in Manners and Morals The Electrical Home Advertising and the Promise of Happiness The Beauty Industries The Silver Screen
The Roaring Twenties, continued The Jazz Age The Clash of Cultures Prohibition Nativists and Fundamentalists The Golden Age of Sports Lucky Lindy The Gospel of Business The coming of the Great Depression
The Great Gatsby Plot Notes by Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9
Character Tracker Chart Name: Period YOUR MISSION: Track Your goal is to uncover the inner workings of your subject. What motivates him or her? What are your subject s strengths and weaknesses? What does he or she want more than anything else? What makes your subject tick? The more information you re able to uncover, the easier your case will become. Good luck. Quote and page number: Inferences about character based on quote:
Character Tracker Chart, cont. Quote and page number: Inferences about character based on quote:
1. Dear Players, In Chapter One, Nick receives the following advice from his father: Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone...just remember that all the people in this world haven t had the advantages that you ve had. Now, consider the following scene: You re at a party when you spot an acquaintance hovering by the coat rack. Before you have a chance to say hello, you see your acquaintance rummage through various coats and purses, stealing money and other items. An hour later, your acquaintance sees you, waves, and approaches to start a conversation. If you were living your life according to the advice from Nick s father, how would you respond? Narrate or script the ensuing scene. (10 points) 2. Dear Players, In Chapter Two, Nick accompanies Tom and his mistress, Myrtle, to a party. Tom s behavior suggests an utter disregard for Daisy. At the end of the chapter, however, the following takes place: Some time toward midnight Tom Buchanan and Mrs. Wilson stood face to face, discussing in impassioned voices whether Mrs. Wilson has any right to mention Daisy s name. Daisy! Daisy! Daisy! shouted Mrs. Wilson. I ll say it whenever I want to! Daisy! Dai-- Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand. Consider Tom s actions. What could possibly have motivated the physical abuse? As if you re Tom, write a journal entry recounting the night. Discuss what you thought about the party, the guests, and the hit. (10 points) 3. Dear Players, It is in Chapter Three that we finally meet, in person, the famous Mr. Gatsby. Amidst rumors of murder and German spying escapades, Gatsby takes shape. In a meticulously crafted argumentative paragraph, argue whether Gatsby is more likely to become the book s hero or villain. Use at least one direct quote from the novel to back your stance. (10 points) 4. Dear Players, In Chapter Four, Gatsby s complex history with Daisy is revealed. While Gatsby was stationed at the base near Daisy s home, Gatsby and Daisy fell in love. Although Daisy chose to marry Tom after Gatsby left for the war, Daisy drank herself into numbness the night before her wedding after receiving a letter from Gatsby. Consider what you know about their relationship and the surrounding circumstances. As if you re Gatsby, write the letter that Daisy received. Then, in a separate paragraph, defend your letter s content. Why does your letter make the most sense within the book s context? (20 points) 5. Dear Players, It is in Chapter Five that we finally witness Gatsby and Daisy s reunion. Their meeting is emotionally tumultuous, swinging from the severely awkward to the severely happy. Because we are limited to Nick s thoughts alone, we can only assume how Daisy and Gatsby are feeling based on Nick s observations. Select a passage from Chapter Five (at least 300 words long) and rewrite it from either Daisy or Gatsby s perspective. Really get inside their heads to explore how they experienced the encounter, emphasizing ideas the reader may have missed in the original reading. (20 points)
6. Dear Players, In Chapter Six, Nick makes the following observation about Gatsby: He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: I never loved you. After she had obliterated three 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, later Gatsby proclaims: Can t repeat the past?...why of course you can! Consider the implications of Gatsby s wishes. Will his desire to repeat the past elevate his happiness or destroy him? Write a single meticulously crafted argumentative paragraph defending your stance. Use at least one direct quote from the novel to support yourself. (10 points) 7. Dear Players, Chapter Seven is fraught with tension. Up to this point, Gatsby and Daisy have behaved as if their actions were free of consequence; however, their romance has been suspended in limbo and limbo is ultimately unsustainable. The chapter s culminating action sees Myrtle die and Gatsby take the blame. Scour chapter seven and consider which moment had the single biggest impact on the story s direction. What line, paragraph, or half page was arguably the turning point? Once you ve identified this moment, do the following: Rewrite the passage, aiming for the biggest impact. To the best of your ability, mimic Fitzgerald s writing style so that your passage could, presumably, be slipped into the original. Use one original line from the novel to start your passage; from there, rewrite the moment so that it redirects the story. Write two meticulously crafted paragraphs unpacking your choice. In paragraph one, explain why/how your selected passage worked as the turning point; what made it so influential? Next, in paragraph two, explain how your passage would redirect the story. If your passage were a part of the narrative, what would happen after? (20 points) 8. Dear Players, In Chapter Eight, we witness Gatsby s murder. Although Wilson is technically responsible for the murder, should he bear the primary responsibility for Gatsby s death? Write 1-2 meticulously crafted paragraphs arguing who should bear the weight and responsibility of Gatsby s death. Did he bring it upon himself? Is Daisy at fault? Tom? Nick? Use at least two textual pieces of evidence to support yourself. (10 points) 9. Dear Players, Now that you ve finished the book, it s time to take a closer look at your assigned character. You have been tracing your character s development throughout our reading of The Great Gatsby on your Character Tracer. Now prepare to discover who your character really is. Step 1: Find your peers who have been assigned the same character as you. Get together and spend several minutes discussing the information you ve collected on your Character Tracer. What details have they noticed about the character? Do your peers like or dislike the character? Why? Is your character admirable or not?
Step 2: Brainstorm a list of 10 interview questions that can help you explore this character further. (Tip: don t ask boring questions; ask question you desperately want to know the answers to. Ask questions for which you might not find explicit evidence in the text.) Example: What have you got in your pocket and why do you hang onto it? What was your relationship with your mother like? What do you daydream about? Write your interview questions on a separate piece of paper. Step 3: Break off into groups of two. You must have two different characters represented in your new group. You will each take 5-7 minutes to interview each other. You will take turns being the interviewer and the interviewee (character). Give your question list to your interviewer. You will answer the questions you came up with. The interviewer will ask questions, while the character responds instinctively (don t think too much about your responses. You already know this character well. Just imagine the responses in the voice and personality of the character.) Step 4: Once everyone has had a chance to be interviewed, independently write an interior monologue below, based on your responses to the questions that you answered. (20 points)
Interior Monologue Final Assessment Throughout our study of The Great Gatsby, you have been evaluating how authors develop characters and use them to reveal theme. You have traced your character s progression throughout the book and you have had a chance to delve into your character s thoughts and motivations through your recent character interview. Part 1: Write an Interior Monologue (20 points) Select a hot spot for your assigned character. Think about the facets of his/her personality that help reveal theme. For example, if you think a prominent theme is that living in the past will only bring unhappiness, you may want to look at Gatsby and Nick s conversation at the end of Chapter six. Write a one page monologue from the perspective of this character that shows how this character contributes to a theme of the novel. Your monologue must include: Part 1: and your character s name as your title. A scene set up that explains how your character looks and what props you would use. A brief sentence of context, so your audience understands where in the novel your monologue is situated. One line from the book that the character actually says that launches you into your monologue. A connection to a pivotal theme of the novel Carefully selected diction that reveals the tone of your piece Part 2: Analyze your Monologue (20 points) In two meticulously crafted paragraphs, explain the analytical choices you made while you constructed and performed this monologue. Your first paragraph should explain (with evidence from the text) what choices you made in your own writing. What diction did you use and how did it help convey your tone? What theme emerged as a result of your monologue and how did you develop it? How does your monologue s writing develop our understanding of the source text, The Great Gatsby? Your second paragraph should explain how your scenic elements contributed to your theme. For instance, if you dressed your character in black but had happy music underscore your monologue, explain how this paradox enhanced your theme. If you reached out to a black light, instead of a green light as in the text, what might that symbolically represent?
Example of Interior Monologue Final Assessment: Part 1: George Wilson Scene: George Wilson is standing with his shoulders slumped, his eyes looking down about 20 feet ahead. He is wearing overalls with dirt and grease spots. He s holding a fancy dog collar. Behind him is a poster of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg. Context: This takes place in Chapter 8 when Wilson is talking to Michaelis about Myrtle s death. Quote: I spoke to her, he muttered, after a long silence. I told her she might fool me but she couldn t fool God. George: I always trusted Myrtle, didn t know I had any reason not to. I always knew I was lucky to get her, but I thought she loved me. I thought we got along real good. Now I know I was wrong. I missed something. She always talked about getting a dog, but I told her no because we can t have dog here. We don t have a fence and it would get run over by a train or somebody speeding into New York. He must ve gave her a dog, and that s why she did it. It ain t right that she was seeing someone else, but that don t mean he had to kill her. He didn t even stop and it s not right. God knows, it s not right. The police won t do nothing. A man like that who could afford that fancy yellow car. They won t touch him. It ain t right. But I can do something. I can make it right. I can find that car and I can make that monster pay. I could have worked it out with Myrtle. We could ve left this godforsaken place and headed West, made a new start. All I needed was a little cash from Mr. Buchanon s blue coupe. I know we could ve done it. I could ve made her happy somewhere else. We could buy a nice house in California or somewheres else with a nice backyard with a fence and, hell, all the dogs she wanted. We could ve even had Catherine come with us. Myrtle was always real close with her sister. But she s gone now, and it ain t right. (He looks back at the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg.) It s all up to me now. I m going to find him and I m going to kill him. That s only justice, an eye for an eye. It s the right thing to do. Part 2: Analysis I chose to elaborate on this particular scene because it is where George Wilson decides he needs to take matters into his own hands rather than let the police do their job. He is so consumed by grief that he can t see the folly of his decision. This is one of the themes of the novel, the way unfulfilled dreams can cause destruction. George is so devastated by losing Myrtle that he can t see that what he is contemplating is murder, just as wrong as the act he is protesting. I have him repeat himself, saying that it isn t right, to solidify his resolve and give him the strength to take action. I also have him use substandard grammar because he is not an educated man. Tom says of him, He s so dumb he doesn t know he s alive. I also have him convince himself that he and Myrtle would have created a wonderful future out west with the unrealistic idea that Catherine might have come with them. He says they would even have dogs, as if that were the problem with their marriage. He s only fooling himself. At the end he uses God s justice, the law of Moses, to rationalize what he s going to do. I had George wear dirty overalls because that s what he would wear on the job, and it s so completely opposite of the clothing Gatsby or Tom would wear. He s holding the dog collar because that s the thing that wised him up to the fact that his wife was seeing someone else, and it creates another contrast--a grease covered mechanic and a diamond studded dog collar. The poster behind him is to intensify the idea that he feels he is doing God s work in making the driver of the car pay for his sin.