The Great Gatsby
Students read The Great Gatsby, evaluating Fitzgerald's critique of the American 1920s, as well as considering issues of social class and the impact of history and memory on individuals.
Unit Summary
As students read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby, they will conduct in-depth character analysis of Gatsby and evaluate how Fitzgerald uses the character of Gatsby, as well as other literary devices, to comment on the society and values of the American 1920s. Students will consider issues of social class and the impact of history and memory on the lives of the characters as well as on our own.
While we do not typically take a stand on whether reading is done in class or at home, this particular unit is most suited to students reading the majority of the novel at home, allowing class time for analyzing key excerpts as well as writing about and discussing the text. If the teacher would like to read in class, she or he should allow for the number of lessons to be roughly double the estimate below.
This unit has three Supplementary AP Projects related to the theme of consumerism. In the first two projects, students will read multiple short documents and write a synthesis essay (similar to FRQ 1). Then, students will compose responses to the FRQ 3 essay prompt from the 2005 AP English Language and Composition Exam. The emphasis of this third project will be developing and communicating an informed opinion on the topic of wealth inequality. To learn more about including these Supplemental AP Projects in this English 12 unit, please see our Guide to Supplemental AP Language and Composition Projects.
Texts and Materials
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Core Materials
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Book: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Scribner, 2004)
Supporting Materials
Article: “"The Great Gatsby": Thirty-Six Years After” by A.E. Dyson (JSTOR)
Article: “8 Ways 'The Great Gatsby' Captured the Roaring Twenties - And Its Dark Side” by Sarah Pruitt (History.com)
Article: “Gatsby's Green Light Beckons a New Set of Strivers” by Sara Rimer (New York Times)
Movie: The Great Gatsby by Baz Luhrmann, 2013
Assessment
This assessment accompanies Unit 5 and should be given on the suggested assessment day or after completing the unit.
Key Knowledge
Intellectual Prep
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Intellectual Prep for English Lessons
- Read and annotate the novel.
- Read and annotate this unit plan and all paired passages.
- Gather outside sources on World War I, the Jazz Age, and the Roaring Twenties if students have not previously studied these eras.
Intellectual Prep for AP Projects
- Read and annotate the Supplementary AP Projects, and the articles and texts included.
- Decide the pacing appropriate for your students. These projects can be integrated into the reading of The Great Gatsby or completed at the conclusion of the reading of the novel.
- Select a print or online style guide that students will use to develop their own writing skills and style. See the following articles for ideas:
- AP English Language and Composition: Grammar Web Guide by CollegeBoard
- AP English Language and Composition: The Concept of Style by CollegeBoard
- Review the basics of rhetorical analysis by reading What Do Students Need to Know About Rhetoric? by Hepzibah Roskelly.
- Read the AP English Language and Composition 2005 Sample Student Responses.
- Read the AP English Language and Composition 2005 Scoring Commentary.
- Depending upon your level of familiarity with the CollegeBoard AP English Language and Composition exam, you may wish to spend more time exploring other resources on the College Board AP English Language and Composition Course website. If you are unfamiliar with FRQ 1, it is recommended that you begin by reading through the 2018 AP English Language and Composition Sample Student Responses and Scoring Commentary.
Essential Questions
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- Wealth and Social Class: How far can one go to break boundaries that separate the classes? How far should one go to break boundaries that separate the classes?
- Memory and the Past: Is “the past” a boundary we cannot overcome (as Nick rationally argues, “you can’t repeat the past”) or is the future a boundary we cannot overcome (as Nick notes, we are “ceaselessly born back into the past” as the “future recedes before us”)?
Writing Focus Areas
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Students will produce short written responses to each target task question in this unit. The focus is for students to produce short pieces that show a commitment to the task, purpose, and audience. This requires that they succinctly articulate their claim and provide brief but compelling evidence from the text(s) to support their analysis.
Spiraling Literary Analysis Writing Focus Area
- Focus on Task: Comprehensive and consistently appropriate to the task, purpose, and audience
- Analysis: Demonstrates effective and comprehensive reasoning
- Evidence: Sophisticated and varied evidence that deepens insight on the topic
Vocabulary
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Literary Terms
first-person narration, characterization, metaphor, irony, symbol, allusion, foreshadowing, motif, theme
Roots and Affixes
ol- (olfactory), som- (somnambulatory)
Text-based
Chapters 1–3: feign (1), levity (1), privy (1), elation (2), supercilious (7), fractiousness (7), unobtrusively (12), irreverently (9), cynical (16), peremptorily (19), involuntarily (21), transcendent (23), impenetrable (23), sumptuous (25), countenance (29), inexhaustible (35), innuendo (40), contemptuous (42), staid (44), florid (48), jaunty (52), subterfuge (58)
Chapters 4–6: incredulous (66), olfactory (68), somnambulatory (69), inconceivable (92), vitality (95), contemptuous (98), conceit (99), antecedents (101), ingratiate (101), lethargic (106), euphemism (106), incalculable (108), incarnation (111)
Chapters 7–9: obscurely (113), cynically (116), inexhaustible (120), boisterously (121), contingency (121), incredulous (122 & 129), inviolate (125), precipitately (125), disquieting (125), invariably (136), incessantly (138), truculent (140), indiscernible (148), interminable (154), conceivably (158), amorphous (161), elocution (173), complacent (176), transitory (180)
Idioms and Cultural References
Chapters 1–4: Great War (3), John D. Rockefeller (27), Fifth Avenue (28), Town Tattle (29), Gilda Gray (41), Follies (41), Von Hindenburg (61), Oxford (65), 1919 World Series (73), debut (75), Armistice (75), Coney Island (83), Trimalchio (113), medium (122), Hopalong Cassidy (173)
Content Knowledge and Connections
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- World War I
- The Jazz Age
- The Roaring Twenties
Previous Fishtank ELA Connections
- The theme of memory and the past features heavily in both The Great Gatsby and The God of Small Things. Students should be able to compare how the two authors develop this theme and what each author’s message is.
Lesson Map
AP Projects
1
3 days
(PROCESS)
Does the pursuit of self-interest benefit society? Explain your position by synthesizing information from both the cartoon "The Great GAPsby Society" and the novel The Great Gatsby. Your argument should be the focus of your paragraph. Use the cartoon and novel to develop your claim, but do not merely summarize them.
2
5 days
(PROCESS)
Consumerism is the preoccupation of a society with the acquisition of goods. A capitalist economy such as that of the United States of America relies on the purchasing of goods and services by consumers for the economy to grow, but some believe consumerism has gone too far. Throughout the history of this country, consumer demand has had an impact, both positive and negative, on the economic and social order of the country.
Carefully read the following six sources. Then synthesize the material from at least three of the sources and incorporate them into a coherent, well-developed essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies the notion that American consumerism is a crisis.
Your argument should be the focus of your essay. Use the sources to develop your argument and explain your reasoning. Avoid merely summarizing the sources. Indicate clearly which sources you are using, whether through direct quotation or summary.
3
3 days
(ON DEMAND)
For this project, we ask students to debate and write a response to a question from the released 2005 AP English Language and Composition Exam. We are unable to reproduce the content here; however, teachers can find the question at the link below.
AP English Language and Composition 2005 Free-Response Questions (page 4)
Standards
Core Standards
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