The Great Gatsby

Learning Goal: Demonstrate knowledge of early-twentieth century foundational works of American Literature by relating a text to the historical time period and discussing the distinct features of Modernism found in the text.
 
Essential Questions: What is Modern?  Can ideals survive Catastrophe?  How can people honor their Heritage?  What drives Human Behavior?

Texts: "The Love Song Of J. Afred Prufrock", poetry by Langston Hughes, "How it feels to be Colored Me", "Chicago", "The Death of the Hired Man", "A Worn Path", The Great Gatsby.

 

Monday: Read the overview of "The Harlem Renaissance and Modernism" and outline the effects of WWI, the Jazz Age, and the Great Depression on writers of the time.

 

The Themes:
1.This novel is filled with multiple themes but the predominate one focuses on the death of the American Dream. This can be explained by how Gatsby came to get his fortune. Through his dealings with organized crime he didn't adhere to the American Dream guidelines. Nick also suggests this with the manner in which he talks about all the rich characters in the story. The immoral people have all the money. Of course looking over all this like the eyes of God are those of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg on the billboard.
 

2.The second theme that needs to be acknowledged is the thought of repeating the past. Gatsby's whole being since going off to war is devoted to getting back together with Daisy and have things be the way they were before he left. That's why Gatsby got a house like the one Daisy used to live in right across the bay from where she lives. He expresses this desire by reaching towards the green light on her porch early in the book. The last paragraph, So we beat on, boats against the current, born back ceaselessly into the past reinforces this theme.
 

3.Fitzgerald was in his twenty's when he wrote this novel and since he went to Princeton he was considered a spokesman for his generation. He wrote about the third theme which is the immorality that was besieging the 1920's. Organized crime ran rampant, people were partying all the time, and affairs were common play. The last of which Fitzgerald portrays well in this novel.
 

4.The eyes of T. J. Eckleburg convey a fourth theme in this novel. George Wilson compares them to the eyes of God looking over the valley of Ashes. The unmoving eyes on the billboard look down on the Valley of Ashes and see all the immorality and garbage of the times. By the end of the novel you will realize that this symbolizes that God is dead. 

 THE JAZZ AGE:  THE ROARING TWENTIES

A brief backdrop to Fitzgerald’s the GREAT GATSBY

A time-line for discussion

Radio came into America in 1916 as independent stations in cities like Chicago and New York began broadcasting to small audiences.  During WWI the United States government took control of most radio stations for military use.

1917—The New Orleans Jazz Band recorded “Livery Stable Blues”.  It helped make jazz popular and introduced the record player to American society.  In a few years record players where like television sets—everyone had to have one.  The first records were under 3 minutes in time length.

1918 Nov. 11 1918 END OF WWI.  WWI brought disillusionment.  It seemed to most that technology had failed and brought massive graves.  People renew their vigor in leading alternative life styles—fast paced full of hedonism and living for the day instead of the future.

Jan 16 1920  the 18^th Amendment brought on the Prohibition.  The Prohibition lasted 13 years and introduced into America speakeasies, Organized Crime and bootlegging.  It was an era of fast money.

Thus began, as Fitzgerald said, “The most expensive orgy in history.”

1920 also introduced the 1^st commercial radio station.  By 1922 their were 670 commercial stations in the country.

Oct. 28 1929 The stock market crashed and the Jazz Age came to a close.

THE GREAT GATSBY was published in 1925 and the story takes place in the early 20s right after the close of WWI.

The novel is primarily about the failure of the American Dream.

'Resume'

Razors pain you; 
Rivers are damp; 
Acids stain you; 
And drugs cause cramp; 
Guns aren't lawful; 
Nooses give; 
Gas smells awful; 
You might as well live. 

Dorothy Parker

Observation

If I don't drive around the park,
I'm pretty sure to make my mark.
If I'm in bed each night by ten,
I may get back my looks again,
If I abstain from fun and such,
I'll probably amount to much,
But I shall stay the way I am,
Because I do not give a damn.

Dorothy Parker

 

SYMBOL: An image that represents a larger idea.  Usually a symbol is tied in with one of the themes of the novel

 

Some symbols

 

Valley of Ashes—represents spiritual death.  It is tied in with the Death of the American Game (or the death of Gatsby’s American Dream).  With the failure of the American Dream comes a spiritless wandering.  It also represents the spiritual wasteland that most people felt after WWI.  Technology, the great survivor of society, had failed and had become the great destroyer. 

 

The Eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg—represents the lost of religion.  Ties in with the Valley of Ashes as it is a spiritless ghost that looks over the wasteland.  It also represents the failure of technology.  Because of WWI people feel the need to live for the moment. 

 

TIME—watch out for the mention of time.  Nick the narrator is very conscious of time and the passing of time.  Mark your book every time Nick mentions time, or time passing, or sees a watch, a clock, etc.  People are living for the moment, everyone except Gatsby. 

The Green Light at the end of the dock—this represents Gatsby dream: Daisy, and how close he has come to fulfilling it.

 Also - RUMORS.

Students reading The Great Gatsby will learn about social issues of America during the Roaring Twenties and the failure of the American Dream. In the novel we will look at characters and characterization, and see how they prove to be harsh, lively, compelling and most of all—human.

OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the unit students will be able to

1) Define character development, irony, metaphor, personification, subplot, atmosphere and allusion and symbol
2) List all the characters that appear in the novel and describe their physical appearance, motivations, social class.
3) List various allusions and foreshadows and discuss what they mean in relation to plot.
4) List the various types of conflict that occur throughout the novel and discuss who the conflicts are between.
5) Keep a journal that outlines each chapter by listing setting (if applicable), characters, conflicts, and summaries.
6) List three themes and in a paragraph or more discuss how these themes work in the novel.
7) In an essay of a page or more discuss how Fitzgerald uses particular images or characters as symbols and discuss how these symbols reflect larger themes or ideas in the novel.
8) Outline the character development (inward change) of various characters (to be mentioned later).
9) List and outline four subplots in either novel.
10) List and outline the central plot.
11) In a paragraph or more discuss how social class or social problems fit in the novel and relate them to conflict and theme.
12) Pick out two or three examples of similes and/or metaphors and in a paragraph discuss how they are used.
13) Given a quotation identify the speaker.
14) Write various journal entries from different characters’ points of view, which demonstrates an understanding of the character and the character’s attitude towards life.