Skip to Main Content

Lesson 1

We will focus on close reading and analysis of passages from Chapter 2 of The Great Gatsby. We will review the concepts of imagery, symbolism, and motif and examine how these literary devices are used in the novel.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I formulate and use questions to establish and deepen my understanding of Chapter 2?

  • Can I evaluate the effects of symbolism and motif in Chapter 2?

  • Can I pay attention to and acknowledge others while thoughtfully considering their ideas during discussions?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Scribner, 1925

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Write – Discuss

We will closely examine the first three pages of chapter 2 and analyze how details and language contribute to the atmosphere and mood of this initial scene.

Review the literary concept of mood. The Mood Reference Guide may be helpful.

In Chapter 2, reexamine the descriptions on pages 23-25 of the valley of ashes and the billboard of T.J. Eckleberg. (Beginning with “About halfway between West Egg and New York” and ending with “When he saw us a damp gleam of hope sprung into his light blue eyes.”)

Consult a The Great Gatsbymap so you understand where the “valley of ashes” is situated in relation to East and West Egg and New York City.

With a partner, think about and discuss the following guiding questions:

  1. Which words and phrases stand out as powerful or important?

  2. What does the language cause you to see or feel?

  3. What images stand out and create vivid pictures or evoke strong feelings?

  4. How do the author’s word choices develop atmosphere, mood, or meaning?

Set up a Setting Note-Taking Tool for this passage from the book. Write down key details, images, and descriptions that you and your partner have noticed.

Compare the analysis you developed with your partner to what another pair has done.

Activity 2: Discuss

We will familiarize ourselves with the meaning of various literary devices and discuss their use in the novel.

Follow along as your teacher reviews or discusses important literary devices that are used in The Great Gatsby. Add these concepts, with definitions, to your Vocabulary Journal (consult the Narratives Reference Guide, Mood Reference Guide, and Symbolism and Motifs Reference Guide for information about these terms):

  • imagery

  • metaphor

  • simile

  • symbolism

  • motif

  • mood

As a class, discuss examples of images, metaphors, symbols, or motifs that you might have noted in Chapter 1.

Using your notes from the previous activity, share images from your examination of pages 23-25 that stand out to you as significant in developing the atmosphere and mood of this first descriptive passage of Chapter 2.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss

We will examine a mentor sentence from chapter 2 and analyze how its structure of use of literary devices contribute to the meaning of the novel.

Step 1

Study this mentor sentence from the first paragraph of Chapter 2 on page 23:

This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.

Perform the following tasks independently:

  1. Annotate the sentence, focusing on words and images that contribute to the mood of despair it presents.

  2. Identify an example of a metaphor used by Fitzgerald in this description. Explain its effect on the meaning of the scene.

  3. Identify an example of a simile used by Fitzgerald in this description. Explain its effect on the meaning of the scene.

  4. Explain the final image and phrase: “men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.”

Step 2

With a partner, respond to the following questions:

  1. What symbolism might be attached to this descriptive passage and its series of images?

  2. What might this setting represent?

  3. How do this setting and scene offer a contrast, or counterpoint, to the settings and scenes of East and West Egg described in Chapter 1?

Activity 4: Read – Discuss

We will examine the use of imagery and symbolism in a paragraph from chapter 2.

Read the second paragraph of Chapter 2, which presents the dominant overarching image of “the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleberg.” As a class, discuss the following questions:

  1. What strikes you about this odd image that hovers over the valley of ashes?

  2. How might these floating eyes take on meaning or be symbolic as the story progresses?

Brainstorm a list of possible symbolic meanings for this image and write down the list in your Learning Log so you can check out your hypotheses as the novel progresses.

Discuss how the valley of ashes and Doctor T. J. Eckleburg’s eyes may be setting up motifs that might run through the rest of the novel.

Activity 5: Read

For homework, we will finish rereading chapter 2 of the novel, examining the new characters who are introduced and the scene at tom’s and Myrtle’s apartment.

For homework, reread and annotate the remaining pages of Chapter 2. Set up Character Note-Taking Tools for Myrtle and George Wilson and write down key details from Chapter 2.

Closely reexamine the scene that occurs at Tom’s and Myrtle’s apartment, beginning on page 29, with “The apartment was on the top floor,” and ending on page 37, with “Making a short, deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand.”

Complete an Analyzing Relationships Tool in response to the following question from Question Set 2.1:

  1. In what ways does Myrtle seem to be a contrasting character to Daisy? What details about the two seem to be in almost direct opposition?

Write new or interesting words you encounter in your Vocabulary Journal.