Lesson 3

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

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

Materials

Tools

• Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool

• The Great Gatsby: Setting Note-Taking Tool

Reference Guides

• Academic Discussion Reference Guide

Question Sets

• The Great Gatsby: Question Set 3.3

Editable Google Docs

• Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool

• The Great Gatsby: Question Set 3.3

• The Great Gatsby: Setting Note-Taking Tool

Activity 1: Write – Discuss

We will do a quick-write to think about key moments in chapters 6–7.

Respond to the following questions in your Learning Log.

1. How does Daisy perceive and respond to Gatsby’s party? Why does Gatsby worry about how she has perceived the party?

2. What do you think of Gatsby’s expectations for Daisy to tell Tom, “I never loved you”?

Discuss your answers with your classmates.

Activity 2: Read – Write – Discuss

We will closely analyze the final paragraphs of chapter 6, using questions from the scene analysis section of Question Set 3.3, identifying key themes, and discussing how those themes are conveyed. We will form and compare claims about the thematic meaning of this final scene of chapter 6.

In your reading teams, review the final scene from Chapter 6, beginning on page 109 with “He wanted nothing less of Daisy” and ending on page 111 with “what I had almost remembered was uncommunicable forever.”

Discuss this two-part scene, in which Gatsby says to Nick, “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” and Nick recounts a key moment from the past that Gatsby has told him about. Use these questions from the Scene Analysis section of Question Set 3.3 to guide your discussion:

1. Examine the narrative point of view: How is the scene presented, and how do its narrator’s perceptions and descriptions influence your reading?

2. Evaluate effects: How do description, imagery, symbolism, or dialogue contribute to the mood, atmosphere, and meaning of the scene?

3. Interpret meaning: What theme or themes of the novel does the scene develop? What do you think Fitzgerald is suggesting?

As a team, determine a theme that you think is being conveyed and developed through this scene; connect that theme to the dialogue, description, and imagery of the scene. Form a claim about how the theme is developed through this scene.

Compare your claim with those formed by other reading teams, citing the evidence that has led to your claim.

Activity 3: Read

We will work in expert groups to analyze another key scene from chapter 5, 6, or 7 in a jigsaw, using the scene analysis section of Question Set 3.3 to prepare for a comparative jigsaw discussion in the next lesson.

Step 1

Select (or be assigned by your teacher to) one of the following key scenes from Chapters 5-7, which you will read closely and analyze so each member of your expert group becomes an expert who can share your analysis with their home groups in the next lesson.

Chapter 5-7 Scenes to Analyze:

• Chapter 5: Later in the evening when Daisy visits Gatsby’s house; Klipspringer reluctantly plays the piano at Gatsby’s request; Nick leaves “them there together.” (pp. 92-96)

• Chapter 6: Tom and Daisy attend a party at Gatsby’s house; Tom demands, “Who is this Gatsby anyhow?” (pp. 104-109)

• Chapter 7: Nick and Gatsby visit Tom and Daisy; Tom realizes that Daisy “had told [Gatsby] that she loved him.” (pp. 113-119)

• Chapter 7: They all drive to the city in a confused caravan of cars; Tom stops at Wilson’s garage and Myrtle responds with “jealous terror.” (pp. 119-125)

• Chapter 7: Tom and Gatsby confront each other at the Plaza Hotel; Nick suddenly remembers that it is his birthday and that “I was thirty.” (pp. 125-135)

Step 2

Use the Scene Analysis section of Question Set 3.3 to guide your rereading, analysis, and discussion of your scene, noting key details on a Setting Note-Taking Tool.

Scene Analysis Questions:

1. Summarize the scene: Where and when does the scene occur, whom does it involve, and what happens?

2. Examine the narrative point of view: How is the scene presented, and how do its narrator’s perceptions and descriptions influence your reading?

3. Analyze character relationships: What do we learn about the characters and their perceptions, interactions, and conflicts?

4. Evaluate effects: How do description, imagery, symbolism, or dialogue contribute to the mood, atmosphere, and meaning of the scene?

5. Make comparisons and connections: How does the scene present a contrast, or counterpoint, to other scenes in the novel? How is it connected to other scenes in developing the story?

6. Interpret meaning: What theme or themes of the novel does the scene develop? What do you think Fitzgerald is suggesting?

Identify a compelling sentence, paragraph, or passage that you want to read to other students as an illustration of an important moment, narrative detail, or description in your scene. Be sure that each member of your expert group is prepared to share what you have discovered about your scene in response to the questions and can reference key details of the scene. You will each lead a segment of a jigsaw discussion that will take place in the next lesson.

Activity 4: Write

We will review our notes about the scenes we have analyzed in our expert groups and form a claim about a scene and its importance in the novel.

Review what your expert group has learned about the scene you have analyzed together, making sure you can present ideas in response to the six questions from the Scene Analysis section of Question Set 3.3. Practice reading aloud the key passage your group identified from your scene.

On your own, form a claim about something important you have noticed in your scene and why it is significant to the novel as a whole. Complete this task for homework, if needed. Be prepared to share your claim in the next lesson.