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Lesson 1

We will discuss and analyze Chapter 8, considering how the events of the novel come together. We will also listen to a podcast about the “harsh new reality” of the modern American Dream and make connections to Gatsby’s American Dream.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I evaluate the effects of literary devices and rhetoric in Chapter 8 of The Great Gatsby?

  • Can I recognize points of connection between the novel and a podcast about the American Dream to make logical, objective comparisons?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Scribner, 1925
  • Digital Access
    • “American Dream Faces Harsh New Reality,” Ari Shapiro, National Public Radio, May 29, 2012

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will briefly discuss our reactions to the scenes and events depicted in chapter 8 as well as how those scenes begin to resolve the narrative.

With a partner, briefly discuss your reactions to the scenes and events depicted in Chapter 8, considering the following questions:

  1. What surprised you as you read Chapter 8 of the novel? How did the scenes and events compare to what you expected might happen?

  2. What did you learn about Gatsby and his demise? How would you summarize what Gatsby’s dream was, and what happens to that dream as the story comes to an end?

Activity 2: Read – Discuss

We will closely examine a set of descriptions of gatsby presented by Nick in chapter 8, and form a claim about the relationship between gatsby’s dream and his demise.

Step 1

As a class, briefly review the elements of narrative structure. You might consult the Narratives Reference Guide, focusing on how stories often build to a climax through scenes and events that are labeled rising action and then move to a resolution (or denouement) of the story and its themes. Discuss how this pattern plays out in Chapters 7 and 8 of The Great Gatsby.

In a group of five to six students, review the Descriptions of Gatsby Handout that lists a set of key descriptions that Nick presents at the end of Chapter 7 and in Chapter 8. As a group, discuss what the descriptions, overall, add up to.

  1. Overall, what do Nick’s descriptions seem to say about Gatsby, his dreams, and his illusions?

Step 2

Individually, select one of the descriptions and examine it closely, considering the following:

  1. Find the description in the text. When does it occur in the chapter and in the novel’s resolution?

  2. Identify key words in the description that you might want to further define in order to understand what Nick is saying. How do those words reflect Nick’s perspective and perceptions of Gatsby?

  3. Read the paragraphs that surround the description. What is the context in which Nick presents this description of Gatsby? How does the context help you decipher key words?

  4. Paraphrase Nick’s description. What does Nick seem to be suggesting or saying about Gatsby?

  5. Form a claim about Gatsby and his dreams and illusions as perceived by Nick in the description you have examined. What has happened to the dreams Gatsby has pursued for much of his life?

Step 3

In your discussion group, read and compare with your peers the claims you have developed. Return to the first question: Overall, what do Nick’s descriptions seem to say about Gatsby, his dreams, and his illusions?

Update your Character Note-Taking Tool for Gatsby, recording what you have learned from your examination of a key description from Chapter 8 and the analyses of other students.

As a class, discuss how the novel has resolved Gatsby’s story. Consider what the descriptions of him and his demise in Chapter 8 might suggest as a commentary on dreams and illusions (as perceived by Nick—and perhaps Fitzgerald).

Activity 3: Read – Write – Discuss

We will examine the events that end chapter 8 and the reactions and actions of Wilson following Myrtle’s death. We will consider how Wilson and his story present a counterpoint to gatsby.

Reread or review pages 156-162 of The Great Gatsby in class (beginning with “When I passed” and continuing to the end of the chapter). Discuss what you think has happened to George Wilson in the aftermath of Myrtle’s death.

Carefully read the paragraphs starting from “Wilson’s glazed eyes turned out to the ashheaps” Individually, use the Analyzing Relationships Tool to identify and analyze key details in response to the following question:

  1. How has Fitzgerald continued to develop symbolism through the image of Eckleberg’s eyes?

As a class, compare how you have explained the effects and analyzed the meaning of the symbolism you noticed in this passage. With this passage in mind, return to your discussion of what has happened to Wilson and why his deterioration is important in the narrative.

Activity 4: Listen – Discuss

We will listen to a short podcast about the “Harsh New Reality” of the modern American dream and make connections to the novel.

Go to NPR’s website and locate the 2012 podcast titled “American Dream Faces Harsh New Reality”and presented by Ari Shapiro. Listen to the podcast and follow along with the transcript text on the site. With a partner, discuss the presenter’s ideas and the following questions:

  1. What do you think Shapiro is saying about the history and current state of the American Dream?

  2. Based on your view of contemporary America, do you agree or disagree with the analysis presented in the podcast? Is the new reality of the dream “harsh”?

  3. Do you think that things have changed since this was published in 2012? If so, how?

  4. Shapiro references The Great Gatsby and its early representation of a form of the American Dream—six years before James Adam coined the term. What other connections between the ideas of the podcast and the themes of the novel do you see?

  5. What do you think the novel says about the American Dream through its depiction of Gatsby and his dreams?

Use a Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool, consider and respond to the final question above with your partner. Join another pair and compare the claims and evidence you have identified.

Activity 5: Write – Read

For homework, we will write a claim-based paragraph about gatsby and read chapter 9 to finish the novel.

For homework, write a short expository paragraph for the claim you formed in Activity 2, using at least one quotation from the passage surrounding the description you chose.

Also, read Chapter 9 and respond to the following questions in your Learning Log:

  1. How does Nick begin to feel toward the people in Gatsby’s life?

  2. How is Mr. Gatz presented and described as a character? What new information does Nick (and do you) learn about Gatsby from his father?

  3. What do you find to be ironic in the final resolution of the novel?

  4. What do you find to be tragic in the final resolution of the novel?

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