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Lesson 2

We will discuss Chapter 9 and its final resolution of Gatsby’s story. We will discuss the concepts of irony, tragedy, and theme in relation to how the story ends. We will read and analyze two passages that present the story’s ending and determine what theme the novel might be addressing about human dreams and illusions.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I evaluate the effects of literary devices and elements in The Great Gatsby?

Texts

Core

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

Optional

  • Unit Reader
    • “Celestial Eyes: From Metamorphosis to Masterpiece,” Charles Scribner III, Princeton University Library, 1992
    • “Faults,” Sara Teasdale, Public Domain, 1907

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Discuss

We will discuss chapter 9 and the final resolution of gatsby’s story in relation to the literary concept of irony.

Step 1

As a class, review and discuss the literary concept of irony.

With a partner, review your answers to the homework questions from the previous lesson and your recent entries in your Vocabulary Journal.

Step 2

With your partner review pages 169-175, beginning with “The morning of the funeral” and ending before the paragraph “One of my most vivid memories.” Discuss the following questions:

  1. What do you find to be ironic about the events in the aftermath of Gatsby’s death?

  2. What do you find to be ironic or interesting about the daily schedule and the list of “general resolves” that Gatsby’s father shows Nick?

  3. What do you find to be ironic about the owl-eyed man’s appearance at the funeral? What might be the significance or even symbolism of his appearance?

Share your responses with the class.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss – Write

We will read Nick’s observations in the final four paragraphs that end the story, and we will make connections to his observations in the fourth paragraph of the story’s beginning. We will use our comparative examination to determine a central theme of the novel.

Step 1

As a class, return to the literary concept of theme. Read closely and discuss what literary critics Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren say about “What Theme Reveals” in The Scope of Fiction:

The theme is what is made of the topic [of a story]. It is the comment on the topic that is implied in the process of the story.... The theme is what a piece of fiction stacks up to. It is the idea, the significance, the interpretation of persons and events, the pervasive and unifying view of life which is embodied in the total narrative. (1960, pp. 228-229)

Share your ideas about the “comment on the topic” of dreams and illusions that you see as “embodied in the total narrative” of The Great Gatsby. Then share your ideas about comments on other topics and human experiences embodied in The Great Gatsby.

Step 2

Turn to page 2 of The Great Gatsby, to the fourth paragraph of Nick’s monologue that begins the story (beginning with “When I came back from the East last autumn”). Reread this paragraph and think about where it fits in the narrative’s timeline and how it relates to the resolution of the story. With a partner, discuss the following questions:

  1. What do Nick’s words suggest about how the story that he tells has affected him and his view of the world?

  2. In praising Gatsby, how does Nick characterize his “heightened sensitivity to the promises of life”?

  3. In contrast, how does Nick characterize “what preyed on Gatsby”?

  4. In rereading this passage from the novel, what connections do you make to the novel’s final events and closing words? Cite specific evidence from the novel to support your conclusion.

Share your responses to Question 4 with the class.

Step 3

As a class, reread the last four paragraphs of the novel on page 180, beginning with “Then I wandered down to the beach and sprawled out on the sand.” As you read, annotate key descriptive details and write them down on a Setting Note-Taking Tool. Pause at the end of each paragraph to consider and discuss what you have just read closely.

Discuss the historical references in the first paragraph of this passage that are introduced when Nick says:

I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes—a fresh, green breast of the new world. (p. 180)

  1. What is Nick referring to when he mentions Dutch sailors’ eyes? Why might Nick make this reference as the story comes to an end? What connections to Gatsby’s story might Fitzgerald be trying to suggest?

Reread the second paragraph in which Nick makes connections between the “old, unknown world” and “Gatsby’s wonder” and discuss these questions as a class.

  1. As Nick ponders Gatsby’s initial “wonder” and then the “dream” that “was already behind him,” what final commentary about Gatsby does he make?

  2. How might his observations about the Dutch sailors and Gatsby be connected? How has Fitzgerald used the color green to emphasize a connection?

Reread the final two paragraphs, noting how Nick moves from what Gatsby “believed” to what happens to “us” and discuss these questions as a class.

  1. Why might Nick and Fitzgerald shift from third person (Gatsby) to first person (us, we)?

  2. How would you paraphrase what Nick is saying in the final sentences of the novel?

Step 4

Independently, use an Extending Understanding Tool to make connections among the final four paragraphs of the novel and the “last words” on page 2. Consider the following question as you relate the two passages, analyze their relationships, and synthesize your discoveries into a claim about a theme in the novel:

  1. How do the connections between Nick’s final reference to “boats against the current” and his earlier reference to “the wake of his [Gatsby’s] dreams” suggest symbolism and themes in the novel? What “comment on the topic” of dreams and illusions does Fitzgerald seem to be suggesting?

Activity 3: Discuss

We will discuss chapter 9 and the final resolution of gatsby’s story in relation to the literary concept of Tragedy, then debate the question “Is Gatsby’s Story A Tragedy? Why Or Why Not?”

As a class, review the literary concept of tragedy. Using your understanding of this concept and your reading and interpretation of The Great Gatsby, consider the following question:

  1. Is Gatsby’s story a tragedy? Why or why not?

After you determine your response to this question, move to an area of the room based on whether you think Gatsby’s story is or is not a tragedy. With a partner who has a similar response to yours, discuss your reasons for answering “yes,” “no,” or “I’m not sure.”

Then discuss this question as a class, with students from each area of the room first explaining, in general, why they have answered the question as they have.

Move from discussion to civil debate, in which you question each others’ positions and present evidence from the text that supports your own.

Reflect on the differences of opinion in the class, and what that says about the ambiguity of the novel. Also, reflect on what you have observed and learned as you have engaged in an informal debate of a question about the novel.

Activity 4: Read – Discuss

We will read the poem “Faults” by Sara Teasdale.

Read the poem “Faults” by Sara Teasdale. In your Learning Log, respond to the following questions:

  1. How do the poet’s language choices indicate her perspective?

  2. What is ironic about the poem?

  3. Does the poem remind you of any of The Great Gatsby’scharacters’ relationships? If so, how?

Discuss your responses in a small group.

Activity 5: Read

For homework, we will read a text that tells the story of how the original Cover Art for The Great Gatsby was developed.

Read and annotate the article “Celestial Eyes: From Metamorphosis to Masterpiece,” written by the original publisher of the novel. Pay attention to the perspective of the author.