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Lesson 5

We will extend our understanding by reading and discussing another critical interpretation of the novel, Thomas Boyle’s essay “Unreliable Narration in The Great Gatsby.” We will make connections between the ideas presented in this essay and our previous knowledge of the novel.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I express an accurate understanding of the central ideas of the essay?

  • Can I evaluate the relevance and credibility of information, ideas, evidence, and reasoning presented in the critical analysis?

  • Can I identify the claims, reasoning, and evidence used to develop arguments and explanations in a literary analysis?

  • Can I recognize points of connection among the novel and the critical analysis to make logical, objective comparisons?

Texts

Core

  • Unit Reader
    • “Counterpoint as Technique in The Great Gatsby,” James M. Mellard, National Council of Teachers of English, 1966
    • Excerpt from “Unreliable Narration in The Great Gatsby,” Thomas E. Boyle, Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, 1969

Materials

Tools

Reference Guides

Question Sets

Editable Google Docs

Activity 1: Read – Discuss

We will analyze an excerpt from another critical essay focused on Nick as a narrator, “Unreliable Narration In The Great Gatsby” by Thomas Boyle. We will study claims made by the author in that essay, compare his analysis of Nick to that of Donaldson, and explore how Boyle uses evidence from the novel to support his claims.

Step 1

With a partner, review your responses to the homework questions for the first two paragraphs of Boyle’s essay.

  1. What seems to be the author’s tone and perspective in regards to literary criticism? What word choice does the author use to create this tone?

  2. What does the author argue about how the “understanding” of a novel is achieved?

  3. In reference to another literary critic, Wayne Booth, what does the author summarize as an important idea about “distance” between narrator and reader?

  4. Boyle takes issue with Booth’s analysis of Nick. What does he see as wrong with it? Cite textual evidence to support your interpretation.

Step 2

Read on through the excerpt, looking for what Boyle presents as his “startling” and “provocative” hypothesis. As you read, consider and discuss the following questions with your reading partner:

  1. What does the author contend has happened to readers of the novel?

  2. As Boyle analyzes Nick as a character in the ensuing paragraphs, what claims does he make? Identify statements you see as claims about Nick.

  3. For one claim, what evidence does the author cite from the text to explain and support his analysis?

As a class, discuss the claims you have found and the evidence cited by the author. Then discuss the following question with your reading partner:

  1. How does Boyle’s analysis of Nick as a character and narrator compare to Donaldson’s? Cite evidence from the text to support your answer.

Step 3

In your reading pairs, read the rest of the excerpt, considering how Boyle presents “two mutually exclusive interpretations” of “the novel as a criticism of the American Dream” and considering the following questions:

  1. What interpretation does Boyle present “if we see Carraway as mature and informed”?

  2. What interpretation does Boyle present “if we recognize the narrator’s unreliability”?

  3. Based on the rest of Boyle’s argument, which of these interpretations do you think he favors? Why?

  4. Which interpretation of “the novel as a criticism of the American Dream” is closest to your own? Why?

Discuss your responses with the class.

Activity 2: Read – Discuss – Write

We will closely examine the structure of two mentor sentences from the essay.

Note where Boyle quotes another critic’s analysis of Gatsby’s “unending quest of the American dream,” excerpted below:

"[Gatsby] represents the unending quest of the American dream—forever betrayed in fact, yet redeemed in men's minds. Gatsby is great because his dream—however naive, gaudy, and unobtainable—is one of the grand illusions of man."

Discuss this quotation as an example of how one literary critic makes reference to the ideas of another. In this case, determine if you think Boyle agrees or disagrees with this “critic who identifies with Carraway.” Why or why not?

In your Learning Log, paraphrase what you think this other critic’s analysis of Gatsby means. Look at the structure of the two sentences. Try to follow the pattern of these analytical statements as you make your own claim about Gatsby or about Nick as a character.

Now write a second claim, in which you quote and comment on an idea from Boyle’s essay.

Activity 3: Discuss

We will discuss Boyle’s analysis of the closing lines of The Great Gatsby in relation to our previous discussion of the meaning of the final lines and images and the overall Central Question.

At the end of his essay, Boyle takes a look at the final sentence of the novel, which you earlier studied in relation to the novel’s thematic commentary on dreams and illusions. With your reading partner, discuss the following questions:

  1. How is Boyle interpreting the final lines of the novel?

  2. What is unusual or ironic about the author’s interpretation of Nick’s final comment that ends the narrative?

  3. How is Boyle’s perspective similar or different to how you previously interpreted this comment?

As a class, discuss what Boyle’s literary analysis seems to add up to. Reconsider his analysis in light of the unit’s Central Questionand the two questions that follow:

Central Question: How do perceptions, illusions, and dreams influence our lives?

  1. How is Boyle viewing Nick as both a character and unreliable narrator?

  2. What seems to be Boyle’s view of the novel’s commentary on perceptions, illusions, dreams, and the American Dream?

Activity 4: Read – Write – Discuss

We will interact with the words from the text to cement our understanding of their meaning.

Work with a partner or group to respond to the vocabulary exercises, as directed by your teacher.

Activity 5: Read

For homework, we will do a first reading of another critical essay about the novel’s use of counterpoint.

For homework, read the critical essay by James Mellard titled “Counterpoint as Technique in The Great Gatsby.” Identify and annotate what you see as the essay’s central claim or claims and analytical position, as expressed in its early paragraphs, and its final conclusions about the novel’s representation of the American Dream.

Be sure to write down new or interesting words in your Vocabulary Journal. Use your Mentor Sentence Journal to identify sentences that stand out to you as interesting or that represent a strong example of a particular concept you have learned.