Lesson 7

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

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

• • “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
  • “Jay Gatsby: A Dreamer Doomed to Be Excluded. The Novelist Jesmyn Ward Explains.,” Jesmyn Ward, The New York Times Company, 2018
  • “The Trouble with Nick: Reading Gatsby Closely,” excerpt from Fitzgerald and Hemingway: Works and Days, Scott Donaldson, Columbia University Press, 2009

Materials

Tools

• The Great Gatsby: Section 4 Diagnostic Checklist

• Discussion Tool

• Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool

Reference Guides

• Academic Discussion Reference Guide

Question Sets

• The Great Gatsby: Question Set 4.7

Editable Google Docs

• The Great Gatsby: Section 4 Diagnostic Checklist

• Discussion Tool

• Forming Evidence-Based Claims Tool

• The Great Gatsby: Question Set 4.7

Activity 1: Read – Discuss

We will review the four literary analyses we have previously studied, noting what the focus, perspective, and position of each seems to be.

As a class, review the four literary analyses you have studied:

• Jesmyn Ward, "Jay Gatsby: A Dreamer Doomed to Be Excluded. The Novelist Jesmyn Ward Explains"

• Scott Donaldson, “The Trouble with Nick: Reading Gatsby Closely”

• Thomas Boyle, “Unreliable Narration in The Great Gatsby”

• James Mellard, “Counterpoint as Technique in The Great Gatsby”

Use the following questions to compare the four essays in a discussion with the whole class:

1. Which central character—Gatsby or Nick—seems to be the primary focus of each author’s analysis of the novel? What evidence from the text supports your conclusion?

2. What seems to be each author’s perspective and position about the central character he or she focuses upon? What evidence from the text supports your conclusion?

3. With which author’s analysis do you most agree? Why? Cite text from the novel and appropriate literary analysis to support your answer.

Activity 2: Discuss

We will consider an interesting question about the novel: whose story is it? gatsby’s or Nick’s? each of us will take a position in response to this question and form a claim that presents that position.

Consider the following question regarding your reading of The Great Gatsby:

1. Whose story is it? Gatsby’s or Nick’s?

Individually, think about your reading of the novel and about the literary analyses you have just read and discussed. For the sake of argument, decide whether you think Gatsby or Nick is the most central and important character in the novel, considering how they each convey the themes of the novel—particularly its commentary on dreams, illusions, and the American Dream. Make a list of reasons for your choice of the central character.

Based on your thinking, move to one side of the classroom, depending on whether you see the novel as Gatsby’s story or Nick’s. Pair up with another student to discuss and compare your thinking.

Individually, form a claim that presents your position about which character is most central to the novel and why.

Now pair up with a student from the other side of the room—one who has taken a position opposed to yours. Read and compare your claims. Probe your partner’s position by asking questions about it. Present evidence that supports your own position.

Activity 3: Discuss

We will preview the Discussion Tool and practice participating in a civil academic debate based on the positions we have taken about whose story is at the Center of the novel.

As a class, review the Discussion Tool, a tool you can use to set up a claim you will make in a discussion and then to write down notes during and after the discussion. At the top of the guide, write your current claim about whose story (Gatsby’s or Nick’s) you believe is at the center of the novel and its themes.

Sitting on the side of the room that matches your focal character, follow along as your teacher facilitates an initial discussion of the various positions in the room, then probes students to explain and support their positions, and finally opens up debate on the issue between the two sides of the room.

Practice the norms and skills associated with civil academic debate—in which two sides respectfully compare their positions and present evidence for them as well as counterarguments to the other side’s positions.

Activity 4: Read

We will preview the section 4 diagnostic and question sets to understand what we will need to do to prepare for participation in a fishbowl discussion and debate.

Step 1

As a class, review the Section 4 Diagnostic Checklist.

Step 2

Before discussion, decide whose story is most central to The Great Gatsby (Nick’s or Gatsby’s). While focusing on one of the following question sets, determine what the significance of that character’s story is in developing the narrative and themes of the novel.

Question Set A - Position: Gatsby is the central character of the novel.

1. Why is the novel primarily Gatsby’s story?

2. Which other character or characters serve as a “counterpoint” to Gatsby?

3. Is Gatsby a character to be admired or pitied? Why?

4. What does Gatsby’s story suggest about dreams, illusions, and the American Dream?

Question Set B - Position: Nick is the central character of the novel.

1. Why is the novel primarily Nick’s story?

2. How do Nick’s perceptions affect our view of the characters and events in the novel?

3. Is Nick a reliable narrator? Why or why not?

4. What does Nick’s story suggest about dreams, illusions, and the American Dream?

Activity 5: Write

For homework, we will begin to prepare for the Section Diagnostic by determining a character to focus upon, thinking about that character’s question set, and beginning to form a claim in response.

For homework, prepare for the Section Diagnostic by determining a character to focus on, thinking about that character’s question set, and beginning to form a claim in response.