Lesson 6

Lesson Goals

Texts

Core

• • “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

Question Sets

• The Great Gatsby: Question Set 5.6

Editable Google Docs

• The Great Gatsby: Question Set 5.6

Activity 1: Read – Discuss

We will discuss the importance of an effective introduction or “Opener” for a literary analysis essay and review what Mellard and other critics have done to start their essays.

Step 1

Discuss as a class why having an effective introduction for your Culminating Task literary analysis is important, then consider how the literary critics you have read have approached the task of opening their essays in an interesting or effective way.

Reread the first paragraph (and particularly the first two sentences) of James Mellard’s essay “Counterpoint as Technique in The Great Gatsby.” Mellard follows a traditional model of establishing his position and central claims immediately. He also, however, begins by countering other critical arguments. Think about the following questions as you note how he does so:

1. What “technical devices” does Mellard suggest are notthe most important elements of The Great Gatsby, “despite the critical arguments to the contrary”?

2. What is the “major technical device” that Mellard identifies as most significant?

3. How does Mellard explain what he means by “counterpoint”?

4. What does Mellard introduce as ideas about:

   1. Nick’s moral changes?

   2. What kind of “story” The Great Gatsby is?

   3. The “ambiguous” comment made by Fitzgerald about “the pursuit of the American Dream”?

Skim the rest of the essay, noting how Mellard develops all of these main ideas that he has introduced in his first paragraph.

Step 2

Also note how the other three writers have taken a more conversational and personal approach to the opening of their essays:

1. How does Jesmyn Ward use her first experiences in reading The Great Gatsby as a way to begin her introduction to the Scribner edition of The Great Gatsby? How does she develop this personal narrative throughout the essay?

2. What abrupt, personal judgment does Scott Donaldson use to create a provocative opener for his essay, “The Trouble with Nick: Reading Gatsby Closely”? How does he explain, support, and develop his evaluative claim throughout his essay?

3. What “apology” and self-effacement does Thomas Boyle use in his essay about unreliable narration to introduce his analysis of Nick’s narration?

Activity 2: Write

We will conduct a self-review of our own introductions and determine how we might develop or improve them.

Consider how far along the draft of your essay is in terms of having an effective opening paragraph, thinking about the following questions:

1. If you have already drafted an opening paragraph to present your position, how might it be improved?

2. If you have not yet written an introduction to your essay, how might you use ideas and models from Mellard (or any of the other three writers) to introduce your essay?

3. Might you begin by countering one of the four writers’ essay’s central claims, as a way of introducing your own position?

4. What other approach might you use?

   1. A striking quotation from the novel?

   2. A definition and discussion of an important literary element (such as point of view) or device (such as symbolism) that will be central to your analysis?

   3. An opening analysis of a character and that character’s development and importance in the novel?

   4. Other ideas?

Begin drafting or revising your introduction. You should finish this task for homework.

Activity 3: Read – Discuss

We will consider how to conclude our literary analysis essays and to finish writing and revising them.

Discuss as a class why having an effective conclusion for your literary analysis is important, then consider how the literary critics you have read have approached the task of closing their essays in interesting or effective ways.

Reread the final paragraphs of the essays by Ward, Donaldson, and Mellard, noting what each writer has done to close their essays while considering the following questions:

1. How does each writer make a closing commentary and claim about the lasting legacy of The Great Gatsbyas a seminal American novel?

2. What are the connections and differences among the closing statements they make?

Think about your own final sense of what the novel means and how it is or is not an important American literary work. Consider the following questions:

3. How might you frame a final commentary about the book in relation to your position, analysis, and response to the unit’s Central Question?

4. Alternatively, how might you “complete the circle” and return to or reference your opening discussion, as Boyle does in his essay?

5. How might you bring your central position clearly into a final focus?

Consider your closing paragraph and the conclusions it presents. Draft or revise it based on what you have learned from the four literary critics or other sources.

You should finish this task for homework.

Activity 4: Write

For homework, we will finish drafting our introductions and conclusions.

For homework, finish drafting your introduction and concluding paragraph.