Lesson Plan

The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I. Objectives/NCTE Learning Standards:

Students will be able to understand and interpret F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby by researching and writing about the context for which it takes place in (the 1920s) and applying that knowledge to the characters within the text. Students will demonstrate their understanding by completing character analyses and by applying themes to today's society.

1. Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.


2. Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.


3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).


4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.


5. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.


6. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.


7. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.


8. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

II. Before Reading Activities:

Prior to reading, students should be familiar with the 1920s. It's important for students to understand the beliefs, values, and customs within that time period to understand the context for Fitzgerald's story. Essentially, Fitzgerald's novel magnifies moral flaws within society during the 1920s. As a result, background on life in the 1920s is fundamental to understanding the book. The teacher should consider having students research topics that can be related to the novel, such as prohibition, speakeasies, flappers, jazz, the stock market crash of 1929, Ford, Al Capone, etc. The teacher may also choose to provide more general topics of discussion and/or research, such as economics, transportation, communications, education, technology, recreation, government/politics, literature, music, and daily life. Ultimately, students need to understand the context for the novel: the 1920s was a time of excess spending, loose morality, and organized crime (bootlegging); people were more interested in fun and frolic because the economy was soaring. The 1920s contrasts measurably with the decade that follows after the stock market crash of 1929. In addition to 1920s background, the teacher should have students journal about the idea of the American Dream. What is the American Dream today and what does it represent?

III. During Reading Activities:

Throughout reading the novel, the teacher should ask students to examine certain themes within the context of the novel, including the ideas discussed prior to reading the novel, such as:

• excess spending, loose morality, and organized crime.


• How do they drive the characters' actions?


• Which character represents moral consciousness?


• How do other characters' obsession with money and status influence the novel?


• Students should also return to the idea of the American Dream. How does the novel signify the death of the American Dream?


• Students should recognize that the obsession with wealth, status, and self ultimately destroy Gatsby both literally and figuratively, as this loose morality and lack of moral consciousness destroys his dream and takes his life.


• Students should actively read the novel by marking immoral behavior, such as lies and deceit, either on post-it-notes or directly in the novel immoral.

IV. After Reading Activities:

After students finish reading the book, the teacher might consider a number of options, including having the students complete character analyses for the major characters and include an illustration, physical description, and personality traits with quotations to support their listed traits. To apply the themes within the novel to today, the teacher might also have students create posters using images from magazines to symbolize the immoral behavior within the novel and the death of the American Dream.

V. Assessment:

The character analyses or the magazine project can be used for formal assessment, while discussion questions, discussion, reading quizzes, journals, and active reading (i.e. marking lies, deceit, character descriptions, etc. within the text) for informal assessment.