gatsby essay prompts

Here's what we came up with in class today:

·      The last line of the book is arguably the most important: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne ceaselessly into the past.”  How does this line embody the thematic conflict that defines The Great Gatsby?

·      Is Gatsby’s desire for success—however we define it—evidence of the American dream, obsession, a personal sense of honor, or something else? Does Gatsby symbolize our culture and even our own desires, or is he an outlier?

·      How does Fitzgerald’s characterization create a tone around the theme of happiness?  What is Fitzgerald’s attitude toward happiness?  Does it depend on love, on external markers such as wealth, on repairing or atoning for the past, or on something that is unattainable?

·      The notion of the American dream figures prominently in this story.  How do readers define the American dream?  Moreover, is pursuing the American dream necessarily a good thing?

february 28

JOURNAL TOPIC:

February is over.  In the blink of an eye, March will be over too.  What can we do to enjoy the experience of time, instead of just observe how fast it passes?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Test debrief and essay prep

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february 27

JOURNAL TOPIC:
This may seem like a no-brainer, but common sense is that sense which we hold in common, which requires us to articulately describe and explain even those things we assume others understand.

So:

Why do we prefer hearing "yes" rather than "no"?


AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Gatsby test Chapters 7-9

for those times when you wish you had the answers before the test

 Now you can.  All you have to do is look them up today.  (Because you will take this very test in class tomorrow.)  

 

* Please Note: I cut/pasted this from a formatted document and I just noticed many of the words are incorrectly divided by lines-- no time to fix today, so please read carefully.

 

The Great Gatsby

  Test  Chapters 7-9

1.

During lunch at the Buchanan’s, (with Daisy, Tom, Jordan, Nick, and

Gatsby), Daisy remarks, “You always look so cool.” What is the

significance of this remark?

A.

Gatsby for the first time realizes the

importance of Daisy’s little girl.

B.

Daisy is commenting on Jordan’s app

earance, who sits “like a silver

idol” on the couch.

C.

Daisy is remarking on Nick’s abilit

y to stay both “within and without”

the plot.

D.

After Daisy says this to Gatsby, To

m realizes that Daisy is involved

with Gatsby.

2.

“...that was the inexhaustible charm th

at rose and fell in it, the jingle

of it, the cymbals’ song of it.”

Which of the following is a true

statement about this passage?

A.

Nick’s realization comes from Gats

by’s comment that Daisy’s voice is

full of money.

B.

It elevates Daisy, as part of Ga

tsby’s dream, above the “vast, vulgar

and meretricious beauty” by which F

itzgerald characterizes the ‘20s.

C.

It contains a paradox.

D.

Both A and C

3.

Nick narrates, as he and Tom get ga

soline, “I stared at him and at

Tom, who had made a parallel discovery less than an hour before—

 

february 24

JOURNAL TOPIC:

The last line of The Great Gatsby: "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

How does this sum up what the book is all about?

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Socratic seminar

Suggested topics:

Death
Time
Self-determination
Love
Success