What makes someone great?

Ordering activity

The Great Gatsby

IGCSE literature

Here are 4 covers that have been used for the Great Gatsby. What do you think the book will be about? Who will be the main characters? What kind of background will they be from?

What is significant about this area of America? How might the people and attitudes of this area differ from others?

Research projects: In groups

1 Flappers2 F Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald 3 The Lost Generation 4 Prohibition and the Jazz Age in America 5 America in the 1920s 6 The American economy 1918-1926

Spend 20 minutes or so researching your topic. Make written notes which you will have to feedback to the rest of your group when we come back to class.

Was this technique a success? Did you feel it was a good way to work or have you missed things?

Flapper style

Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald

The Jazz Age

Was this a useful approach to group work? Was it more educational than hearing information from the front of the class?

As a period what is your impression of their culture?

Does it seem to have anything in common with the world that we live in

What does the concept 'old money' mean to you?

Who is ´old money´ in Peru?

Can you think of any examples of how there is a clash between 'old' and 'new' money in Peruvian society?

Write 3 things that you remember about the American Dream from our work last year.

Character profile: Nick Carraway

The narrator of The Great Gatsby will obviously be a key character in the novel. We see things through his eyes, therefore it is important for us to establish what kind of a character he is, what is his background and beliefs, can he be trusted? Your first piece of work will be to write a report on Nick. This will be based on the first chapter, so you will need to make notes as we go through.

Nick´s opening sectionRead the opening two pages of the book. The style is a little more difficult than what comes after it - use the dictionary if necesary to help you draw an impression of Nick.

Give 3 impressions of Nick and evidence for them.

Character profile: Is Nick a reliable narrator?

Use the quotes below to begin a character profile (using the questions below as headings) on a new page of A4.

·'My family have been prominent, well to do people in this Middle Western city for three generations.' ·'We have a tradition that we're descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch' ·'Everybody I knew was in the bond business' · 'I was rather literary in college..editorials for Yale News'·'My house ...was squeezed between two huge places that rented for between twelve or fifteen thousand a year'·'the history of the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there to have dinner with the '

What background is he from?What is important to him?/What does he want us to think? What are his likes and dislikes? In what terms does he assess things that he is seeing for the first time?

'That's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool'

What do you think the character might mean by this quote? Does it have any relevance for today's society?

Tom Daisy

Jordan

It was a body capable of enormous leverage - a cruel body.

With her chin raised a little, as she was balancing something on it which was quite likely to fall.

she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh

Looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see.

She was a slender, small-breasted girl, with an errect carriage that she accentuated by throwing her body back ...

Arrange the quotes under the correct characters

What do the quotes tell us about Nick? Add detail to your character profile referring to his meeting with the others.

Homework - complete your character profile of Nick, adding further evidence to what you have been provided by my quotes. For Thursday.

'That's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool'

Are you surprised that this line was side by a woman? What does it tell us about the society that they live in?

What is their society like?

Find 5 pieces of evidence from the end of chapter one, analyse them to show your conclusions about the type of society that these characters are living in.

This must be handed in with your character profile of Nick on Friday.

Ideas page 10 - see differences of East and West as described by Nick

Nick:"To a certain temperament the situation might have been intriguing - my own instinct was to telephone immeadiately for the police"

Tom of Jordan "They oughtn´t to let her run around the country this way"

"We heard it from three people, so it must be true"

Detailed analysis

One of each pair should look at the first paragraph of chapter two, and the other person should look at paragraph two.

Can you identify the mood that is established and how? (Use dictionaries for language you don´t understand). What do you predict will happen in the chapter afterwards?

What has been the setting so far?

How would you describe the atmosphere this has created?

Chapter 2 - Paragraph 1

ABOUT half way between West Egg and New York the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. This is a valley of ashes-a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight.

supplement with photos?

Chapter 2 - Paragraph 2 But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift

endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J.

Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic-

their irises are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead,

from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a nonexistent

nose. Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his

practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into

eternal blindness, or forgot them and moved away. But his eyes, dimmed a

little by many paintless days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground.

Myrtle Wilson What are you´re first impression of Myrtle. Note 3 things. How are these created?

Prediction Having analysed the mood at the start of the chapter what do you think will happen next?

The people and the party What impression does Fitzgerald create of the people that we meet and the party?

What do you think he might wanted to say about America in the 1920s?

HomeworkReading till the end of the chapter.

Violence When the violence comes, what makes it more shocking? Why might Fitzgerald do this?

The people and the party What impression does Fitzgerald create of the people that we meet and the party?

What do you think he might wanted to say about America in the 1920s?

The people and the party What impression does Fitzgerald create of the people that we meet and the party?

What do you think he might wanted to say about America in the 1920s?

[she] 'became more violently affected moment by moment, and as she expandedthe room grew smaller around her, until she seemed to be revolving on a noisy creeky spirit through the smoky air'

'it's just a crazy old thing' she said 'i just slip it on sometimes when I don't care what I look like'

'It'd be more discreet to go to Europe'

use of racist terminology - 'kyke'

'I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life'

Violence When the violence comes, what makes it more shocking? Why might Fitzgerald do this?

Red carpet interviewWhat differences would you expect to see between this kind of journalism and a normal news report?

What would it need to include?

End of chapter 3 questions

1 What happens to a car outside Gatsby's party? 2 How many men were in the car? 3 Where had we met one of them before? 4 What does Nick remember that he heard about Jordan?5 What does Nick say is a quality that you can 'never blame deeply' in a woman?6 What does Jordan say that it takes to make an accident? 7 What does Nick decide that he had to do about the relationship he was having back west?

End of chapter 3 questions

1 What happens to a car outside Gatsby's party? Crashes in the ditch 2 How many men were in the car? two 3 Where had we met one of them before? he was the drunk in the library 4 What does Nick remember that he heard about Jordan? she had cheated in a golf competition 5 What does Nick say is a quality that you can 'never blame deeply' in a woman? dishonesty 6 What does Jordan say that it takes to make an accident? two 7 What does Nick decide that he had to do about the relationship he was having back west? break it off

InterviewsBelow are some ideas to start you off, but, of course, you can introuce ideas of your own.

Interviewer - introduces scene and atmosphere. What had brought others there and how did they behave once they arrived? Look for all the gossip that we hear about Gatsby?

Nick - why was he there? whether he had a good time? What does he think about the people who come? How he met Gatsby and his impressions of him (description at bottom of 38 and middle of 40).

Jordan - what happens to her? How does she feel about the people that are around her?

Gatsby - feelings about the party, meeting with Nick and conversation with Jordan. Look ahead to chapter 4, what is his motivation?

Interview one of the people about the gossip they have on Gatsby?

Group work·Decide on the roles of who will play whom.·Spend 10 minutes looking specifically at your character and making notes on their thoughts and actions during chapter 3 ·The interviewer can guide others and think about the main themes that they will focus on· Spend twenty minutes, sharing ideas, finalising your script and running through the interviews

Nick: "I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known."

What do you think of Nick's opinion of himself? Do you agree with him? What would you think if somebody said this to you? Does it alter the way that we should view him as narrator?

Read pages 51- to the gap on page 55. Is the picture that Gatsby paints of himself to Nick believable? Give your answer and 3 reasons why?

Links to F Scott Fitzgerald

Put the facts below in order of how strongly they affect our understanding of the events of the novel.

Zelda initially didn't want to marry Fitzgerald because of his lack of money.

Zelda was from the south of the United States an was a renowned beauty in her area

Fitzgerald and Zelda were able to marry after the success of one of his early novels.

Scott and Zelda spent some time living in France. They ran with a 'fast crowd'.

Fitzgerald did join the army, although he didn't see active service in France.

The backstory chapter 4 p60-65

1 Whose voice tells this part of the story? Might we have any reason not to trust this side of events? 2 In what ways might you interpret the complete turn around in Daisy's behaviour in the hours before she marries Tom? 3 "she said in the strangest voice..." why is Jordan's memory a good indicator of Daisy's true feelings towards Gatsby? 4 Why does Gatsby want Daisy to see his house? Does this reveal anything about him/her/their relationship/the times?

Gatsby´s dream?

What ideas can you think of why Gatsby's dream to get back together with Daisy might not work? What could go wrong?

Create a mind map of the emotions that go through Gatsby's mind as he meets Daisy again.

p76 "his count of enchanted objects had diminished by one"

p77 "there was a pink and golden billow of foamy clouds above the sea"p78 "a faint doubt had occurred to him" "no amount of freshness can challenge what a man can store up in his ghostly heart"

Exam practice

You are Jay Gatsby at the end of chapter 5. Write your thoughts.

Show exam criteria.

Feedback·Make sure that you follow instructions closely (do not write his thoughts at the start of the chapter).·Try to use specific moments as points of reflection, e.g. showing Daisy the house, her crying into his shirts etc

Mark scheme out of 25.

Homework

Read chapter 6 for a quiz next Tuesday. Complete the neat version of the task below (this can be done on the computer or handwritten, with an image of your choice)

Cast list Working in pairs look for important quotes for the character you have been given.

Physical descriptions in the first few chapters are the most important, but you can also include comments that Nick or others make about them later in the book.

On your own, paste or copy the character descriptions from the book under a drawing, photograph or internet image of the actor that you think would be most suitable to play the part.

Best marks out of 20 will go to those who have selected the best range of quotes.

Chapter 6 quiz. 1 One of the rumours about Gatsby is that he has an underground pipeline to where? 2 What is his real name? 3 What is the name of the old millionaire that Gatsby befriends? 4 Where do Tom and Gatsby meet? 5 Apart from the usual characters, who do Tom and Daisy see when they go to one of Gatsby's parties?6 How does Daisy feel about the party? O 7 What is Tom's explanation for how people became newly rich?B 8 What does Gatsby want Daisy to tell Tom? 9 What does Nick say you can't repeat? 10 What is Gatsby looking to recover according to Nick?

Chapter 6 quiz.Answers 1 One of the rumours about Gatsby is that he has an underground pipeline to where? Canada 2 What is his real name? James Gatz 3 What is the name of the old millionaire that Gatsby befriends? Dan Cody 4 Where do Tom and Gatsby meet? Gatsby's house 5 Apart from the usual characters, who do Tom and Daisy see when they go to one of Gatsby's parties? a film actress 6 How does Daisy feel about the party? Offended 7 What is Tom's explanation for how people became newly rich?Bootlegging 8 What does Gatsby want Daisy to tell Tom? 'I never loved you'

9 What does Nick say you can't repeat? the past

10 What is Gatsby looking to recover according to Nick?some idea of himself

End of chapter 6

Read from the top of page 89 to the end of the chapter and answer the following questions. 1 Do you think that Gatsby is expecting too much for Daisy to say that she never loved Tom? 2 What does Gatsby's belief in fixing the path reveal about him and his attitude to women? 3 Can you think of reasons, other than Daisy, why Gatsby might want to turn the clock back 5 years?

Chapter 7

The next day was broiling, almost the last, certainly the warmest, of the summer. As my train emerged from the tunnel into sunlight, only the hot whistles of the National Biscuit Company broke the simmering hush at noon. The straw seats of the car hovered on the edge of combustion; the woman next to me perspired delicately for a while into her white shirtwaist, and then, as her newspaper dampened under her fingers, lapsed despairingly into deep heat with a desolate cry. Her pocket-book slapped to the floor.

How does Fitzgerald build the atmosphere for what might be about to happen afterwards.

Use dictionaries if necessary.

Chapter 7: The truth comes out

This is the chapter where things come to a head in a rush of emotion.

Copy the axis below on a page of A4 in landscape.

events of the chapter

emotions of the characters

Key

Gatsby

Tom

Daisy

Moments/quotes to plot on the graphDecide which characters you will plot these moments for and the effect it will have on them. Some moments can be plotted for all characters. They are in order. You may need to look back to see the context of what happens. 1 p93 As he [Tom] left the room again she got up and went over to Gatsby and pulled down his face, kissing him on the mouth. 2 of Gatsby seeing Daisy's baby "I don't think he ever really believed in its existence before"3 (p96) She had told him [Gatsby] she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. 4 Wilson: "I'm going to get her away" (Myrtle)....Nick:"There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind ..."5 p105 Tom:"What kind of a row are you trying to cause in my house anyway"6 p105 Gatsby: "your wife doesn't love you ...she's never loved you. She loves me."

7 p106 Tom: "You've been seeing this fellow for five years?"8 p106 Tom; "Once in while I go off on a spree..."9 p 107 Daisy: "oh, you want to much!"10 p108 Daisy: "even alone I can't say that I never loved Tom"11 p108 Tom: "she's not leaving me!" Tom's words suddenly leaned over Gatsby. 12 p109 [Daisy] "was staring terrified between Gatsby and her husband"13 p109 "Gatsby did look as if 'he had killed a man'"14 p109 "only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away"

Extension task To boost your mark answer the following question. Which of the characters is most disturbed by the afternoon's events. Put them into order and explain your ideas.

Myrtle's death: Character thought bubbles

With the sudden death of Myrtle write three thought bubbles for one of the characters below.

Tom Gatsby

Daisy

Prediction

What will happen to Gatsby now that his dream seems to be slipping away?

End of chapter 7: Tom and Daisy's conversation

Look at the 2 paragraphs at the end of chapter 7. What seems to be the atmosphere between the two of them? What might they be discussing?Working with a partner role play ideas for how the conversation between Tom and Daisy might develop.ing

Homework Finish reading chapter 8 at home for Monday's lesson.

chapter 8 quiz 1 Daisy was the first 'n ' girl that Gatsby had ever met? 2While Gatsby was away Daisy was waiting for some what to decide her fate? F3 How does Nick describe the 'crowd' to Gatsby? R4

chapter 8 quiz 1 Daisy was the first 'n ' girl that Gatsby had ever met? 2While Gatsby was away Daisy was waiting for some what to decide her fate? F3 How does Nick describe the 'crowd' to Gatsby? R4 What was it that Myrtle had wrapped in tissue paper in her desk draw?5 Gatsby "paid a high price for living too long with a single d "6 Where does Wilson shoot Gatsby? 7 What do they see that completes 'the holocaust' at the end of chapter 8?

chapter 8 quiz 1 Daisy was the first 'n ' girl that Gatsby had ever met? nice 2While Gatsby was away Daisy was waiting for some what to decide her fate? force 3 How does Nick describe the 'crowd' to Gatsby? rotten

4 What was it that Myrtle had wrapped in tissue paper in her desk draw? a dog collar

5 Gatsby "paid a high price for living too long with a single d "dream

6 Where does Wilson shoot Gatsby? in his swimming pool

7 What do they see that completes 'the holocaust' at the end of chapter 8? Wilson's body (dead in the grass)

"I disapproved of him [Gatsby] from beginning to end." Nick, page 126 Do you believe this statement to be true? Does it add anything to our understanding of Nck as narrator?

What do you think has been the main message that Fitzgerald wanted us to take from the novel?

Look at the last 3 paragraphs closely.Are there any other ideas that you would like to add to the list?

Group essay planning

In today and tomorrow's lessons you will be planning an answer to an exam question in groups. The plan will recieve one mark out of 20 and the essay itself will two marks out of twenty.When planning and dividing the tasks amongst yourself, keep in mind the mark criteria for these pieces.

On the poster you should use a mix:·main points (large writing)·details for analysis (examples and quotations) ·Remember to try and look at both sides of a question

Part of the mark that you get for the group work is for how well you divide the task between you and share the reponsibilities.

Essay titles 1 Do you think that Fitzgerald presents Daisy as a likeable character. Support your ideas with details from the novel. (group 4) 2 Does the novel justify its title? Discuss with reference to the text. (group 1) 3 Do you think Nick is a trustworthy narrator? Support your ideas with details from the novel. (group 5)4 Look again at chapter 9 from “One afternoon late in October” [page 146] to “…rid of my provincial squeamishness for ever.” Explore how Fitzgerald conveys the impression that the world of the novel is a cruel one. (group 2) 5 The women in The Great Gatsby are trapped by society as much as their relationships. Support your ideas with details from the novel. (group 6) 6 The Great Gatsby is a novel about the emptiness of the American Dream. Support your ideas with details from the novel. (group 3)

Today´s work

1 Make sure that your poster has all the main arguments on it. 2 Make sure that you have a personal copy that you can use as a plan for writing your essay during the holidays. 3 Try to add the quotes/specific examples that you will use to the poster.

Thursday Show me your plan with at least 5 examples / quotes start writing.

Nov 2011

Group work

Group prep for different exam questions.