Exploring the Narrative of The Great Gatsby

Learning Objective:How does Fitzgerald tell the story in Chapter 8 and 9 of the Great Gatsby?

Learning Outcome:To explore Fitzgerald’s use of:

• Time and Sequence• Characters and Characterisation• Points of View• Voices in texts• Scenes and Places• Destination

Chapter 8

• Write a one sentence summary• Choose a single quotation to sum up the chapter• What can you say about chapter four and each of

the aspects of narrative?– Time and Sequence– Characters and Characterisation– Points of View– Voices in texts– Scenes and Places– Destination

Jan 2012

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott FitzgeraldWrite about some of the ways Fitzgerald tells the story in Chapter 2. (21 marks)

ANDHow do you respond to the view that it is very difficult for readers to feel anything other than contempt for Tom Buchanan? (21 marks)

Spend one hour on this section

How do you respond to the view that it is very difficult for readers to feel anything other than contempt for Tom

Buchanan? Possible content: Some will agree and focus on • Tom as the antagonist to Gatsby • Tom as a bully and brute • Tom as arrogant • Tom as a racist • Tom as adulterer • Tom’s attitude to women • Tom’s language • the behaviour of Tom at the end of the novel/ his

collusion with Daisy • Tom’s dismissal of Wilson • Tom’s snobbery • Tom’s role as villain in the tragedy, etc.

Some will disagree and focus on • Tom as a victim of the world of the 1920s • Tom’s sadness at Myrtle’s death • Tom’s discovery of his wife’s affair • Tom’s own purposelessness, etc.

Some will challenge the word ‘contempt’. • Some will see Nick’s bias in the presentation of Tom. • Some will see Tom as a representation of a type. • Credit needs to be given for any relevant argument.

Write about some of the ways Fitzgerald tells the story in Chapter 2.

Authorial methods need to be related to the story being told in this chapter.

Possible content: • narrative perspective/voices: first person narrator,

self-conscious story teller and author, significance of Nick’s reconstruction of drunkenness, use of voices of Tom, Wilson, Myrtle, the McKees, Catherine, etc.

• setting: Valley of the Ashes, New York, Tom’s apartment, Pennsylvania Station/ early 20th century, one afternoon and evening, etc.

• 20th century tragedy, a novel about writing a novel, a love story, etc.

• linear chronology in this chapter but with a sense that the story is being told retrospectively begins with the description of the Valley of the Ashes, moves to the train journey to New York and the party at Tom’s apartment, ends with Nick on the station, etc.

• poetic prose, descriptive detail, sensual description, use of dramatic dialogue, descriptive writing, surreal description of drunkenness, references to newspapers and other texts, colloquial language, time references, use of names, language of altercation, use of ellipsis, etc.

Chapter 9

At the beginning Nick is...

1. 2. 3. 4.

At the end Nick is...

1. Judgemental – he becomes increasingly judgemental as the plot continues and finally condemns Tom and Daisy as “careless people” who “smash things up”.

2. Careless – Jordan accuses Nick of being a “bad driver” – she thinks he’s guilty of carelessness, the very thing he accuses Tom and Daisy of.

3. Morally ambiguous – he helps Gatsby to have an affair with Daisy.

4. Disillusioned – he wants to move back to the traditional West. He realises that it’s hopeless to try and escape the past.

The Ending of the Novel

1. Read the two extracts from Chapter 9 and discuss your initial thoughts about the ending of the novel. Think about:– Your view of what Fitzgerald was trying to achieve in

ending the novel in this way.– What view of Nick emerges at the end of the novel and

whether he seems to have developed through his experiences.

– What major themes are signalled and the way in which Fitzgerald achieves this.

– Whether the ending provides satisfactory closure for the reader.

– The mood of the ending and the style in which it is written.

The Ending of the Novel

2. Look at the critical extract, choose 1 and follow the prompts below to help you decide what impact the criticism makes on your own initial interpretation of the ending:– Does it give you any fresh knowledge/ information

that’s useful in reading the ending of the novel?– Does it confirm your interpretation of the ending?– Does it add to or develop your interpretation of the

ending?– Does it challenge your interpretation of the ending?

Chapter 8 and 9

• Write a one sentence summary• Choose a single quotation to sum up the chapter• What can you say about chapters 8 and 9 and

each of the aspects of narrative?– Time and Sequence– Characters and Characterisation– Points of View– Voices in texts– Scenes and Places– Destination