MarcAnthony P. Solli
Concept/Topic: The notion of “Americanism” as it is represented in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s
The Great Gatsby
General Goals
: Students will come to appreciate the notion of “Americanism” that is represented by the acquisition of wealth, social status, power, material possessions and the longing for the past idealism that are presented in Fitzgerald’s work. Jay Gatz will be seen as a template from which other American anti-heroes derive their understanding of power, prestige and their associations with other men and women in the larger American society.
Specific Objectives
: Students will be able to perform close readings of selected moments from the text which indicate Gatsby’s “Americanism” such as talismans of power, social prestige or the acquisition of things and even people.
Students will list in a whole group format and then in smaller cooperative pairs precisely what it means to be “American” for Gatsby, and then they will investigate his shadier, underworld alliances (such as those with Meyer Wolfsheim) to determine if such mischief is a requirement for the American anti-hero.
Required Materials
:
Fitzgerald’s text and a DVD copy of
The Great Gatsby
, DVD player with LCD projector, remote control for close reading of visual text, and a deck of playing cards and highlighters.
Anticipatory Set
:
Students will be asked to define what it means to be “American” by jotting notes in a brainstorming session at the start of class. They will further be asked to compare their own understanding of what is American with Gatsby’s in order to determine whether time or distance (or age) has adjusted perspectives on the issue. A whole class debriefing seminar will serve as a follow-up to this activity.
Procedures
:
Students will be handed playing cards (which has an illicit gangster quality all its own in school!) and will be asked to link up with members of the class who share their same number or face in order to further discuss and write down moments where Gatsby’s quest for Americanism or his ascent to power and wealth are apparent. Page numbers and moderate phrases for reference will be important for students to record.
Students will further explode this discussion of Gatsby by breaking into new groups based upon the suit which each class member holds, so that a secondary, deeper discussion can emerge from the first.
Students will then share the insights of their discussions in a whole-class debriefing session.
Independent Practice
:
Students will individually write about the acquisition of wealth and whether or not it is a necessary component in the achievement of the American dream. They will also discuss in journals whether or not a return to the idealized past (as Gatsby attempts to do in winning Daisy through wealth) is important or significant to the quest to capture “Americanism”.
Closure
:
As students exit the class, they will compose on a notecard reflection of their thoughts related to the American dream (just three to five items) based upon the day’s discussions and journaling; their inferences and analyses will be left on oversized notepad paper and class bulletins for continual reflection as we investigate aspects and shifts in the American ideal throughout the unit, while reading a cross-section of gangster stories. For homework, students will be asked to address and journal on the mystery surrounding Gatsby and whether or not his criminal activity is a necessary requirement of the American anti-hero in that he should possess a moderate quality of mischief to be considered truly American.
Students with exceptionalities may be given specific homework related to cross-curricular connections (i.e., researching the Jazz Era of the 1920s, dance, styles, automobiles, the Great Depression after 1929, and American attitudes of the epoch.)
Students with learning disabilities will either have the length and depth of their reflective journals, textual citations, and scripts, or storyboards mitigated, while allowing them other venues by which to assess Gatsby’s American anti-heroicism (for example, through drawing, storyboarding, poetry, song or other less conventional journaling variations).
