The Great Gatsby Research and Presentation
Standard: Research and Oral Communication
The purpose of the research is for you to put together necessary and important information that will complement the reading and understanding of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
For this project, you will work with no more than one other person (so that means PAIRS), though you may also work alone.
You will be researching your topics using books, the notes you’ve compiled from The Great Gatsby and the Internet.
You will then prepare a Power Point, Prezi or other visual presentation for the class utilizing the “Perfect Presentation” skills, as instructed by me. You will complete at least 20 note cards.
For the assessment of this research, you must include:
Ø Power Point (assessment): A visual aid that displays your research in a dynamic, simple, and interesting way.
o An interesting title
o Your topic must be clearly displayed
o Simple visual representations (as per “Perfect Presentation” guidelines)
o An overview of your topic
o At least 5 key points of interest as well as supplemental information
o Insight as to how your topic relates to The Great Gatsby
o Verbal portions should NOT be copy-pasted from a website. information SHOULD BE PRESENTED IN your own words, Otherwise, it’s PLAGIRISM.
Any facts that you share verbally must be properly cited on your note card and the source must appear on the works cited page.
Ø Participation: Both members must be actively working and participating, collaborating at each stage of the research and presentation. I will be asking for updates on your progress.
Ø Works Cited: Include a properly formatted bibliography (see www.citationmachine.net, the OWL on my website, etc. to help you set them up). On this typed slide (which must be included at the end of your visual aid), include group members’ names, the research topic, as well a minimum of 5 different references, with at least 2 from a book and 2 from the Internet. You may also cite from The Great Gatsby and any notes you formulated during class.
Ø Questions: You must have displayed in your visual aid 3 questions pertaining to the displayed research. You will turn in a sheet with your questions and answers to me.
The Great Gatsby and Modernist Era Research Topics:
Each topic will only be researched/presented once
1.) Explain how the novel does or does not demonstrate the death of the American Dream. Is the main theme of Gatsby indeed “the withering American Dream”? What does the novel offer about American identity? (Reference the characteristics of the American Dream within the body of your paper.)
2.) Explain how the novel demonstrates the characteristics of modernism.
3.) Discuss whether or not Gatsby is a romantic hero in the modern era.
4.) Discuss how the novel exemplifies the dehumanizing/corrupting nature of wealth (consider examining characters, plot, symbols, etc.). Consider doing a Marxist interpretation. Or, more generally, explain the theme of the corruption of people and society through an examination of characters in the novel who are corrupt.
5.) Describe Fitzgerald’s satirical portrait of modern society using Gatsby’s parties as support.
6.) Compare and contrast the homes of characters (consider Nick, Gatsby, Tom, and George/Myrtle Wilson). How does each home to (is a symbol for) its owner/renter (how does each home reflect the personality of its renter/owner)? Consider comparing and contrasting the characters, also focusing on their attitudes/ beliefs/values.
7.) Argue who is/are the most admirable and/or despicable character(s) in the novel and why.
8.) Compare and contrast the major female characters in the novel: Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle. How does each act towards men? What are their motivations/goals/interests/values? How are they treated by men (including the narrator/author)?
9.) Show how Fitzgerald uses clothing (and the changing of costumes) to tell the reader more about the characters and/or express theme(s). Consider discussing colors, fabrics, etc.
10.) Do a close reading of a passage of your choosing, explaining the passage in light of the entire novel. *Note: the passage must be approved by me first!
Example: In reference to Tom and Daisy, Nick remarks, “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy; they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (180-181). Explain this passage in light of the entire novel.
11.) Discuss Fitzgerald’s use of symbolism (this is a large topic that must be significantly narrowed – such as focusing on one symbol and analyzing it in detail - with a specific thesis). How does it function in the novel (consider discussing how it relates to theme, communicates information about characters, develops the plot, etc.)? Possible symbols to discuss include: colors, eyes of T.J. Eckleburg, clothing, cars, the green light, biblical allusions (God, Jesus, grail), characters’ houses, weather, water, music, celestial bodies (moon, stars, planets), nature’s bounty (flowers, shrubs, trees, fruit), etc.
12.) Trace the development of the narrator, Nick Carraway – how does he change, and how are these changes significant (how do they relate to the themes of the novel)?
13.) Discuss how an aspect of 1920s society appears to change throughout the novel.
14.) Is what Gatsby feels for Daisy love, obsession, affection, or accumulation/objectification? What is Fitzgerald’s message here? Consider discussing whether or not Gatsby can really love, given his characteristics.
15.) Who is the real person: Jay Gatsby or Jimmy Gatz? Does he become “the Platonic conception of himself”? What does that mean? Is it a peculiarly American phenomenon?
16.) Discuss how The Great Gatsby is the quintessential American novel. What does it have to offer about the American identity and the American Dream?
17.) Morally ambiguous characters—characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good—are at the heart of many works of literature. Choose a character from the novel who is morally ambiguous and write an essay in which you explain how the character can be viewed as morally ambiguous and why his/her moral ambiguity is significant to the work as a whole.
18.) Discuss the novel’s theme that the American Dream is corrupted by the desire for wealth. What does the novel and its theme offer about the American identity?
19.) Discuss the novel’s theme that outward appearances can be deceptive. What does the novel and its theme offer about the American identity?
20.) Create a topic of your own or alter one of the above topics. *You must have this topic approved by ME before you begin working.
Research Note cards
Your project must include a total of at least 20 cards. You may have more but no less.
These note cards will be used during your research presentation.
By using this system, you create note cards from blank 3x5 or 5x7 index cards that you fill with information pertinent to the subject that you are researching. The organization of the information can readily be adapted to use with word processing...
· In the upper left corner, place the author's name
· In the body of the card, enter one single fact or thought you'd like to include in your paper
· In the bottom right corner, include the page number on which you found the information.
· If it’s a direct quote, make sure that your fact is in quotation marks
· If it’s paraphrased information, you do not need quotes.
Make sure the information is expressed in your own words,
unless it is a quotation;
Use good sentence structure:
this will help you during your presentation
· Organize the cards to coincide with the outline of your presentation
· Write the term paper following this sequence
Use topical, concluding, and transitional sentences to link the information on the cards
· Number your cards, should they be dropped, etc.!
I WILL BE COLLECTING THESE