The Great Gatsby Essay
Directions: Select one of the following writing topics. Write a cohesive essay in which you
analyze The Great Gatsby. Your essay should contain an arguable thesis statement, clear claims,
and extensive support. Each body paragraph should have at least one quotation from the novel.
Your essay should be at least 800 words long, and should fully explore your topic.
You may not use “I,” “me,” “my,” or “myself” unless you are writing about your personal
experience with the book. (Do not write “I think,” etc.) Do not use “you,” “your,” “yours,” or
“yourself.” If you use “we,” “our,” “ours,” or “ourselves,” do so sparingly.
For your rough draft, your grade will be based on your word count, staying on topic, and turning
in an electronic copy (to turnitin.com) on time. We will do a PeerMark assignment with this
again, so you MUST have your essay rough draft in to turnitin.com by the beginning of class on
February 12 (A)/February 13 (B).
1. Corruption of people and society is one of the topics in Gatsby. Which characters may be said to
be corrupt, and why? How is this corruption related to the setting and to other topics, such as
Gatsby’s dream?
2. Using the description of Gatsby’s parties as your principal evidence, write an essay analyzing
Fitzgerald’s satirical/humorous portrait of modern society.
3. Analyze Nick’s attitudes toward Gatsby. Nick says that Gatsby “represented everything for
which I have an unaffected scorn,” and yet he also says that Gatsby “turned out all right at the
end,” and he tells Gatsby that he is “worth the whole damn bunch put together.” What prompted
the disparities in his feelings?
4. How does Fitzgerald, on the whole, characterize the women in this novel? Do you agree or
disagree with the way he portrays women? Or was this just an era of women asserting themselves
for the first time?
5. Explore Gatsby as a symbol of the American Dream. Does he represent the realism of the
American Dream? How? What might Fitzgerald be saying about the idea of the American Dream
throughout the novel? In what ways does Gatsby represent the ideal, and in what ways does he
represent the decline of America, as Fitzgerald sees it?
6. Gatsby uses colors as symbols throughout the novel. How does he use color to define the
characters? How does he use it to create the setting? How does he use it to create mood? Explore
Fitzgerald’s use of colors as symbols and their significance throughout the novel.
You will have a large block of time in class to work on this on February 10 (A)/February 11 (B)
Essay Rough Draft due February 16
*Turn in your rough draft to turnitin.com by the beginning of class
*Rough draft should be at least 800 words long
Essay Final Draft due March 3
*Turn in hard copy of final draft with all marked copies of rough drafts, and your Works Cited.
Be sure to use proper MLA formatting.
*I will not grade your final draft until you have turned in a hard copy and turned it in to
turnitin.com.