The Great Gatsby
Multigenre Project
Nicole Cafarelli
The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby is considered one of the greatest American novels. Written
by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the novel is a picture of 1920’s lifestyles and culture:
the post-war, prohibition, Jazz era. Complete with dynamic characters and
introspective foresight into the world of the wealthy, and the changing times,
The Great Gatsby captures Americanism and the pursuit of the American
Dream. Narrated by Nick Caraway, the humorless bystander in a world of
power and corruption, the story follows the tragic rise and fall of Jay Gatsby
and his own pursuit of the American Dream (displaced into his quest for
Daisy Buchanan). The novel also mirrors the writer’s own life and troubled
relationship with Zelda Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby both satirizes and
immortalizes 1920s pop culture.
I chose the novel because of my own personal interest. I fell for its intriguing
characters and depictions, as well as its flair for crossing the generation
gap. It is as equally light-hearted and dark as its characters and is not only
an informative teaching piece, but an entertaining tale of love, loss, and
betrayal as well. I’ve read the novel as both a student and a teacher and
have found that the opportunities for historical relevance and research are
boundless.
Strengths of Multigenre Projects:
• Gives new insights into research, teaching the skills without the
burden of lengthy writing.
• Appeals to more artistic and visual learners who struggle with words
but understand concepts.
• Allows teachers the opportunity to test and examine a students’
ability to critique sources and cite research in its truest form, forcing
them to find and use more diverse angles (I.e. where a birth
certificate may not make its way into a research paper, it can be
used in this type of project)
• Gets students thinking “outside of the box” and makes it less likely
that they will over-rely on other sources’ words.
• More diversity for topic choices and more independence for the
researchers. Similarly, even if multiple students choose the same
topic, the likelihood that they will share the same sources and
objects is minimal.
Weaknesses of Multigenre Projects:
• Difficult for students who are less visual and creative.
• Significantly more sources to cite and search.
• Difficult to find a grading scale with such a diverse and
open range of topics and sources used. When the
limitations are endless, it can be difficult to find an
accurate and fair way of judging them.
• Does not necessarily teach research writing skills
outside of validating sources, citations, and works cited.
Students do not have to focus on incorporating and
explaining relevant quotes within their writing.
“The Great Gatsby”
Artifact 1: The title and cover art
While F. Scott Fitzgerald was writing The Great Gatsby
there was much speculation over the infamous title and
cover art. Francis Cugat was paid 100 dollars by
Scribner’s Library to design the cover, but little is known
if the art was designed before or after seeing the
manuscript. Some speculate that Fitzgerald even
adapted the manuscript to fit with elements of the final
cover art. What is known, through transcripts of
conversations between Fitzgerald and his editor
Maxwell Perkins, is that both the title and the cover art
went through a number of changes before ultimately
molding together to become one of the most notorious
prints of fiction in American Literature. Despite his love
for the cover art (“thought the new jacket was great”),
however, Fitzgerald was quoted as not actually
approving of the choice of adjective in the final title
selection.
1. Francis Cugat’s jacket for The Great Gatsby. New York:
Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1925. First Edition Facsimile
published by Collectors Reprints, Inc., New York, 1988.
“The Great Gatsby is weak because there’s
no emphasis even ironically on his greatness
or lack of it. However, let it pass.”
Rejected Proposed Titles:
“Among the Ash Heaps and Millionaires”
“Trimalchio in West Egg”
“Trimalchio”
“On the Road to West Egg”
“Gold-hatted Gatsby”
“The High-bouncing Lover”
“Gatsby”
Artifact 2: Long Island Then and Now
One of the major themes in the novel revolves
around the conflicting differences between
Eastern and Western values as represented in
Fitzgerald’s “East Egg and West Egg.” The
novel takes place on Long Island during the
1920’s, which is geographically designed to
conceptualize the bitter divide between “old
world” and “new world” culture, class, and
money, with the vast “wasteland” in between.
The parallel railroad and roadway in the novel also
represent the changing times. Running through the
dying “valley of ashes,” where its desolation is further
emphasized with the acquisition of “new” money (West
Egg, home of Gatsby) and perseverance of “old wealth”
(East Egg, home of the Buchanan's) through devious
and uncivilized means that leave “hard working men
and women” disposable- enter Jay Gatsby (whose “new
money” is only hinted as being acquired through
bootlegging liquor) and Tom Buchanan (whose affair
with the humble Myrtle, demeaning “friendship” with her
unsuspecting husband George Wilson, racial
commentary, and abusive tendencies emphasize his
single-minded quest of self-preservation and
ignorance).
Artifact 3: Newspaper article depicting start of
Prohibition
“At midnight, January 16, 1920, the United States
went dry; breweries, distilleries, and saloons were
forced to close their doors.” Help from the “AntiSaloon League and the Women's Christian
Temperance Union, the dry forces had triumphed by
linking Prohibition to a variety of Progressive era
social causes.” Causes included linking abuse, a
need for grain to make bread, Americanizing
immigrants, and decreased labor abilities, among
others, led to the ratification of the 18th Amendment.
Prohibition plays a key role in the novel as it is
suggested, or “rumored,” that Jay Gatsby came into
his “new wealth” by getting involved with underworld
power players and bootleggers. Alcohol also acts a
a sort of villain in the story, the catalyst to a number
of problems. Perhaps emphasizes or satirizing the
platforms to prohibition, Tom punches Myrtle after
drinking significantly, alcohol is tied into the secret
and “sinful” rendezvous in New York, and Gatsby’s
extravagant parties that keep him both emotionally
disconnected and disillusioned.
Artifact 4: New York Times Book Review, The Great Gatsby
April 19, 1925
Scott Fitzgerald Looks Into Middle Age
By EDWIN CLARK
Of the many new writers that sprang into notice with the advent of the post-war period, Scott Fitzgerald has remained the steadiest performer and the
most entertaining. Short stories, novels and a play have followed with consistent regularity since he became the philosopher of the flapper with "This Side
of Paradise." With shrewd observation and humor he reflected the Jazz Age. Now he has said farewell to his flappers-perhaps because they have grown
up-and is writing of the older sisters that have married. But marriage has not changed their world, only the locale of their parties. To use a phrase of
Burton Rascoe's-his hurt romantics are still seeking that other side of paradise. And it might almost be said that "The Great Gatsby" is the last stage of
illusion in this absurd chase. For middle age is certainly creeping up on Mr. Fitzgerald's flappers.
In all great arid spots nature provides an oasis. So when the Atlantic seaboard was hermetically sealed by law, nature provided an outlet, or inlet rather, in
Long Island. A place of innate natural charm, it became lush and luxurious under the stress of this excessive attention, a seat of festive activities. It
expresses one phase of the great grotesque spectacle of our American scene. It is humor, irony, ribaldry, pathos and loveliness. Out of this grotesque
fusion of incongruities has slowly become conscious a new humor-a strictly American product. It is not sensibility, as witness the writings of Don Marquis,
Robert Benchley and Ring Lardner. It is the spirit of "Processional" and Donald Douglas's "The Grand Inquisitor": a conflict of spirituality set against the
web of our commercial life. Both boisterous and tragic, it animates this new novel by Mr. Fitzgerald with whimsical magic and simple pathos that is
realized with economy and restraint.
The story of Jay Gatsby of West Egg is told by Nick Caraway, who is one of the legion from the Middle West who have moved on to New York to win from
its restless indifference-well, the aspiration that arises in the Middle West-and finds in Long Island a fascinating but dangerous playground. In the method
of telling, "The Great Gatsby" is reminiscent of Henry James's "Turn of the Screw." You will recall that the evil of that mysterious tale which so
endangered the two children was never exactly stated beyond suggested generalization. Gatsby's fortune, business, even his connection with underworld
figures, remain vague generalizations. He is wealthy, powerful, a man who knows how to get things done. He has no friends, only business associates,
and the throngs who come to his Saturday night parties. Of his uncompromising love-his love for Daisy Buchanan-his effort to recapture the past
romance-we are explicitly informed. This patient romantic hopefulness against existing conditions symbolizes Gatsby. And like the "Turn of the Screw,"
"The Great Gatsby" is more a long short story than a novel.
Nick Caraway had known Tom Buchanan at New Haven. Daisy, his wife, was a distant cousin. When he came East Nick was asked to call at their place
at East Egg. The post-war reactions were at their height-every one was restless-every one was looking for a substitute for the excitement of the war
years. Buchanan had acquired another woman. Daisy was bored, broken in spirit and neglected. Gatsby, his parties and his mysterious wealth were the
gossip of the hour. At the Buchanan's Nick met Jordan Baker; through them both Daisy again meets Gatsby, to whom she had been engaged before she
married Buchanan. The inevitable consequence that follows, in which violence takes its toll, is almost incidental, for in the overtones-and this is a book of
potent overtones-the decay of souls is more tragic. With sensitive insight and keen psychological observation, Fitzgerald discloses in these people a
meanness of spirit, carelessness and absence of loyalties. He cannot hate them, for they are dumb in their insensate selfishness, and only to be pitied.
The philosopher of the flapper has escaped the mordant, but he has turned grave. A curious book, a mystical, glamorous story of today. It takes a deeper
cut at life than hitherto has been enjoyed by Mr. Fitzgerald. He writes well-he always has-for he writes naturally, and his sense of form is becoming
perfected.
The New York Times review of The Great Gatsby both captures the
essence of the novel and its writer. It establishes Fitzgerald’s growth in
writing and evolution from the “Philosopher of the Flapper” to one of
those entering middle age, entering marriage, and desperately still
seeking “the other side of paradise.” Critiquing the heart of the matter
in the novel, The Great Gatsby" is the last stage of illusion in this absurd
chase. For middle age is certainly creeping up on Mr. Fitzgerald's
flappers.” One of the central components of the novel is this sense of
“neverland” the characters live in, stuck between reality and fantasy,
both bored and ambitious. The style of Fitzgerald’s writing also
parallels his story and characters, mimicking its one-dimensionality. All
of this, of course, is meant to reflect the true nature of Fitzgerald’s postwar age- a transition period where no one has yet established
themselves as concrete members of society because they’re either
holding on to the past or an as of yet unaccepted future.
Artifact 5: Cartoon mocking “underwhelming” narrator, Nick Caraway
and the Gatsby’s other key players
The novel contains other key characters besides the elusive Mr. Jay Gatsby. Fitzgerald
criticizes “old world” ideals by depicting selfish and shallow secondary players. The narrator,
Nick Caraway, seems to be devoid of his own identity and personality when retelling the
story. He serves as more of a witness to the circumstances than anyone with a strong
central viewpoint. Tom, the most obvious critical character, is one-dimensional with his
repulsive, wealth-centered, superficial personality. Daisy, whose light-hearted nature
parallels a manipulative quest for status and wealth, serves as a difficult heroine to
sympathize. Finally, Jordan, whom Daisy hopes to “set up” with her cousin, Nick, is as vain
and shallow as the rest. Meant to offset the eccentric nature of Gatsby, the sharp contrast in
personalities only further emphasizes the difference between Gatsby’s world and theirs, and
the inability to transcend either.
Artifact 6: Love Letter from Zelda to F. Scott Fitzgerald
Letter
Spring 1919
Sweetheart,
Please, please don't be so depressed--We'll be married soon, and then these lonesome nights will be over forever--and until we are, I am
loving, loving every tiny minute of the day and night--Maybe you won't understand this, but sometimes when I miss you most, it's hardest to
write--and you always know when I make myself--Just the ache of it all--and I can't tell you. If we were together, you'd feel how strong it is-you're so sweet when you're melancholy. I love your sad tenderness--when I've hurt you--That's one of the reasons I could never be sorry
for our quarrels--and they bothered you so--Those dear, dear little fusses, when I always tried so hard to make you kiss and forget-Scott--there's nothing in all the world I want but you--and your precious love--All the materials things are nothing. I'd just hate to live a
sordid, colorless existence-because you'd soon love me less--and less--and I'd do anything--anything--to keep your heart for my own--I
don't want to live--I want to love first, and live incidentally...Don't--don't ever think of the things you can't give me--You've trusted me with
the dearest heart of all--and it's so damn much more than anybody else in all the world has ever had-How can you think deliberately of life without me--If you should die--O Darling--darling Scott--It'd be like going blind...I'd have no purpose
in life--just a pretty--decoration. Don't you think I was made for you? I feel like you had me ordered--and I was delivered to you--to be worn-I want you to wear me, like a watch--charm or a button hole bouquet--to the world. And then, when we're alone, I want to help--to know that
you can't do anything without me...
All my heart-I love you
Fitzgerald’s relationship with his wife was often tumultuous and littered with affairs and psychological problems.
Like his characters Gatsby and Daisy, their love was as strong as it was dangerous. The love affair was never
meant to end happily. They had issues with stability and finances, “Scott and Zelda did spend money faster
than he earned it” making it so poignant and ironic that “the author who wrote so eloquently about the effects of
money on character was unable to manage his own finances.” (Bruccoli, 1) Zelda herself was “strikingly
beautiful but wild, intelligent but unevenly educated” (1) a lot like the character Daisy, whose own beauty made
her dangerous and frivolous, and her intelligence was also apparent but unevenly dispersed. Also like Gatsby
and Daisy, the pair came from very separate worlds, with Fitzgerald pursuing both Zelda and wealth with the
same veracity. Finally, as the letter states, the pair would ultimately quarrel in the same love/hate manner as
his key characters.
Click to view other published obituaries for the writer!
Artifact 7: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Obituary
Princeton University Library
F. Scott Fitzgerald 1896 - 1940
F. Scott Fitzgerald, novelist, short story writer and scenarist, died at his
Hollywood home Dec. 21, 1940. His age was 44.
Mr. Fitzgerald in his life and writings epitomized "all the sad young men"
of the post-war generation. With the skill of a reporter and ability of an
artist he captured the essence of a period when flappers and gin and "the
beautiful and the damned" were the symbols of the carefree madness of
an age.
Roughly, his own career began and ended with the Nineteen Twenties.
"This Side of Paradise," his first book, was published in the first year of
that decade of skyscrapers and short skirts. Only six others came
between it and his last, which, not without irony, he called "Taps at
Reveille." That was published in 1935. Since then a few short stories, the
script of a moving picture or two, were all that came from his typewriter.
The promise of his brilliant career was never fulfilled.
Many suggest that most of Fitzgerald’s writing is (at least partially) autobiographical. Characters based on himself, his
wife, Zelda, and his lover, Rosaline. He lived a similarly destructive lifestyle filled with alcoholism, emotional
disturbances, and rocky relationships. Perhaps best summing up his life and the novel, “his writing epitomized ‘all the
sad young men’ of the post-war generation.” Like Gatsby, Fitzgerald had a love affair with the 1920s, and when the
generation fizzled so did the “promise of his brilliant career.” Also like his main character, Jay Gatsby, Fitzgerald never
lived a happily ever after and was forever tormented by his inner demons, ultimately culminating in an untimely end to
an unfulfilled life.
Long ago, when he was young, cocksure, drunk with sudden success,
F Scott Fitzgerald told a newspaper man that no one should live
beyond 30. (Mok, 1)
Artifact 8: The Great Gatsby goes Hollywood
Since its publication, The Great Gatsby has
been turned into three different motion
pictures, multiple television versions, plays,
and even operas. The story of the tragic hero
desperately searching for the American Dream
resonates with audiences across generations.