The Great Gatsby Critical Lens Essay – C Period
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For our culminating assignment based on our study of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel,
The Great Gatsby, you will respond to the prompt below. Your essay must be
submitted on TurnItIn by 9:00am on Wednesday, April 16th. You must also
submit a hardcopy in class. Points will be deducted for each day the essay is late.
 Write an essay in which you discuss The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald,
from the particular perspective of the statement of your choice below.
Critical Lens:
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“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the
past.”
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
-or-
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“…love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us.”
- Paulo Coehlo
Be sure to:
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Specify the title and author in your introduction
Provide a valid interpretation of the critical lens (put it into your own words)
Indicate whether you agree or disagree with the statement as you have interpreted
it
Use only The Great Gatsby* as your major work
Use the criteria suggested by the critical lens to analyze the work chosen
Avoid plot summary. Instead, use specific references to appropriate literary
devices as they fit into your analysis (for example: theme, characterization,
conflict, setting, mood/atmosphere/tone, foreshadowing, flashback, irony,
symbolism, point of view, etc.) to develop your analysis
Organize your ideas
Follow the conventions of standard written English
* on the actual Regents you must write about two major works