NAME: ______________________________ Wheaton North: Junior English I
Exploring the American Dream Through The Great Gatsby
This unit exam will be an assessment of the learning targets labeled in each section.
Part I: Understanding Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance
Learning Target: I can summarize the main tenants of modernism/the Lost
Generation.
“The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats.
DIRECTIONS: Read and SOAPSTone the Poem. Then answer the questions below.
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
O
S
A
P
S
Tone
QUESTIONS:
1) What are the seven tenants/characteristics of modernism?
2) How does the “Lost Generation” movement, fit into modernism?
3) How is this poem a good example of modern poetry?

NAME: ______________________________ Wheaton North: Junior English I
Learning Target: I can summarize the main tenants of the Harlem
Renaissance.
DIRECTIONS: Read and SOAPSTone the Poem. Then answer the questions below.
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
A
O
S
P
Or does it explode?
S
QUESTIONS:
Tone
1) What are the main characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance?
S
2) How is this poem a good example of modern poetry?

NAME: ______________________________ Wheaton North: Junior English I
Part III: Identifying and Analyzing Characterization
Learning Targets: I can identify the purpose in a seminal U.S. Text
I can identify the argument in a seminal U.S. Text
Directions: For each of the following characters, find one quote that shows one significant characterization.
CHARACTER CHARACTERIZATION
(Ex: Damsel in Distress,
Brute, Dreamer, etc.)
EVIDENCE
(Direct Quote in MLA):
ANALYSIS of
ARGUMENT
(What argument does Fitzgerald make about society through the use of each of these characters?)
AUTHOR’S
PURPOSE
(Why did the author decide to characterize this person in this way?)

NAME: ______________________________ Wheaton North: Junior English I
1) What argument does Fitzgerald make about society as a whole through his writing of The Great Gatsby?
2) What is Fitzgerald’s purpose for writing The Great Gatsby?

NAME: ______________________________
Part IV:GRAMMAR
Wheaton North: Junior English I
Identify Independent Clauses (Identify the following as independent (IND) or
(DCW):
1) Knowing I had to read carefully.
2) Fitzgerald is a novel writer.
3) Although the 1920’s were revolutionary.
4) Women did not have equal rights.
5) The city is busy.
6) The best students.
IND/DCW
IND/DCW
IND/DCW
IND/DCW
IND/DCW
IND/DCW
*******************************************************************************
Part V: Identifying IND vs. DCW and Writing Complete Sentences
First, for each example sentence, underline IND and circle DCW. Second, for each sentence structure.
(1) IND, fanboys (coordinating conjunction) IND
We are studying The Great Gatsby, and we are learning how to be close-readers.
(2) IND, DCW
They assembled together, knowing that Tom and Gatsby would argue.
(3) IND1, DCW, IND1
New York City, one setting explored in the novel, is an interesting city.
(4) DWC, IND
Even though Daisy is married, Gatsby pursues her.
(5) IND fanboys DCW
Our class worked hard through grammar boot camp and became better writers as a result.
Part VI: MLA Format: Select the correct answer choice.
1) Mrs. Delacruz describes the junior class as “a group of intellectuals and modern thinkers” (Delacruz 2).

NAME: ______________________________ Wheaton North: Junior English I
A) NO CHANGE
B) thinkers” (Mrs. Delacruz).
C) thinkers,” (Delacruz 2).
D) thinkers.” (Delacruz 2)
2) A Nick looks upon Daisy, he describes: “her voice was full of money” (Fitzgerald 70).
A) NO CHANGE
B) describes “her voice
C) describes, “her voice
D) describes - “her voice
3) In the space below, create an MLA heading:
Part VII: Essential Elements of an Argument
LEARNING TARGETS:
I can write a claim
I can support my claim with specific evidence
I can explain how evidence connects to the claim
Directions: For each of the following elements, define and describe the following terms:
1) Claim:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
2) Evidence

NAME: ______________________________ Wheaton North: Junior English I
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
3) Analysis
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
4) Warrant
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
5) Counterargument
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
6) Refutation
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Directions: For the student sample, annotate the sample for each of the following in the margins. Make sure you have each of the following labeled:
Claim
Evidence in MLA citation #1
Analysis
Warrant
Claim
Evidence in MLA citation #2
Analysis
Warrant
Counterargument
Refutation
Concluding Sentence
Transition Words
Life was better before industrialization. To begin with, in the past, people lived in the countryside. They breathed clean air and so they were healthier. According to Smith, a PHD at Hinsdale Hospital, “These days, people get cancer and other diseases from the pollution of factories and cars.
Furthermore, people suffer from stress and depression. Everybody is so busy that they do not have time to relax” (32). Without relaxation, people cannot truly have quality of life. Therefore, it is obvious that life was truly better before industrialization. Similarly, the suicide rate has increased within the last century and many people take drugs for depression. But above all else, people have lost their freedom in the last two hundred years. Governments have created numerous laws to control people. Smith stated,

NAME: ______________________________ Wheaton North: Junior English I
“People need I.D. cards and licenses to do anything” (21). Without freedom, people once again have less quality of life. People need to be free to make their own decisions. Therefore, TVs and cars are being paid for with people’s health, sanity, and freedom, and therefore, Americans are better off without these luxuries. Some people argue that our quality of life is decreasing. They feel that life was better before industrialization. They claim that people were healthier, happier, and freer in the past. However, their argument is weak because they do not examine all the facts. People who think life was better before industrialization argue that pollution has caused more cancer and other diseases. While it is true that cancer is increasing, modern medicine has improved our health in general. Over the past two hundred years, the infant mortality rate has declined. As well, people live longer now and doctors can cure more diseases. Also, more people have Medicare and so more people can receive medical treatment. People who think the standard of living has declined, also argue that people have more stress and depression than in the past. This may be true, but people also have longer vacations, shorter workdays, and more opportunity to travel within their country and abroad.
Finally, those who think the past was better argue that people were freer in the past. They claim that the governments of the world have created too many laws to control people, but in fact people are much freer now. More people have the right to vote, freedom of speech, and an opportunity to get an education. As well, racial and sexual discrimination are decreasing. Therefore, while it is true that industrialization has some drawbacks, it is not true that our quality of life has decreased. In fact, in many ways, people are healthier and have more opportunity and freedom.
PART VII: Vocabulary Review
DIRECTIONS: Please memorize each of the words and be able to use them in a sentence properly.
Chapters 1-3
1.
Feign
2.
Supercilious
3.
Incredulous
4.
Wan
5.
Languid
6.
Strident
7.
Vehement
8.
Impetuous
9.
Vacuous
10.
Corpulent
Chapters 4-6
1.
Sporadic

NAME: ______________________________
2.
Somnambulatory
3.
Denizen
4.
Jaunty
5.
Rout
6.
Obstinate
7.
Nebulous
8.
Laudable
9.
Perturb
10.
Dilatory
Chapters 7-9
1.
Portentous
2.
Irreverent
3.
Rancor
4.
Formidable-very powerful or strong
5.
Garrulous
6.
Forlorn
7.
Laden
8.
Surmise
9.
Superfluous
10.
Ceaselessly
Wheaton North: Junior English I