Proehl
English III
The Great Gatsby
Literary Analysis Essay
Task: Respond to one of the following prompts with a well-developed essay
Purpose: to demonstrate your close reading, analysis, and writing skills
Prompts:
1. Dreams: Through The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald seems to communicate a message about people’s failure to accomplish their dreams—Nick, Gatsby, Tom, Daisy, and
Myrtle all have ideas for the perfect life and none of them are able to achieve them.
Deeply explore one character—his/her dreams, his/her attempts to accomplish those dreams, his/her reasons for failure, and the message that Fitzgerald might be communicating through this failure.
2. Gatsby: What, besides money, makes Gatsby such an attractive and alluring character? Conversely, why, besides his inordinate wealth, do we view Gatsby with skepticism? Discuss both sides of this character. What makes him such a consummate yet divided character? Write an essay that discusses Gatsby’s allure as a character and our doubts in him as a reader.
3. Nick: Throughout The Great Gatsby, the reader sees Nick cast in different roles: semidisinterested reporter to active participant, reluctant tag-along to protector of Gatsby.
Consider Nick’s role in this book. What kind of character is he, and how—if at all—does he affect the action in the novel?
4. Minor Characters: Explain how F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the minor characters--Owl
Eyes, Mr. Wolfshiem, Pammy, Michaelis, and George Wilson--in the novel. What does each character add to the story?
5. Gender: Write an essay analyzing the role of women in The Great Gatsby, as represented by Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle. What kind of influence or power do they wield? Consider their desires, motivations, and needs, as well as their social positions and interactions. How does each of them find herself in conflict with society’s expectations of them? How does each negotiate that conflict? (Hint: you’ll have to consider each separately before comparing/contrasting them)
6. Seeing & Not Seeing: The theme of seeing and not seeing, or variations on blindness, permeates the novel. Eyes are everywhere: Dr. T. J. Eckleburg’s on the
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Proehl
English III billboard, Owl Eyes, various references to being “blind” or “blinded,” etc. Analyze the treatment of blindness, and of seeing and not seeing, in the novel.
Guidelines:
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Typed according to MLA guidelines with appropriate citations and works cited
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At least 5 paragraphs, 3 to 4 full pages in length (please try to stay within those parameters)
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Introduction that engages the reader, gives important information about the text, and ends with a thesis statement that indicates the main claim of the essay as well as the supporting reasons
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Body paragraphs that begin with a topic sentence and develop that idea using specific examples from the text
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At least one direct quotation from the text in each body paragraph
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Concluding paragraph that reiterates the thesis (different wording), reviews the main ideas of the essay, and ends with a closing thought that connects to the hook
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Appropriate transitions that allow the reader to move seamlessly from one point to the next
 Submitted to turnitin.com
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