What does The Great Gatsby say about America?
What does The Great Gatsby say about America? We would like you to spend the next 40-60
minutes answering that question.
You were asked the other night to explore that question and identify pieces of text that you would
include in that conversation. Some areas that came up during our class discussions: women, class,
immigration, race, eugenics, American Dream, the West, America’s future, broken promises, hope,
greed, excess, morality, etc.
The emphasis here is on your thinking, on your understanding of what the novel may offer someone
interested in American society. Be bold and seek depth and complexity. See this as an opportunity
to show your good thinking in a focused setting with less emphasis on structure.
The structures that are expected:
 An argument/assertion about what the novel says about America
 Multiple paragraphs
 Topic sentences
 Evidence
 specific quotes & references to Gatsby and
 specific references to historical developments—descriptions of what did occur, but
not data or quotes
 Analysis
Structures that are not expected:
 A full intro
 A full conclusion
 Lots and lots of evidence
This is a focused writing – more than a brainstorm or a notebook response. Your thinking is planned
and your job here is to make an argument and support it. You may make new discoveries as you
write; we expect that. Just reflect that in your assertion. Keep in mind that you are arguing what
the novel says about America – therefore avoid making arguments that are very general and not
specific to America (for ex: Dreams need to be realistic or tragedy is imminent.).
 This essay will be written in class in the Library Classroom computer labs.
 You may prepare an outline with a thesis statement and quotes. You may use your class
notes and novel.
Get into depth - take risks here - go beyond American dreams and making it big in America! This
writing is exploratory and risk-taking and unique and critical thinking is REWARDED on this
assignment!
WAYS TO BRAINSTORM for this assignment…
What does the novel say about

Gender

American hopes/dreams

land of opportunity?

class, race - who is included/excluded in America

Capitalism

American values

immigration

the Divides we talked about in class (and the tensions between people on either side of the
divide)
Who/what does the novel ultimately endorse or critique?
Does the novel endorse a certain class structure?
How does the novel envision America's future? (last page of the novel: "...orgiastic future that
recedes...tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms farther... and one fine morning...) Looking
at Gatsby and others there are paradoxical/contrasting strains in the novel - why? how come? what
is Fitzgerald saying about America?
America's west - future of the nation - how does the novel interact with this concept of the west
that Nick refers to as "a story of the West."
The videos we showed on the era, the urbanization, the immigration simulation, the race and
eugenics videos - how might those all play with the novel to say something about America?