Final Essay Questions – English 12
for The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Choose one of the following prompts on which to write your analytical literary essay:
1. The American Dream (i.e. the notion that everyone in the US has the opportunity to become
successful and accumulate wealth if they work hard) demonstrates the American pre-occupation with
wealth and social class. The Great Gatsby is in many ways a story about wealth, upward mobility
(moving from a lower social class to a higher one), and the American Dream: about those who have
attained these, those who seek them, those who are not involved in them, and what they do to our
humanity. What is F. Scott Fitzgerald saying about wealth, social class, and the American
Dream as forces that shape our society and influence our humanity?
2. Love, passion, and dreams can take many forms and can inspire extraordinary action. The Great
Gatsby can be seen as a great love story, a true romance, filled with passionate dreamers. Yet, it also
shows the dark side of love; the nightmare of the passionate dream gone wrong. Fitzgerald’s
characters are in love not only with one-another, but also with ideas, images, and lifestyles. We see
the joy, the beauty, the anguish, and the peril of various types of love and dreams. What various
forms do love and dreams take in the novel, and what are Fitzgerald’s messages about such
love and dreams?
3. In the 1920’s when Fitzgerald was writing, gender roles were taking some new public forms but were
still conservative in many ways. Women had gained many basic rights and traditional roles for women
were broken down in fashion and culture, but women still had little power economically or socially.
Homosexuality was not openly acknowledged in the mainstream, though a slightly wider range of
“male” and “female” identities was now being accepted. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald offers a
variety of gender “types”, or identities, each with its own unique power, each seeking power in its own
way. What different gender identities do Fitzgerald’s key characters represent, and what
types of power does each of these “types” possess and seek?
4. F. Scott Fitzgerald has a rich writing style that draws in his readers’ senses (sight, smell, touch, sound)
through sensory images. These images create a mood for the story and, when they are frequently
repeated, they become metaphors for ideas that signify key characters, scenes, situations, or plot
elements. What are some of the key metaphors that Fitzgerald creates from sensory images?
What do they signify, and how do they help Fitzgerald shape and convey the larger
messages and intentions of the work?
5. Nick Carraway is a unique narrator in American fiction; complex and subtle, friend and critic, plain
and enigmatic, Nick bends the traditional role of narrator as he guides us through the tale of the man
he calls “the great Gatsby”. Nick is Fitzgerald’s invention, an instrument that allows Fitzgerald as
writer to structure and weave his tale in a singular way. Further, Fitzgerald has crafted the novel’s
structure organization, sequencing, and flow to convey not only his plot, but the larger ideas, themes,
social commentary, and messages he intends. How do the structure of the novel and the
development of Nick as a character and a narrator add to the messages Fitzgerald conveys
in the novel?
6. Question designed by me! If you have been thinking about a question or topic you would like to
explore that is not on this list and that involves a major theme that runs throughout The Great Gatsby,
go for it. Please write your idea down on paper in as specific terms as you can (preferably in
question form) and arrange with Ms. Jones to spend 10-15 minutes outside of class time
discussing and clarifying your question by the end of the day on Friday, December 3, 2010.
Essay Guidelines
 Five or more paragraphs, following the standard structure for an analytical Argument Essay (see
blue and green Lesson Notes on Structure for an Argument Essay, Argument Paragraph, Set Up the
Quote, MLA Citations, etc.).
 Five-to-seven pages.
 Essay should be double-spaced, using 12-point boring font and 1-inch margins, no extra
spaces between paragraphs please, name & header on first page only.
 Use your Rubric and all Lesson Notes as guides!
 Complete Argument Organizers #1-3 by classtime on Monday 12/6/10.
 Complete typed essay by classtime on Wednesday 12/8/10.
 FINAL COPY due in class Monday, December 13, 2010. Should be fully revised and proofread, full
of thoughtful ideas, strong evidence, sophisticated vocabulary, and academic English (free of grammar
errors)!!! If you run into problems, e-mail Ms. Jones asap.
 2 points extra credit for essays submitted on Friday, December 10, 2010!
Hi Gatsby Scholars!
I would be happy to read brainstorms, draft thesis/sub-argument statements, Argument
Organizers, or drafts of your work and give feedback. Please make sure that your work reflects
your best thinking for that stage of writing, and/or that you have some specific questions about
what you’re stuck with before you ask for additional feedback. Otherwise, I will end up
repeating what you already know, which is a waste of time for both of us! Please plan to receive
feedback in 24 hours.
ljones@prospecthillacademy.org
Happy Writing!
 Ms. Jones