Name ________________________________
The Great Gatsby Creative Assessment (45 pts)
Instructions: Working with a partner, complete one creative assignment for each category listed at the
top. While I want you to have fun and make some relevant connections to a work of classic literature, I am
expecting a certain level of sophistication in your responses. Your score will reflect the quality of your
thinking, the relevance of the outside sources you find, creativity (where expected), focus, mature writing
style, and adherence to grammatical & mechanical conventions. Each assignment is worth 15 points.
Category 1: Characters
Category 2: Motifs/Symbols
Category 3: Themes
Mix and match any of the following to fulfill an analysis for each category above:
Choose a song that represents a character, motif/symbol, or theme from the novel. Include the lyrics, and
write a paragraph analyzing the connections between the song and the literary element you chose. You
must use lyrics from the song and at least one quote from the novel in your analysis.
Write an original poem of at least 15 lines that captures one of the characters, motifs/symbols, or themes
from the book. Keep in mind: your format should make sense for the subject matter and tone you are
trying to convey. You must “borrow” at least 2 phrases from the novel to use in your poem.
Find a newspaper article or editorial from the past six months that deals with some aspect of politics,
economics, or pop culture that relates to The Great Gatsby. Analyze how the subject matter of the article
relates specifically to one of the universal themes from the book. Use at least one quote from the novel.
Create a possible alternate ending for the book (you can summarize this), and in a brief follow-up
paragraph, analyze how the new ending would change our understanding of a character or theme.
Write a monologue from the perspective of a secondary character (Myrtle, George, Wolfsheim, etc.) that
sheds light on a major theme of the novel. Provide some context for the monologue in terms of when it
takes place and who the character is speaking to.
Research how much Gatsby’s lifestyle would cost in today’s terms (including his mansion, boat, cars,
parties, etc.) and make some comparisons/contrasts to a person/persons living today under similar means
who may or may not use this wealth differently. Use your comparison/contrast to draw some conclusions
about how the American dream and values have changed or not changed between the 1920’s and today.
Find an article of literary criticism addressing either a specific motif, symbol, or theme from The Great
Gatsby. Create an annotated bibliography with the bibliographic citation at the top and an annotation of
approximately 300 words summarizing the most important elements of the author’s interpretation.
Create a page from Gatsby’s scrapbook that would lend insight into both Gatsby’s character and Daisy’s
character. Include captions under each item, and incorporate at least 2 phrases from the novel into your
captions.
Reminder: All responses must be typed and saved as one document in the Gatsby Project
folder in my Inbox (saved as “Partner 1_Partner2_Gatsby Project”) by
_____________________ to be submitted to Turn It In.com. All components much be
original or you will receive a 0 on the entire project.