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Unit 2: An American Journey
How can an author’s style construct and
reflect identity?
In this unit, you will read “the great American novel,” The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald which explores
the concept of a “journey” as an essential characteristic of achieving one’s American Dream.
The date with the chapter numbers in bold is the date you should come to class having already finished
reading that chapter. There may be a quiz or reading check over that chapter on those days.
10/20 A
Unit 1 Wrap up quiz
10/21 B
Unit 1 Wrap up quiz
10/22 A
4.1 Unpack Gatsby
Begin Ch. 1
10/23 B
4.1 Unpack Gatsby
Begin Ch. 1
10/24 A
4.2 Author Bio
Chapter 1
10/27 B
4.2 Author Bio
10/28 A
10/29 B
10/30 A
10/31 B
Chapter 2 introduction
Chapter 2 introduction
Chapter 2
Class SAQ
Chapter 2
Class SAQ
11/4 B
11/5 A
11/6 B
11/7 A
Chapter 1
The Great Gatsby
11/3 A
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
SAQ: Why does Fitzgerald
Quote Analysis CFA
Quote Analysis CFA
introduce us to Wolfshiem?
4.5 Imagery/Characterization 4.5 Imagery/Characterization What does that say about
Gatsby?
11/10 B
11/11 A
11/12 B
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
SAQ: Is Gatsby’s request SAQ: Is Gatsby’s request
4.6 Motifs
of Daisy reasonable?
of Daisy reasonable?
Gatsby Quiz (first half of
novel)
11/17 A
11/18 B
11/19 A
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Passage Analysis
Chapter 4
SAQ: Why does Fitzgerald
introduce us to Wolfshiem?
What does that say about
Gatsby?
11/13 A
Chapter 7
SAQ: What event is the
climax of The Great
Gatsby?
11/20 B
Chapter 9
Passage Analysis
Chapter 5
4.6 Motifs
Gatsby Quiz (first half of
novel)
11/14 B
Chapter 7
SAQ: What event is the
climax of The Great
Gatsby?
11/21 A
Turn in selected SAQMajor Grade!
Gatsby wrap up/ novel
reflection
Thanksgiving Break
Finals
Analysis
12/1 B
Turn in selected SAQMajor Grade!
Gatsby wrap up/ novel
reflection
12/8 A
EA 1: Analytical Essay
Due when class ends!
12/15 B
Conferences and Exam
Review
12/2 A
12/3 B
12/4 A
Gatsby SAQ Conferences Gatsby SAQ Conferences EA 1 Analytical Essay
Outline
EA 1 Analytical Essay
EA 1 Analytical Essay
Intro/Thesis
Intro/ Thesis
12/5 B
EA 1 Analytical Essay
Outline
12/9 B
EA 1: Analytical Essay
Due when class ends!
12/16
EXAMS
12/10 A
12/11 B
12/12 A
Conferences and Exam
Review
12/17
EXAMS
Conferences and Exam
Review
12/19
EXAMS
Conferences and Exam
Review
12/20
EXAMS
1
4.1 Previewing the Unit/Selected Literary Work
Purpose: (1) To contextualize prior knowledge and key ideas (2) To analyze the skills and knowledge
necessary for success in the unit
What knowledge do you have about The Great Gatsby?
Embedded Assessment 1 – Writing an Analytical Essay – Major Grade
For this assignment, you will look beyond the plot to analyze Fitzgerald’s literary style. Choose one of the
following essays:
A. Write an analytical essay in which you discuss how one key theme of __(theme chosen)__ in The
Great Gatsby is expressed through F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of motif.
B. Write an analytical essay in which you discuss how one key theme of __(theme chosen)__ in The
Great Gatsby is expressed through F. Scott Fitzgerald’s use of literary elements (choose from:
similes, metaphors, and/or allusions).
What knowledge must you have (what do you need to know) to succeed on Embedded Assessment 1?
Given your prior knowledge, which of the following are you most likely to analyze in Gatsby as it relates to the
theme: motif or literary? Circle one and explain why.
Motif
Literary Elements
What skills must you have in order to be successful on the Gatsby analysis essay?
2
Directions: Read the following excerpt from the opening of chapter 2 and annotate for imagery and
symbolism.
About half way between West Egg and New York the motor road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for
a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. This is a valley of ashes — a
fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the
forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move
dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of gray cars crawls along an invisible
track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden
spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight.
But above the gray land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift endlessly over it, you perceive, after a
moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic — their
irises are one yard high. They look out of no face, but, instead, from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which
pass over a nonexistent nose. Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them there to fatten his practice in the
borough of Queens, and then sank down himself into eternal blindness, or forgot them and moved away. But
his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days, under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping
ground.
The valley of ashes is bounded on one side by a small foul river, and, when the drawbridge is up to let
barges through, the passengers on waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour. There
is always a halt there of at least a minute, and it was because of this that I first met Tom Buchanan’s mistress
(Fitzgerald 27-28).
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Directions: Write a short analytical paragraph to discuss how one key theme of _______________________
____________________________________________ in The Great Gatsby is expressed through Fitzgerald's
use of the symbol of Dr. TJ Eckleberg. Support your answer with evidence from the excerpt. Answer the
prompt in the box below. Do not write outside the box; do not draw additional lines or skip lines inside the
Where is it so?
Say what is
so.
box.
C- (claim that answers the question)
E- (evidence from the passage to support your claim)
How/why is it so?
R- (reasoning/ explanation of how the quote proves the claim for the passage)
4
4.5 Imagery/Characterization
Purpose: (1) To interpret the author’s imagery (2) To analyze an author’s characterization
Define imagery (p. 312)
Read the first five pages of Chapter 2. List three examples where Fitzgerald uses imagery and explain why he
appeals to that particular sense.
Sensory Detail / Evidence of Imagery
Sense
Why Fitzgerald uses this sense
(Fitzgerald ____).
(Fitzgerald ____).
(Fitzgerald ____).
Define characterization in your own words:
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Character Analysis. Your teacher will select one character from Gatsby for you to analyze. In each oval, jot
down text evidence from the novel and include documentation (Fitzgerald 23).
Primary conflict of the
character
How others feel about the
character
Character's
Description
Character’s outlook on
society
How the character sees
him/herself
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4.6 Motifs
Purpose: (1) To examine figurative language and motifs (2) To distinguish among varying points of view
within a text
Define motif in your own words.
Read the following Emily Dickinson poem, “Because I could not stop for death.” Read once for reflection.
Read again and annotate for meaning. Read again and annotate for motifs.
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.
We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.
Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.
Answer the following questions.
1. Which statement most closely describes Dickinson’s personification of Death?
A. Death is characterized as a dawdling carriage driver that takes children to school.
B. Death is characterized as a fierce combatant that recognizes a worthy adversary.
C. Death is characterized as a worthy chauffer that transports participants on their journey.
D. Death is characterized as a cowardly competitor that concedes at the first opportunity.
2. All of the following lines contribute to the motif of death except:
A. We paused before a house that seemed/ A swelling of the ground;
B. I first surmised the horses' heads/ Were toward eternity.
C. We passed the school, where children strove/ At recess, in the ring;
D. The carriage held but just ourselves/ And Immortality.
3. Which word BEST captures the overall tone of the poem?
A. kindly
C. spirited
B. contemplative
D. encouraged
7
Identify several motifs in Gatsby.
Directions: Potential Essay Notes Take thorough notes on motifs from Chapter 4.
Motifs From Chapter 4
Analysis, Commentary, Reflection
(pages 61 through 80)
How do the motifs contribute to the suspected theme?
PASSAGE ANALYSIS
Directions: Annotate the passage for literary elements, motifs, and characterization.
THEME
Identify two themes from Gatsby which are evident in the PASSAGE. Remember that a theme is never just one
word. Instead, a theme is a statement about the central idea or universal truth that the PASSAGE examines.
1
2
8
LITERARY ELEMENTS IN THE PASSAGE
Embedded Literary Element In
Context
(with Author #)
Connection to Theme
How does this element connect to the theme?
Fitzgerald’s use of ___________
contributes to the theme of/that
________________________
__________________ by
___________________
________________________________________
1
___________________________________________.
2
3
Which literary element makes the strongest connection to the theme? Why? Complete sentences required.
MOTIFS IN THE PASSAGE
Embedded Motif
In Context (with Fitzgerald #)
1
Connection to Theme
How does this motif connect to the theme?
The motif of
____________________________
contributes to the theme of/that
__________
____________________________ by _______
_______________________________________.
9
Embedded Motif cont.
In Context (with Fitzgerald #)
Connection to Theme cont.
How does this motif connect to the theme?
2
3
Which motif makes the strongest connection to the theme? Why? Complete sentences required.
T
Good Analysis Looks Like…
S
E
C
Directions: Label theme, summary, evidence, commentary.
While hunting in the jungle, the sudden cry of a bird startles Jack and he, “shrank at this cry with a hiss
of indrawn breath, and for a minute [he] became less a hunter than a furtive thing, ape like among the tangles
of the trees” (Author 49). Using imagery to describe Jack as an ignorant animal alludes to the author’s point
about the inevitability of the breakdown of society. Only for a minute does Jack revert to savagery, but he is
unable to control this reversion as it is now a natural instinct. The author exposes Jack’s beastly reaction upon
surprise to convey how hunting in the jungle turns Jack into part of the wilderness.
10
What theme is the paragraph above analyzing? __________________________________________________
T
Good Analysis Looks Like…
S
E
C
Directions: Label theme, summary, evidence, commentary.
Caught up in the reenactment of the hunt, “Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handle of that
brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was overmastering” (Author 51). Ralph’s ability to
fall into group violence is dismaying because he is supposed to be the strong democratic power. Golding
includes Ralph in the reenactment to reveal that even society’s leaders can be corrupted by power. Ralph’s
desire to hurt another boy comes from the power he feels when caught up in the mob of reenactment.
What theme is the paragraph above analyzing? __________________________________________________
Directions: Review your two essay options from page 2. Fill out the prompt with respect to your assignment.
Remember to underline the title of the book. I chose prompt A – B. (Circle one). My essay prompt is:
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
Planning, Prewriting, Brainstorming
Rough Thesis – Get this approved before you begin the outline!
11
Make a rough outline below for your body paragraphs. Include embedded text evidence.
12
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