The Great Gatsby – Analysis Essay
Purpose : You will analyze Fitzgerald’s writing to explain how your assigned character or setting
communicates a conflict present in the novel.
Grade Break Down:
1. Content Grade
 This grade will come from the content of your final draft, is a major grade, and will follow the
analysis essay rubric.
2. Process Grade
 This grade is a weighted minor grade (it counts as more than one minor grade) and will be
graded as follows:
o
o
o
o
25% - brainstorming and outlining
25% - creating a draft
25% - having a peer, parent or other trusted person read and fill out the review sheet for the draft
over spring break
25% - making significant revisions and editing your paper for errors before submitting a final copy
3. “Justifying My Writing Choices”
 This grade is a weighted minor grade (it counts as more than one minor grade) and will ask you
to justify the decisions you made as a writing through your writing process.
Part I: Topic, Brainstorming, and Outlining
Assigned Topic: ____________________________________
You must choose language choices to analyze and decide what conflict your topic reveals. Remember, you
will have to turn in your brainstorming for part of your grade. Before you begin drafting, you should
know what your thesis statement will be, what quotes you will use, and what devices/language choices you
are analyzing. The format for your brainstorming and outlining is up to you.
If you are assigned a character, consider analyzing the following:



Type of diction used to describe
character
Characterization such as:
o Voice
o Appearance
o Body language
Colors associated with character


Relationships with other characters
Figurative language used in association
with character such as:
o Similes and metaphors
o Symbols
o Irony
o Paradox
o Juxtaposition
o Flashbacks
If you are assigned a setting, consider analyzing the following:




Adjectives used to describe place
Colors associated with setting
Events that occur in setting
The setting’s location in reference to
other places


The characters that live or visit the
setting
Figurative language such as:
o Similes and metaphors
o Symbols
o Imagery
o Verb tense used to describe event
Part II: Drafting

You must submit a draft of your essay. You can handwrite your draft or type it. Showing that you made
significant changes to your draft before submitting a final copy will be a 25% of your process grade.
Part III: Essay Review

25% of your process grade will come from having a peer, parent or other trusted person read and
comment on your draft over spring break.

Take the “Essay Review Sheet” (also available on my website) and ask a peer, parent or other
trusted person to read your essay and answer the questions. Remember to be respectful and
courteous.
Part IV: Editing, Revising, and “Justifying My Writing Choices”

Edit and revise your essay using strategies you have learned this year in English or previously in your
education as well as the comments your reader made about your essay.

Your final essay should:
o Have an MLA heading
o Be double-spaced in Times New Roman
o Have a unique title that communicates something about your topic and the conflict you
investigated
o Have correct internal citations. Remember, citations look like the following:
 “Quote” (Fitzgerald 3).

Fill out the “Justifying My Writing Choices” questions.
AFTER SUBMITTING YOUR ESSAY TO
TURNITIN.COM, YOU SHOULD TURN IN THE
FOLLOWING, STAPLED AND IN THIS ORDER:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Your final draft
Your “Justifying My Writing Choices” worksheet
Your rough draft
The “Essay Review Sheet”
Your outline
Your brainstorming