The Great GatsbyWriting Assignments

Accelerated AMERICAN LITERATURE

American Dream Interview Assignment
To complete this assignment, you will need to conduct an interview with one person from each of the
following age groups:
1 !" # $"
! $% # &"
$ &% # ""
& "% and older
1' As( each person the following )uestions:
*lease define the +American Dream',
What does the +American Dream, mean to you-
These )uestions may sound the same, .ut they are actually very different'
!' /ecord the interviewee,s answers'
$' Write a .rief paper 0!1$ pages detailing your interview with each individual, and .e sure to add
)uotes from your interviewees when you feel using their words will help support your paper' Then
compare their views of the American Dream to yours' In your paper, .e sure to ponder why you feel
your interviewees have similar and2or varying responses to your answers' 3se a standard introduction1
.ody1conclusion format, and in this paper using I and your personal opinions are accepta.le'
The Great Gatsby Dialogue Assignment
4ou and your friends live in 5ew 4or( 6ity during the /oaring !7,s, and you have all attended 0or are
attending a famous 8ats.y party' 3sing a list of 19!7,s slang, generate a dialogue .etween yourself
and two or three of your friends' 0:ee my we.site for a variety of 19!7s slang lin(s' 4ou must generate
at least thirty 0$7 lines of dialogue' ;e sure to put the definition of each slang word after it in
parentheses' 4ou may wor( with up to two partners, .ut the lines of dialogue will need to increase: si<ty
0%7 lines for two students and ninety 097 for three' NOTE: Earn bonus points by performing your
dialogue!
The Great Gatsby
Essay Questions
6hoose one of the following topics, and write a well1developed and supported essay' ;efore writing your paper, review and
use the :i< Traits of :uccessful Writing' Also review the 8uidelines for Writing a =ormal *aper handout' /emem.er,
your .est resource for formatting your writing is the Write for College te<t.oo('
:trive to ma(e this paper your strongest writing assignment yet'

The Great Gatsby essay topics
1' =' :cott =it>gerald,s novel focuses on the male characters, .ut he has several clearly delineated female characters as
well, each with her own desires, motivations, and needs'
Write an essay comparing and contrasting Daisy ;uchanan, ?yrtle Wilson, and @ordan ;a(er'
!' Tom ;uchanan and 8eorge Wilson are more similar than different' Write an essay in which you compare and
contrast these two men according to their attitudes toward women, their ways of showing violence, and their
reactions to .eing cuc(olded'
$' =it>gerald includes the following )uote in the last chapter of his novel:
They were careless people, Tom and DaisyAthey smashed up things and creatures and then
retreated .ac( into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that (ept them
together and let other people clean up the mess they had made ' ' ' 01BC11BB
6omment on the ways in which Tom and Daisy e<emplify this )uotation and the conse)uences of their choices'
&' =it>gerald uses his novel to portray and criti)ue a num.er of male1female relationships, some married, some not'
Analy>e the nature of male1female relationships in the novel'
"' Throughout the novel, we learn that 8ats.y,s goal in life since he was a young man is to win Daisy,s love'
Dverything he has wor(ed for was for her to desire him over the many other rich and respected men of their society,
including her hus.and'
After his hard wor(, why does =it>gerald suddenly stop 8ats.y from having his dream come true Eust when it seems
it will- Discuss how 8ats.y,s final destiny helps to demonstrate the shallow, empty, materialistic values of the
people who comprise the society'
%' 6ompare and contrast any two places in the novel, e<plaining how the places differ, what each place sym.oli>es,
and how each reflects the society of the times and the morals and values of its inha.itants'
C' :ome characters are staticF they remain the same from start to finish' Gthers are dynamicF they emerge at the end,
having undergone a su.stantial change'
Is 5ic( a static or dynamic character- Does he change- If so, how- If not, why not-
B' The theme of seeing and not seeing, or variations on .lindness, permeates the novel' Dyes are everywhere: Dr' T' @'
Dc(le.urg,s on the .ill.oard, Gwl Dyes, a dog loo(ing with .lind eyes through the smo(e 0&1, a man .linded .y
the glare of the headlights 0"9, and 5ic(,s comment that the Dast is haunted for me ' ' ' distorted .eyond my
eyes, power of correction, 01B"'
Analy>e the treatment of .lindness, and of seeing and not seeing, in the novel'
I have one more essay question for you, but you will have to wait until after you have read Chapter 8 to see it