Gatsby Chapter Experts, presentation planning

In-class planning time for Gatsby presentation. Following planning, there is time to read the novel.

Wednesday: Have read Chapters 1-3 in preparation for presentations.

Thursday: Quiz, Chapters 1-3.

The Great Gatsby

Chapter Experts Presentation

Assignments

You will serve as Gatsby experts for one chapter, as assigned below.  Experts will lead a 10 minute class presentation/discussion about the chapter.  It is your job to keep the discussion moving and keep the focus on the text.  You must be prepared for your discussion and knowledgeable about your chapter.  Though you may discuss anything of note from your chapter, you must be prepared to discuss whatever you classmates would like to discuss from your chapter. 

Plan your Presentation!  Phone, e-mail, or meet at Caribou!  No standing in front of  class, fumbling about!  No saying, “We did Chapter 4.” Do something fun and interesting!  How about a game?  A quiz?  Acting out a portion of the chapter?  How about prizes? All group members must participate!

Plan to include a discussion of the following:

·         author’s style and rhetorical techniques

·         important quotations

·         characterization/character development

·         symbols

·         themes

Note:  Do not discuss any information for the chapters that follow your chapter, but you may discuss events leading up to your chapters.  For example, if you are assigned a discussion of Chapter Six, you may discuss anything leading up to Chapter Six, but avoid mentioning anything from Chapter Seven.

            On the day of your discussion, you will each show your preparation by turning in a written copy of a minimum of ten questions you had planned to use during your discussion.  Your questions should be thought provoking and open ended.  Do not ask any questions that would elicit monosyllabic responses.  Your partners will also turn in the questions they have prepared. 

Each chapter expert must turn in the following:

·         two specific questions about the author’s style and rhetorical techniques (effect, intent, etc.)

·         two questions about meaningful direct quotations (significance, purpose, effect, etc.)

·         two questions about characterization (technique, effect, development/change, etc.)

·         two questions about symbols (weather, the ash heap, eyes of T.J. Eckleberg, green light etc.)

·         two questions about themes (cynicism, idealism, decline of American dream, materialism, hollowness of upper class, etc.)

Note:  The suggestions in parentheses are just that - suggestions.  It would be beneficial to you, as a chapter expert, to have more questions prepared and to delve more deeply into the text to find the keys to understanding your chapter.

Grading

            You will be graded on the following:

• individual preparation for discussion of assigned chapter (written questions)
• individual role in leading an engaging and knowledgeable discussion (15 minutes)
• individual participation in all chapter discussions

Note:  There may be other in-class assignments related to the novel, but these are the planned activities at this point.

Schedule and Groups

            Experts must be prepared to present and all students must be prepared to contribute to discussions according to the following schedule:

·         Chapter One                Wednesday, 4/9                                             

·         Chapter Two               Wednesday, 4/9                                 

·         Chapter Three             Wednesday, 4/9                                 

·         Chapter Four               Tuesday, 4/15

·         Chapter Five               Tuesday, 4/15             

·         Chapter Six                 Tuesday, 4/15 

·         Chapter Seven             Tuesday, 4/22 

·         Chapter Eight              Wednesday, 4/23                   

·         Chapter Nine/final      Thursday, 4/24                       

Note:  The final group will be expected to cover Chapter Nine briefly, but they should also plan for a final discussion of the novel as a whole.  They should be prepared to look at themes and symbols that appear throughout the novel, and to look at how characters are developed throughout the novel.

Other Fun Stuff

• Explore, if only briefly, the historical context of the novel.  As you look for themes and the importance of symbols throughout Gatsby, an understanding of the time period in which Fitzgerald was living and writing will be helpful. 
• Consider the narrator of the novel – what he knows and when he knows it (How reliable is he?).
• Think about how readers of today might view the novel in a different light due to what is known about the historical events that followed the time period in which this novel is set.  How might the audiences of Fitzgerald’s day have reacted differently to the novel? 
• Examine some of the other working titles for the novel – “Among the Ash Heaps and the Millionaires,” “Trimalchio in West Egg,” and “Gold-hatted Gatsby.”  How fitting is Fitzgerald’s final choice?