The Great Gatsby Chapter 7
Getting Inside Characters’ Heads
There is a LOT of tension in this chapter, as the characters’ hopes and dreams collide, come crashing down, fizzle, or burst into fireworks! Creative Part: Monologue or Dialogue
1) Option one—an interior monologue or diary entry at least 300 words long (include word count)—entails getting inside the head of a character you find personally interesting at a tense (or otherwise interesting) moment and presenting that character’s inner thoughts. You are to write in first person in the “voice” of that character. What would your character be thinking about in this moment, and how would he or she feel about it? Interesting moments to consider: lunch at the Buchanan’s, Gatsby and Daisy’s displays of affection, the drive to New York, the argument at the suite at the Plaza, the accident, after the accident, the drive back to Long Island. Character choices: Gatsby Nick Daisy Tom Jordan Myrtle George 2) Option two—a screenplay of more than three pages of an imagined dialogue not in Fitzgerald’s novel—entails dramatizing the interactions of two characters in a tense moment. Choices: • Myrtle and George, after George finds out that something “funny” is going on • Daisy and Tom, as they sit together in their dining room at the end of chapter seven Fitzgerald did not reveal what these characters might say to each other as their relationships seem to be falling apart and at least one of them attempts to put it back together. What do you imagine they would say to each other? How would they act toward each other? Include ACTION as well as DIALOGUE. The monologue or screenplay is worth at much as 30 points. Expectations: • Sound like the character. Tone, grammar, and word choice matter. Myrtle and George do not use the same level of vocabulary as Nick, Tom, Daisy, or Jordan nor speak in such “collegiate” grammar. • Think like the character. Each of the characters is concerned with different events in the pasts and has his/her own unique perspective on it. Imagine what the character would think about and how he/she would feel about what he/she is thinking about. Analytical Part: Artist’s Statement of Intent
You will then explain your choices in an Artist’s Statement at least 250 words long (include word count) that details ü at least FIVE previous events that are influencing the character’s emotions or reactions at that time ü Page citations indicating where these events are in the novel and ü how these past events influence what you had the character(s) say in the “present.” The Artist’s Statement of Intent is worth at much as 30 points.