The Great Gatsby: overview of
context
Quick…google!......
Anything associated with the following
dates- in America and France 5 mins.
1925: when ‘The Great
Gatsby’ was published
1923-24 – when
Fitzgerald
started to write
the novel
1922- when ‘The Great
Gatsby’ was set.
Naming an era Bright Young Things
•
•
The following are
names that have
been given to the
era (particulary in
America) around
the approximate
time of setting,
writing and
publication of ‘The
Great Gatsby.’
What does this list
suggest about this
period of time, and
the people who
came to adulthood
during it? Annotate
it with your ideas:
Jazz
Age
La generation de Feu
Roaring
Twenties
Golden Twenties
Golden Age of Hollywood
World war 1
generation
Pre-Depression era
The Flapper Era
Prohibition Era
Inter-War
Lost generation
When you finish: how many of these names do you
think would be applied during the era and which
ones can only be given AFTERWARDS.
More quick Googling!
• In groups, take one or two of the era ‘labels’
and make five bullet points from a brief 2
minute online search.
• Share this information with the class.
‘The greatest, gaudiest spree in history:’ Historical Context
• Watch the EMC clip ‘historical context.’
• Use your sheet- or an digital table of your own- to make notes under the
following headings, highlighting any connections between context and
novel that you find interesting.
Key points
World War 1
Immigration
and migration
Prohibition
The Position
of Women
The
Consumer
Society
Connections
with novel
Other notes
The Intellectual and Cultural Context
• Watch Nicolas Tredall discuss three key intellectual and cultural
developments in the early twentieth century. (‘Cultural Context.’)
• Fill in the table with ideas about how the cultural context may have
influenced and shaped the following:
Aspects of
narrative
Plot events
Setting
characterisation
themes
Narrative voice and
structure
language
Your notes
Now Use The text
• In groups, look back into the text to select eight short
quotations relating to one of the contextual areas on slide
5. Make sure all the areas are covered by the class.
• In the same groups, select one quotation to also comment
on the aspects of narrative in slide 6. An example is given
on the next slide.
• THEN:
• INDIVIDUALLY write a short summary (no more than 150
words that you think sums up the relationship between the
text and its context.
Example for group activity.
Suggests some
Places the novel in a post-war context, without
a need to mention a date.
tension between the
riotous extremes of
the new era and the
austere nature of the
previous one.
Carraway has
spanned both.
When I came back from the east last autumn I felt that I wanted
the world to be in uniform, and at a sort of moral attention forever;
I wanted no more no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the
human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book,
was exempt from this reaction– ‘
Delayed information: we
only meet Gatsby later,
after his reputation is
established by Nick.
Suggests the first person nature of the
narrative– but also the
Identifies ‘Gatsby’ as
intradiegetic/homodiegetic
exceptional– extraordinary.
nature of it. He is inside the narrative but
also on the outside of the story being told.
Plenary
• What defines your own generation/era? If a novel was
written to define or encapsulate your generation or
era, what would it be? Has it been written yet?
• Come up with a list of names that you think your
generation/era could be known by. Why? Do you think
these labels are best applied retrospectively?
• Which names from the earlier slide (2) do you think
most effectively sums up the characters and time of
‘The Great Gatsby?’ Why?
Homework
• Take a look at this YouTube documentary
made by the American Broadcasting
Corporation and record your thoughts on how
it is relevant to your understanding of ‘The
Great Gatsby.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN7ftyZi
gYs
• If the link does not work type in 1920-1929:
Boom to Bust into a You Tube search engine.