The Great Gatsby Unit
Student Preparation:
Intro to Fitzgerald:
Reading:
Bernice Bobs Her Hair
Babylon Revisited
Chapters 1 and 2:
Questions
Vocab: peremptory, contiguous, ectoplasm
Character webs for Nick, Tom, Daisy, Myrtle
Chapters 3 and 4:
Questions
Vocab: innuendo, subterfuge, punctilious
Character webs: Gatsby, Jordan, Nick, Daisy
Chapters 5 and 6:
Questions
Vocab: nebulous, meretricious, debauchee
Chapters 7 and 8:
Questions
Vocab: expostulation, redolent, fortuitously
Chapter 9:
Questions
Vocab: pasquinade, pandered, commensurate
Classwork/homework assignments and
discussions:
Activities:
Jazz Age info/ “wonderful nonsense” vs. “shaken”
faith
Theme: the American Dream/corruption
Writing Style:
 complex syntax with details, punctuation
 symbols
 imagery
 Rambling that leads to order in the end
Activities:
Modeling Fitzgerald’s characterization and writing
technique
Discussion: hope, paradox, self-discovery, illusions,
possessiveness, mood
Structure: rising action, exciting force, conflict,
exposition
Activities:
Discussion: style, mood, juxtaposition (East/West
Egg as contrasts), hope, illusion, symbolism (cars),
conflict
Activities:
Discussion: “Be careful what you wish for. You
may get it.”
Discussion: Contrast graphic organizer “Tom vs.
Gatsby” during Gatsby’s party
Discussion: symbolism (green light),
hopes/paradox, flashback, Gatsby illusion timeline
of Gatsby’s emotions for Daisy from the time they
met
Activities:
Motive: What reasons does Daisy have for inviting
Nick to visit her home for dinner? What reason(s)
does Nick have for accepting?
Characterize Michaelis using web
Style: address five senses graphic organizer and
show examples of Fitzgerald’s usage in these two
chapters.
Discussion: self-discovery, possessiveness,
paradox, illusion/hope, flashback, symbolism
(Daisy’s voice), climax
Activities:
Two love triangles/effect on plot—how would
ending have changed if Wilson had only
committed suicide?
Characterization: continue Tom’s web from ch 1-2.
Discussion: juxtaposition, irony, illusion,
symbolism (reckless use of automobiles), selfdiscovery
Post-reading activities:
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Have Tom and Daisy taken a moral responsibility for their actions? If not, are they likely to do so
now that Gatsby and Wilson are dead?
Symbolism of “eyes of Dr. Eckleburg”
Compare/contrast George and Tom as husbands
Chart how Nick and Jordan’s relationship changes during the course of the novel.
Chart the changes Nick undergoes during the course of the novel.
Chart how Gatsby attitude, Daisy’s attitude and their relationship changes.
Symbolism of the “valley of ashes”—note images Fitzgerald uses to describe this landscape.
How does the setting seem to affect the people who live there? How does the setting relate to
the novel’s themes and plot?
Note references to color in the novel. What images or character are they associated with?
What are the symbolic representations of the colors in each context?
Corruption of the American Dream as exemplified throughout the novel in characters like Tom,
Daisy, Nick, Gatsby, Jordan, etc.