The Great Gatsby  

AoE: Time & Space  
The purpose of this assignment is to increase your schema in order to help you understand the nuances 
of the historical and cultural allusions and context within the novel. Your goal is to explore each topic 
through online articles and videos as a form of background research.   
 

#1: 
The 
Roaring 
Twenties 
& 
The Jazz 
Age 

 
The ROARING TWENTIES:  
 
Check out this short 6 minute ​video​ and answer the following 
questions. ​*I picked this movie because it was impressively 
created by high school students! 
 
1. What two primary media advances were made during 
this time period? How do you think this affected 
American society? 
Radios and film were advanced during this time. Radios 
allowed everyone to stay up to date on the most recent news 
and the increase in films created an advantage in the 
entertainment industry and allowed more people to be able to 
watch films.  
 
2. In what ways did the arts progress during the 1920’s and 
which group seemed to benefit most from it? 
Literary and visual arts were influenced by the Harlem 
Renaissance which and began to cast a light on the African 
American culture. The African Americans benefited the most 
from this because it led to the Civil Rights movement and gave 
them racial pride.  
 

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3. How did women evolve during this period? 

Young women called flappers became popular. They had 
bobbed hair and shorter skirts and they often drank, smoked, 
and had more sexual freedom than the conservative women 
from before.  
 
4. Summarize the essential aspect of the Roaring 20’s and 
explain what primarily caused it, according to the video:   
WW1 created incredible economic growth for American 
weapon manufacturers who supplied the allies with weapons 
for the war. This caused annual incomes to rise, changing the 
economy in preparation for the Roaring 20s. During the 
Roaring 20s, many technological and industrial advances were 
made including the introduction of the radio, an increase in 
film-making, and Henry Ford’s mass production of the 
automobile. Additionally, flappers challenged the conservative 
view toward women and the artistic changes that came from 
the Harlem Renaissance gave African Americans a strong 
platform to express their racial pride.   
 

#2: 
Immigration 

 
IMMIGRATION: 
 

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Next, watch this ​Khan Academy video​ and answer the 

following questions. ​*If you’re already tired of videos, feel free 
to skip around the document, as the next two sections require 
reading articles.  
 
1. What causes mass migration into cities from rural 
farms? 
The cities provided economic opportunities for immigrants and 
also migrants within the country because of all the newly 
available factory jobs.  
 
2. Again, how does the role of women evolve during this 
time period? ​Your answer will be different than the one 
above… 
There was an increase in the need for clerical workers (ex. 
secretaries) nurses and teachers so white women began to take 
these jobs. By the end of the 1920s, about 25% of women 
worked outside of the home.   
 
3. What causes a resurgence of the KKK, as well as the 
government desiring to pass the Emergency Quota Act 
and the Immigration Restriction Act? 
People bagan to realize that Amrerica had less and less 
people coming from Northern and western Europe so this 
causes the KKK to target African Americans as well as Jews 
and Catholics who had recently immigrated from Southern and 
Eastern Europe. The fear that America was becoming less 
“american” due to immigrants also cuased congress to pass the 
Emergency Quota Act and the Immigration Restriction Act to 
limir the amount of immigrants from Europe.  
 
4. Finally, what do these laws and racist groups show 
about who they believed were eligible to be part of the 
American people during this time period?  
These laws and rascist groups showed that people from 
Northern and Western european countries were seen to be 
more ideal citizens than people from Southern and Eastern 
Europe, African Americans, and Asians.  
 

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#3:  PROHIBITION:  
Prohibition   
First, augment your schema by researching the term 
prohibition​ and write the definition here IN YOUR OWN 
WORDS: 
Prohibition was when the law banned the manufacturing and 
selling of alchohol.  
 
Do the same for the term ​bootlegger​:  
A bootlegger is someone who makes or sells something illegally 
(such as alchohol in the 1920’s).  
 
Then do the same for the term ​speakeasy​:  
A speakeasy was a store of club that sold illegal products such 
as alchohol in the 1920’s.  
 
Next, visit the ​PBS article​ and skim through to find the crucial 
information to answer the following questions:  
 
1. What were TWO causes of America’s prohibition? 
Many people believed the country needed to return to simpler 
times when alchohol didn’t have as much of an importance. 
They didn’t agree with the new changes that came in the 1920s 
and they wanted to restore some old beliefs and behaviors. 
Another reason was that Americans had gotten so addicted to 
achohol that congress hope the prohibition laws would 

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decrease their temptations to drink.  

 
2. According to the article, what were the unintended 
effects of the prohibition laws (which would undoubtedly 
happen again today!)?  
The Probihition laws actually increased people’s desire to drink 
and find alchohol becuase they were told they couldn’t so they 
became eager to find some illegally. It also resulted in 
bootleggers who illegally make and sold alchohol and 
speakeasys began popping up as places where individuals 
could go to drink.  
 
3. STOP READING when the article starts to discuss ​The 
Great Gatsby​ storyline! No spoilers! 
 
 

#5: 
The 
American 
Dream 
&  
The 
Self-Made 
Man 

 
The AMERICAN DREAM: 
 
Quickly review the ​Investopedia Article​ and watch the short 
movie on the site to learn about the American Dream. Then, 
list at least THREE main concepts associated with this dream:  
1. Anyone (no matter the class or ethnicity) can obtain 
success 
2. Political and economic freedom allows people to make 
their own decisions to affect their lives 
3. Everyone has personal rights that cannot be taken 
away (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) 
 
Next, visit this ​article​ and read through the sub-section titled, 
“The Self-Made Man Myth and The American Dream.” ​*You do 
not have to read the entire page! ​Then, list at least EIGHT 
qualities that a self-made man will have, or will definitely not 
have, according to the author:  

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1. Perseverance 
2. Hard work 
3. Ingenuity 
4. Concern for others 
5. Determination 
6. Good reputation 
7. Middle-class place in society 
8. Not have inherited fortune/ privileges 
 

  LAST, in a short paragraph of 4-5 sentences, make a case 

whether or not the American Dream and the Self-Made 
Man still exists today, nearly a hundred years after ​The 
Great Gatsby​ was written: 
The American Dream still exists today because those who 
are born into poor families still have the ability to educate 
themselves enough to achieve success. This however does 
not come easy for everyone because they still need the key 
qualities of a Self-Made Man which include hard work, 
ingenuity, and perseverance. With these qualities hey can 
discover what they need to do in order to obtain their own 
personal goals. Wealth in today’s society does not always 
signify a Self-Made man because some people are wealthy 
simply from their inheritance. Success ad the American 
Dream can be achieved by anyone who desires and seeks 
it.  
 
 

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