Great Gatsby Unit Choice Board
Activity #1
It’s always important to take into account the
influence that the time period and historical
events have on the chosen novel we are
reading. In our case, The Great Gatsby is set in
the 1920’s, therefore you must create a
timeline of historical events on Padlet that
occurred within the 1920’s. Then, you must
compare the historical events (acts that may
have been passed, social norms, perhaps even
entertainment related events) with a timeline
of the events that occurred in the novel. Lastly,
you must give a brief explanation as to how
you think each historical event may have
contributed to each event that occurred within
the novel. This assignment will be worth 15
points, 5 for each timeline and 5 for your
explanation.
Activity #5
It is important to visualize the settings
involved in The Great Gatsby in order to more
easily comprehend the text. In order to do so,
if you choose this activity, you will receive a
worksheet with a diagram comparing the
settings of East Egg and West Egg. You can
compare the people, the culture, the physical
settings, or any other elements you believe are
relevant. You must also support these claims
with evidence from the text that is properly
cited. After you have compared the settings,
you must write a summary about the
similarities and differences and how these
ultimately relate to the theme of the novel.
There must be five comparisons and five
contrasts, each word one point while the
summary is worth an additional three points.
Activity #2 Activity #3
There are many distinct controversies
regarding The Great Gatsby such as the
question of “Is Nick Carraway a reliable
narrator”, “Did Gatsby really love Daisy or
was he just pursuing the American Dream?”,
“Are there any truly moral people within
The Great Gatsby?” and many more. You
have the choice to form your own opinion
about a possible question I have listed (or
create your own and run it by me), form a
group of likeminded people to discuss this
opinion with, and have a healthy and fair
debate with another group in the class that
shares the opposite opinion. If you choose
this assignment, you will discuss a strategy
with your group, make an outline on Google
Docs, and present your debate. This
assignment is worth 20 points, 10 for the
outline and group work, and 10 for the actual
presentation.
Activity #6
It is very helpful for students to understand
the background of the author of the novel in
question in order to gain insight into the
theme of the novel. In alignment with that,
this activity would allow students to research
the biography of F. Scotts Fitzgerald and
draw comparisons between his life and The
Great Gatsby. You are encouraged to
compare topics such as Fitzgerald’s view on
money, The American Dream, romance, the
military, or in relation to politics. You will
make a comparison between five different
aspects of Fitzgerald’s life in relation to
events in The Great Gatsby, worth one point
each. Then, you will write a brief summary
detailing how you believe these comparisons
affected the Fitzgerald’s writing within The
Great Gatsby and the ultimate theme.
Activity #4
As you may know, in 2013, a movie
adaptation of The Great Gatsby was
produced. Although you may not
watch the movie as a replacement
for reading the novel, you do have a
choice of watching the movie after
reading the novel and creating an
analysis regarding the similarities
and differences of the two. You will
be provided graphic organizers
detailing two sections that include a
comparison between characters, the
treatment of the American Dream,
and important symbols (T.J
Eckleberg, The Valley of Ashes,
etc). You will then fill out the
graphic organizer comparing each
adaptation, you must use quotes for
the book portion. In all, you will fill
out five sections (which will each be
worth 5 points) for each adaptation
with the inclusion of quotations
(worth another 5 points).
Activity #7
An age old question regarding The
Great Gatsby is that of “Was Nick
Carraway a reliable narrator?”. To
not only answer this question, but do
so in a creative way, I encourage you
to participate in this activity which
asks you to not only respond to this
question, but also include why you
answered in this manner, all on a
VoiceThread where you will respond
to three other people. Of course, you
will need evidence from the text to
support your answer and you have to
read these passages from the text out
loud. You may respond either in
voice or video format, and you must
respond respectfully to each person.
Your initial response is worth five
points, and each additional response
to other students will be 3 points.
One of the most valuable learning
experiences one can get from The Great
Gatsby is the sheer amount of literary
devices within the novel. It is important
within an English class to become familiar
with the concept of these devices such as
symbols, motifs, themes, settings, and
character traits as well as how to identify
them within a novel and how they
contribute to the overall theme. Therefore,
for this assignment you will receive several
index cards where on one side you will
identify and define a literary device and on
the other side you will provide a quote
where this literary device is in the text as
well as an analysis showing the connection
between the device and the theme of the
novel. You will then place these on the
board with magnets where we can review
answers as a class. The device, explanation,
and quote are each worth 5 points coming
out to 15 points.
Activity #8
It’s natural to feel an inclination towards
certain characters based on their history and
development, however a lot of characters in
The Great Gatsby are ‘hard to read’.
Therefore, in this activity, you will team up
(groups of two) and create a PowerPoint
presentation on Google Slides where you
argue who the most developed character in
The Great Gatsby is along with justification
(and quotes/citations), and then work your
way down to the least developed character
in your eyes. You must create at least 10
slides, worth two points each that require
one image, one title, one body of text, and
one quote with proper citation. Then, you
must present the slideshow to the class
which is worth an additional ten points.