The title slide must have all group

member’s first and last names listed, a title

for the presentation (does not NEED to have
the name of the critical lens in it, but it
should connect in some way to the critical
lens), and at least one well-thought-out
image

by: Mark Tomse, Chad Peterson, Andy

Bohr, Ronnie Urbealis

A Narratological
Reading of The
Great Gatsby
ALL SLIDES must appear well designed
(evident of the amount of class time you are
given to work on them) and must have at
least one well-thought-out image that is
clearly connected to the topic of the
slide/presentation.
**Example for Benchmark III
The second slide of the presentation should be focused on
an explanation of your group’s critical lens. You should
NOT simply read a definition off. Rather, you must
explain in your own words what the focus of the critical
lens is, the types of questions that one would ask about a
text in order to read from that perspective, and perhaps an
example of its use (using a different, more familiar, text).
The Narratological
Critical Lens
• Narratology Definition: The branch of
literary criticism that deals with the
structure and function of narrative and
its themes, conventions, and symbols.
• Focus of the Lens:
• The way that the story is told not
necessarily the contents of the story
itself.
• Consider the metaphor of a box that contains objects
that tell things about who you are. Narratology is
concerned with the way in which the objects are
packed into the box and how the box itself is put
together (as opposed to the objects it holds).
 Each group should have ONE thesis, and it should follow
the format that we have practiced in class:

Thesis
Author (+) Title (+) Critical Lens Idea (+) Thematic Idea

(A list of connecting verbs to use between the “Critical Lens

Idea” and the “Thematic Idea” are on the class website)

• In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby,

the use of ellipses in Nick Carraway’s
narration, as well as Nick’s continual
focus on convincing the reader that he is
“different” despite his actions, reveals
Carraway’s inability to function as an
objective party and underscores a lack of
narrator reliability.
 Even though I have three quotes listed here, Extra quotes intentionally added as
each slide should only have one quote. possible examples. Students are
expected to elaborate and explain

Quote #1
Following the quote (on the same slide), the connection of the quotes to each
there should be 2-3 main points. The other, and, in turn, the thesis.
student in connection should spend 30-60
seconds discussing each bullet point to the
thesis.
• “I’m inclined to reserve all judgments, a
habit that has opened up many curious Each group member should present two
natures to me and also made me the victim
of not a few veteran bores” (Fitzgerald 1). quotes each. So if you have the maximum of
three members total, your group should have
• “I have been drunk just twice in my life, six quotes in the presentation (two for each
and the second time was that afternoon; so
everything that happened has a dim, hazy member).
cast over it, although until after eight
o’clock the apartment was full of cheerful
sun” (Fitzgerald 29).
• “He smiled understandingly—much more
than understandingly. It was one of those
rare smiles with a quality of eternal
reassurance in it, that you may come across
four or five times in life. It faced—or
seemed to face—the whole external world
for an instant, and then concentrated on you
with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.
It understood you just as far as you wanted
to be understood, believed in you as you
would like to believe in yourself, and
assured you that it had precisely the
impression of you that, at your best, you
hoped to convey.” (Fitzgerald 48).
 Quote #2
Extra quotes intentionally added
as possible examples. Students
are expected to elaborate and
explain the connection of the
quotes to each other, and, in
turn, the thesis.
Even though I have three quotes listed here, • At the close of the third chapter, Nick opines:
each slide should only have one quote.
Following the quote (on the same slide), • “Reading over what I have written so far, I see I
there should be 2-3 main points. The have given the impression that the events of three
student in connection should spend 30-60 nights several weeks apart were all that absorbed
seconds discussing each bullet point to the
thesis.
me. On the contrary, they were merely casual
events in a crowded summer, and, until much
Each group member should present two later, they absorbed me infinitely less than my
quotes each. So if you have the maximum of personal affairs” (Fitzgerald 55-56).
three members total, your group should have
six quotes in the presentation (two for each
member). • “Jordan Baker instinctively avoided clever,
shrewd men, and now I saw that this was because
she felt safer on a plane where any divergence
from a code would be thought impossible. She
was incurably dishonest” (Fitzgerald 57-58).

• “Every one suspects himself of at least one of the

cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the
few honest people that I have ever known”
(Fitzgerald 59).
 The conclusion slide should provide information (that
the presenters will explain in greater detail) about how
Conclusion their argument supported by the quotes helps to
change how someone might understand/read the
novel.

• How does this impact/change how Why is this thing you are arguing important? What
does it impact about the story that someone may
someone may understand the story? not have noticed immediately?
• Nick’s ongoing focus on convincing
the reader he is not the same
• Characterization of others is suspect
• Appears to be easily influenced by
the crowd

• Result = Nick Carraway’s narration is

not reliable for the reader. This
revelation necessitates a reevaluation
of the character’s and events.