Lesson video

Hi, everyone, this is Mr. Chandrapala here, and I'm really looking forward to working with you today.

We're gonna be discussing how to develop a personal response to F.

Scott Fitzgerald's classic 1920s novel, "The Great Gatsby" In all honesty, this was, for a long time, my favourite novel, and it is still one I think of very fondly of today, so I'm so looking forward to diving into it with you now.

Let's get into it.

So our outcome for today is that we can develop a personal response to a literary extract.

Our keywords include the noun, theme, which is a repeated idea in a literary work; the context of the American Dream, which is the idea that all Americans have the right to achieve success and prosperity; the Jazz Age, which is a period in the USA, 1920s USA, specifically, known for its freedom, exuberance, and its carefree parties, particularly for the upper class; and finally, the verb, console, which means to comfort someone in a time of disappointment.

So we're gonna start off today by forming opinions on literary texts.

I want you to pause the video and discuss with the person next to you, or maybe jot down some ideas, what is the difference between an opinion and a fact? Once you've done so, hit play.

Some lovely ideas there, everyone.

So when we're thinking about a fact, we're thinking about something that is provable, something that is, you know, unarguable, whilst an opinion is a belief or feeling that we may have, that we are trying to share.

So when we're talking about a fact, we may say, "Well, the story takes place on an island," but the opinion will be, "The writer makes the island seem extravagant and carefree." That's because an opinion is a view or judgement formed on something, not necessarily based on fact.

This means each opinion is a personal response, which is what we're trying to develop today.

Everyone can respond to a text differently, and therefore, there is the potential to have multiple different opinions on the text.

Even you will maybe go through two or three different views on the same character, in the same scene, and that's absolutely fine.

That's actually really encouraged, and it means that you are going to be able to evaluate how you feel about these characters.

So we're going to practise forming some of our own opinions by considering the last book you read, or a book you have read in class.

To do this, you're gonna discuss with the person next to you or maybe jot down some ideas, if you're working independently, what you liked about that book's opening and what you disliked about it.

To do this, you may want to use these opinion sentence starters, such as "Personally, I believe" and "In my opinion".

Once you've done so, hit play.

It's really lovely hearing how many of you are such avid readers, and it's so great to hear such a wide range of texts being read.

Even those of you who were just talking about "The Great Gatsby," I was so impressed by the level of knowledge you were showing, and that memory of that opening, which is so distinctive, I think.

So here are some opinions that you may have given.

Opinion one could have been, "Personally, I didn't like the text because it was boring," whilst opinion two is, "Personally, I disliked the text because it portrayed the lifestyles of the excessively rich, something I didn't relate to." Now, both of these are meant to be, I believe, for "The Great Gatsby," but there is a difference between them.

I want you, again, to pause the video and discuss which opinion you think you are more inclined to listen to, so which one do you think is actually better presented? But can you also explain why that is, why would you engage with that opinion, just a little bit more.

Pause the video, have that discussion, and when you're ready, hit play.

A lot of you were really canny in the way that you worked through that.

A lot of you were thinking really deeply about actually how this is presented.

So opinion two is a much more developed opinion, isn't it? It's starting to think about, actually, why the text is something that the candidate doesn't relate to.

It's much more nuanced in its understanding, whilst opinion one, yes, they may have found the text boring, but it doesn't try to explain it, and so it's a little bit unfounded.

So in order to add credibility to our opinions, we have to be able to justify them.

So how could we justify our opinion on the opening of a recent book you've read a little bit further? How can you prove that it is simply the best opening that you've read, or a really memorable one, or why would you say it is boring? Pause the video, have that discussion, and when you're ready, hit play.

That's much better now, isn't it? So we're starting, now, just to justify our opinions, which is so fantastic.

It's really going to uplevel our skills, and it means that we'll be able to carry that into our essay writing.

So let's just have a quick check for understanding here.

What can we do to add credibility to our opinions? How can we make our opinions more believable? Is it A, to prove them, B, justify them, or C, only state them if someone else agrees with you? I want you to pause the video, select an option, and when you're ready, hit play.

Well done, everyone.

So we would say it is that we need to justify them.

We need to be able to justify, so we need to be able to explain our reasoning.

We don't necessarily need to prove our opinion, sometimes it's quite difficult to prove an opinion, but justifying them, that's something we should be able to do.

So in today's lesson, we're going to focus on reading an extract from a novel called "The Great Gatsby" by F.

Scott Fitzgerald.

The novel is written by F.

Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, and is set in the 1920s during an era known as the Jazz Age.

It's a novel which explores themes such as wealth, class, and the American Dream, and it's narrated by the protagonist, Nick Carraway, who's recently moved to West Egg in New York.

The story takes place across two islands, the East and West Egg, and these are fictional places based on Long Island in New York.

So we're going to read this opening, and I want you to follow with me.

"I lived at West Egg, the, well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them.

My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season.

My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor's lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires, all for eighty dollars a month." So this is Nick Carraway talking about West Egg, and actually, his own home on the island.

But what do we learn about that setting from the narrator's opening? What would be something to pick up about West Egg? Pause the video, discuss with your partners, maybe you may want to start annotating now, and when you're ready, hit play.

So much to be said there, isn't there? So we could talk about the fact that, actually, Nick Carraway feels somewhat torn about the place, the fact that he says that West Egg is the less fashionable of the West and the East Egg, so clearly he understands that, how it is viewed societally, but also, he says that, actually, that doesn't almost do it justice, it's superficial, it doesn't express the bizarre nature of the place.

We may also wanna talk about the fact that he views his own art house as an eyesore.

Let's just think about that word eyesore.

It suggests that actually, it's really ugly to look at, it's a bit of a problem, but actually, it's comparatively cheap compared to everything else that's going on the island, which is, you know, 12-, 15,000 a month, in comparison to the $80 that he pays.

So it's an area of really vast inequality, as well.

So just a quick check for understanding here.

True or false? West Egg and East Egg are equally well regarded.

Pause the video, select an option, and when you're ready, hit play.

Fantastic there, everyone.

We can say that it is false, but can we justify it? Is it A, because West Egg is more fashionable than East Egg, or B, because East Egg is more fashionable than West Egg, Pause the video, select an option, and when you're ready, hit play.

Fantastic, it is because East Egg is more fashionable than West Egg.

So we're just gonna practise it.

I want you to read the extract of "The Great Gatsby" which is in your additional materials, and I want you to discuss your immediate personal response to the extract, focusing on your initial feelings and impressions, any lines or descriptions that stood out to you, and why, and how the setting and characters made you feel.

I need you to make sure that you're adding credibility to your opinion by justifying it with reference to the text.

Once you've done so, hit play.

Excellent work there, everyone.

So let's take some feedback.

Here's a couple of ways you may have approached the task.

You may have said, "Well, reading the extract from the Great Gatsby gave me a sense of curiosity and fascination.

The detailed descriptions of the settings and the characters immediately drew me into the world of the novel.

I felt intrigued by the contrast between the West and East Egg and wanted to learn more about the lives of the people living there." Or you could have said what Sam said: "One line that stood out to me was 'My own house was an eyesore.

' This description made me feel sympathetic towards Nick Carraway.

It highlighted his modest living situation amidst the opulence of his neighbours, suggesting a sense of humility, and perhaps even envy." What I actually really like about Sam's answer there, that answer on the right-hand side, is the fact that he's actually picked out a quote, and then been able to justify his response to it.

Really good work.

Pause the video now, see if there's anything you want to take from either of our Oak students, and when you're ready, hit play.

Excellent work there, everyone.

Let's keep moving.

I want you now to consider where you have set out a personal opinion to the text in your discussions.

How have you done it? We've seen how our two Oak students have done it.

Where have you done it, and how? Once you've done so, hit play.

Great work there.

Some of us were drawing the contrast between the two places, some of us were using evidence from the text, some of us were really explaining how we feel about it because of the language being used.

We're now going to develop forming our opinions on "The Great Gatsby." So the abstract we're introduced to includes the following characters: It includes Nick Carraway, our narrator, who has recently moved to the West Egg, we have Tom Buchanan, a wealthy college friend of Nick's, Daisy Buchanan, who happens to be Nick's cousin and is married to Tom, and Jay Gatsby, this mysterious neighbour with a grand mansion.

But what are our initial feelings to each of these characters, having read this extract? Pause the video, have that discussion, and when you're ready, hit play.

I, as I said right at the top, adore this novel, so it's so lovely to hear the range of opinions that you all have.

I heard so many of you really casting aspersions on Nick and even starting to question him because he is, you know, that unreliable narrator, and I also love how many of you are really fascinated by this character of Gatsby, who remains this fundamentally unknowable figure.

Excellent stuff, everyone.

Aisha had read the following, had read the extract and said the following: "Well, I think the character of Nick Carraway is a hypocrite." Aisha, I agree.

"He is critical of the wealth of the people like Buchanans, but he seems really envious of everything they have." Now, Aisha, as I said, has a great opinion here, but she could still support her idea further.

Talk to the person next to you, maybe jot some ideas down.

What could she do more to support her opinion? Once you've done that, hit play.

Excellent stuff there, everyone.

So Aisha could have added credibility to her opinion by justifying it with relevant references from the extract.

This is so important, if we can justify, prove our ideas, by actually making sure that we're linking back to specific parts of the text.

So if we have a look at a part of the extract, Aisha could turn to it and actually find evidence to support her personal response.

So if she's having a look at this quote, "My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore and had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor's lawn and the consoling proximity of millionaires, all for $80 a month." Well, what do we learn about Nick from that moment, and how does it support Aisha's opinion that Carraway is a hypocrite? Jot down some ideas, talk to the person next to you, pick out a key phrase, a little reference that you'd want to use.

When you're ready, hit play.

Excellent work there, everyone.

So we may have wanted to pick out this line: "My own house was an eyesore," "the proximity of millionaires," because it shows he's aware of his lower social status, but he consoles himself by being close to the wealth.

Or we could point out the fact that he says, "all for $80 a month," which shows that he does not or cannot live like his neighbours and has to enjoy a much more modest lifestyle, but he still wants to be surrounded by this wealth, which definitely suggests something about him.

We could also have a look at the line, "and the consoling proximity of millionaires, all for $80 a month," and suggests that he feels a sense of belonging by living close to wealth, despite not being as wealthy as they are.

He feels comforted by the fact that he's just close to them.

He thinks that he fits in.

So let's just have a quick check for understanding here.

Which of the statements below best sums up Nick Carraway's approach to wealth? Is it A, he is wealthy and likes to be surrounded by other wealthy people, B, he isn't wealthy, but seems to take a degree of comfort from being around those who are, or C, he isn't wealthy, and he despises those who are.

Pause the video, select an option, A, B, or C, and when you're ready, hit play.

Great work there, everyone.

So we can say it is B.

Nick Carraway isn't a wealthy man, he's paying only $80 to live on West Egg, but he seems to take a degree of comfort from those who are there and who are wealthy.

So we're just gonna practise putting all of this together.

I want you to reread the abstract from "The Great Gatsby," and I want you to choose one of the characters, so Nick, Daisy, Tom, or Jay, and I want you to answer the following question: What is your initial response to your chosen character? I then want you to justify your opinion with evidence from the text.

Once you've done that, hit play.

It's great to see so many of you get really into the minutiae of this text and really engage with it.

It's lovely to see.

Let's take some feedback.

So you may want to have approached this task by having a look at the quote, "Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward." This is an incredible way to introduce Tom Buchanan, and you may have said something like, "Well, this imagery portrays Tom Buchanan as a domineering and aggressive character.

His physical appearance seems to reflect his overbearing and arrogant personality.

It seems to me that Fitzgerald could subtly be suggesting here that Tom will be the novel's chief antagonist." That is absolutely fascinating, and it's a really good way of reading this description of his eyes.

Eyes are so important within the text.

But I may be jumping a little bit far ahead here.

You may not want to pick out the whole quote, 'cause obviously that's quite long, but you may have a look at that phrase, "two shining arrogant eyes," the fact that he's associated with dominance, the fact that he's even, just the very nature of him seems to be always leaning aggressively forward.

That's something that we can maybe talk about.

So you may wanna really pinpoint key parts of the text.

So let's just summarise our understanding of "The Great Gatsby," and the skill of developing a personal response.

So we know that an opinion is a view or judgement formed on something, not based on fact, and in order to add credibility to our opinions, we have to be able to justify them.

Themes like the American Dream and wealth are central to the understanding of "The Great Gatsby," and if we use textual evidence to support interpretations and inferences about characters in the text, we'll be able to make our opinions far more credible.

You have all been incredible today.

I really appreciate all your work, and I hope you have enjoyed revisiting "The Great Gatsby" as much as I have.

I am so excited that we get to have a look at this together, and I'm really looking forward to working with you all again very soon.

Bye for now, everyone.