'The Great Gatsby': Developing a personal response
I can develop a personal response to an extract from ‘The Great Gatsby’.
'The Great Gatsby': Developing a personal response
I can develop a personal response to an extract from ‘The Great Gatsby’.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- An opinion is a view or judgement formed on something, not based on fact.
- In order to add credibility to our opinions, we must be able to justify them.
- Themes like the 'American Dream' and wealth are central to understanding 'The Great Gatsby'.
- Using textual evidence supports interpretations and inferences about characters in a text.
Keywords
Theme - a repeated idea in a literary work
American Dream - the idea that all Americans have the right to achieve success and prosperity
Jazz Age - a period in the USA (1920s) known for its freedom, exuberance and carefree parties
Console - to comfort someone in a time of disappointment
Common misconception
Students might believe that West Egg and East Egg are actual geographical locations.
While West Egg and East Egg are based on real places on Long Island, they are fictional locations created by Fitzgerald to symbolise different social classes and the contrasts between new and old wealth.
To help you plan your year 11 english lesson on: 'The Great Gatsby': Developing a personal response, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 11 english lesson on: 'The Great Gatsby': Developing a personal response, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
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Explore more key stage 4 english lessons from the Fiction: books that changed my world unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
You will need the extract from 'The Great Gatsby' for this lesson which can be found in the additional materials.
Licence
Lesson video
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