1. The Great Gatsby HO72 Drama and prose post-1900 (Component 02)
Lesson 1
LO: In this lesson you will:
Gain an overview of the era in which the Great Gatsby is set
Explore some of the events in history which affected Fitzgerald’s work
audio book

2. The period You have been given a selection of images.
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You have been given a selection of images.
What do these images suggest about the age?
Read Nicholas Tredell’s historical context handout and annotate the images with key words.
Listen to jazz here

3. Setting
Published in 1925
Set in 1922
Discuss different covers

4. The Epigraph
Usually, authors will quote another famous author, philosopher, or someone like that in the epigraph. But not Fitzgerald. He quotes himself. The epigraph in Gatsby is fake.
“Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her; If you can bounce high, bounce for her too, Till she cry “Lover, gold-hatted, high-bouncing lover, I must have you!” – Thomas Parke D’Invilliers
Thomas Parke D’Invilliers is not a real person. He’s actually a character in Fitzgerald’s first novel, This Side of Paradise.
Gatsby did everything short of wearing a “gold hat” for Daisy. He “bounced high” by making himself noticeable and throwing extravagant parties just for her. Finally, she noticed.
a phrase or form of words written in memory of a person who has died, especially as an inscription on a tombstone.
What do you think the relevance is of a fake epigraph?

5. Alternative Titles
Below are some of the working titles for The Great Gatsby. Decide what the significance of each might be – which aspect of the story (narrative) does it focus on (foreground)?
Did Fitzgerald choose the right title? Why did he choose The Great Gatsby?
Trimalchio in West Egg
The High-Bouncing Lover
Gold-hatted Gatsby
Among the Ash Heaps and Millionaires
On the road to West Egg
Under the Red, White and Blue
Trimalchio was the protagonist in Satyricon, by Petronius. He was a freedman who gained prestige and power through sheer tenacity and hard work. The term "Trimalchio" has become shorthand for the worst excesses of the nouveau riche.

6. The Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSOgWVlAMsg
Note down your brief impressions
Wider research: the book has been made into a film 5 times. Research other films. Note differences in presentation.

7. The Period Jazz age Inter-War Roaring 20s
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Below is a list of some of the names given to the period approximately between and the generation who became adults in it:
Jazz age
Inter-War
Roaring 20s
La Génération du Feu Generation of Fire)
World War 1 Generation
Bright Young Things
Pre-Depression Era
The Flapper Era
Lost Generation
Golden Twenties
Golden Age of Hollywood
Prohibition Era
Give out each of these as a separate sheets, annotate with what the era might have been like

8. Annotate your ideas Mood/tone Themes Impression of the people
On the different names, annotate with your ideas about what the era may have been like. Consider:
Mood/tone
Themes
Impression of the people
Impressions of the period.

9. F Scott Fitzgerald AO3 Read the handout you have been given.
What kind of world did Fitzgerald live in?
How might this have affected his work and what he chose to write about.
What do you consider to be the most influential events and why?
Independent Learning Task:
Visit my blog and watch the BBC programme on the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Make careful notes and create a timeline of key moments in his life such as his education, marriage, publication of works.
Extra challenge: Write a summary of Fitzgerald in your reading journal and note similarities to Gatsby as you read the novel.

10. The Novel We will now take turns to read aloud from the opening;
Note your initial impressions (especially in the context of biographical information already explored).
Consider how you will represent the chapter in your Reading Journal.
Highlight key quotations and annotate the text with ideas/questions

11. Echoes of the Jazz Age
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Read the article which first appeared in Scribner Magazine in 1931 in which Fitzgerald reflects on the period with which he had become so closely associated. The Great Gatsby was published 6 years before the article at the height of the ‘Jazz Age’.
Talk about the relationship between the novel and the article, for example:
attitudes towards the period
voice
choices of language
the relationship with the reader

12. Check your learning
Using the first person narrative perspective. Write your impressions of today’s lesson.
Prep for next lesson
Read chapter 1 of the novel.

13. Homework
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Each group will research (books and internet) the context of Fitzgerald’s life:
Major literary works (with brief summaries)
Prohibition
The American Dream
Hollywood
The Jazz Age
The Roaring Twenties
Technological advancements/commercialism
Each group will give brief presentations to the rest of class (and lead discussions, not simply read from PPT!).
Each group will provide a revision handout with brief notes on their topic and upload their resources powerpoints to Edmodo.