preclude (v) to prevent from happening; to make impossible Her extreme fear of heights precludes any chance of ever going skydiving.

sporadic (adj) occurring once in a while; infrequent Residents of Los Angeles are used to only sporadic rainfall.

Gatsby Ch. 8 Quotes “‘They’re a rotten crowd,’ I shouted, across the lawn. ‘You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.’” “I have an idea that Gatsby himself didn’t believe [the telephone call] would come and perhaps he no longer cared. If that were true he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a high price for living too long with a single dream. He must have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose is and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely created grass.”

Intro Paragraph (Funnel Paragraph) Broad, general statement that connects to the topic Brief background info (author & title, setting, basic plot premise) Focused statements that lead up to thesis THESIS

Sample Prompt The Roaring Twenties and ideals of the flapper are often associated with the freedom and independence of the new woman. Examine the portrayals of women in the novel. Do they perpetuate the female values of the 1920s or do they play a paradoxical role?

Sample Funnel Intro Women in the 1920s were gaining a new perspective and pushing the boundaries of what was previously sociably acceptable and what was not. The twenties was the era of the flapper—the women who wore short dresses, cut their long hair, drank, and partook in activities that were previously considered “unladylike.” They started to assert their independence from the male figures in their lives, and some of this independent behavior is exemplified in the women of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Set against the decadent backdrop of the Roaring Twenties in New York, the novel depicts how the women embody the confident attitudes and shocking independence associated with the idea of the flapper, yet social and marital obligations reel them back into their traditional roles as women.

Sample Funnel Intro Women in the 1920s were gaining a new perspective and pushing the boundaries of what was previously sociably acceptable and what was not. The twenties was the era of the flapper—the women who wore short dresses, cut their long hair, drank, and partook in activities that were previously considered “unladylike.” They started to assert their independence from the male figures in their lives, and some of this independent behavior is exemplified in the women of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Set against the decadent backdrop of the Roaring Twenties in New York, the novel depicts how the women embody the confident attitudes and shocking independence associated with the idea of the flapper, yet social and marital obligations reel them back into their traditional roles as women. BROAD, GENERAL STATEMENT

Sample Funnel Intro Women in the 1920s were gaining a new perspective and pushing the boundaries of what was previously sociably acceptable and what was not. The twenties was the era of the flapper—the women who wore short dresses, cut their long hair, drank, and partook in activities that were previously considered “unladylike.” They started to assert their independence from the male figures in their lives, and some of this independent behavior is exemplified in the women of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Set against the decadent backdrop of the Roaring Twenties in New York, the novel depicts how the women embody the confident attitudes and shocking independence associated with the idea of the flapper, yet social and marital obligations reel them back into their traditional roles as women. BROAD, GENERAL STATEMENT BACKGROUND INFO & NARROWER STATEMENTS

Sample Funnel Intro Women in the 1920s were gaining a new perspective and pushing the boundaries of what was previously sociably acceptable and what was not. The twenties was the era of the flapper—the women who wore short dresses, cut their long hair, drank, and partook in activities that were previously considered “unladylike.” They started to assert their independence from the male figures in their lives, and some of this independent behavior is exemplified in the women of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Set against the decadent backdrop of the Roaring Twenties in New York, the novel depicts how the women embody the confident attitudes and shocking independence associated with the idea of the flapper, yet social and marital obligations reel them back into their traditional roles as women. BROAD, GENERAL STATEMENT BACKGROUND INFO & MORE FOCUSED STATEMENTS THESIS

Topic Sentences Introduces the main idea of the body paragraph, i.e. what the paragraph is going to argue/prove – Jordan Baker’s boldness and independence epitomize the ideals of the flapper. Should not be a plot point – Jordan Baker, a famous golfer, is Daisy’s childhood friend.