Starting "The Great Gatsby," by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Our final novel this year is "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  This is a short one, only nine chapters, but it's a great story.  And yes, we will watch the movie adaptation after we finish.  I would not recommend watching it beforehand, though - it's a good adaptation, but not close enough to help you on any of the assignments we'll be doing in conjunction with the reading.

We will primarily be reading in class, but you should use the information from the list of links on the right to help you if you miss or need to catch up.  This should be your first stop with any questions.

As we read, you will be working on two long-term assignments: one deals with F. Scott Fitzgerald's extensive use of symbolism in the novel, and one deals with the advanced vocabulary that appears in the novel.  We will discuss both in class, but information about these two can be found in the "Gatsby Handouts and Worksheets" folder at right.  Be aware that you will have very limited class time to work on these, so manage your time wisely.  UPDATE: There is a list of color assignments in the Handouts folder, in case you forgot what you were given.

Also available is an ebook of the novel, a set of links to the audio book version, and a pair of videos that walk you through the story, the setting, and the themes of the novel ("LCC: Gatsby Part 1" and "LCC: Gatsby Part 2").   We will talk about most of this in class, but you may want to watch these videos for yourself, especially if you are confused by anything we read in the novel.

Lastly, be aware that we will be wrapping up "The Great Gatsby" differently.  For the other novels we read, you wrote an essay or completed a project about what we read, but for this one, you will be taking a quiz based on the reading.  Be prepared - the quiz is scheduled for February 22.