English III Proehl The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis Essay

Task: Respond to one of the following prompts with a well-developed essay

Purpose: to demonstrate your close reading, analysis, and writing skills

Prompts:

1. Nick: Throughout The Great Gatsby, the reader sees Nick cast in different roles: semi- disinterested reporter to active participant, reluctant tag-along to protector of Gatsby. Consider Nick’s role in this book. Is Nick a static or dynamic character? What kind of character is he, and how—if at all—does he affect the action in the novel?

2. Daisy: Discuss the character of Daisy. Is she a noble character, or does she have little about her character that makes her in any sense honorable? What seems to be her major motivation in life? How does that motivation affect her?

3. The Husbands. Tom Buchanan and George Wilson are more similar than different. Write an essay in which you compare and contrast these two men according to their attitudes toward women, their ways of showing violence, and their reactions to being “cuckolded.”

4. Minor Characters: Explain how F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the minor characters--Owl Eyes, Mr. Wolfshiem, Pammy, Michaelis, and George Wilson--in the novel. What does each character add to the story?

5. American Dream: In his essay “Paradox and Dream,” Steinbeck describes Americans as “a restless, dissatisfied, a searching people” (1)—we dream of buying a home, but once we get it, we’re dissatisfied and want something bigger. The Great Gatsby also has a lot to say about Americans and the American Dream. Using specific examples from Gatsby, analyze what Fitzgerald is saying about Americans and the American Dream.

6. Gender: Write an essay analyzing the role of women in The Great Gatsby, as represented by Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle. What kind of influence or power do they wield? Consider their desires, motivations, and needs, as well as their social positions and interactions. How does each of them find herself in conflict with society’s expectations of them? How does each negotiate that conflict?

7. Seeing & Not Seeing: The theme of seeing and not seeing, or variations on blindness, permeates the novel. Eyes are everywhere: Dr. T. J. Eckleburg’s on the billboard, Owl Eyes, various references to being “blind” or “blinded,” etc. Analyze the treatment of blindness, and of seeing and not seeing, in the novel.

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