The Great Gatsby Facebook Assignment

Purpose: The purpose of this activity is to embody a character from the novel. This means you must make your facebook profile reflect one of the characters in the novel as much as possible. If there is information not present in the book, such as the character’s date of birth, make an educated guess. For example, if the setting is 1922 and these adults seem to be in their early to mid thirties, when were they born? Write the answer down in your profile. This is not only an exercise in creativity, but in demonstrating your knowledge/understanding of the characters, their relationships and the possible themes encountered thus far in the novel.

Assignment: Working in pairs, create a facebook profile, that resembles a facebook page as much as possible, for one of the following characters: Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, Mr. Wilson, Mrs. Wilson (Myrtle), or Catherine. I have given you these choices because so far we don’t know very much about the other characters in the novel, such as the butlers, Owl Eyes, etc. You can examine your own personal online facebook page to see how you are going to make your project resemble it.

You can choose to create this facebook profile using: a). a bristol/poster board b). an offline web page (a webpage that resembles facebook but is not connected to any online servers) c). some graphical representation on a computer; creating it electronically.

On the profile you must indicate: 1). A profile photograph. You may draw, dress up and take a photograph of yourself, have someone else dress up, or find a photograph of someone (either from a magazine, a newspaper or the internet) [K/U]. Just make sure the photograph reflects the physical traits of the character you are embodying.

2). A photo album encompassing photographs of the character’s friends. If your character does not seem to have any friends implement photographs of the people your character has encountered in the novel [K/U]. Under every photograph write a brief caption. This caption must be a quotation from the character (something the character has said in the novel). With the caption provide the quotation’s corresponding page number [Ap].

3). An information section indicating the character’s date of birth, relationship status (ex: “single and looking,” “married,” “engaged,” “single,” etc.), the city where they live and if they have any children [K/U]. You also must include your character’s favourite quotation. The quotation must be from another text or a billboard or modern movie, etc., that you think your particular character would like. You must also explain the reasoning behind choosing this quotation [Ap]. For example, if I was embodying Juliet from Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, her favourite quotation would be, “the two shall become one flesh,” (The Bible, Mark 10:8), since it resembles Juliet’s longing to be one with Romeo when she says, “O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love and I’ll no longer be a Capulet.” 2.2. Make sure to indicate where you found the character’s favourite quotation.

4). In a section which says, “write something about yourself,” you need to include information regarding your relationships with other characters, if you’re in conflict with anyone, and what you think about other characters [K/U].

5). In a box which says, “what’s on your mind?,” you should record your thoughts regarding something you wish to know about another character, or your predictions/speculations as to what will occur next in the plot or hope to see next in the plot. Explain your reasoning [Ap]. Regarding the plot, make an educated guess based on your knowledge of the character you are embodying.

6). In a box entitled “themes,” you should indicate the themes or topics that we have encountered in the novel thus far. With every theme provide an example from the novel that supports the theme. Make sure to indicate the corresponding page number [T/I].

7). In a section of wall posts, have posts from other characters that actively reflect the situations of these characters in the novel. Here you can do what you wish as long as it relates to the novel in some way [K/U]. For example, you can have Myrtle posting a message on Nick’s wall, saying “Nick!…thanks for coming to the apartment…Oh…and what happened between Tom and I…no worries.” Or, “Oh I just need to vent, my husband…he doesn’t even deserve that title…he’s not even fit to lick my shoe…oh…I can’t wait until I can leave permanently!!” You can also “tag” a few characters in a photograph and post it on your wall.

8). Since you are working in pairs you must write an extra paragraph indicating who did what in your group.

NOTE: Make sure your facebook profile reflects the character. Points will be deducted if there appears to be little or no connection between the profile and the character you are embodying!

DUE DATE: Tuesday, December 7, 2010. sobrien Romeo and Juliet Facebook Project Instructions

Romeo and Juliet Facebook Project

It’s time to see what it would be like if Shakespeare’s characters lived in your world! Choose one character from Romeo and Juliet. Create a Facebook page for this character. Everything you place on the profile will fit the character‘s personality and/ or the themes of the play. You will create your character‘s account on PPT slides or as a Word document: NOT an actual Facebook page, but a SIMULATION of one. Requirements • A profile picture • At least two other photos . (provide a caption for each) • Birthdate (exact if possible, approximate if you must) • Current city • About Me . (This must reflect your character‘s personality and should be 7-10 sentences.) • At least two groups your character would belong to and who else would be in each group. Groups can be families from the play but must also be “invented“ groups you make up. • “What‘s on my mind...“ . (at least two quotes from the play that directly connects to the character and his/her personality or thoughts) • At least two friends your character would have on Facebook • A Wall with at least 10 posts from other characters . (these can be separate posts or a thread of comments) • EXTRAS (optional, but might increase the mark you receive) • Gifts • Photo Albums • Links to other pages • Games he/she would play

SOCIAL NETWORKING CHARACTER STUDY Have your students create a Facebook Profile, or Twitter Feed (Tweets) for a character from the play. Overview: Being able to empathize with fictional characters sheds light on our own personal situations and recasts the plot of the play in relevant terms. Grade: 6-12 State Standards: English Literary Response and Analysis 3.0-3.4 Goal: To bring the characters of Romeo and Juliet into a real-world context. Outcomes: Students will be able to use basic facts from the text to imaginatively enter into the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of fictional characters by creating a mock Facebook page. Activity: Familiarize students with the profile layout of a social networking site page, such as Facebook. (See following examples.) 1. Ask the students to fill in the profile with: a. vital statistics b. likes and dislikes c. friends Note: Students should use information drawn from their knowledge of the play (for example, Romeo will be killed if Juliet’s father sees him under her window), filled out by their imaginations (for example, when Juliet was little she loved to play tricks on her nurse). 2. Profile photos may be drawn or cut out from magazines, or an actual photo of the student could be used and attached to the page. Remember, many actual Facebook profile pages do not have an actual photo of the person who made them—students sometimes choose a picture of something they feel represents them —a tree, a poster they like, etc. 3. Share the pages you have created in student pairs or in a group discussion. Reflection: • Name one thing you had to imagine about your character that you think is really interesting. • Was it easy to imagine beyond the play—for instance, what Mercutio’s activities and interests might be? Or do you feel the play did not provide enough information? How so? • How easy was it to decide who your character’s friends are? Would your character ignore a friend request from other characters in the play? Why or why not? Extension exercise in writing dialogue: Beyond the basic profile information, a further way to extend the activity is to have the students write on each other’s profile “walls.” A wall is the area on a profile page where friends can write short messages to each other that are posted directly on the page for others to view. Note: Require the students to fill out the worksheet manually, rather than actually fill out a public profile online. If you can post the mock profile page that follows onto your school or school blog website for students to fill out online within the framework of this project, that would work as well, but false profiles in a public space should be actively discouraged. Student examples should show a deep understanding of the plot and qualities of the character. Some examples follow.