In our increasingly visual society, it is often difficult for some readers to create a mental picture of a picture created only with words. An image-rich text like F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby can therefore, present a real...

Whether you are planning a unit on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, or simply want to improve your pupils' descriptive writing, this lesson could be a good addition to your class. Using the Six-Trait Writing process, pupils...

Students explore how F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of the most important writers of the twentieth century. In novels such as Tender is the Night, This Side of Paradise, and The Great Gatsby, he captured the mood and manners of his time.

Young scholars study the biography and work of F. Scott Fitzgerald. They learn how the author used autobiographical elements in writing his stories and they try a hand at writing a Fitzgerald-style story with autobiographical elements of...

A reading of “Gatsby’s Green Light Beckons a New Set of Strivers,” a New York Times article by Sara Rimer, triggers a discussion of the American Dream and what it means to strive for something. Following the discussion, class members...

Eleventh graders explore the life and writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald. They examine the youth culture of the 1920's and compare it to their own. They practice using some of the biographer's or archivist's tools for studying a person.

Students participate in a reader's theater, adapting scenes from The Great Gatsby.  In this reading comprehension lesson, students interpret a given scene from The Great Gatsby in a readers' theater.  Students analyze the scene...

Eleventh graders investigate the concept of the American Dream. They use the novel "The Great Gatsby" as an example from literature. Students brainstorm in order to define the American Dream.

Students match American Literature authors with their short stories, poems, and books. In this American Literature activity, students are given an overview of the authors and their main works. Then students independently do a matching...

Using Mark Twain's The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, invite your learners to consider the concept of virtue in a democratic society devoted to gain and self-interest. This stellar resource guides your class members through a close...

What are the strengths and weaknesses of American individualism and independence? Explore these principles through a close reading of Jack London's To Build a Fire, and engage in high-level discussion with your class by analyzing the...

What if society sought equality by handicapping the gifted and dispelling any traces of diversity? Kurt Vonnegut Jr. offers one possible answer to this question through his incredibly engaging and thought-provoking satirical...

The United States of America was founded on firm ideals of both the pursuit of happiness and a spirit of reverence. Through a close reading of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The May-Pole of Merry Mount," you can examine what some consider was a...

Combining a close reading of a classic American text with the study of history can be a very powerful strategy, and this is most certainly the case with this resource using Edward Everett Hale's The Man without a Country. Consider themes...

Even for one of the most accomplished men in American history, there was room for improvement. Challenge high schoolers to use Benjamin Franklin's Project for Moral Perfection to analyze text, make inferences, connect to historical...

Eleventh graders research and examine the significant individuals of the 1920s and their impact on American society. They identify characteristics of people who make a difference, and in pairs conduct research on two people with...

High schoolers engage in a study of the literature of modernism in America. They conduct research and read different texts for clarification of the genre style. Students discuss the background influences of culture that shaped modernism.

Discover more about the book the"Great Gatsby," by F. Scott Fitzgerald when you visit this resource. This site provides links to biographical information, lesson plans, activities, vocabulary and more.