The+Great+Gatsby+Unit+Plan

A Unit Plan by Mark Meyer

**__The Great Gatsby __** **A Unit Plan by Mark Meyer **


 * //Essential Questions: //**
 * 1) How does money change a person?
 * 2) How is the American Dream relevant or irrelevant today?
 * 3) How does money affect power and power affect money?
 * 4) What is moral?
 * //Long Term Objectives: //**
 * Students will be able to create a video project that connects the major message and themes in the texts of money, power, and morals and how they relate to their own lives and modern day issues.


 * Students will be able to create and refine a formal academic essay that analyzes the novel through a critical Marxist lens in order to demonstrate a clear understanding of power and class relations within the novel.


 * Students will be able to understand that money and power do not automatically buy happiness, but a sense of morals is needed to be truly happy.


 * Students will be able to read a text critically, as active, as opposed to passive, readers; looking at and questioning the dominant discourses that work within a piece of literature or informational text.

Fulcrum Text: __[|The Great Gatsby] __ by F. Scott Fitzgerald <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Rationale: The Great Gatsby is a text about power, money, and morals which are themes still extremely relevant and important in today’s society and to today’s youth. This text also lends itself to a critical Marxist reading because of the various class and power relations and struggles within the novel. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 21px;">Context Texts: =__ [|Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern] __ by Joshua Zeitz = = Rationale: This non-fiction text tells the story of four influential Flappers, women of the 1920’s, including Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald. This text will offer students an informational context about life in the 1920’s, especially focusing on woman, which could easily be related to the woman in the fulcrum text. = = Digital History: The American 1920’s = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Rationale: This website offers a brief overview of the various issues and events surrounding 19020’s in America. Most importantly, this website shows many of the negatives that occurred during the 1920’s, including issues of poverty and race. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18px;">[|The 1920’s Economy: A Statistical Portrait] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Rationale: This webpage displays a series of economic statistics from the 1920’s. Students can look at the statistics and see the un-even distribution of wealth as well as the number of people actually below the poverty line during this time period. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18px;">[|To Live in the 1920’s] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Rationale: This is a video showing of real footage from 1920’s America set to background music of classic songs from this time period. This video will offer students a visual and auditory aspect into the culture of the time period. __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18px;">[|Smoke and Steel] __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18px;">by Carl Sandberg <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Rationale: This book is a collection of poetry and stories by author Carl Sandberg written in 1923. This book will provide a literary context during this time period for students. In reading this book, students will understand what the important issues were of that day and age. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 21px;">Texture Texts: __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18px;">[|Jake, Reinvented] __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18px;"> by Gordon Korman <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Rationale: This Young Adult novel is a modern day retelling of Fitzgerald’s __The Great Gatsby.__ This book offers many of the same important themes and morals of The Great Gatsby that is at once more accessible to read and more relatable to student lives. The book would work well in conjunction with the fulcrum text. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18px;">[|“…and all that jazz”] by Anthony Privitera <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Rationale: This is a spoken word poem that retells some of the events of __The Great Gatsby__, and focus on some of the most important themes of the novel. While the poem is fairly easy to comprehend, it offers students another entry point into the novel’s complex message, while also offering them the opportunity to analyze poetry. = __ [|The Literary Tourist: F.Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island] __ = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Rationale: This video shows a comparison between Long Island in the 1920’s at F. Scott Fitzgerald portrayed it in __The Great Gatsby__ and Long Island today. The narrator is a little melodramatic at times, but he uses quotes from the novel, interviews from long islanders, and visits the locations mentioned in __The Great Gatsby__ to help the novel come to life for students. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18px;">[|The Great Gatsby (Film)] <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Rationale: Clips from this film can be shown in order to give students a better understand of the events that play out in this novel. Students can also compare and contrast scenes from the film to moments in the novel, as is required in the NYS CCS. =__ [|Flappers and Philosophers] __ By F. Scott Fitzgerald = = Rationale: This is a book of short stories written by the same author as the fulcrum text. This book not only gives us a wider view of the author’s works, but also deals with the same time period and issues presented in __The Great Gatsby.__ =
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 24px;">Text Set: //**


 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 24px;">Culminating Projects: //**
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Formal Essay:

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">For this project students will be writing a formal four to five page essay on __The Great Gatsby__. In this essay students will need to demonstrate an understanding of Marxist theory and how this relates to novel. Students will be awarded points for true critical analysis and will be penalized if the essay consists of primarily plot summary. Students will also have two weeks to work on the paper. A draft will be due at the end of the first week, and a final copy will be due at the end of the second week.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">In this project students will be given creative reign, in order to make a video project that clearly demonstrates their understanding of the novel, as well as the culture and issues surrounding the 1920’s. Students will also be required to show how these concepts relate to society today. Students will work in groups to make a video at least 4 minutes in length using a combination of pictures, music, and acting. Students will be graded on their understanding of core concepts as well as creativity, effort, coherence, and proper use of the designated medium.
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Video Project:

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 21px;">Reading Standards for Literature 6-12 // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">1.Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 24px;">New York State Common Core Standards //**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">2. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">4. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful. (Include Shakespeare as well as other authors.)


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">7. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text. (Include at least one play by Shakespeare and one play by an American dramatist.)


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">9. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Demonstrate knowledge of eighteenth-, nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century foundational works of American literature, including how two or more texts from the same period treat similar themes or topics.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">10. By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11–CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">a. Self-select text to respond and develop innovative perspectives. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">b. Establish and use criteria to classify, select, and evaluate texts to make informed judgments about the quality of the pieces //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 21px;">Writing Standards 6-12 // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. Explore and inquire into areas of interest to <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">formulate an argument. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">logically sequences claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a manner <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as varied syntax to link the major sections of the <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">conventions of the discipline in which they are writing. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">presented.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">11. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Interpret, analyze, and evaluate narratives, poetry, and drama, aesthetically and philosophically by making connections to: other texts, ideas, cultural perspectives, eras, personal events, and situations.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">1. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">defined in standards 1–3 above.) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">audience. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">up to and including grades 11–12 on page 68.)
 * <span style="color: #244061; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">4. **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">5. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">6. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">understanding of the connections between life and the literary work. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">a. Engage in using a wide range of prewriting strategies, such as visual representations and the <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">creation of factual and interpretive questions, to express personal, social and cultural <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">connections and insights. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">b. Identify, analyze, and use elements and techniques of various genres of literature, such as <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">allegory, stream of consciousness, irony, and ambiguity, to affect meaning. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">c. Develop innovative perspectives on texts, including historical, cultural**,** sociological, and <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">psychological contexts. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">d. Create poetry, stories, plays, and other literary forms (e.g. videos, art work).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">11. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Create interpretive and responsive texts to demonstrate knowledge and a sophisticated