Gatsby+Multimedia+Journal


 * // The Great Gatsby //**
 * Multimedia Reading Journal **

For your fourth and final reading journal, you will be exploring **Chapter 9** in one of the three ways we have tried for this unit -- Close Reading Journal, Video Journal, or Reading Reaction. Please look carefully at the comments I gave to you on each before you make your choice and begin. Your final journal will be worth **50 points.**
 * JOURNAL 4 : Your choice as to format - due in Google Docs or posted to YouTube by Monday, April 2 at 4:00**




 * JOURNAL 3 : Reading Reaction Journal - due in Google Docs by 4:00 on Monday, March 26**



For your third reading journal on //The Great Gatsby//, you will write a **reading reaction on Chapters 7 and 8.**
 * This response should be in paragraph form and should be 500 words in length (1 to 1 ½ pages).
 * Please include a heading in MLA format
 * You should submit this via the Google Docs folder that you and I share.
 * I would like for you to work to be detailed but also concise! 500 words is a minimum and maximum – you should be as close to this as you can be.
 * Please indicate your word count somewhere on your page.


 * What exactly is a reading reaction? ** These reactions can consist of such things as comments on the action, characters, language, themes, as well as your personal reactions to those elements in the novel.

You should write in your own voice here. First person is perfectly acceptable; I want you to strive to interact with the novel. **Your grade will be based on the depth, detail, and thoroughness of your responses.**


 * For your reading reaction journal, you should do a //__minimum__// __of two__ of the following: **


 * 1) Share questions that you have about a particular scene or section in the novel, perhaps something that confuses you or that you do not fully understand. What do you think it means?


 * 1) Quote lines from the novel that you enjoyed (lines from quotes that we have not yet discussed in class) and comment thoughtfully on them. What do you think these lines communicate? Why do you like this message? Why does it resonate with you personally?


 * 1) Write as though you are able to speak directly to any character about anything that occurs in chapters 7 or 8. You may give advice, ask about motivations or behaviors, or express frustration or anger. Remember to directly address the character in this one.


 * 1) Rewrite an excerpt from the perspective of a character other than Nick. Be sure to introduce the scene and the narrator before starting.


 * 1) Imagine that one of the characters from the novel has a diary. Choose a character, adopt his/ or her voice, and write an entry in his/her diary highlighting some aspect of these chapters. What is s/he thinking/ feeling? Crawl inside his/her head and be descriptive!

Below are suggestions of aspects of the text you might consider as you explore Ch 5-6 in your video journal.
 * JOURNAL 2 : Video Journal - due in DropBox by 3:30 on Monday, March 19**

Ch 4
 * Examine two quotations from Nick and Gatsby's journey into the city that evoke two different feelings in you about Gatsby.
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Explain and explore Nick’s comment: “Then it had not been merely the stars to which he had aspired on that June night. He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor”? (78).

Ch 5
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Explain why “the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever” and why Gatsby’s “count of enchanted objects had diminished by one” (93).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Explain Nick’s comment about Gatsby’s dream in the paragraph beginning with: “As I went to say goodbye….” and ending with “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart” (95-96) Connect to Nick’s comment in chapter one: “Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction” (2).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Examine two references to time or clocks just before or during the reunion scene; speculate as to Fitzgerald’s purpose in making this element so prominent in the scene.

Ch 6
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Examine, in context, the following quotation: “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty” (98). Look up any unfamiliar words, and discuss the following:
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Platonic conception
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The effect of the Biblical allusion
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Identify and analyze one image and one word in the paragraph beginning, “But his heart was in a constant, turbulent riot” and ending with “fairy’s wing” (99).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Respond to Gatsby’s statement: “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” (110).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Identify Nick’s tone in the last three paragraphs of the chapter. How is he feeling, and how can you tell he is feeling this?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What is ideal about Gatsby’s dream? What is corrupt?

Read the journal model above carefully as you approach writing your first journal this week. The key here is careful close and critical reading. Below are some suggestions of aspects of the text you may consider as you analyze Chapters 2-3 for your journal. You may choose others, but remember choosing strong and significant quotations is an important element of this assignment.
 * JOURNAL 1 : Close Reading Journal - due in Google Docs by 3:30 on Friday, March 2**

Ch 1 [we will do these together -- not for journal discussion] :
 * impressions of Nick Carraway
 * The language Fitzgerald uses to contrast West Egg and East Egg
 * Paragraph on page 7 about Tom Buchanan beginning with, "He had changed since..."
 * What is the first thing Daisy says in the novel? (8)
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Nick's comment about Tom, “Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart” (20).
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why is the darkness “unquiet” at the end of this chapter? (21)

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ch 2
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The eyes of Dr. Eckleberg -- what is Nick literally describing?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">George Wilson's character -- with which character is he in direct contrast?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Explain and examine Nick’s comment: “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life” (35).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ch 3
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Look closely at the first paragraph of this chapter. How does it contrast to the previous scene? What is Nick's tone here?
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Examine the paragraph that begins, “He smiled understandingly…” (48) and discuss Nick’s early impression of Gatsby
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Discuss Nick's tone as he describes his summer and his relationship with Jordan (55-59)

During your study of //The Great Gatsby//, you will be responsible for reacting to your reading in a structured manner using a range of formats. Our primary goals with this assignment will be to continue to build on your close reading skills, to increase the sophistication of your literary analysis, and to show your understanding of this novel in multiple ways.
 * OVERVIEW OF ASSIGNMENT :**

Here are some details on the assignment :

You will be responsible for submitting one journal entry each week for a total of 4 entries. Each journal will be valued at 40 points.

Your journals will be due this week on Friday by 3:30; after break, your journal will be due Mondays by 3:30.

Your first 3 journals will be designated as a certain type of format for that week; for your fourth journal, you will be allowed to choose the format you most prefer. The formats we will working with are as follows :

> > > Each journal entry, no matter what format, should contain thoughtful and specific commentary on the section of the book you are reading. We will be doing some modeling each week in class, so you will clearly understand the expectation for each format.
 * o // Close Reading Journal // – otherwise known as a dialectical notebook or double column journal, in this format you will choose key observations from the text to list on the left side and analyze those quotations in your bullet point commentary on the right. The skill being assessed here is primarily critical reading. [Submitted via GOOGLE DOCS]
 * o // Video Journal // – in this journal type, you will utilize a webcam or video camera to capture your spoken commentary on that section of reading. You will still be looking closely at language, plot, and character but you will do so using your own unique everyday speech. The skill being assessed here is primarily oral expression. [Submitted via DROPBOX]
 * o // Personal Reaction Journal // – in this journal type, you will give a first person reaction to the occurences in that section of text. Your journal should be written in paragraph form and should still look closely at language, plot, and character but will also include your emotions and opinions on the text. The skill being assessed here is primarily written expression. [Submitted via GOOGLE DOCS]

Your Reading Assignments and Due Dates for the coming weeks will be as follows:

Begin new EQ and review background information Read Chapter 1 and begin discussion
 * 02/20 to 02/24 **

Read Ch 2 and 3 by Wednesday 02/29 Close Reading Journal due on Friday 03/02
 * 02/27 to 03/02 **

Happy Winter Break Enjoy Chapter 4 in //The Great Gatsby// as a treat
 * 03/05 to 03/09 **

Read Ch 5 and 6 by Wednesday 03/14 Video Journal due Monday 03/19
 * 03/12 to 03/16 **

Read Ch 7 and 8 by Wednesday 03/21 Personal Reaction Journal due Monday 03/26
 * 03/19 to 03/23 **

Finish Gatsby by Wednesday 03/28 Choice Journal due Monday April 2
 * 03/26 to 03/30 **