The Great Gatsby Research Project / First Semester Final

We will continue to study The Great Gatsby from a literary perspective. We will also look at it through a non-fiction/research perspective.

 Part 1 Group Brainstorm: Part one is due at the end of class on Monday, November 30.  Each group must submit a one sheet of lined notebook paper. On it you must include:

1) Essential Question, 2) Four Focus Questions, 3) Names (First and Last) of each student in your group aligned so I can tell which student will handle which focus question.

Task 1: Develop an Essential Question

Your group must develop an essential question to guide your research:

• Must include an aspect of the topic that requires persuasive, controversial, or argumentative conclusions.  Ask yourself: Could people disagree on the answer?

•  Must consider the topic through the lens of Fitzgerald’s Gatsby. Ask yourself: How does Fitzgerald see this topic?  How do I predict I will see this topic (today or some other researchable time period)?

Key Brainstorm: Define your Topic (What do Wealth, Class, Love, Death, American Dream mean?)

Then come up with the Essential Question.

Essential Question Example: How has the importance of education changed since the Jazz Age?

Task 2: Create Four Focus Questions

After you develop your Essential Question, create 4 Focus Questions, which you will divide among your group members.

Focus Question Examples:

  1. What do Fitzgerald’s allusions to education in The Great Gatsby say about the culture and values of the 1920’s?
  2. How has the state of education changed over time?
  3. What is the state of education in America today?
  4. How important is education to me and my generation of friends?

Part 2  Individual Research, Notecards, and Power Paragraph:  Part Two is due at the end of class on December 10 or 14, depending on when your group will be presenting. This will include: 

1. Each student must turn in 4-6 EasyBib notecards WITH their presentations. Cards should include two statistical and four anecdotal examples, from a minimum of two different sources or websites (although 6 different sources is not requirement). Make sure your names are on these.

2. Each student must use the notecards to write a Power Paragraph. This power paragraph begins with your individual Focus Question.  A) Write a CLAIM — a statement that provides an answer to the focus question you have been researching). B) Then INTRODUCE a statistic or quote that supports your claim from one of your notecards. C) Then EXPLAIN the statistic or quote in your own words. D) Then PERTAIN the statistic or quote to your claim… how does it answer the focus question and relate to your claim? E) REPEAT –  steps B, C, and D two more times so you have used three of your notecards. F) Write a CONCLUSION sentence.  Presto! You are done with your Power Paragraph. This must be turned in at the conclusion of your presentation (see #3 below)

Task 1 : Research YOUR focus question:

Source Types you will need:

• For this project you will be looking at:

– Statistical information – try census and .gov websites

– Anecdotal evidence (stories) – blogs, newspapers, memoirs, etc.

– It is essential that you consider source validity during your research, especially for your anecdotal evidence.

Task 2: Create 4-6 Easybib Notecards:

–       Easybib Notecards: Completely filled out – this will be more clear as we look at Easybib

Task 3: Create a Power Paragraph:

–  Power Paragraph extracted from note cards. This is pretty easy if you do the notecards right!

Part 3 Group Synthesis Poster and Presentation: Part 3 is due on December 10 or 14, depending on when you must present. First you must come up with a drawing so you can symbolize your topic generally, as well as symbols for the focus questions. Then you must create a poster. Please write your names and group essential question on the back, along with the focus questions. The front of the poster should have multiple layers of symbolism, so you incorporate the topic at large along with focused detail. Presentations should begin with the essential question and an explanation of the larger symbol, followed in turn by each member explaining the answers to their focus question as well as explanations for additional imagery and symbolism concerning their subtopic. 

Task 1: The symbolism

Your group must come up with an overall symbol and at a minimum, at least one symbol for each focus question.

Task 2: The poster

Make the poster…  This should be imagery heavy, in other words, good representations of your group’s findings and conclusions. Graphic Illustration examples include: timeline, highway map, river, plate of food, console of a car, play list, menu in a restaurant, tree, house, etc. Just make sure it is some symbolic representation of your topic. You might also want to document/represent any statistical information you and your group used to answer the research questions.

Task 3: The presentation

Present the poster. Make sure this is practiced and done in a cohesive fashion. You will lose points if you stand up and look at each other trying to figure out who should talk first or second or who should explain what and when.

The Written Final.  Unrelated to any of the above, each of you will be given an in-class written final on The Great Gatsby (half of which will be on Symbolism) where you will be asked five questions, worth a total of 30 Summative Points.  Gatsby should have hopefully been read at least once, maybe multiple times by now.

Period 1 Groups (leader in BOLD/ Date of Presentation Underlined) :

Love Group 1:  Connor, Esmeralda, Maddy, Kepler  / (December 10)

Death: Vanessa, Sarah, Jarod, Letitia  / (December 10)

A. Dream Group 1: Dany, Hannah K, David Q, Abraham  / (December 10)

ClassJamie, Andrea, Brendan, Caleb / (December 10)

Wealth: Hannah B, Eric, Christian, David L. / (December 14)

Love Group 2:  Dariel, Melanie, Fatima, Jake / (December 14)

A. Dream Group 2: Denisse, Lena, Bailey  / (December 14)

Period 2 Groups (leader in BOLD/ Date of Presentation Underlined) :

Love:    Madalyn, Alex, Julia, Zac

Death:  Kenzie, Callie, Sara, Ma’ata

Class: Roman, Karina, Shjon, Corinne

A. DreamMark, Evelyn, Victor, Paulina

Period 3 Groups (leader in BOLD/ Date of Presentation Underlined) :

Love Group 1:  Savannah, Naomi, Maddie, Rachel  (December 10)

American Dream Group 1: Nathan, Alexis, Ben, Nick (December 10)

Death: Lucas, Ethan, James B. (December 10)

Class: Patricia, Josie, Max, Dylan (December 14)

Wealth: Keegan, Clayton, Henry (December 14)

Love Group 2: Kylie, James C., Luis, Adrian (December 14)

A. Dream Group 2: Cristal, Abigail, Sara (December 14)