Year 11 - English
'The Great Gatsby': Developing a personal response
Fiction: books that changed my world
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Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this unit, pupils read extracts from some impactful books to inpsire their own writing. Within each of the five extracts, they identify and analyse a key technique before emulating it in their own piece of writing. At the end of the unit, they craft the opening to an impactful narrative.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to develop a personal response to an extract from 'The Great Gatsby'.
Key Notes
- An opinion is a view or judgement formed on something, not based on fact.
- In order to add credibility to our opinions, we must be able to justify them.
- Themes like the 'American Dream' and wealth are central to understanding 'The Great Gatsby'.
- Using textual evidence supports interpretations and inferences about characters in a text.
Vocabulary To Learn
- theme: a repeated idea in a literary work
- American Dream: the idea that all Americans have the right to achieve success and prosperity
- Jazz Age: a period in the USA (1920s) known for its freedom, exuberance and carefree parties
- console: to comfort someone in a time of disappointment
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Students might believe that West Egg and East Egg are actual geographical locations.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.
An opinion is a view or judgement formed on something, not based on fact. In order to add credibility to our opinions, we must be able to justify them.
2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'theme'
a repeated idea in a literary work.
3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.
Mistake: Students might believe that West Egg and East Egg are actual geographical locations. Correction: While West Egg and East Egg are based on real places on Long Island, they are fictional locations created by Fitzgerald to symbolise different social classes and the contrasts between new and old wealth.
More Lessons In This Unit
- 'The Great Gatsby': analysing a writer's craft Study Guide
- Analysing effective endings in Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby' Study Guide
- Considering Chandler's use of similes in 'Trouble is My Business' Study Guide
- Considering the use of dialogue in Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment' Study Guide
- Considering the use of motifs in Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights' Study Guide
- Emulating Chandler's use of similes in 'Trouble is My Business' Study Guide
- Emulating Dostoevsky's use of dialogue in 'Crime and Punishment' Study Guide
- Emulating the opening to Orwell's '1984' Study Guide
- Emulating the use of motifs in Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights' Study Guide
- Exploring the importance of books and stories Study Guide
- Planning the opening to an impactful narrative Study Guide
- Reading the opening of Orwell's '1984' Study Guide
- Writing the opening to an impactful narrative Study Guide
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