A New Twist on Studying The Great Gatsby

Seniors in Tucker Winter's American Lit class (juniors) started their work on Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby today with what should be a cool Reader's Theater activity: The room will be set up with desks divided into East and West Egg (the affluent Long Island towns representing old and new money), with desks for main characters Nick, Jordan, Tom and Daisy in the center. East Egg students get candy just for existing, as do the main characters. West Egg students have to earn theirs by turning in notes at the end of class (in reality, all students will turn in daily notes). The kids who choose to sit at the desks for the main characters will read their lines in Chapter 1, with Nick reading all of the narration. East and West Eggers are each assigned a specific main character to observe in detail and they have a form for taking notes about them with some specific questions for each. This interactive activity should increase engagement from the start of the novel and help break down the toughest chapter in the book for students in an accessible way.