The Great Gatsby Teaching Resources

Posted on May 16, 2008 by johawke

F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has to be one of my all-time favorite novels. Every time I read it (and that’s at least 15 times now since high school!), I find myself immersed in 1920s-era New York (one of my favorite cities even today), and I always find something I haven’t noticed before.

I enjoy the way Fitzgerald capitalizes on his characters’ weaknesses without condemning them (well, at least most of them). Gatsby has a good heart, but he’s a criminal. Daisy is sweet and witty, but she’s weak. Narrator Nick says, at the end of chapter 3, that he is one of the few honest person he has known, but it seems to me that he has to be lying to himself to he believe it. Or at least he has a pretty shallow view of honesty.

The smallest details captivate me: Meyer Wolfsheim’s cufflinks made of human molars, the whistles of the National Biscuit Company factory (which, of course, later became known as NBC), Nick’s staring at Gatsby’s mansion from his lawn “like Kant at his church steeple” while Gatsby and Daisy do their reacquainting.

I generally reserve Gatsby for my advanced students, and it’s on the eleventh-grade reading list at our school. As with many other novels, my students usually hate the story at first, but once they get to the party scenes, they’re hooked. By the end, they’re pretty much as in love with Daisy as most anyone else who’s read the book and don’t want it to end.

Available Teaching Materials

  • Anticipation Guide – Word File
  • Quiz #1 (pages 5-51) – Word File (not available for download)
  • Quiz #2 (pages 52-98) – Word File (not available for download)
  • Quiz #3 (pages 99-145) – Word File (not available for download)
  • Quiz #4 (pages 146-189) – Word File (not available for download)
  • Venn Diagram – Word File

© 2008 – 2010, mrshawke-dot-com.

Creative Commons License
Most of my teaching resources are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License, which means you can feel free to use them with attribution as long as you don’t use them commercially. If you’re not sure, don’t hesitate to ask me. Unfortunately, I am currently unable to send out my tests and quizzes, but I am hoping to establish a less time-consuming alternative for this in the near future. Sorry!!

  • RSS
  • email
  • Facebook
  • Print
  • PDF
  • Diigo
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Google Bookmarks
  • MySpace
  • Technorati
  • Tumblr
  • Netvibes
  • Add to favorites

Post to Twitter

This entry was posted in literature, novels, teaching resources. Bookmark the permalink.
  • http://sbschools.net Meika C. Laszlo

    Hello-
    I would love for you to send anything you have on The Great Gtasby and to Kill a Mockingbird. I am a special educaot/English teacher at south burlington high school in south burlington vermont.I’s love to shake up the routine a bit!
    If you need further information please let me know.
    Thanks!
    Meika Laszlo

    School Address is:
    SBHS
    550 Dorset St.
    S.Burlington, VT 05403

  • Mike Wilson

    Thanks for the helpful resources. I appreciate the time you put into creating them and maintaining your site.

  • http://NewHopeHighSchool Morgan McCants

    Hello:

    I don’t know if this went through, but I will send it again. I love your website, and would greatly appreciate it, if you could send me everything on the great gatsby. Thanks for all your hard work.

    Morgan

  • http://www.mrshawke.com mrshawke

    @ Mike: Thank you so much for those kind words!!

    @ Meika: You Gatsby quizzes are on their way to your Inbox. I can’t help right now with TKaM materials, though; none of my materials are typed up yet. But they are soon to be! (*wink* @ my current ninth-graders…)

  • http://www.mrshawke.com mrshawke

    @ Morgan: Thanks for your compliments!! I just emailed you the Gatsby quizzes. Sorry for the lengthy delay. :/

  • Jason

    Hello Mrs. Hawke,

    I was hoping to have you e-mail me your quizzes so that I can look at them and possibly use them for my students as we dive into Gatsby in a couple of weeks!

    Thank you in advance,

    J

  • http://www.wlstigers.org Tracy Daly

    I would love to have a copy of your Great Gatsby quizzes and unit test. This is my first time teaching the novel. The students are so very interested, and I want to keep their attention. Thanks!

    Tracy Rafferty
    English 10
    West Liberty Salem Schools (Ohio)

  • juliana rodriguez-lawson

    i would like to have a copy of your quizzes for The Great Gatsby and Animal Farm.
    Thank you

  • Kim Sorise

    Mrs. Hawke –

    I would to possibly incorporate your Great Gatsby quizzes and unit test into the lesson plan I am preparing. This is my first time teaching this novel and I would love as many good ideas as I can get.

    Thanks
    Kim Sorise
    English III – American Lit.
    Walden School
    Louisville, KY

  • Kelly

    Mrs. Hawke,
    Thank you for sharing your resources with fellow teachers. I am teaching an American Literature and Composition class for the first time in my 3 years of teaching. I was wondering if you would be willing to share your quizzes with me and anything else you may have over Gatsby.

    Thanks,
    Kelly
    (Missouri)

  • Debora Youmans

    I am a mentor for teachers. One of the teachers in our department is teaching the Great Gatsby and while I have some materials on this novel, I don’t have many. Could you please share your quizzes, tests and other items for The Great Gatsby. I would be willing to share some of the materials I have for other novels with you.

    Thank you
    Debora

  • http://cusd.com Bryan Frazier

    Hi Mrs. Hawke,
    If you are still willing to share, I would love to have a copy of your Gasby quizzes and tests (and anything else Gatsby) that you’d be willing to share.

    Thank yo very much for contributing to the community and to our students.

  • http://www.mrshawke.com/?p=1454 The Daily Hawke: 2009-05-20

    [...] Bryan Frazier: Hi Mrs. Hawke, If you are still willing to share, I would love to have a copy of your Gasby quizzes… [...]

  • Melissa H

    Hello there,

    Your cite is quite impressive. I just found out today that I will be teaching Grade 11 English in summer school on Monday and the Great Gatsby is on the reading list. If you have any time I would appreciate it if you could send me your resources on the Great Gatsby
    as it would be so helpful.

    I am a new teacher and any help is extremely appreciated. Your website is quite helpful and is great to see.

    Thank you,
    Melissa

  • Laurel Bullock

    Iam requesting a copy of the quizzes as I am teaching summer school and using the Great Gatsby. I’d greatly appreciate it.
    Los Angeles Unifed School District, Eagle Rock High School, lxb1446@lausd.net

  • http://www.mpsaz.org/dobson/staff/lamerrill Trish Merrill

    The anticipation guide is awesome. Thank you so much. I just started teaching American Lit at Dobson high in Mesa, AZ and would really appreciate anything you have on Gatsby. If you have anything on Scarlet letter I would love that too.
    Thanks so much!
    Trish