INTRODUCTION
The Great Gatsby is a story of a disillusioned love between a man and a woman. The novel’s main theme, however, encompasses a much more broad and decidedly less romantic scope. Though all of the novel’s action takes place over a few short months during the summer of 1922, set in the vicinity of Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby has become a symbol of the 1920’s illustrating the disintegration of “American Dream” and a “sign-of-the-times” of the historic Roarin’ Twenties.
But what exactly was American life like during the 1920's? When F. Scott Fitzgerald began The Great Gatsby the world was in many ways a different place than it is now. Arguably, eighty years isn’t quite so long a time when measured against human history in its entirety the 1920's can be hard to imagine from the vantage point of the new millennium generation.
If you were seventeen in 1922, what would you wear? If you worked, how much money would you make? How much would that money be worth from a modern perspective? What would you do for fun? (Remember that there was no Internet, no television, no video games, and very little recorded music. Even radio was a relatively new invention and having one in the house wasn't cheap.) Maybe you would read for entertainment; what would you read? Where did you get your news? What would that news have included?
If you were seventeen in 1922, your life would have changed dramatically during the past ten years; many people you knew as a child would be dead. What events might have caused all these deaths? How would they affect you?
When you understand some of the answers to questions like these, you'll have a better idea where Fitzgerald was coming from when he wrote The Great Gatsby. In small groups of two to four people, you will research one of the aspects of life in the 1920's (listed below in the process section), connect it briefly to life in our time, and present your groups findings to the whole class.
TASK
The end result of your research will be a five to ten minute presentation given by the group to the class on one of the following aspects of life in the 1920's:
Fashion
Business and the Economy
Gender Roles: Women and Men
Modernism as a Literary Movement
Expatriates: Writers and Artists Abroad
Advertising
Movies
Music
Media--Newspapers, Radio, Other
The "Great War"--WWI's Effect on 1920's Attitudes
Your presentation should also incorporate a brief look at how this aspect of life compares and contrasts with experiences of our time period.
Your final presentation to the class will be an average of ten minutes long; the entire group must participate and contribute equally, and visual aids are required. These presentations may take the form of a PowerPoint presentation, a poster or series of images, or another form (pending approval of the Teacher).
No matter which method of presentation your group chooses you must submit a minimum of two double-spaced typed pages, reporting on your group’s research.
When you finish your presentation, everyone in the class should understand more about the aspect of 1920's life you have been researching and should understand how that aspect shapes 1920's life overall.
PROCESS
To prepare this presentation, you'll be going through the following steps:
Be assigned to/ choose (at the discretion of the Teacher) and find your small group; Receive your topic assignment.
You will have two class periods in the computer lab to prepare your presentation to the class. You will need to consider your visual aids and how to best present your information.
Begin web research on your assigned aspect of life in the 1920's through the provided resources. Feel free to search the Internet for other *credible* sources of information. Remember to document and cite any sources you find not already included in those recommended in the WebQuest.
Take detailed notes and print out information sources in order to facilitate the compilation of your presentation as well as the writing of your group’s report on its research and findings.
Be sure to keep in mind possible connections and inferences between the 1920’s and the lives of our generations in modern America.
The two (or three) classes following our lab work will be used for the actual presentations. Every group member must be present and participate; the presentations will last approximately ten minutes but may last longer. Be prepared to answer questions from the class.
A portion of your finished product will need to be developed outside of class. Be sure to get your partners' phone numbers and e-mail addresses!
Below are a series of links which may help your research: look for sites which relate to your specific topic. A great place to begin searches is the Library of Congress' American Memory Collection online: it contains enormous resources on American history and culture, including images and audio files as well as text.
Fashion
Sheiks and Shebas - Women's Fashions of the 1920's
Business and the Economy
The Roaring Twenties: Slouching Towards Utopia?
The Business of America and the Consumer Economy in the 1920’s
Gender Roles: Women and Men
Women Must Learn to Play the Game as Men Do
Famous Gangsters and the 1920's Underworld
Modernism as a Literary Movement
Roaring Twenties: Modernism, Consumerism, Hedonism, and Individualism
The Culture of Modernism in the 1920’s and Reactions to Modernism
Expatriates: Writers and Artists Abroad
Expatriate Life Away from Paris
Expatriate Lifestyle as Tourist Destination
Advertising
Coded Desire in 1920's Advertising Advertising in the 1920's
1920's Advertisement Gallery Advertising in 1920's Women's Magazines
American Advertising: A Brief History
Movies
Music
"The Roaring Twentie": The Jazz Age and Louis Armstrong
Brief Timeline of American Literature, Music, and Movies in the 1920's
Media--Newspapers, Radio, Other
History of the Media, Radio, and Television
1920-1929: Media History TimeLine
The 1920's Media: People in the News
The "Great War"--WWI's Effect on 1920's Attitudes
The "Great War" and the New Era
World War I History: Changes in Peoples' Attitudes About Government
EVALUATION
A successful presentation will demonstrate:
1. A well-researched understanding of your topic and its effect on 1920's life.
2. An enhanced, deeper understanding of the background of The Great Gatsby and its effect on the characters.
3. Careful documentation of your sources.
4. Thoughtful presentation techniques for conveying your information to others.
Your presentation will be evaluated according to the rubric as shown here.
CONCLUSION
By completing your group’s research and presentation, you should have developed a much better understanding of the world in which F. Scott Fitzgerald was writing and the setting of The Great Gatsby. The book's commentary on wealth and the times ought to make more sense when we, as readers, have a better understanding of what those times were like.
It can be useful to make note of the remarkable difference that eighty years has made to the way we live. If we were set down in the 1920's, many of us would find ourselves completely at a loss without our cell phones, Internet, and easy access to automobiles. Even more important differences include our greater degree of social equality between races and genders, our taken-for-granted privilege of voting, and our widely restored belief in ourselves as a people. Our generation have not experienced a war which devastated in the way that Fitzgerald's was devastated by World War I.
The prevailing attitude of our generations is that the way we live now is the "right" way, the "normal" way, the "way things are"; we take it for granted. But most of the world does not live in this degree of luxury and confidence; and even in America, we have lived this way only for a very little while. More recent events including the War in Iraq and the economic recession facing our country have begun to offer Americans a change in perspective.
The real question that comes out of The Great Gatsby may well be whether Fitzgerald's commentary has some applications to new-millennium America as well as to the 1920's; whether we too might be covering up some kind of emptiness with wealth, constant consumption, and constant entertainment. How many of us feel that we want, and that we can, become Gatsby? And how many of us will destroy ourselves trying?
CREDITS & REFERENCES
References:
All of the Websites and Images referenced in this WebQuest are credited per their individual creators. I assume none of the credit for creating any of these wonderful compilations of information and sources of reference. I can only take credit for assembling the list of Internet Resources for the sake of creating this educational WebQuest. All copywritten material is up to date and credited only to the holder of the copywrite. Please see each individual website for further information on its Author, Source, and copywrite.
Credits:
I’d like to offer a special thanks to Mrs. Huerter for her help and guidance in the compilation of this WebQuest, Dr. Orth for her continued guidance and support in my progress this semester up to and included the production of this WebQuest, and, of course, the WebQuest Website for the rubric upon which this WebQuest was created: Without all of which none of this would have been possible.
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