Hope and the American Dream During the Jazz Age

 

�So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back, ceaselessly into the past.�

~The Great Gatsby

 

            While the 1920s happened now nearly one hundred years ago, the concerns of Americans then and now reflect each other.  World War I shattered the romantic optimism of its generation, and while the world has sadly become accustomed to war since, Americans were once again confronted with overwhelming tragedy on September 11, 2001.  The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald explores his disillusioned generation, and in the process uncovers certain truths that still ring true for Americans today.  The Great Gatsby poignantly creates a story of lost dreams.  It takes a critical look at the plausibility for fulfillment of the American dream in a post WWI society, and provides the opportunity for students to question the premise of the American dream as it exists in their own lives: �Historical novels allow us � at their best they force us � to make connections and to realize that despair is as old and as new as hope, that loyalty and treachery, love and hatred, compassion and cruelty were and are inherent in humanity� (Donelson 96).  The world witnessed destruction and violence on an until then incomprehensible level, and the characters in The Great Gatsby, and especially the narrator Nick, find themselves searching fruitlessly for meaning in a world turned up-side-down, and almost a century later high school juniors can examine their own stress-filled lives through Gatsby�s ambition or Nick�s temperance.  Juniors face many stressful decisions, but by working through Gatsby, and recognizing his ultimately empty ambitions, modern teenagers can re-evaluate the importance of wealth and materials in their own lives. 

Motifs and conflicts from Fitzgerald�s novel focus around corruption of values, hope and hopelessness, wealth and poverty, and the power of dreams.  The characters fail to achieve their goals, and yet the novel ends signing to the eternality of hope.  The novel�s content critically illustrates much of what it means to be American, and its style provides an example of modernist literature.  Fitzgerald and other modernist writers confronted the death of optimism and hope.  How, they asked, could life contain meaning after witnessing the possibility for destruction witnessed during the First World War?  A unit on Gatsby would be an excellent way to introduce students to modernism and a list of its authors that they will likely see in a college literature survey course on American writers.  In his first novel, This Side of Paradise, Fitzgerald observes that his disillusioned generation has �grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken� (back cover), and he continues to examine the cynical nature of his peers in The Great Gatsby.  Students will have the opportunity to decide whether the final passage of the novel communicates a reverent, eternal hope that characterizes what it means to be American, or whether hope and the American dream can exist in our violent world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Launching the Unit

 

Before beginning The Great Gatsby, help students develop an historical understanding of the era, discussing topics such as prohibition and bootlegging, the lost generation and modern literature, and the effects of World War I on society.  Students should place Gatsby in a historical context, which will help them ultimately to find an aspect of the story to which they can relate personally.

 

  1. Understanding the Era Through Music: Jazz music was an important part of the culture of The Great Gatsby.  Some lyrics of �Ain�t We Got Fun� are printed in Gatsby.  First ask students to bring a copy of the lyrics of their favorite song to class.  Have them write a short response to the prompt �What is revelaed about our culture through the song�s lyrics?  Is the song cynical, funny, romantic, hopeful?  What observations would an historian make about our culture based on the song�s lyrics 100 years from now?  What inferences could they draw from those observations?�  Then play a recording of �Ain�t We Got Fun� and have students follow along with the lyrics.  After playing the song, have the students continue their writing.  Now they should consider the lyrics and/or the melody of �Ain�t We Got Fun�.  Once again, they should respond to a prompt: �What does the song reveal about the culture of its time?  What observations can you make about the culture from the lyrics?  What inferences can you draw from the observations?�  After writing, the class could discuss their observations and inferences.  They will begin to develop an understanding of the conflict between the wealth and poverty, and the song introduces the careless attitude condemned in Gatsby.

http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/includes/phprint.php

  1. Before beginning a novel, students can practice identifying literary elements from the 1920�s through poetry.  Because The Great Gatsby is a very �white� story, this would be a good opportunity to look at some poems by Langston Hughes, to include an African American voice from the beginning of the unit.  Two poems that express the sentiment of the times are �Dream Variations�, �Dream Boogie�, and �The Weary Blues�.  Also, the class could read at least part I. from T.S. Eliot�s �The Hollow Men.�  The imagery in this poem expresses the emptiness of the period.  For all of the poems, students should fold a sheet of paper in half, and then fold about one inch over on the bottom.  In the two large squares students should write Observations and Inferences, and in the small square at the bottom of the page Take Away.  Giving them about 10-15 minutes, they should make 30 observations about one of the poems.  Next they will make inferences based on their observations and write them in the inferences square.  Finally the class will share their observations and each student will write one element that they can take away from the poem.

 

 

 

 

  1. In a class notebook, students should set up a section for The Great Gatsby.  To begin the notes, give them some background information on the literary elements of modernism and on the lost generation:

 

 

 

Literary Movement

Time Period

Characteristics

Authors

 

Modernism

 

The Jazz Age & The Lost Generation

 

1920�s

�     Economic Prosperity, disparity between rich and poor

�     Materialism and Superficiality

�     Drinking, parties, music � �ignorance is bliss� mentality

�     Rise of Hollywood movies and stars

�     Rise of organized crime (thanks to Prohibition)

�     Lost generation authors saw and criticized a world of amorality, meaninglessness and despair.  Characters in their novels drank, had affairs, were reckless, tortured and unhappy.  Characters search for meaning and happiness but never find it.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

Ernest Hemingway

 

T.S. Eliot

 

Virginia Woolf

 

Langston Hughes (Harlem Renaissance)

 

+ many more

 

After these initial notes, students should set up their notebooks to take them through the book with the following sections that should be completed during independent reading as well as during class discussions:

 

They should then make a place to collect quotations, over the course of the book they should aim for 30.  These quotations will help them with a final project or an essay.  Each quotation should include the page number and a brief analysis.

 

  1. Watch about the first thirty minutes of the A&E channel�s �Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald.�  Students should take notes about Fitzgerald�s early hopes and aspirations, as well as his failures.  Fitzgerald�s biography is worth watching because it illuminates many of the motifs in Gatsby, and it also gives some helpful context to the �Jazz Age.�

 

 

 

Gatsby Activities

  1. The text of The Great Gatsby is rich with imagery and intricate language.  Almost any passage provides the students with material to do a passage analysis.  Do a lesson on elements of a passage analysis.  Show students how to examine a passage by looking at:

 

Deliverable Assignment: (This could be done either as in class writing or as a homework assignment).  Read and �mark up� a passage from The Great Gatsby.  (If this is the first time the class has done a passage analysis, it would help to analyze a passage based on the above criteria as a class first so that the students have a concrete idea of what they should be identifying).

 

  1. Creative Writing

Because of the rich imagery in the text, students can benefit form modeling their own writing after that of Fitzgerald.  In Chapter IV, Gatsby shares his �story� with Nick.  The story is of course fictional.  Have the students write a short narrative in which they re-invent themselves in some fantastic manner.  They can write the story as though they were trying to convince a listener, (the way Gatsby is trying to convince Nick).  They should make their story sound plausible by introducing elements of proof, as Gatsby shows Nick an actual photograph from Oxford and a medal from Montenegro.

  1. Discussion:  Through the novel continue to focus on the American dream in the novel and on the hopes and dreams of Gatsby.  When the class reaches Chapter V and Daisy�s visit to Gatsby�s house, return to the song �Ain�t We Got Fun.�  Have their perceptions about the 1920�s changed, why or why not?  What does the song reveal about the text?
  2. In the end, Gatsby and his dream die.  Students can consider Jay Gatsby a metaphor for the original American dreamer and his dream echoes the traditional American dream.  Somewhere along the way, however, his character and his dream become corrupted.  Fitzgerald uses the corruption and dissolution of Gatsby�s dream to comment upon the condition of the American dream in the 1920�s.  Does Gatsby�s downfall suggests that the American dream and the society which strives to attain it have become so corrupt that true happiness is impossible?  Have students think about why Gatsby�s dream had to fail, and how his dream reflects some of the problems identified by modernist authors (materialistic, superficial, lacking meaningful human connections).  Responses to this prompt can take the form of a more formal writing assignment.

Extending the Unit

 

            For a contemporary take on the class issues in The Great Gatsby, students can read M.E. Kerr�s Gentlehands, the story of Buddy Boyle, a young man from a working class family who falls in love with Skye Pennington.  As Jay Gatsby notices that Daisy�s voice is special, Buddy says of Skye: �They always seem to have names like that, don�t they?  Rich, beautiful girls are never named Elsie Pip or Mary Smith.  They have these special names and they say them in their particular tones and accents, and my mother was right, I was in over my head or out of my depth, or however she put it� (Kerr 1).  Buddy hopes that love and some expensive new clothes can bridge their socio-economic differences, but just as Gatsby and Daisy face obstacles, Skye and Buddy�s relationship will be tested.  In spite of the American dream � that every person has a chance to have his house on the hill � can social classes really be breached?

 

Witness, a play by Karen Hesse takes place around the same time as The Great Gatxby.  By complementing a study of The Great Gatsby by reading Witness students will receive a more complete impression of the 1920�s because Witness offers what Gatsby does not: multiple, varied voices.  To study Witness, the class should do a reader�s theater.  The students can break into five groups, each group responsible for interpreting and performing an act of the play.  After the performance have the students respond with in class writing about the success of some American dreams in Witness.  Why might characters like Sarah Chickering, Esther Hirsh and Leanora Sutter seem more successful at the end of the play than the characters in The Great Gatsby were at the end of the novel?  By examining what makes for successful, fulfilling lives (connections, friendship, honesty) students can more critically address the problem with Gatsby�s American dream. 

 

The American Dream and Young Adult Literature

 

The characters in The Great Gatsby move around trying to fulfill their dreams.  The following texts deal with young adults attempting to realize their personal American dreams by moving to new places.  Students could read the following books in small groups and culminate their reading with a literary circle presentation, sharing an element of their story with the rest of the class.   

 

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan:  The opening vignette communicates the hopes of a woman immigrating to America: �the woman and the swan sailed across an ocean many thousands of li wide, stretching their necks toward America� (Tan 3).  The swan, �a duck that stretched its neck in hopes of becoming a goose, and now look! � it is too beautiful to eat� (Tan 3), symbolizes the American dream that one can become as great as one desires to be � but at what price?  The conflict between the Chinese born mothers and the American born daughters explores the value remembering what it means to be a duck while transforming into a swan.  The story helps to illustrate the importance of remaining critical of living primarily for material gain as Gatsby does.

 

First Crossing: Stories about Teen Immigrants, Edited by Donald R. Gallo:  In the ten short stories about teenaged immigrants to America students can identify hopes and dreams shared by all of the immigrants.  The stories range from triumphant (�Lines of Scrimmage�) to tragic (�The Swede�) and will enrich high school students� understanding of an outsider�s view of the American dream.  In the title story, �First Crossing,� Marco risks his life to cross the border between Mexico and California.  The level of danger he faces to achieve his American dream is an example of the influence the American dream continues to exert outside of the country.  Students working with First Crossing should examine whether the American dream is monetary for the young immigrants, or whether it embodies something more.

 

The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros:  The story is told as a series of vignettes from the point of view of Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina woman growing up in the Hispanic area of Chicago.  Esperanza�s world seems limited by concrete walls, but she escapes the harsh realities of her world through her dreams.  In �Bums in the Attic� Esperanza dreams of a �house on a hill like the ones with the gardens where Papa works.  We go on Sundays, Papa�s day off.  I used to go.  I don�t anymore�I am tired of looking at what we can�t have� (Cisneros 86).  Esperanza dreams of prosperity, as the young James Gatz does, but she seems to understand how to balance dreams with reality: �One day I�ll own my own house, but I won�t forget who I am or where I came from.  Passing bums will ask, Can I come in?  I�ll offer them the attic, ask them to stay, because I know how it is to be without a house� (Cisneros 87).  Esperanza, unlike Gatsby, does not allow her dreams to extinguish her past.  Experanza�s story offers a less materialistic version of the American dream; she wants the house on the hill, but she will also remain connected to her roots.

 

Rodzina by Karen Cushman:  an orphaned Polish-American girl, Rodzina is on a train heading west, on an orphan train.  The goal is for each orphan on the train to be adopted, but Rodzina has her doubts as she is large, un-pretty and Polish.  Rodzina feels she is old,  and large enough to take care of herself, but on the train she develops connections that teach her about the meaning of family.  Rodzina�s American dream offers a completely different perspective from Gatsby�s.  She wants a �family � a mama with a soft lap and a papa with big shoulders to carry you on.  And a house and a dog and an apple tree� (Cushman 164).  This story is focused more towards middle school students than to eleventh graders, but the simple text provides a deeper message about finding happiness, fulfillment and the American dream through relationships rather than through material gain.

 

 

The Ballad of Lucy Whipple by Karen Cushman:  Lucy is the protagonist and narrator in this historical fiction novel about the California gold rush.  Lucy�s family has moved from Massachusetts to California to make their fortune in the gold mines, but Lucy discovers how to create her own bliss in her new environment.  The story takes place before WWI.  With The Ballad of Lucy Whipple students could explore how a more hopeful era (the gold rush) contributes to a more affirmative narrative.

 

The Land by Mildred Taylor:  In the prequel to the award winning Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, teenaged Paul-Edward cherishes his American dream: to own land.  Land ownership is a traditional part of the American dream, but Paul-Edward is African American in a white society.  Beyond owning land, Paul-Edward is determined to shape his own future, just as James Gatz is.  While their stories are different in many ways, Paul-Edward and Gatsby both become land owners.  While reading and in presenting this text students should explore why Paul-Edward finds contentment and Gatsby does not.  How can the students themselves tailor their own dreams so that they can achieve contentment rather then the unfulfilled longing that Gatsby experiences?

 

Beyond Gatsby

 

To end the unit, after the students have shared their comparisons between Gatsby�s American dream and the dreams of the characters in the young adult selections, students will complete a final writing assignment.  They will now examine their own idea of the American dream using the following idesa.  What will they do to achieve their dream, and how will they avoid Gatsby�s trap?  The materialism criticized in the 1920�s is possibly even more pronounced today.  After reading The Great Gatsby and then following with a selection from the list of young adult novels, students should be able to think critically about the importance of material goods versus the importance of relationships.  Will this distinction change the focus of their American dream?  Why or why not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

�Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald.�  Narr.  Jack Perkins.  A&E Biography Series. 

April 14, 1997

Cisneros, Sandra.  The House on Mango Street.  New York: Vintage Contemporaries,     

1991.

Cushman, Karen.  The Ballad of Lucy Whipple.  New York: Clarion Books, 1996.

- - -.  Rodzina.  New York: Clarion Books, 2003.

Donelson, Kenneth L. and Alleen Pace Nilsen.  Literature for Today�s Young Adults. 

Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2006.

Eliot, T.S. �The Hollow Men.� 1925.  The Oxford Book of American Poetry.  Ed.  David

Lehman.  Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press, 2006.  365-67.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott.  The Great Gatsby.  New York: Scribner, 1992.

- - -.  This Side of Paradise.  New York: Signet Classic, 1996.

Gallo, Donald R., ed.  First Crossing, Stories About Teen Immigrants.  Cambridge, MA:

Candlewick Press, 2004.

Hesse, Karen.  Witness.  New York: Scholastic, 2001.

Hughes, Langston.  �Dream Boogie.� 1951.  Lehman 469-70.

Hughes, Langston.  �Dream Variation.�  1926.  Lehman 475.

Hughes, Langston.  �The Weary Blues.� 1926.  Lehman 468-69.

Kerr, M.E.  Gentlehands.  New York:  Harper Trophy, 1990.

Tan, Amy.  The Joy Luck Club.  New York: Ivy Books, 1989.

Taylor, Mildred.  The Land.  New York: Phyllis Fogelman, 2001.

 

 

Whiting, Richard, Gus Kahn, and Raymond S. Egan.  Ain�t We Got Fun.  1921. 

International Lyrics Playground <http://lyricsplayground.com/alpha/songs/a/aintwegotfun.shtml>