The Great Gatsby

Guided Discussion 4

Explain how the "jazz age" informs The Great Gatsby. How would you compare the events, mores, and characteristics of this time to our own time? Could Gatsby be set in this decade or the last one with the same characters and the same theme? Use the Primary Source only.

In the novel, THE GREAT GATSBY, the narrator Nick Carroway tells us on several occasions that he is both “within and without”. He is pointing out that he is both “within” the social circle composed of Daisy and Tom and Gatsby, yet he is not really one of them (“without”). He is also “within” the affair that Daisy and Gatsby are having, but he is in the role of an observer and at times as a facilitator. Finally, he is “within” the East Coast way of life (New York City and the financial markets), but he is “without” because he is from the Midwest.In four or five well-crafted paragraphs, discuss how Nick separated himself from the other characters in the novel. How did he consider himself to be different? What failings in the others did he observe? How did he feel about the other four major characters we meet in the novel — Daisy, Tom, Jordan and Gatsby?Use the novel, notes, the film, to support your conclusions. cite 2 quotes per arugement paragraph