How to Write a Paper on The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, the book that put F. Scott Fitzgerald on the map, has become a hallmark of 20th Century American Literature due to its taut writing style, symbolism, and realistic characters and its portrayal of the Jazz Age. The steps below will help you navigate through the messages behind the text

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• a copy of "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

1. Read the preface or introduction because the background information will give the text a historical context, which is necessary in this case as the Great Gatsby is a quintessential 1920s novel that chronicles the era. Often called the Jazz Age or Roaring Twenties, the period was characterized by the disillusionment due to the recent World War and a loosening of sexual and social prohibitions.
2. As you read the literary text, pay attention to Nick Carraway’s narrative style. The effort with which the narrator, who enjoys the company of his rich and decadent friends, abstains from judging the rest of the characters highlights the conflict of social mores that existed at the time. The Jazz Age was also a time when American society suffered from moral schizophrenia. While many had “modern” ideas about morality, the 18th amendment imposed Prohibition--a ban on the sale of alcohol.
3. Pay close attention to the central character, Jay Gatsby and the irony that he epitomizes. Gatsby is essentially the American Dream with a twist. He is a man who pulled himself up by his bootstraps to the ranks of the rich, but he did it illegally.
4. Note the symbolic meaning of a green light at the end of Daisy Buchannan’s dock, the love of Jay Gatsby’s life and the reason he became “The Great Gatsby.”
5. Setting is also important. Note the sunny and ultra-comfortable home of Daisy Buchannan, the woman Gatsby loves and Myrtle’s home in the Valley of Ashes, the lower-class mistress of Daisy’s husband. Also pay attention to Myrtle’s apartment in the city where she has big, clunky furniture stashed in tiny space.
6. Once you have read the last page, reflect back on the entire text because the climax is at the end and Gatsby’s character will not be fully understood until the last line.