Final Project EDU4113 - Content Instruction

Each of our class novels this year has also been an illustration of American history and society. The Crucible told the story of the Witch Trials that took place in Salem Massachusetts during the 1600s, as a way of exploring the Red Scare of the 1950s. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was an expression of the counter-culture of the 1960s; a movement which rebelled against conventional society as an overbearing, dehumanizing machine, robbing men of their freedom and individuality. And The Great Gatsby, set in New York in the dynamic 1920s, presents America in the moment that it birthed the “American Dream”, with its’ values of modernity, material wealth, and individual accomplishment.

The goal of this lesson plan is to deepen students' knowledge and understanding of the social and historical context of The Great Gatsby, which in turn will increase their ability to appreciate the novel. Working individually or in pairs, students achieve this goal themselves by researching and presenting to the class one specific topic from a broad list of the fascinating people, cultural developments, and events associated with New York in the 1920s.

Content objectives include:

• students gain a broad understanding of the social, cultural, and historical backdrop of 1920s America as represented in The Great Gatsby
• students gain detailed knowledge and insight into the particular topic that they choose from this context - which hopefully represents an element of American history of particular interest to them
• students gain insight into the literary elements - plot, setting, and characters - of The Great Gatsby, and increase their understanding of the interplay of context and content in literature
• students increase their facility for researching a historical topic through both online and textual sources, and practice using appropriate citations
• students increase their facility for choosing and organizing information into a visual element for presentation
• students deliver a strong, informative and visually engaging presentation to the class
• students practice "audience skills" of listening and providing constructive feedback