'The Great Gatsby': analysing a writer's craft
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can annotate a text and explain how the writer crafts a response from a reader.
Key learning points
- Writers will make deliberate choices in their writing to achieve specific effects - this is known as writer's craft.
- Writers will employ different word choices and language devices to create engaging characters and settings.
- Personal responses to texts will take into account the writer's craft.
Keywords
Opulence - extreme wealth and luxuriousness, often associated with lavish displays of extravagance
Writer's craft - the techniques and tools a writer uses to create and develop their writing
Supercilious - behaving or looking as though one thinks they are superior to others
Elicit - to call forth or draw out
Common misconception
All opinions in response to written texts are equal.
The best personal responses to texts will evaluate the writer's craft in eliciting that opinion.
Teacher tip
This lesson focuses on the wealth and extravagance that elites had during the 1920s in the USA. You may want to bring this to life further with resources (videos/pictures) that give students a clearer contextual understanding of this era.
Equipment
Pupils will need to access the extract from 'The Great Gatsby' which can be found in the additional materials.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.'The Great Gatsby' was set in the ...
Q2.Who wrote 'The Great Gatsby'?
Q3.The novel 'The Great Gatsby' explores the key theme of the 'American ...
Q4.In 'The Great Gatsby', Nick Carraway is the novel's ...
Q5.The novel 'The Great Gatsby' is set in a fictionalised part of ...
Q6.Fitzgerald describes 'West Egg' as that 'riotous island' in 'The Great Gatsby'. What device is he using here?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of the below are reasonable synonyms for the word 'supercilious'?
Q2.In 'The Great Gatsby', which character rents a modest house in West Egg?
Q3.In 'The Great Gatsby', Fitzgerald describes the water separating the two islands as a "great wet barnyard". What language device has he used here?
Q4.What is the effect of describing East Egg as "glittered along the water" in 'The Great Gatsby'?
Q5.What effect does the use of dynamic verbs like "ran", "jumping", and "drifting" create in 'The Great Gatsby'?
Q6.In 'The Great Gatsby', how does Fitzgerald contrast West Egg and East Egg?
To help you plan your 11 English lesson on: 'The Great Gatsby': analysing a writer's craft, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 English lesson on: 'The Great Gatsby': analysing a writer's craft, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 English lessons from the Fiction: books that changed my world unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.