The school year starts with the unit on the American Dream, so naturally we begin with the novel The Great Gatsby. Before we get too deep into the reading and analyzing of the novel, I believe it is important to understand connections between characters which helps develop prevalent themes throughout the book. One of the most important standards, and the one that is the most tested, is on students’ ability to make inferences. The goal for this assignment is to for students to be able to make inferences about characters’ tastes and lifestyles (characterization), determine theme through setting, and analyze symbols based on textual details by finding quotes and creating a Facebook profile for each character.

 

Students will only be creating one Facebook profile per group.  Below is a detailed description of the assignment.

 

Purpose:

The purpose of this activity is to embody a character from the novel, and develop plot, characterization, themes, and symbols.

​

Assignment:

Working in groups, create a Facebook profile that resembles a Facebook page as much as possible for one of the following characters: Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, Mr. (George) Wilson, Mrs. Wilson (Myrtle), or Catherine.

 

On the profile you must indicate:

1). A profile photograph. Find one from the internet that you perceive looks like your character (remember to cite it)

2). An information section indicating the character’s:

a. Date of birth

b. Relationship status (ex: “single and looking,” “married,” “engaged,” “single,” “complicated,” etc.)

c. Any children they may have/ family members

d. City where they live / where they are from / past cities

e. Work / Education

f. Life events (ex. Friends with Jordan Baker for 5 yrs; Left World War I; First met Gatsby 1yr ago)

g. Likes/ music/ movies/ tv shows / books /events

h. Your character’s favorite quotation.  

 

3). A section which says, “Add info about you” Include information regarding:

a. Your relationships with other characters

b. Your conflicts with other characters

c. Anything else that you think about other characters

d. Other

 

4).  A box which says, “Status Update/ What’s on your mind”. You should record your current thoughts about yourself (your character), about something you’re wondering regarding another character, or your predictions/speculations as to what will occur next in the plot or hope to see next in the reading.  Explain your reasoning. Regarding the plot, make an educated guess based on your knowledge of the character you are embodying.

 

You should have at least 5 updates.

 

5).  A box entitled “Themes.” You should indicate two themes that we have encountered in the novel thus far.  Provide an example from the novel that supports the theme. Make sure to cite the corresponding page number.

 

6). Have other post on your wall. Create at least 4 posts from other character’s. Add replies on at least 2 of them.

 

7.) Bonus. Photos / Albums section.

 

Criteria for Success

In order to ensure success, students should have completed an assignment for homework the night before that consisted of characterization, finding symbolism, setting, and theme.

​

Below are some examples.

Ex: Tom Buchanan: arrogant, effeminate.
Quote on page 7
First impressions: rude, full of himself, cheater
Relationship to other characters: married to Daisy; college roommate of Nick and cousin through marriage

Example of symbolism (color) from the novel:
Pg 12. “White dresses” describing the purity of the women

Example of setting/ theme:
Time and place: Buchanan’s for dinner ch 1.
Feeling/ Mood: flirty, moody, tense, cynical
Diction: pg 6 “jumping over sun-dials and brick walls…”
How details relate to theme: Everything is based off of money and  materialism

 

I want students to strengthen their skills with the use of technology, so students will be creating a Fakebook. There is a template available here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14e76VxMJgTYOK2hGHC5sZTAda0o7PrQfNfYtOZnE0sM/template/preview?usp=drive_web&ouid=%7BuserId%7D

​

In the MAET program at MSU, we have been discussing the importance of TPACK and how very important the “sweet spot” is when engaging students in a lesson plan. The goal of this lesson plan is to be sure that there is a strong, pedagogical and content based knowledge through the use of technology.

 

I will be incorporating the use of technology via a laptop and other resources to further engage students into the learning process while also making it culturally relevant to today. Students will be learning how to use Google Slides, a Facebook template, and other skills like finding photos to incorporate in their project, and creating proper citations. This enhances students’ ability to develop projects in the future, but teaches them by incorporating a topic that is already understood to them: social media. With the help of technology, students will show their understanding of a text by transferring the skill to a multimedia project.

​

But what exactly are students doing that makes it more than simply creating a Facebook for a fictitious character? There is a heavy focus on inferences in the 11th grade English Language Arts standards, which falls into the “content” portion of TPACK. Students are required to make inferences to show their understanding of the characters in the novel by finding and analyzing quotes that add to the characterization of their character, develop imagery of the setting, and explain symbolism, especially color symbolism, which all helps create a theme of the novel. Students will use their own thoughts to create statuses for the character and they will have other characters reply to their responses. Students using critical thinking skills to help strengthen the understanding of a character through creating more ideas. This connects to the PCK part of TPACK. In the article, “Too Cool for School? No Way!” Punya Mishra and Matthew Koehler mention “Teaching requires the transformation of content in ways that make it intellectually accessible to students” (2009, 2). Students often struggle with analyzing a text and ideally with the incorporation of a form of social media it will help students understand a complex skill by more specifically targeting into to smaller sections on Fakebook.

​

Teaching literature through social media, with students doing the heavy lifting by analyzing the text beforehand, we are able to hit the PCK part of TPACK. As a 5th year teacher, I am well versed in The Great Gatsby, making inferences, analyzing quotes, characterization, plot references, etc. which supports the strength of content knowledge. However, how do you capture the pedagogy aspect? My method of teaching is developed through students collaborating together to develop a unique final presentation that embodies the content they learned throughout the first few chapters. It takes students through a step-by-step process, but indirectly. For example, students are characterizing the characters in the novel, but are doing so by filling out their likes/dislikes and basic information about them; the skill of analyzing a novel is being transferred through the creation of multimedia project. Also known as, the “sweet spot.”

​

​

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. (2009). Too cool for school? No way! Using the TPACK framework: You can have your hot tools and teach with them, too. Learning & Leading with Technology, 36(7), 14-18.