Tell Me About It
Subject: English III
Topic: Narration
Title of Lesson: “Tell Me About It”
Adapted from NEA “Narrative and Point of View” lesson, http://www.neabigread.org/books/greatgatsby/teachers/gatsbylesson03.pdf
Objectives:
Students will:
1. understand the relationship between narration and point of view by analyzing Nick’s characteristics and narrative technique. (RL 11-12 #3)
2. create an alternate version of a scene from The Great Gatsby by changing the narrator (W 11-12 #3b)
Purpose:
Through this study of the narration techniques in The Great Gatsby, the students will be able to dissect the importance of point of view and narration in a novel. The discussion of narration will also necessitate a look at characterization.
Materials:
The Great Gatsby
Laptop/tablet (optional)
Procedures:
Procedures for Introducing the Lesson:
To begin this lesson, the students will complete the attached bell-ringer. As a class, we will then discuss the responses to the bell ringer. (15 minutes)
Procedures for Developing the Lesson: Students will break into groups of three for the next portion of the lesson. The groups will:
· List the things you have learned about Nick so far. How does his background influence or change his narration? Provide examples to back up your answer. (15 minutes)
· Make similar lists of things you know about Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom. (15 minutes)
· The students will respond to the following prompt: Each person will, individually, rewrite a scene from one of those three characters’ point of view. The character must already be present in the scene. This re-write will not be presented as a traditional book chapter; instead, the chapter will be re-written in the form of "literary tweets." Students must compose at least 8 tweets. Using 140 characters or less for each tweet, the same plot and basic dialogue should be maintained. However, the emphasis and thoughts of the narrator are subject to your discretion. (When doing your tweets, keep your list of facts and personality about each character nearby.) Possible scenes include the sitting room scene from Chapter I, the dinner party scene from Chapter III, Nick and Gatsby’s meeting with Wolfsheim, etc. The tweets can simply be written out, or the student can choose to create a twitter account for the character. (35 minutes)
Procedures for Concluding the Lesson: After the students have time to do their re-writes, I will have everyone come back together as a whole class to discuss the previous engagement. Based on student contributions, we will come up with the main character attributes and features that influenced the narration of the re-writes.
Evaluating/Assessing the Learning:
Before the lesson: The bell-ringer will be graded for completion.
During the lesson: The students will be given a + or – for participation in the group discussion and tweet assignments.
After the lesson: The literary tweet assignments will be graded on their adherence to the prompt. Implementation of character traits into a distinctive narrative style will be the most important aspect.
Bell-Ringer
Answer these Q’s based on your reading of the first four chapters
1. What kind of narrator is Nick? Is he involved, or detached? Biased or unbiased?
2. At the end of chapter III, Nick says, “I am one of the few honest people I have ever known.” Do you trust Nick? Explain your answer.
3. How could a different narrator change the novel?
Subject: English III
Topic: Narration
Title of Lesson: “Tell Me About It”
Adapted from NEA “Narrative and Point of View” lesson, http://www.neabigread.org/books/greatgatsby/teachers/gatsbylesson03.pdf
Objectives:
Students will:
1. understand the relationship between narration and point of view by analyzing Nick’s characteristics and narrative technique. (RL 11-12 #3)
2. create an alternate version of a scene from The Great Gatsby by changing the narrator (W 11-12 #3b)
Purpose:
Through this study of the narration techniques in The Great Gatsby, the students will be able to dissect the importance of point of view and narration in a novel. The discussion of narration will also necessitate a look at characterization.
Materials:
The Great Gatsby
Laptop/tablet (optional)
Procedures:
Procedures for Introducing the Lesson:
To begin this lesson, the students will complete the attached bell-ringer. As a class, we will then discuss the responses to the bell ringer. (15 minutes)
Procedures for Developing the Lesson: Students will break into groups of three for the next portion of the lesson. The groups will:
· List the things you have learned about Nick so far. How does his background influence or change his narration? Provide examples to back up your answer. (15 minutes)
· Make similar lists of things you know about Gatsby, Daisy, and Tom. (15 minutes)
· The students will respond to the following prompt: Each person will, individually, rewrite a scene from one of those three characters’ point of view. The character must already be present in the scene. This re-write will not be presented as a traditional book chapter; instead, the chapter will be re-written in the form of "literary tweets." Students must compose at least 8 tweets. Using 140 characters or less for each tweet, the same plot and basic dialogue should be maintained. However, the emphasis and thoughts of the narrator are subject to your discretion. (When doing your tweets, keep your list of facts and personality about each character nearby.) Possible scenes include the sitting room scene from Chapter I, the dinner party scene from Chapter III, Nick and Gatsby’s meeting with Wolfsheim, etc. The tweets can simply be written out, or the student can choose to create a twitter account for the character. (35 minutes)
Procedures for Concluding the Lesson: After the students have time to do their re-writes, I will have everyone come back together as a whole class to discuss the previous engagement. Based on student contributions, we will come up with the main character attributes and features that influenced the narration of the re-writes.
Evaluating/Assessing the Learning:
Before the lesson: The bell-ringer will be graded for completion.
During the lesson: The students will be given a + or – for participation in the group discussion and tweet assignments.
After the lesson: The literary tweet assignments will be graded on their adherence to the prompt. Implementation of character traits into a distinctive narrative style will be the most important aspect.
Bell-Ringer
Answer these Q’s based on your reading of the first four chapters
1. What kind of narrator is Nick? Is he involved, or detached? Biased or unbiased?
2. At the end of chapter III, Nick says, “I am one of the few honest people I have ever known.” Do you trust Nick? Explain your answer.
3. How could a different narrator change the novel?