Name _____________________________

GUIDED WRITING: The Great Gatsby

You are to write 3 paragraphs based on the following passage from The Great Gatsby
Before writing..
1) First read the instructions for the 3 paragraphs you are to write
2) Then read the passage carefully, taking notes as you go.
---
DO use your own paper, dark black or blue pen.
DO write directly on the passage. Underline, annotate etc.

Opening of Chapter 2 The Great Gatsby Note

Fitzgerald's
use of:

1 About half way between West Egg and New York the motor-road --word choice,
choice of verbs
hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as and
connotations
to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. This is a valley of
--imagery
ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges
--metaphor
5 and hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses
--irony
and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, --adverbs
of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the --sound
imagery
powdery air. Occasionally a line of grey cars crawls along an invisible
--verbs
track, gives out a ghastly creak and comes to rest, and immediately the
10 --sentence
ash-grey men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an length,
punctuation,
impenetrable cloud which screens their obscure operations from your use of present
sight. tense...

But above the grey land and the spasms of bleak dust which drift
--negations
endlessly over it, you perceive, after a moment, the eyes of Doctor T. J.
--the motif of
15 Eckleburg. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are blue and gigantic— sight/
their retinas are one yard high. They look out of no face but, instead, perception
from a pair of enormous yellow spectacles which pass over a
--the motif of
nonexistent nose. Evidently some wild wag of an oculist set them the past
there to fatten his practice in the borough of Queens, and then sank
down himself into eternal blindness or forgot them and moved away. --verbs
20
But his eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun --adjectives
-prepositions
and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground.

Guided Writing: The Great Gatsby -- Nora Louise Syran 2021

 The valley of ashes is bounded on one side by a small foul river, and
when the drawbridge is up to let barges through, the passengers on -motif of
waiting/time
25 waiting trains can stare at the dismal scene for as long as half an hour. stopping
There is always a halt there of at least a minute and it was because of
this that I first met Tom Buchanan's mistress.
contrast to
The fact that he had one was insisted upon wherever he was known. characterize
His acquaintances resented the fact that he turned up in popular Nick and Tom
use of
restaurants with her and, leaving her at a table, sauntered about, connotation
chatting with whomsoever he knew. Though I was curious to see her I
had no desire to meet her—but I did. I went up to New York with Tom
on the train one afternoon and when we stopped by the ash heaps he
jumped to his feet and taking hold of my elbow literally forced me from
the car.
"We're getting off!" he insisted. "I want you to meet my girl."

PARAGRAPH 1: Fill in the blanks using the passage above.

Fitzgerald creates a dismal atmosphere in his description of the Valley of Ashes. First of all,
he uses color imagery, notably the color 1) “___________” which is dark, not colorful;
this adds to the hopelessness being depicted in the scene. The men are described as 2)
“________-_______” and they “carry 3) _________spades.” Even the way they move
is heavy, like the color imagery. Fitzgerald uses the adverb 4) “___________” to describe
how hopelessly and heavily they move amidst what Nick refers to earlier as “foul dust.”
Adding to this heaviness, is the author's use of 5) __________. This deliberate contrast
to what we'd expect of a farm adds to the weight of the description as while a “fantastic
farm” sounds positive, even magical with the alliteration of the 6) “_____” sound, no
crops are growing on this farm, only 7) “_______________” the unnaturalness of which
the author highlights through the use of the comparison, using “like,” a 8)
___________________ (literary device) to natural wheat. But nothing natural grows
in this valley. The only thing that grows is garbage and waste. Fitzgerald further highlights
the hopeless atmosphere which even the motor-road tries to avoid, through the use of
diction, adverbs and verbs like 9) “_______________” and 10) “_______________”
which indicate that this Valley is lost somehow, a place to be avoided, as it is situated
“half-way” between New York and West Egg. It is a “desolate” and dismal place where
nothing grows but “leaden” ash and human misery.

Guided Writing: The Great Gatsby -- Nora Louise Syran 2021

PARAGRAPH 2 : Following on from this dismal scene, Fitzgerald creates an eerie
description of a billboard which stands “above this grey land.” Craft your own paragraph
using the following outline as a guide. On your own paper, write out your topic sentence
and use the literary evidence to support the argument/point.
Tip: use Fitzgerald +verb ... and include transition words to reflect your logic

Topic sentence for Paragraph 2: Fitzgerald creates an eerie description of a

billboard which stands “above this grey land.”
1) The description of the disembodied eyes on the billboard is disturbing
a) negations “no face,” “nonexistent nose”
b) size of the eyes “gigantic,” “one yard high”
c) cold, clinical diction “retinas” --eerie, disturbing.

2) The story of Oculist foreshadows the motif of loss and the past in the novel
a) “sank down himself into eternal blindness” hints at death, loss of vision/perception
b) imagery of the passage of time and neglect through “paintless days under sun and rain”
c) Link this to Gatsby and his past. The foreshadowing is more foreboding, disturbing

3) The billboard stands “above” the grey land as if in judgement –which is disturbing
a) diction: “over the solemn dumping ground,” “above”
b) “brood on” ... verbs of perception
c) foreshadowing of George and his belief of God's judgement –return to the overall topic
sentence

Paragraph 3: How does this passage overall link to the rest of the novel?

Here are some topics to consider. Choose one and craft a clear reply to the question using
textual evidence to support your argument. You should refer to other events, characters
and details in the novel as a whole.

How is it a critique of the social and economic practices witnessed later in the novel?
How does this disturbing setting focused on blindness fit the novel as a whole?
Why does Fitzgerald chose this dismal and disturbing scene to introduce Tom Buchanan's
mistress?
Hoes does this connection between the “foul” river and the dismal scene and Tom's
mistress connect to the message Fitzgerald is trying to convey about people like the
Buchanans?
What occurs in the novel that Fitzgerald would condemn?

Guided Writing: The Great Gatsby -- Nora Louise Syran 2021

 The Great Gatsby Guided Writing “ANSWER KEY”
If a rubric is used to assess this assignment,
students should be provided with it before they write.
Grading Suggestion: Paragraphs 2 and 3 should be assessed on
understanding, interpretation, analysis of style, expression and organization.

PARAGRAPH 1:

Fitzgerald creates a dismal atmosphere in his description of the Valley of Ashes. First of all,
he uses color imagery, notably the color 1) “___grey________” which is dark, not
colorful; this adds to the hopelessness being depicted in the scene. The men are described
as 2) “_____ash___-__grey______” and they “carry 3) __ leaden_______spades.”
Even the way they move is heavy, like the color imagery. Fitzgerald uses the adverb 4)
“_____ dimly______” to describe how hopelessly and heavily they move amidst what
Nick refers to earlier as “foul dust.” Adding to this heaviness, is the author's use of 5)
___irony_____. This deliberate contrast to what we'd expect of a farm adds to the weight
of the description as while a “fantastic farm” sounds positive, even magical with the
alliteration of the 6) “___f__” sound, no crops are growing on this farm, only 7)
“________ashes_______” the unnaturalness of which the author highlights through the
use of the comparison, using “like,” a 8) _______simile____________ (literary device)
to natural wheat. But nothing natural grows in this valley. The only thing that grows is
garbage and waste. Fitzgerald further highlights the hopeless atmosphere which even the
motor-road tries to avoid, through the use of diction, adverbs and verbs like 9)
“______hastily__________” and 10) “_____shrink away__________” which
indicate that this Valley is lost somehow, a place to be avoided, as it is situated “half-way”
between New York and West Egg. It is a “desolate” and dismal place where nothing grows
but “leaden” ash and human misery.

Grading suggestion for Paragraph 2: Base points given on

language/expression and the use of the “evidence” provided below.
They should also demonstrate understanding of the novel as a whole.

Grading suggestion for Paragraph 3: Base points given on

language/expression, organization of ideas, analysis and understanding of
the novel as a whole.

Guided Writing: The Great Gatsby -- Nora Louise Syran 2021