Writing About Society

1. Writing About Society The Great Gatsby

2. Unit Learning Objectives • Explore through analysis and re-creative writing, how writers present narratorial point of view, characters, events, themes and genre through specific uses of language and through the conscious shaping of their narratives. • Understand key terms

3. Group work: • Brainstorm: what do you understand by “society”? • Discuss the quotations on page 189 of your course book. Which do you agree with?

4. American Society in the 1920s • “The US started the 20th century as a country with enormous potential, and finished the century as the world's only superpower. Yet there are two ways of looking at this powerful nation in the 1920s - as a wealthy country with a high standard of living, big cars and large houses, or as a country with many people living in poverty and some enduring terrible racism.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/usa/1920srev1.shtml

5. https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/icons-of-america-1920s-allison-and-kimmayhttps://www.timetoast.com/timelines/icons-of-america-1920s-allison-and-kimmay

6. The First World War was over. • The age of consumerism - Americans bought cars, radios, fridges etc. • Major cities built skyscrapers like the Empire State Building, which was completed in 1931. • Jazz music was popular as were new dances such as the charleston and the black bottom. • The first motion picture was in 1923. • Celebrity culture grew around stars like Charlie Chaplin and baseball stars like Babe Ruth. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/usa/1920srev1.shtml

7. Poverty • “More than 60 per cent of Americans lived just below the poverty line. • Life was particularly hard for African-Americans in the Deep South states where the majority of black people endured a combination of poverty and racism. • Although some women were able to enjoy more independence and wear the latest fashions, the reality was that most women were poorly paid and were employed in roles such as cleaners or waitresses.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/usa/1920srev1.shtml

8. American women in the 1920s • The changing role of women was a result of the work they did during the war. • The number of working women increased by 25 per cent. • In 1920, all women were given the right to vote. • 'Flappers' smoked in public, danced the new dances, and were sexually liberated. • Women wore clothing more convenient for activity and stopped wearing long skirts and corsets. • Divorce was made easier and the number of divorces doubled - women were not content just to stay at home and put up with bad husbands. • But most women were still housewives and were not as free as men. • http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/usa/1920srev2.shtml

9. Recreative writing for this unit • Characterisation: the range of strategies that authors and readers use to build and develop characters. • Point of view: the perspective(s) used in a text through which a version of reality is presented. • Base text: the original text from which re-creative writing takes place. Analysis of this unit requires an understanding of how characters are developed in The Great Gatsby. Recreative writing requires that you use the base text to rewrite sections from the point of view of another character. For this you will need to use techniques of characterisation to make your writing convincing.

10. Point of View • Based on what you know of American society in the 1920s, consider as you are reading, how perspectives of various scenes and events in the book may change if they were not narrated by a privileged, wealthy white man; but by a woman, a black farmer, a Native American construction worker or a white man who had been raised in poverty and lacked the opportunities that the narrator has had. • Make notes on these ideas as you read.

11. Motifs • As with The Lovely Bones look for motifs and symbolism that may help you to understand themes and characterisation.

12. Key terms for this unit • Society: a group of people working and living in a specific location who act out cultural beliefs and practices. • Characterisation: the range of strategies that authors and readers use to build and develop characters. • Point of view: the perspective(s) used in a text through which a version of reality is presented. • Motif: a repeated concrete object, place or phrase that occurs in a work of fiction and is related to a particular theme. • Base text: the original text from which re-creative writing takes place.