The Great Gatsby: Chapter 8 & 9 - Gatsby's Funeral & Close Reading {EDITABLE}

If you're teaching The Great Gatsby, you might need a few extra ideas to get you through chapters 8 and 9. How about some small group close reading and throwing a funeral for Gatsby? This product includes a wide variety of lessons to help students through close reading and literary analysis, including a writing project where students compose either an elegy or eulogy for Gatsby. These lessons and activities are COMPLETELY EDITABLE on Google Drive and can be used to supplement your current plans, as homework assignments, or in any other capacity! For these LESSONS IN ACTION, check out my Instagram Highlights! I discuss using many of these lessons and you can see them for yourself!

THIS PRODUCT INCLUDES:

• Reading Quiz Chapters 8 & 9: These questions are "sesame street" style. Students receive four items. Then, they must explain HOW three of them are connected and WHY the remaining item does not belong. I've included an answer key and rubric for you to use!
• Reading Quiz:  Answer Key
• Chapter 8 Discussion Groups & Focus Passages: Break students up into small groups and assign them each a short passage. Students read, annotate, and prepare questions about the passage to help them lead a discussion with the whole class.
• Enlarged Chapter 8 Passages (Slides): Each of the passages for the small group assignment are also available as their own individual slides (see preview!)
• Writing Gatsby’s Eulogy/Elegy (rubric included!): When my students write, we always start with mentor texts. Pairing this handout with the slideshow, students will take notes on mentor texts, choose a persona to use when composing their elegy or eulogy, and a rubric to guide them in their writing.
• Farewell Gatsby writing template: This is a blank template designed for students to use when composing their eulogies.
• Elegy Overview Google Slideshow: This slideshow reviews the definitions for both eulogy and elegy and provides examples. One example from Walt Whitman ("O Captain My Captain") and the other from Oprah Winfrey (her eulogy for Rosa Parks). The slideshow also provides directions and examples for the students as they prepare to write their own for Gatsby's funeral.
• YouTube Playlist for funeral: Cue up this playlist to have in the background as students are reading their elegies and eulogies for the class. There's some great 90s throwback in there!

*Looking for more ideas? I'm always up for a chat on Instagram!

WHY YOU NEED THIS PRODUCT:

First and foremost, this product is 100% editable. Each of the resources is shared with you via Google Drive and you are welcome to make whatever customizations you need to best fit your students.

I've worked hard to make each of these lessons rigorous, engaging, and creative. There are lots of "cute" ideas out there as well as some really tough and challenging ones: I strive to balance these two spectrums. I take literary analysis seriously, but I work hard to create visually appealing and collaborative handouts and lessons to help facilitate critical thinking.

You might also be interested in these other resources for teaching The Great Gatsby:

• Choose Your Own Adventure - Narrative Writing
• Love Poem for a Character
• Literary Essay & Argument Writing Rubrics (Editable)
• The Great Gatsby: PreReading Lessons, Activities, and Fun!
• The Great Gatsby: Chapters 1, 2, and 3 Activities
• The Great Gatsby: Chapter 4 & 5 Activities
• The Great Gatsby: Chapter 6 & 7 Activities

Don't forget that leaving feedback earns you points toward FREE TPT purchases, so let me know how everything is working out! 

© Mud and Ink Teaching Please note - this resource is for use by one teacher only. Additional teachers must purchase their own license. If you are interested in purchasing several licenses, please let me know. Good luck on your adventurous teaching journey!

mudandinktpt@gmail.com

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