The Great Gatsby Synthesis Essay (Distance Learning)

What’s included in this purchase:

1. The Great Gatsby Synthesis Prompt
2. Scoring Rubric (based on College Board’s AP English Language Synthesis Essay Scoring Guide)
3. Sources A-J

The Great Gatsby Synthesis Essay

1. I assign this essay on the first day of our Great Gatsby unit. That way students can have the prompt in mind as we work through each chapter. 
2. Our Great Gatsby unit also corresponds with our study of the AP English Language Synthesis essay, so my students have already become familiar with the Synthesis essay format.
3. I assign the essay to be due about one week after we finish reading the novel. 
4. Space out the presentation of the sources. I generally aim for about two to three sources per week. 
5. Allow ample time for discussion questions. These tend to be very rich in content, and well-worth classroom time. During discussion times, I push students to make connections between each of the sources, rather than seeing them in isolation only. This helps prepare them for placing the sources in conversation with one another in their essays. 
6. After viewing or reading the source, I allow small groups of students to discuss each of the discussion questions. After small groups have had a chance to discuss, we’ll conduct a whole-class discussion. After the whole-class discussion, students will choose one of the questions to respond to individually on their own piece of paper/journal entry/Google Classroom digital assignment. 
7. After students have analyzed all ten sources, including chapters 1-9 of The Great Gatsby, I'll give students a couple days of classroom time to work on their essays before it is due.