1. The Great Gatsby HO72 Drama and prose post-1900 (Component 02)
Lesson 4
LO: In this lesson you will:
Explore the development of modernism and the modern novel
Compare the Valley of the Ashes with T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland.
Analyse New York as a setting of the novel
Chapter 2

2. Modern vs realist
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The Romantic Era was a late 18th- early 19th century artistic movement which focused on the celebration of the beauty of nature and favoured emotion over reason. Authors include poets such as Wordsworth, Blake and Edgar Alan Poe.
Realism became popular from the mid 19th century and was all about the historical time frame and reference, and writing about events and situations that actually happened in real life. The best know authors at this time were Mark Twain and Emily Dickenson.
Modernism coincides with the rapid technological change of the early 20th century, driven by demands of the war. Writers began to experiment with unconventional language and structures. Fitzgerald greatly admired modernist poet T.S Eliot. Fitzgerald took things further by merging poetic Romanticism with the spare style of the Modernist, incorporating advertising slogans and slang into his work.

3. Independent Task Read the handout you have been given.
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Read the handout you have been given.
Watch and make notes on the short lecture on Modernism. Link on Blog.
L4 literary movements.

4. The Wasteland and The Valley of Ashes
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Fitzgerald admired the modernist poet T.S. Eliot.
Eliot’s long poem ‘The Wasteland’ was published in It represents a sterile landscape, where everyone is isolated and unable to love, it voiced a common concern of the 1920s.
Eliot’s idea may have inspired Fitzgerald’s idea of the desolate valley of the ashes.
‘What shall we do to-morrow?
What shall we ever do?’
T.S Eliot, The Wasteland
‘What’ll we do with ourselves this afternoon?’ cried Daisy, ‘and the day after that, and for the next thirty years?’
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

5. Two Desolate Worlds
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Compare the description of The Valley of the Ashes with the extract from Eliot’s The Wasteland. What similarities are there?
What comment is each writer making about the world in which they live?
Annotate each of the texts.
Wasteland extract and opening of chapter 2.

6. Homework – wider reading
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Over the next week, you will carry out wider reading from the three literary movements and compare their styles.
Romantics: William Blake, selected poems; Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven
Realist: Mark Twain, ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’, Emily Dickenson
Modernist: T.S Eliot, ‘The Wasteland’
Late Modernist: William Faulkner, ‘Lord of The Flies’
All the texts are available on my Blog.
In your reading journal, write a summary of the differences you notice between the texts.
Also: Read chapter 3
Don’t forget to add notes to the setting padlet! Essay coming up!

7. New York, New York
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As we read chapter 2, each group will focus on a particular theme of the chapter:
Appearance and material possessions
Unhappy marriage – Buchanans, Wilsons, McKees
The poor treatment of the working classes- Wilson, Myrtle
Alcohol as a negative influence
can’t stop party scene
Collect key quotations which illustrate the themes. Discuss what Fitzgerald is saying about each. Make a link to context.