The document outlines a classroom activity comparing the novels 'The Great Gatsby' and 'Babbitt', focusing on themes, narrative perspective, and character endings. Students are tasked with creating two lists of themes—common themes and unique themes—and must find supporting evidence from the texts and secondary sources. An essay on these themes is due in two weeks, and students are encouraged to safely use educational resources for their research.

1. By Vannesa Gheen

2. Both of the novels
• The Great Gatsby
• Babbitt
Writing Utensil
• Pen or Pencil
Note Paper
• Separate notebook or loose leaf paper
Journal Notebook

3. Who is the narrator of the novels?
How do both stories end for the main
character?
When is the novels set?
What does the setting of the novel do to
help or hurt the

4.  What is significant about the theme of waste in
the novel The Great Gatsby?
• Make sure to come up with an answer that is not just
stating that there is a lot of waste in the novel, but go
in depth… explain why the author put the waste into
the novel instead of hiding it from sight like we do in
today’s society.

5.  Look at the two novels and as a class we will
be creating a list of themes that are present in
the novels and coming up with two separate
lists that should help you to create your
presentation.
• The first list will be what are the similar themes in the
novels.
• The second list will be what are the themes that are
only present in one of the novels.
Remember to copy down the list on your own sheet
of paper to take home with you.

6. Take your list and look it over
Pick 3-4 themes that you think you can find
evidence for in the text.
Use the internet to find secondary sources
to help your argument about themes along.

7. First and most importantly…BE SAFE
when using the internet.
Only use sources that are educational
• .edu and .org are the best sites.
• Google scholar is also another educational site
• Jstor is furthermore a credible site to find
secondary sources on.
Scholarly Journals and Articles are where
your focus should be!

8. The page linked to the Miami Dade
College website on the history of
Modernism.
James Truslow Adam’s Article titled “The
Epic of America”

9.  Use this essay map to go
about planning out your
essay.
 It is basic and I expect more
than just the minimal fill in the
blank answer, but it is a way
to start the essay writing
process.
 The essay is due in
two weeks from
Friday.

10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OULhla
X6JY4&sns=em
• Link is to the movie adaption of The Great Gatsby
version 2013.
Start thinking about how you can adapt a
scene from the novel into an original scene
that is representative of a key theme to this
novel.