1. The “Great Gatsby” & the “American Dream” Web Quest
Name: Nichole Valerio Grade 11-12 Subject: English Language Arts Topic: The Great Gatsby
Level: grade
Education Standards Addressed: Overview & Purpose:
Writing Standard 1: Students analyze the claim, grounds, warrants,
qualifiers and counterclaims in three articles about the
b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most American Dream. Students then analyze the argument
relevant evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both in a in those articles. Finally, students write their own
manner that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and argument essay about the current state of the American
possible biases. Dream.
Reading: Informational Text Standard 1 *Activities alone can be complete in a class time or less.
The whole Web Quest would be part of the larger unit
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says and take more time.
explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the
text leaves matters uncertain.
Finding a manuscript in the backseat of a cab you happened to hail one rainy day on your way to West Egg village. You
wonder if this could be the next great American novel, because it’s an account of the American Dream. Right from the first
page you are thrown into this elite world of scandal and privilege…the manuscript is a real page turner you decide.
However, before you can make a good claim that warrants if this manuscript is worth giving to your publishing friends in
New York, you decide to read more to discover if it’s worth your time…and theirs’.
Learning Activity #1 Description
Objective
https://www.msu.edu/~millettf/ Read the following analysis of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” and answer the
gatsby.html (this site may not following questions.
be working)
http://www.novelguide.com/th
egreatgatsby/index.html
a. Based on the following analysis what do you expect from the novel “The Great Gatsby?”

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b. Based on the information, what do you think the plot and setting of “The Great Gatsby” will include?
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(4) = Exceeds (3) = Meets (2) = (1) =
(5) = Exceptional
Self-Assessment for Activity #1 Requirements Requirements Gets By Needs More Work
Read article
Answered all questions
Communicated written ideas effectively
You are starting to gain a better understanding of what this manuscript is about. Though you wonder about the setting of
this manuscript? So you decide to physically visit all the areas that the manuscript mentions. However, you are unsure of
where a few places are so you turn to Google Earth to help you map your journey.

3. Learning Activity #2 Description
Objective
http://www.google.com/earth/i Based on the descriptions given in Fitzgerald's “The Great Gatsby,” explore New York and the
ndex.html surrounding areas using Google Earth. Create a virtual map based on the settings in the book. Add
“Placemarks” for the all the “Areas Required.” Record a virtual tour of where you detect the
following areas would be on your virtual map using the novel as a resource.
*This virtual map is your best estimate of where these locations would be placed on the clues from the novel.
Required Areas on Virtual Map
a. East Egg (pgs. 4 - 5) Explain why you choose that Placemark? _________________________________________________
b. Buchanan's house (pgs. 6 - 7) Explain why you choose that Placemark? _________________________________________
c. West Egg (pgs. 4 - 5) Explain why you choose that Placemark? _________________________________________________
d. Gatsby's house (pg. 5) Explain why you choose that Placemark? ________________________________________________
e. Nick's house (pg. 5) Explain why you choose that Placemark? _________________________________________________
f. Long Island Sound (pg. 5) Explain why you choose that Placemark? ____________________________________________
g. Valley of Ashes (pg. 23) Explain why you choose that Placemark? _______________________________________________
h. T.J. Eckleberg billboard (pg. 23) Explain why you choose that Placemark? ________________________________________
i. Railroad tracks and motor road (pg. 23) Explain why you choose that Placemark? __________________________________
j. Wilson's garage/house (pgs. 24 -25) Explain why you choose that Placemark? _____________________________________
k. New York (pg. 4, 23) Explain why you choose that Placemark? _________________________________________________
l. Jordan's aunt's apartment (pg. 19) Explain why you choose that Placemark? ______________________________________
m. Tom and Myrtle's apartment (pgs. 28 -29) Explain why you choose that Placemark? _________________________________
(4) = Exceeds (3) = Meets (2) = (1) =
(5) = Exceptional
Self-Assessment for Activity #2 Requirements Requirements Gets By Needs More Work
Completed assignment using Google Earth
Listed all the required areas with “Placemarks” & answered
questions explaining with evidence why you choose that location
for each area required.
Record virtual tour and sent final product to instructor
After mapping all the places in this manuscript you ask the cab driver to turn up the radio because you are listening to a
song that sounds a lot like the manuscript you are reading and wonder could this be a coincidence?

4. Learning Activity #3 Description
Objective
http://www.youtube.com/watch Listen to "Daisy's Lullaby," a rap tribute to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel "The Great Gatsby" and
?v=RiajdDYYMaA answer the following questions in a short paragraph.
a. Describe who the audience of the rap song “Daisy’s Lullaby” is intended for?
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(4) = Exceeds (3) = Meets (2) = (1) =
(5) = Exceptional
Self-Assessment for Activity #3 Requirements Requirements Gets By Needs More Work
Listened to all of “Daisy’s Lullaby”
All questions answered for this sections
Listed strengths and limitations of this rap tribute

5. Learning Activity #4-5 Description
Objective
http://www.nytimes.com/learni Learn about the contemporary popularity of the 1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, “The Great Gatsby,”
ng/teachers/featured_articles/ among urban high school students by reading the article, “Gatsby’s Green Light Beckons a New Set
20080220wednesday.html
of Strivers.”
http://www.nytimes.com/learni Take a quiz to see how well you understood the article "Gatsby's Green Light Beckons a New Set of
ng/students/quiz/GatsbyGreen Strivers." For each question, choose the best answer. Good luck!
LightQuiz.html
a. Answer the questions in the quiz. Print off results.
b. Based on the information you have collected what exactly does the green light at Daisy’s house that Gatsby gazes at represents to him?
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(4) = Exceeds (3) = Meets (2) = (1) =
(5) = Exceptional
Self-Assessment for Activity #4-5 Requirements Requirements Gets By Needs More Work
Read article
Completed quiz and printed results
Wrote analysis of what the “green light” symbolizes

6. While in the cab, you pull out the New York Times and read an article about the American Dream. You decide that there
are some similarities between the two stories and are interested in knowing if a larger audience would be interested in
reading this type of book that you are finding so interesting.
Learning Activity #6 Description
Objective
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/ Read the New York Times article “Testing the Resonance of the American Dream" by Lena Williams
06/23/style/testing-the-
resonance-of-the-american-
dream.html
a. Why do you think the author wrote that the “The American dream has changed with each generation?”
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(4) = Exceeds (3) = Meets (2) = (1) =
(5) = Exceptional
Self-Assessment for Activity #6 Requirements Requirements Gets By Needs More Work
Read article
Wrote a short personal narrative
Explained the current state of the American dream using correct
punctuation.

7. Learning Activity #7-8 Description
Objective
http://www.city- The Truth behind F. Scott Fitzgerald Valley of Ashes
journal.org/article02.php?aid=
1524
http://www.youtube.com/watch Watch the YouTube video “The Great Gatsby: Living the Dream in the Valley of Ashes”
?v=0VhYMdnAsyM
a. Did your impression of the “American Dream” change from one webpage/video to the next?
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(4) = Exceeds (3) = Meets (2) = (1) =
(5) = Exceptional
Self-Assessment for Activity #7-8 Requirements Requirements Gets By Needs More Work
Read article
Watched YouTube video
Wrote synthesize of “Living the Dream in the Valley of Ashes.”

8. Learning Activity #9-10 Description
Objective
http://www.nytimes.com/learni Read the New York Times article "What Happens to the American Dream in a Recession" by Katherine Q.
ng/teachers/featured_articles/ Seelye
20090511monday.html
http://www.nytimes.com/video/ Watch the video “Defining the American Dream”
2009/05/07/us/119484003112
0/defining-the-american-
dream.html
a. List three elements why the author suggests the idea of the “American Dream” has changed or been adapted due to the recession?
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(4) = Exceeds (3) = Meets (2) = (1) =
(5) = Exceptional
Self-Assessment for Activity #9-10 Requirements Requirements Gets By Needs More Work
Read article
Watched YouTube video
Defined your own “American Dream”
Learning Activity #11 Description
Objective
http://www.values.com/your- Considering the current economic conditions and other factors in our country, create your own “Values
billboards Billboard,” keeping in mind the state of the American Dream. Don't forget to back up YOUR VALUE. Create
a headline and use images that you created yourself.
a. Create your own billboard keeping in mind how other preserved the billboard in the novel in the “Valley of Ashes” and what that meant to
Gatsby’s and the other characters American Dream. Print off your billboard and turn in for points.

9. b. Explain why you choose the image, “the value,” and the saying you did for your billboard. Justify you reasoning and make the argument as
to why your “value” you choose represents a part of your American Dream
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(4) = Exceeds (3) = Meets (2) = (1) =
(5) = Exceptional
Self-Assessment for Activity #11 Requirements Requirements Gets By Needs More Work
Created your own ‘value billboard”
Turned value billboard in for points
Wrote a claim justifying how your “value billboard” represented a
part of your American Dream
After completing all your research on if this manuscript that you stumbled upon would be a best-seller. You decide your
friends in New York would be interested in publishing this novel. However, you have to find out more about the author
first.
Learning Activity #12-14 Description
Objective
http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/bi A brief history of the lift of F. Scott Fitzgerald
ography.html
http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/ch Chronology of the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald
ronology.html

10. http://quizstar.4teachers.org/ Create an online quiz
a. Create a mini quiz for another student to take using the facts and personal history of F. Scott Fitzgerald from these two articles. The mini
quiz must have at least 10 questions and be posted to Quizstar. Pair up with another student in the class. Take that students quiz and
print results. He/she will take your quiz and print results.
(4) = Exceeds (3) = Meets (2) = (1) =
(5) = Exceptional
Self-Assessment for Activity #12-14 Requirements Requirements Gets By Needs More Work
Read “A brief history”
Read “Chronology of the life…”
Create a mini quiz on “quizstar” paired up with a student and took
each other quizzes. Printed results.
Learning Activity #15 Description
Objective
http://www.nytimes.com/learni Read the New York Times article "America Faces 1993's Realities" by James Truslow Adams
ng/teachers/archival/1933010
1AmericanDream.pdf
a. According to the author, what are the realities that America Faces in 1993?
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11. (4) = Exceeds (3) = Meets (2) = (1) =
(5) = Exceptional
Self-Assessment for Activity #15 Requirements Requirements Gets By Needs More Work
Read article
Locate article thesis statement and main ideas
Wrote a summary describing how the main ideas supported or
did not support the article thesis statement
Learning Activity #16 Description
Objective
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/ Read through the list of character from the novel “The Great Gatsby.” Choose only one character that
gatsby/characters.html interests you and follow up on some additional research about this character using the novel and the internet
as resources.
a. What kind of characters do you expect to encounter in the novel “The Great Gatsby?”
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Learning Activity #17 Description
Objective
Assigned a character from the novel, The Great Gatsby, and you will need to create a “fake Facebook” page
www.myfakewall.com for that character. The page will serve as a direct representation of how that character is portrayed
throughout the novel. All of your information must fall within the setting: New York, 1920’s. The pictures,
quotes, activities, historical information of the characters must all fall in place with the novel. Print your
Facebook page and hand it in.
a. Print and turn in your “fake Facebook” page.

12. (4) = Exceeds (3) = Meets (2) = (1) =
(5) = Exceptional
Self-Assessment for Activity #16-17 Requirements Requirements Gets By Needs More Work
Read the character list
Explain why your choose your character
Write and print off your “fake Facebook” page
Learning Activity #18-20 Description
Objective
http://www.washingtonpost.co Read the Washington Post article ‘Gatsby’: the greatest of them all by Jonathan Yardley
m/wp-
dyn/content/article/2007/01/01
/AR2007010100958.html
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2 On August 8th of 1933, author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the following letter of advice to his 11-year-old
012/03/things-to-worry- daughter, "Scottie," who was away at camp.
about.html
http://www.ecritureinfinie.org/ The article by Yardley described that at “Barely 50,000 words long-the novel “The Great Gatsby” is a
meditation on some of this country's most central ideas, themes, yearnings and preoccupations: the quest
for a new life, the preoccupation with class, the hunger for riches and "the last and greatest of all human
dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent,
compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in
history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder."
Keeping this in mind the article and the letter F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote to his daughter visit the following
website to leave your mark, Explore the website and find where you are invited to write as if it would be your
last time. What will you say? Create a list of “things to worry about and things not to worry about” submit
online and track the eight books.

13. (4) = Exceeds (3) = Meets (2) = (1) =
(5) = Exceptional
Self-Assessment for Activity #18-20 Requirements Requirements Gets By Needs More Work
Read the article
Read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s letter to his daughter
Visited website and left your mark
After the cab driver drops you off you realize that this book “The Great Gatsby” is indeed worth publishing. You pull out
your cell phone to give your friends a call, but realize that you are no longer hold the manuscript in your hands. “Oh no,”
you gasp in panic, as you realize you forgot the manuscript in the back of the cab that just drove out of your sight.
How will people get to read this great novel now, you think?

14. Answer Key
 Based on the following analysis what do you expect from the novel “The Great
Gatsby?”
 Students answers can vary, but based on the textual information
students should mention something about the American dream, the
tone of the novel or the multiple symbolic objects in the novel
 Based on the information, what do you think the plot and setting of “The Great
Gatsby” will include?
 Students answers can vary, but based on the information from the
analysis students should mention something about the idea of
movement—this includes from East Egg to New York, ect.
 Student explains why they chose the “Placemarks” they did for each setting
area required on the virtual map.
a. East Egg (pgs. 4 - 5)
b. Buchanan's house (pgs. 6 - 7)
c. West Egg (pgs. 4 - 5)
d. Gatsby's house (pg. 5)
e. Nick's house (pg. 5)
f. Long Island Sound (pg. 5)
g. Valley of Ashes (pg. 23)
h. T.J. Eckleberg billboard (pg. 23)
i. Railroad tracks and motor road (pg. 23)
j. Wilson's garage/house (pgs. 24 -25)
k. New York (pg. 4, 23)
l. Jordan's aunt's apartment (pg. 19)
m. Tom and Myrtle's apartment (pgs. 28 -29)
 Describe who the audience of the rap song “Daisy’s Lullaby” is intended for?
 Students should mention that the rap song is intended for someone
who has read the novel for a lot of the references to be understood.
 Student take an online quiz
 Student need to print results from the quiz and turn in for points
 Based on the information you have collected what exactly does the green light
at Daisy’s house that Gatsby gazes at represents to him?
 The green light on Daisy’s house that Gatsby gazes wistfully at from his
own house across the water represents the "unattainable dream." But
the green light also represents the hazy future, the future that is forever
elusive, as Nick claims in the last page of the novel.

15.  Why do you think the author wrote that the “The American dream has changed
with each generation?”
 Students’ answers may vary, but generally they should fall within the
answer that in the last paragraph of the article the author wrote that
some people are no longer satisfied with the house and the car. They
dream of a college, an education, and an income beyond that of what
they were born into.
 Did your impression of the “American Dream” change from one webpage/video
to the next?
 Students’ answers will vary, but in their impression they should write
something about how the American dream is a symbol that represents
the ideal in an ever changing world.
 List three elements why the author suggests the idea of the “American Dream”
has changed or been adapted due to the recession?
 Students’ answers can vary
 People want to hold onto that American dream when times are hard
 The American dreams relates to freedom and opportunity, people
believe they can start poor and become rich
 The American dream is a dream of social order in which people can
hope for equality
 Create billboard
 To receive points students must print out a copy of their billboard
 Explain why you choose the image, “the value,” and the saying you did for your
billboard. Justify you reasoning and make the argument as to why your “value”
you choose represents a part of your American Dream
 Students’ answer can vary
 A value like honesty, dedication, e.g. and describe how the values they
choose is a part of their American Dream. For example, “dedication is
part of my American dream because I believe if you continue to try you
can reach your goals”
 Create mini quiz
 To receive credit students need to print a copy of the mini quiz they
created online & the results of the quiz they took when they paired up
with another student
 According to the author, what are the realities that America Faces in 1993?

16.  Students’ answer can vary
 For example, something a student could write about is how the reality
that America faces is that dreams and the idea of a happy life was built
on owning things like fancy cars, expensive devices or other gadgets.
The fallacy was that you had to have these things in order to live a full
life.
 What kind of characters do you expect to encounter in the novel “The Great
Gatsby?”
 Students’ answer can vary, but students can talk about individual
characters or they could talk about personality traits of the characters
that they can expect to encounter in the novel.
 Create a “fake Facebook” page from one character from the novel
 To receive credit students needs to print a copy of their “fake
Facebook” page and must be written in first person language as if they
were the character they chose from the novel
 Leave mark on website and print what “your final words would be”
 Print off what your final words would be and submit online