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First Tuesday Book Club: The Great Gatsby

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Jennifer Byrne and others sit on set of First Tuesday Book Club, text overlay reads "The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald"
First Tuesday Book Club: The Great Gatsby

SUBJECTS:  English

YEARS:  9–10


How do authors develop their characters?

In 'The Great Gatsby', F Scott Fitzgerald creates characters through others' impressions of them rather than by creating an inner, or 'interior', world of thoughts for them.

We never really get to know Gatsby except by how others see him.

Find out what the First Tuesday Book Club panel thinks of the author's method of creating characters in this book.


Things to think about

  1. 1.The Great Gatsby' is a book about appearances and keeping up with appearances. Describe the party world and life of the Roaring Twenties that Fitzgerald creates in 'The Great Gatsby'. Look up a map of Long Island the holiday playground for the wealthy. Locate East Egg and West Egg. What are these two different locations a symbol for in the novel? Why do you think Gatsby is drawn to Daisy and her world?
  2. 2.Richard Flanagan says we 'do not get a physical fix on Gatsby'. What does he mean by this? Why do you think Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie says that 'the idea of Gatsby' is almost a mirage? Marieke Hardy suggests what the characters were presenting to each other is what we are meant to see. Do you agree with her? Why or why not? Jennifer Byrne thinks that there is too much 'exposition' in modern books. Richard Flanagan agrees and says that everyone goes into an 'interior world'. What do you think they mean?
  3. 3.The panel agrees that 'The Great Gatsby' is a novel about people who are 'shallow and careless'. What do you think about this statement? Imagine you are going to make the next movie of 'The Great Gatsby'. Write your character notes for the key characters. The panellists can't imagine what the characters look like. Describe what you think they look like. Choose a scene from the novel. Pretend you are a character in that scene. Write a series of tweets of your impressions of Jay Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan or Nick Carroway from the perspective of your imaginary or real character.
  4. 4.Look at film versions of the 'The Great Gatsby'. Perhaps the 1974 version starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. Or the new 2012 Baz Luhrmann version starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan. Compare your notes of how you saw the characters with how they were shown in the film. Find out about F Scott Fitzgerald's life and his relationship with his wife Zelda. Read Fitzgerald's last novel 'Tender is the Night' (1934). What themes and characters can you see explored in this novel? Think about any similarities there may be between 'Tender is the Night', 'The Great Gatsby' and Fitzgerald's life.


Date of broadcast: 2 Jun 2009


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