Admirable Hooks

A not-so-great hook.

Visit https://thisibelieve.org/youth/ and look at the various hooks (e.g., first sentences or paragraphs) of the sample essays. What is one hook you admire? Why? Share your thoughts on our class discussion page.

THIS I BELIEVE

Continue brainstorming for your This I Believe essay. Look over the guidelines and watch this clip for a pre-writing exercise.

Post a question you have on the class discussion page.

Precis/Reader-Response Question or Concerns

Begin drafting your precis or reader-response paragraph. Post any questions or concerns to the class discussion page (OPTIONAL).

Revisiting Birkerts

Revisit the Birkerts article (full text here) we read prior to starting The Great Gatsby. Pay attention to the last two pages. Share a question, connection, or observation inspired by the article.

Golden Shovel Poems

Try out a “Golden Shovel” poem using a phrase or sentence from The Great Gatsby. For instructions, see this document and view this screencast. Share your work (n.b., you have until the end of the week to post, so don’t worry if you can’t get this done for Monday).

Keep up the great work on your "Golden Shovel" poems! I've enjoyed reading them and am struck by how uncanny it is that these phrases and sentences of Fitzgerald's have pushed you to generate poems that obliquely or directly address characters, ideas, and symbols in the novel.  

Post Reading

Share a memorable part of the novel with your classmates.

Chapter Eight Reflection

A page from the forthcoming graphic novel version of The Great Gatsby

Chapter eight begins, “I couldn’t sleep all night; a fog-horn was groaning incessantly on the Sound, and I tossed half sick between grotesque reality and savage frightening dreams (154).”

It’s a telling start to a chapter that is haunted by dashed dreams and tensions between many ideas: natural/artificial, past/present, dreams/reality, certainty/doubt, wealth/poverty, etc. Ask a question, share an observation, or respond to a peer’s post about any of these ideas on the class discussion page. Include a specific example from the text in your post.