Thursday

 

On today’s lesson I want you to watch the first 70 minutes of The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald. The final part we will watch on Monday (if you watch the whole film you will still need to watch the rest on Monday, so don't! Cliffhanger...).

Before you watch the first part of the film it is important that you have a background. In order to get this read the text about “Modernism” (again) in the compendium with the Time periods. To the most famous modern writers you need to add Scott Fitzgerald. He belonged to a group of American writers which were known as “The lost generation”. Read about this group of writers HERE before you watch the film.

Also read short summary of the plot HERE

Important from the compendium:

World War I shook the world and people were starting to doubt that there is one truth, one happy ending. Now, the question was ”who were you writing for”? The writers no longer had one homogenous audience. A feeling of being lost.

People started to question previous traditional values that had been important.

Alienation – big theme of modernism. Alienation from everything that before had been taken for granted; religion, self, nature, rationality

 

What is often said to be the moral value of this film (novel)?

 

Moral 1: People after the war are blinded by their ambition for wealth that they have forgotten the human value

 

Moral 2: Characters have everything but cannot find happiness.

 

In what way can you see examples of this in the film? Bring up examples of scenes in the film! (I will ask you on Monday)