The Great Gatsby & We Were Liars Teaching Plan - Grade 10-1

(Megan, Dana, Joel, Hayleigh, Nicole)

The Great Gatsby is a classic romantic tragedy set

among the upper-class culture of the roaring 1920s. The
text is narrated by a wealthy and impressionable young
entrepreneur living on his own in the state New York,
drawn into the glamorous and excessive lifestyle of his
neighbor, Jay Gatsby. The novel follows the dramatic
rise and fall of Gatsby and his lost love Daisys romance,
ultimately ending in disillusionment and tragedy. The
novel raises questions regarding class, money, and
happiness; the characters are excessively rich, but deeply
unhappy and dysfunctional. With decadent language and
dynamic characters, The Great Gatsby is a classic of
20th century literature.

Cadence Sinclair, the narrator of We Were Liars, spends

her summers vacationing with the Sinclair family. The
novel focuses on the growth and coming of age during
these summers with Cadence, Mirren, Johnny, and Gat,
who she collectively calls the liars. In the summer of
her 15th year, Cadence is involved in an accident that she
cannot remember. The novel follows Cadence as she tries
to piece together summer 15 by interacting with her
family. Throughout We Were Liars, Cadence experiences
headaches, and loss of memory because of the accident.
With the help of her cousins, Johnny and Mirren, and her
love interest, Gat, Cadence ultimately remembers her
aunts and mother feuding over their grandfather's will,
and that the liars burned down his mansion to end the
rivalry. By the end of the novel, Cadence realizes the true
events of that summer. The Liars tried to burn down the
house together but, inadvertently Cadence sets fire to the
house when Mirren, Johnny, and Gat were still inside. The characters that Cadence has been
talking to are killed in the fire and are in fact ghosts that have been waiting for Cadence to
remember what had happened.

Contextual Background of the Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald:

Born September 24, 1896. Family lived off mothers
inheritance. In 1917 he dropped out of Princeton to join the army
(WWI). During WWI he met Zelda and fell in love with her but
found she was unattainable due to her status.
His first novel This Side of Paradise (largely about greed
and very autobiographical) was published in 1920 and with its
glowing reviews turned him into an overnight success. A week
after the novels publication he was married to his Zelda and they
had a daughter named Frances Scott Fitzgerald in 1921.
The Fitzgeralds embraced their newfound celebrity status; his new reputation as playboy was
detrimental to his writer status. He was prey to alcoholism and depression; his wife Zelda fell
into depression and died in a hospital fire. F. Scott Fitzgerald died of a heart attack in 1940 at 44
years of age. He was in the middle of writing The Love of the Last Tycoon.
Fitzgerald died believing he was a failure, and yet he wrote the most influential book of
time.
Contextual Background on the setting of The Great Gatsby:
The novel take place in The Roaring Twenties. Themes which could be studied in preparation
for studying the novel are:
The New Woman
The Roaring Twenties brought an onslaught of change for women. Women were finally able to
vote! Fashion was flamboyant: flappers wore short dresses and their hair in bobs. They smoked
and drank openly and were promiscuous as birth control was now easier to obtain. Women spent
less time cleaning because of new machinery introduced to homes.
The Birth of Mass Culture
Many Americans had extra money to spend during the 1920s and they spent it on consumer
goods. The automobile was the most important consumer product because Ford-T Model was
affordable.
The Jazz Age
Dancing was all the rage; people danced: the Charleston, the cake walk, the black bottom, the
flea hop. Jazz was the music of the era and some of the older people thought it vulgar.
Prohibition
The 18th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1919, had banned the manufacture and sale
of intoxicating liquors, and at 12 A.M. on January 16, 1920, the federal Volstead Act closed

every tavern, bar and saloon in the United States. From then on, it was illegal to sell any
intoxication beverages with more than 0.5% alcohol. This drove the liquor trade underground
now, people simply went to nominally illegal speakeasies instead of ordinary barswhere it was
controlled by bootleggers, racketeers and other organized-crime. (from:
http://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties).
Culture Wars
Black culture and immigrant culture discomforted some Americans who felt that their oldfashioned family values were being compromised.
Contextual Background of the Author: E. Lockhart
Emily Lockhart has written other YA novels such as Fly on
The Wall, Dramarama, The Boyfriend List, The Boy Book,
Disreputable History, and The Disreputable History of Frankie
Landau-Banks. Her novel, Disreputable History, was a Printz
Award honor book, a finalist for the National Book Award, and a
recipient in Cybils award for the best young adult book. Along
with this, We Were Liars is a New York Times Best Seller.
Lockhart has a doctorate in English Literature from Columbia
University. She also currently teaches creative writing at Hamline
University.
Official Website: http://www.emilylockhart.com
Contextual Background of We Were Liars
- old money/inheritance
- racism
- higher education
- mental illness

RATIONALE:
Why teach these texts?
The Great Gatsby and We Were Liars raise a number of issues relevant to young adults lives. The
most obvious connection between these two texts is the context of the (very) upper class
characters. In our obsessively capitalistic culture, the question needs to be asked: does money
equal happiness? If not, why do we spend so much time chasing after economic stability? These
books address these issues in a way which isnt heavy-handed, but disarms and suggests answers
to these questions through well-constructed characters and events. Looking particularly at We

Were Liars, there is also heavy discussions to be had with regards to mental health; the
protagonist seems to struggle from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and is heavily stigmatized by
her family for the medication she takes and for her unusual behaviour. Any or all of the students
in a given classroom would know someone who struggles with mental health, or struggles with
mental health themselves. We Were Liars opens a dialogue which is necessary in the
destigmatizing of people with mental health struggles.

Our unit surrounding these two texts addresses a number of GLOs and SLOs present in the
English Program of Studies for Grade 10:
1.1.1: Form tentative understandings, interpretations and positions
1.1.2: Experiment with language, image and structure
1.2.1: Consider new perspectives
1.2.2: Express preferences, and expand interests
2.1.1: Discern and analyze context
2.1.2: Understand and interpret content
2.1.3: Engage prior knowledge
2.2.2: Relate elements, devices and techniques to created effects
2.3.3: Appreciate the effectiveness and artistry of print and nonprint texts
2.4.1: Generate ideas
2.4.2: Elaborate on the expression of ideas
3.1.1: Focus attention (patterns, topics, audience)
3.1.3: Plan to gather information
3.3.1: Organize information
3.3.2: Record information
3.3.4: Share ideas and information
4.1.2: Consider and address form, structure and medium
4.1.3: Develop content
4.2.4: Edit text for matters of correctness
5.1.1: Use language and image to show respect and consideration
5.1.2: Appreciate diversity of expression, opinion and perspective
5.1.3: Recognize accomplishments and events
5.2.1: Cooperate with others, and contribute to group processes
5.2.2: Understand and evaluate group processes

In addition, we believe that these texts and interactive activities will promote critical
thinking skills through individual and group work. Independently. the students will be
completing a reading log throughout the unit with a final summative paper that touches on ethics
and social awareness. As a class we will be participating in group and class discussions and
responses through the integration of technology (polleverywhere.com) We will be promoting
creativity and encouraging the curriculum expectation of creating an original text as a result of
an assignment for each novel . Finally, this unit promotes learning cross-curricula as students
will be learning about imperialism, globalization, and propaganda during World War Two. It will
further enhance their understanding in preparation for Grade Twelve with the introduction of
capitalization and socialism.
Activities to use in Conjunction with The Great Gatsby and We Were Liars:
- These activities, assignments, and lessons attempt to keep students engaged and
extend their knowledge before, during and after reading.
Activities/
Assignments

GLO/ SLO

Reading Process

Formative/
Summative

Reading Log

1.1/1.2
2.1/ 2.2
3.3
5.1/ 5.2

Prep, Read, Respond,

Explore and Reflect

formative/summative
(participation/complet
ion)

Character/Setting
Map

3.1
5.1/ 5.2

Prep, Read, Explore

formative

Word Wall

1.2
3.1
5.1/ 5.2

Read, Respond,
Extend

formative

Diary/Poem/
Monologue &
Personal Fairytales

2.3
3.1/ 3.3

Read, Respond,
Extend

summative

Mini-lessons (prior to
paper)

1.1/1.2
2.2
3.2
5.1

Respond, Explore,
Extend

formative

Paper

1.1
2.2
3.3
4.1/ 4.2
5.1

Respond, Extend,
Reflect

formative (draft)
summative

Grahpic organizers / exemplars to share with students:

Rubrics:

RESOURCES:
Web:
Learn Alberta

Alberta Education
Program of Study
Google Images
http://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties
http://www.biography.com/people/f-scott-fitzgerald-9296261?page=1
Text:
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, NY: Scribner, 1996. Print.
Lockhart, E. We Were Liars. Random House Children's Books, 2014. Print.
Tompkins, G., Bright, R., & Winsor, P. (2015). Language arts: Content and teaching strategies
(6th Canadian ed.). Toronto: Pearson.