Gatsby Essay Plan By Saskia and Robyn

[robynshaw]

Great Gatsby

2005- Choose a novel in which an incident reveals a flaw in the central character

Paragraph one-

Fitzgerald first establishes Gatsby ambition as a flaw through the symbol of the green light.

x. Gatsby’s flaw of ambition and a dream

'Extraordinary gift for hope'

'Romantic readiness'

x. Divide of East and West Egg- Gatsby’s hope to live in East Egg

'glittering palaces'

'Georgian colonial mansion'

'less fashionable'

'thin beard of ivy'

x. Symbol of the green light- Gatsby’s ambition

'he stretched his arm out towards' the Green light on East Egg

Paragraph two-

Fitzgerald continues to reveal Gatsby’s flaw when we see Gatsby trying to impress Daisy and repeat the past.

x. Gatsby’s lavish parties and the extent of them to attract his dream- Daisy

'corps of caterers'

'champagne was served in glasses bigger than finger bowls'

x. Gatsby tries hard to live in and repeat the past

“can’t repeat the past? He cried, Why of course you can!”

x. Gatsby not accepting that things have changed

'Afterwards he kept looking at the child in surprise'

'Tell him the truth-say you never loved him'

Paragraph three-

Fitzgerald portrays Gatsby’s flaw further as we see that he has created a new identity for himself.

x. Gatsby takes his flaw too far by creating a platonic conception of himself

'The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, long island, sprang from the platonic conception of himself'

x. Tom attacks Gatsby’s status

“I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife?'

x. Glass ceiling- crusher of dreams like tom prevents the American dream to be achieved

Paragraph four-

We finally see that Gatsby’s is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to achieve his dream , this flaw of vaulting ambition continues to be revealed until his death when we see that he is still trying to hold onto the past.

x. Symbol of the pool- holding onto his dream

'Don’t do it today...I've never used that pool all summer'

x. Gatsby’s flaw has left him deluded and right till the end he hangs onto the dream that he will marry daisy and become part of the aristocracy

'Paid a high price for living too long with a single dream'

'boats against the currents, borne back ceaselessly into the past'

x. Gatsby is killed by George Wilson

[mslewis]

This is a really detailed essay plan girls, and a good question for Gatsby. Remember the question is about an incident that reveals a flaw, not just a character who has a flaw, so what is the incident? Best to go for chp 7 and the turning point in the hotel room where it's made clear to the reader that the aristocracy will never accept Gatsby. You would need to cut down on some of your points to focus more on the incident though. Good quotes!