Thursday, February 25, 2021

Week 8, Semester 2

Oh, wow, we are entering Week 8 not Week 7!  A few remarks before the specifics:

After further research, I learned that each of us will need to rent the movie to view it, whether we participate in a Watch Party or not.  Sorry about that--thought I might be able to reduce expenses, but regardless, you can find the movie online inexpensively ($3.99) on Amazon Prime, but also at:


There may be other places too--Netflix? Anyway, I still like the idea of watch parties so that our experience can be more communal.  So, if you host or participate in a watch party, you can count that as party of your Gatsby unit work.

Either way, it's your choice--watch on your own or with others, but WATCH. : )  

I hosted a Gatsby watch party Thursday night. If anyone else would like to host an "open-invitation" the-more-the-merrier kind of watch party, let me know, and I'll share that here.

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Regardless of how you watch,  BEFORE YOU WATCH, do the following.  Note: sorry in advance about some of the mic/muffled sound in the Preview Prep 2, my headset was pulling in and out, so just bear with.  

Watch Preview Prep 1--Art & Film Terms (15 min)

Watch Preview Prep 2--Intro to Baz Luhrmann (15 min)

PRINT this Gatsby Search and Find and use it focus your viewing.  Read the categories beforehand and take notes about aspects as you watch.

Here are the slides from the Preview Prep above for reference.

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Gatsby Character Poem

Yes, you will be writing a poem this week.  Don't stress---it will be fun!  I'm going to give you a specific structure to follow and you should make use of words/descriptions/images from the actual text (in addition to your own word choices).

Here is the format/brainstorming prompt, except you will be writing about your choice of CHARACTER from The Great Gatsby. There are many interesting characters in this book, so be open to less obvious choices too.  It'd be nice to have a mix of characters to share next week (yes, we will share these).

Use the text to inform your descriptions and word choices.

Do not make it rhyme--I forbid you. : )  Follow the format closely--I insist. : )

Once you brainstorm on the sheet, read it aloud to yourself and notice how the words sound together.

Tweak and revise. Use a few words Fitzgerald used.  Copy or type it out in a separate document.

These always turn out great---so enjoy!  Write one about yourself too if you like---you may find out something new about yourself. ; )

Here is one as an example---do you recognize the character and book?















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That's it for this week---keep all of your Gatsby work in one place (except your Writer's Notebook entry). We'll talk about ways to submit it all next week!

Hey--a few of you have forgotten to take the Gatsby Quiz---get it done before you incur penalty.

Monday, February 22, 2021

Today's Google Doodle

 Look whose birthday is celebrated today with a Google doodle:


Can you connect the images they included back to what you know about her? Try to remember how the images in the drawing are fitting. 🎂

Here's a link to the Google Doodle entry--look at the Q & A with the artist too, thoughtfully done!