Learner+Activity+Stephanie

The learner activity in the WebQuest I'm working on asks the essential question of how the setting of a novel affects characterization. This can be supplemented (and tied to the student's life) by examining the effects of our own environments on us. The task is to create a new preface and afterward for //The Great Gatsby// from the perspective of an American youth in 2009 that provides future readers with contextual knowledge of the 1920s, character analysis for a more critical reading, and self reflection on current environmental influences on American youth.

This WebQuest will follow a classwide reading of //The Great Gatsby// by Fitzgerald. Students will be divided into groups of two. One student will take on the preface while the other student will take on the afterword. The student assigned to the preface will select one of the major characters from The Great Gatsby. Once the characters is chosen, the student will research the 1920s (from provided links) all the while considering how these cultural, political, and social happenings affected the actions and attitudes of their character and Fitzgerald's writing. The other student will research current "hot topics" (economy, healthcare, wars) and consider how these cultural, political, and social happenings affect his or her life and others while emphasizing the timeless effect of the author's setting on literature and our own lives.

Once research has been amassed, each student will apply it to their assignment (either a Gatsby character or their own present day lives) and analyze ways in which the setting (1920s America or 21st Century America) affected characterization (either of a Gatsby character or oneself). This will be done in essay form and submitted to a wiki for peer review and feedback. Students must spend significant time and effort on editing their work via a wiki so the final product appears cohesive - the preface and afterword should emit a smiliar message or voice so it is important to work together using features of the wiki to streamline the final product.

Feedback: I love this idea. The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite novels. I think it its great how you are tying in all the elements of the time period and how it afftects characterization. Relating it to the present is great too. It is important for students to become aware of what is going on in today's worl as well. You are teaching them timeless values, issues, problems...etc. Maybe you can add in that they create a new character and write a few pages about him/her. That might be fun for them.