Theme in Gatsby

1
Theme in Gatsby

• Good morning!
• Please get out your Gatsby book
• Turn to wherever you take notes.

2
Brainstorm Key Words/PhrasesWhat is Gatsby
about?

• Love
• Infidelity
• The American Dream
• Greed
• Money
• Getting what you want
• The past
• Dishonesty
• Broken relationships
• False popularity
• Karma
• Fairness
• timing
• Time
• Symbolism
• Goodness/evil
• Morality
• True love
• Having enough

3
Definition from Elements of Fiction

• The theme of a piece of literature is its
  controlling idea or its central insight. It is
  the unifying generalization about life stated or
  implied by the story. To derive the theme of a
  story, we must ask what its central purpose is
  what view of life it supports or what insight
  into life it reveals. (90)

4
Theme or Thematic Message

• Repeated idea or topic that is suggested
  throughout the book.
• A complete sentence, not a word or phrase (a word
  or phrase would be a subject).
• May be a message, moral, complex/deep idea. Not
  usually too obvious or shallow.
• Must take into account and fit the entire piece
  of literature.
• Not too specific, not too general (no clichés)

5
When writing a theme

• Should be a complex or longer sentence
• 3rd person, present tense, no always
• Must be accurate to story (can support with text,
  NOT with your own life experience)
• Should apply to the book, but also to people in
  general, humanity, society, etc.
• Should not refer to any specific characters or
  events in the book, but
• The connection to the book should be evident
• Ask yourself what is the books message about
  _____ (keyword)?

6
Balance between universal and specific

• Too universal Too specific

Gatsby is happier before he realizes the truth
about Daisy
Ignorance is bliss
You want your theme statements to be right here,
in the middle. Specific enough to apply clearly
to the book, but not so specific that they ONLY
apply to the book and are not universal.
7
Some examples (not from Gatsby)

• When people try to find their identity by fitting
  in with societys stereotypes, it limits their
  individuality.
• When people try find their identity by fighting
  against societys stereotypes, it limits their
  individuality just as much.
• When a person immerses himself in an institution,
  he loses his own identity.
• A person can find his identity by immersing
  himself in a larger institution.
• Feeling invisible makes a person powerless.

8
Your task

• Together with your partner, use the keywords we
  came up with as a class to create as many
  excellent theme statements as you can.
• Make sure your statements are
• Complex, deep, interesting, and accurate
• 3rd person, present tense, well-crafted
• Well-balanced between universal and specific
• To get more specific, ask yourself Who? When?
  How? Why?
• A good way to make your theme statements complex?
  Use 2 key words for the statement. Much more
  interesting (What is the books message about how
  love and power interact?) Please dont use too
  many.