The Great Gatsby and the American Dream
Write an essay about The Great Gatsby and the American Dream
All of these requirements must be met in order to receive a grade of a C or higher for the assignment.
An interesting and informative title
An introductory paragraph that identifies your primary text and establishes an explicit statement in your introductory paragraph that makes a claim about your text’s message and its impact on our understanding of the American experience/identity
An awareness of audience, purpose, and context
An appropriate voice, tone, style, and level of formality
An analysis of argumentative strategies and/or persuasive appeals present in your primary text
Development and support of a compelling idea through relevant and thorough exploration of one (and only one) primary text
Development and support that incorporates ideas and evidence from two (and only two) secondary sources
An identifiable structure, including introduction, coherent paragraphs, and conclusion
Appropriate conventions for structure and paragraphing
Appropriate mechanics and format
Effective use of syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling
Proper MLA documentation of primary text and secondary sources in both the body of the essay AND on a Works Cited page
At least three direct quotes from the primary text (unless the primary text is a painting/sculpture or some other work that does not contain written text)
At least one direct quote from each secondary source
Appropriate textual conventions for incorporating ideas from sources, e.g., introducing and incorporating quotations; quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing
A minimum of 1,000 words (not including quoted material or the Works Cited page)
Sample Solution
The Great Gatsby is a chef-d’oeuvre tragic love story and a pessimistic critique of the idea of the American Dream as written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. The American Dream is the meritocratic belief that anyone, irrespective of his or her class, race, gender, or nationality can become wildly successful in the United States through hard work and persistence. Jay Gatsby is the ultimate embodiment of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby. He is born poor, but he allegedly works hard by associating with a millionaire, Dan Cody, to gain wealth and prominence in society and this concept of success fits well into the underlying concept of the American Dream. Gatsby’s drive for wealth and success is fueled by his love for Daisy Buchanan. He thinks that if he becomes successful, then he would win Daisy’s love and live happily after. As such, his version of the American Dream is to work hard, become successful, and earn happiness in the process. However, although Jay becomes wildly successful, he does not win Daisy’s love and this tragic turn of events leads to his premature death. Through Jay’s actions and desires, Fitzgerald criticizes the notion of the American Dream by showing that this idea is illusionary and cannot be fully achieved.
