The Great Gatsby Analysis Essay
Now that we have finished The Great Gatsby and analyzed different themes using different lens for
analysis, please reflect on a theme that you believe essential to the novel. You are free to analyze
essentially any theme that you choose provided it’s substantive enough to support 3-4 pages of
analysis.
Prompt: What is a major theme of The Great Gatsby and what about the United States
is F. Scott Fitzgerald analyzing with his treatment of this theme?
Format:
– 12-point Times New Roman Font
– Double Spaced
– Three to four pages
– MLA Format (heading, in-text citations, and works cited page)
– Formal academic language (no conjunctions and proofread your writing)
– No to limited first and second person (don’t use “I” or “you” statements)
– A full three-point thesis at the end of the first paragraph
– Five-paragraphs of analysis
Thesis Tips:
A three-point thesis looks like the following: The death penalty should be outlawed because it is
cruel and unusual punishment, has been proven to be ineffective in deterring crime,
and is more expensive than housing an inmate for a life sentence.
Author’s position: The death penalty should be outlawed
Supporting idea #1: it is cruel and unusual punishment
Supporting idea #2: has been proven to be ineffective in deterring crime
Supporting idea #3: is more expensive than a life sentence.
When you put all three elements together you get a full three-point thesis
statement. Each supporting idea then becomes a topic sentence for each of your three
body paragraphs.
Thesis sentence starters:
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald argues…
In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald teaches…
The Great Gatsby exemplifies….
Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby all embody…
