Response Journals Directions: The Great Gatsby

Total number of Journals: 3

Each journal must be typed in MLA format: double spaced, correct heading and header, Times New Roman, 12 point
font.
Response Journals are expected to be written in formal English, free from grammatical and spelling errors, and a
minimum of 300 words.
You will turn your journals in no later than 10:00 pm on the day they are due. If I receive your e-mail at 10:02, it is
late and points will be deducted. This will be a strict policy. You have plenty of advanced notice as to when things
are due, so there should be no excuses or late assignments. If you are absent, I expect you will turn in your
assignment to me before the 10:00 time requirement on the day it is due. You may also turn in your response journals
early, which I highly suggest. Submit to Turnitin.com
Due dates:
o Chapters 1-4: Saturday, August 26.
o Chapters 5-7: Wednesday, August 30.
o Chapters 8-9/Film Analysis: Saturday, September 2.

EXPECTATIONS AND WRITING ELEMENTS:For these journals you should select one important passage or quote from one of
the chapters you are responding to and copy it verbatim from the text in quotations and cite the page number. You should
then respond to/analyze the quote and its importance within the chapter. After you have done this, you may add your own
opinions and personal insight to your response. Your journals should not be a summary of what you read. I expect to see
deep thought and analysis of the text and what elements are present within the text. You may use this as an opportunity to
expand some of your deeper or higher quality annotations. Use this opportunity to make a connection to the American
Dream: What is the American Dream? How has it changed? Does America still provide access to the American Dream?

Response starters (if you need them, but they are not required):

This quote is important because it shows.

When ______________ did _________________ it showed_______________ because____________
The diction in this quote/chapter stands out because________________________
Here the author/narrator is focusing on ______________ because______________
This section/part/quote/incident stood out to me because________________________
I did not expect ____________ to happen because_______________
When Nick used the simile/metaphor/personification/attitude _____________ toward ______ it showed______
I think ____________ is an important element of the text because ____________
In my opinion_________________________ because_________________
The characteristic of modernism that is shown in _____________________ means____________
I feel that _______________ is trying to _________________ because _________________
The purpose of __________________ is to _________________________
The reader might infer __________________ from this passage because _____________
 Wells 1

Ima Student

Wickham

Honors American Literature

26 August 2017

Response Journal Example Chapter One

Now, dont think my opinion on these matters is final, he seemed to say, just because Im stronger and

more of a man that you are (Fitzgerald 5).

The aforementioned quote gives the reader insight into not only how Tom presents himself to the

world, but also affords an opportunity to see how judgmental Nick can actually be. The body language

exhibited by Tom is his natural response to Nick and Toms own opinion of himself, but it may not be a

proper representation of how Tom actually feels about the situation. It is not fair for a self-titled

non-judgmental person to come to a conclusion so quickly about the intentions of another.

In my opinion, Nick is not the man he tells the reader he is in the beginning because his actions

are contradictory to the statements and facts that are presented in chapter one. I feel that Nick is trying

to hide his true personality from the reader because he has a secret that he is not yet willing to reveal. If

this is the case, it leads me to wonder if Nick is telling us everything there is to know about the other

characters as well. It is apparent that he is an objective narrator in the sense that he cannot tell us the

other characters thoughts and feelings, but I still wonder if he is being truthful with the audience

concerning his thoughts and emotions.

If Nick is deceiving readers of his true intentions and identity, it could be because he is trying to

protect someone, or himself, from being exposed either physically or emotionally. Hopefully this is not

the case because it would not give a true meaning to this text and would betray the trust readers give to

authors when reading a work of literature.