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Essential Question:
Essential Question:
Whose stories are told and privileged and how does this impact our understanding of what it means to be an American?
Whose stories are told and privileged and how does this impact our understanding of what it means to be an American?
Painting by Aaron Douglas, 1928
Guiding Question: How does Douglas’ painting, “Charleston” juxtapose the world depicted in The Great Gatsby with that of African Americans in the 1920’s?
Access Recommendation: This painting is accessible to all 11th grade students. Students should work together in pairs to discuss what they see in the painting, then report back to the class as the teacher directs a class discussion.
Annotation: This painting by Aaron Douglas exemplifies the contradictions apparent in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” which depicts scenes of the Jazz Age, replete with “speakeasies,” bathtub gin, flappers and music but omits the experiences of Black Americans of the time, other than the racist rants of Tom Buchanan. The Jazz Age was fueled by many important African American thinkers and artists of the Harlem Renaissance including W.E.B. Dubois, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Countee Cullen, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Josephine Baker, Cab Callowy, Bessie Smith and Aaron Douglas, who was an African-American painter and artistic leader. His style of painting was influenced by modernism, Jazz music and African-American themes. While his painting, “Charleston,” portrays a short story collection of French writer, Paul Morand, it simultaneously depicts the conflicting worlds faced by African Americans at the time- that of the glorification (and appropriation) of Jazz music, dancing and fun, contrasted with the oppression and discrimination seen through racist Jim Crow laws, lynchings and the resurgence of the Klu Klux Klan.
Guiding Question: How does the Great Migration tell the story of the American Dream? What connections (or disconnections) can you see between the stories of the many families who migrated North and West and the portrayal of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby?
Access Recommendation: This article would best be printed out with the images embedded so that students could annotate and discuss as they read in groups or as a class. Because there are many references to historical events, the teacher may need to pause periodically to explain. It should be accessible to 11th grade students who are co-enrolled in a U.S. History class.
Annotation: The Great Migration was an incredible exodus of 6 million African Americans over the course of six decades of American History, starting in 1916, from the extremely racist Southern states to the less racist Northern and Western states in search of jobs and a little more humanity. This article by Isabel Wilkerson is a beautifully written summary of her book, “The Warmth of Other Suns,” which outlines the story of the Great Migration, while making connections between racial oppression experienced by Black Americans from the 1920’s to the Civil Rights Era (Emmet Till) to today (Tamir Rice). Wilkerson gracefully tells the abbreviated but heart-wrenching stories of several famous African Americans- such as James Earl Jones and how his family moved from Mississippi in 1935 to Michigan when he was only 4 years old, as well as those of Jackie Robinson, Richard Wright, Zora Neale Hurston and Lorraine Hansberry. She explains how redlining forced Black families into certain neighborhoods and how Lorraine Hansberry turned her family’s story of housing discrimination into the amazing play, A Raisin in the Sun (which is, undoubtedly, another great companion text to The Great Gatsby). She goes on to deftly connect the stories of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, The Black Panthers and Ella Baker to their historical ties to the Great Migration. Ultimately connecting the Great Migration to the current day Black Lives Matter movement, Wilkerson calls analogizes the Great Migration to the “Declaration of Independence” for African Americans. Time-period pictures dot the piece, giving it life and making the text more visual.
A Raisin the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, 1958
Guiding Question: How does one’s racial and class identity inform one’s experience of the American Dream? What connections can be drawn between this story and that of The Great Gatsby?
Access Recommendation: This play is best read over time as a class in 11th grade English with the support and interpretation of the teacher.
Annotation: A Raisin in the Sun was published in 1959 and raises questions of identity, racism and the American Dream. It centers around an African American family who experiences the death of the patriarch and must decide what to do with the life insurance money. Each family member has their own “dream.” They ultimately move to an all-white neighborhood in Chicago and experience racism from their neighbors, which derives from an autobiographical story of Hansberry. This play is a great text to pair with The Great Gatsby because it raises similar themes about the American Dream and national identity but from another perspective.
Guiding Question: What is the American Dream and who has access to it?
Access Recommendation: This short poem is easily accessible to 11th grade students but they will need prompts and guidance to be able to access the full meaning of the poem.
Annotation: This iconic poem by Langston Hughes is ripe for discussion about the American Dream, what it means and who really has access to it. Originally one of many poems in his iconic book of poems, Montage of a Dream Deferred (1951), the poem brings up issues of privilege, access, oppression and opportunity. Its short, meaningful lines are ripe for interpretation, referencing the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz Age, the Harlem riots of 1935 (and even later “explosions,” ie, race riots) and immigration. This poem is a must-read along with The Great Gatsby.
Guiding Question: What stories can be told from these photos about life during the 1920’s in America?
Access Recommendation: These images with captions are easily accessible to most students. It is recommended that the teacher create guidelines for viewing historical photographs, reminding students to think about the following questions: What are the people doing in the photograph? How does the text in the photograph (if there is any) help explain the context? The article is short and can serve as a guiding text to go along with the photos.
Annotation: The Harlem Renaissance had a huge impact on the culture of America in the 1920’s and continuing on into today. During the Great Migration, over 170,000 Black Americans moved to Harlem, a neighborhood of Manhattan, New York allowing them to work, live and love in greater freedom and autonomy than ever before. Many talented minds, great thinkers and amazing artists such as W.E.B. Dubois, Marcus Garvey, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Paul Robeson, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Josephine Baker created an intellectual movement that influenced people throughout the country and the world and more importantly, instilled a sense of pride and activism into the minds of Black Americans. These images give life the time period and provide a much needed viewing while reading The Great Gatsby.
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