Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
OR
West, The Day of the Locust
Directions: After reading the lecture, answer one of the questions below. This answer is due no later than Thursday, March 23.
Your responses to other students' answers are due by midnight on Sunday, March 26. Remember: in order to get the full 20 points, you MUST respond thoughtfully to at least 2 other people's postings.
A well thought out answer will probably be two or three substantial paragraphs (250-350 words on average).
This set of discussion questions is worth a possible 20 points. Late answers receive 0 points, so post early :)
More details, with sample questions and answers, can be found on the Discussion Board itself, under the heading "Info on Discussion Questions." Please read this carefully so you know how to get the most points for the discussions.
We will be using the Canvas Discussion Board for this class. Click on the link below to get to the LACCD portal, sign in, and then click on the link for Canvas in the right column. This will take you to the Canvas dashboard. From there, click on the square with the name of our class. Once you've entered the class, you will find the "Discussions" link on the left side of the screen:
Just answer one of the following questions.
1. Fitzgerald was certainly influenced by Eliot's The Wasteland. What similarities or differences can you see between the ideas in The Wasteland and The Great Gatsby? Give specific examples and quotes from the two works for support. (You may compare the ideas in The Wasteland and The Day of the Locust, if you prefer.)
2. Would you categorize West as a modernist writer? Explain, using specific examples and quotes from the novel for support.
3. In The Day of the Locust, what is the symbolic significance of Tod Hackett's painting, "The Burning of Los Angeles"? Explain, using specific quotes and examples from the novel for support.
4. In The Great Gatsby, what is the symbolic significance of the green light at the end of the dock? Explain, using specific quotes and examples from the novel for support.
For further information on these works, see the Links page.