Question: Analyze some of Lurhmann’s decisions for his film: in what ways does The Great Gatsby (2013) capture the essence of the original novel?

• In an interview, Baz Luhrmann said, “I made a decision to address this movie as though F. Scott Fitzgerald were making it” (qtd. in Vogel 475). Write an essay that analyzes some of Lurhmann’s decisions for his film: in what ways does The Great Gatsby (2013) capture the essence of the original novel? How to cite a film

• It’s been stated that “Fitzgerald’s representation of women suggests that he was ambivalent about shifting gender roles during the American 1920s” (xvii). Fitzgerald himself said that “women, and even intelligent women, haven’t generally cared much for [The Great Gatsby]. They do not like women to be presented as emotionally passive—as a matter of fact I think most women are” (qtd. in Kerr 404-05). Write an essay that discusses how Fitzgerald portrays female characters in at least one short story (“Bernice,” “Winter Dreams,” “How to Live,” “Babylon”) and the novel

• In class, we’ve been talking extensively about Veblen’s Theory of the Leisure Class and the distinctions he (and others, like Pierre Bourdieu) made between “old money” and “new money.” Fitzgerald was personally concerned with the difference. In a journal entry (August 1916), he even wrote “Poor boys shouldn’t think of marrying rich girls” (xxviii). How does Fitzgerald portray class differences in his works? What values and behaviors are embraced by each group?