Students can create a storyboard capturing the narrative arc in a novel with a six-cell storyboard containing the major parts of the plot diagram that occur within a five act structure. For each cell have students create a scene that follows the novel in sequence using: Exposition, Conflict, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Resolution.
The narrator, Nick Carraway, has moved east, to New York City, to pursue a career in bonds. When he arrives, he visits his wealthy cousin, Daisy, and her husband, Tom Buchanan, for dinner. At their home in East Egg, he meets Jordan Baker, a famous golfer, and friend of Daisy.
The novel’s conflict is framed by Nick’s struggle to retell the events of his life as it relates to the mysterious Jay Gatsby. This is apparent in Chapter One:
This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability that is dignified under the name of the “creative temperament”. — It was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again. No — Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elation of men.
In this storyboard, two cells were used to show the rising action in different groups of characters. In the rising action, it’s revealed that Tom Buchanan is having an affair with a woman named Myrtle Wilson. She is relatively poor and lives in the Valley of Ashes with her husband, George, a repair station owner. The rising action also reveals the identity and background of Jay Gatsby, Nick’s illustrious neighbor and Daisy’s former lover. Nick later reunites them, and they begin an affair.
Daisy attempts to leave Tom for Gatsby. After a heated argument, Daisy grows confused, and ultimately changes her mind. Tom bitterly instructs Daisy to go home with Gatsby, despite that she is now scared of him. Meanwhile, Myrtle, who was locked in her room because her husband suspected her of having an affair, escapes. Daisy is driving down the road, but Myrtle thinks it is Tom. She rushes towards the car; it hits her and she is killed.
George kills Gatsby and himself, believing Gatsby was having an affair with Myrtle, and was responsible for her death. In the end, Nick is dismayed by the lack of remorse shown by Daisy and Tom, and by the all the people who used Gatsby. This final quote from Chapter Nine reveals Nick’s feelings:
I couldn't forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom, and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. . . .
Don't forget to check out our parts of a graphic novel article for even more inspiration!
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Student Instructions
Create a visual plot diagram of The Great Gatsby.
Ask the students to list down all the sequences of events in the story. Using plot diagrams will aid this process.
The teachers can ask the students to identify why certain events occurred and what decisions caused the occurrence of these events.
Introduce the concept of color coding to students. They can color certain events and their causes and effects with certain colors. This will be a visual aid and will help students distinguish plot elements.
The students can predict how things would have gone differently if the characters had taken different decisions at certain points. This will help the students to understand the importance of decisions and give them the opportunity to think more freely and consider more options before making the final decision.
A plot diagram is a visual picture that shows how a story is organized. It normally has five steps: introduction, rising action, climax, decreasing action, and resolution. In "The Great Gatsby," the plot diagram helps in organizing the series of events that form the narrative, from the location and character introductions (exposition) through the turning point and height of tension (climax), then the resolution of the story's problems.
The most dramatic and important part of "The Great Gatsby" is the climax. The climax is typically a bridge between the ending and the middle. It tells the major consequences of the decisions taken by the characters. In the climax of The Great Gatsby, The terrible vehicle crash happens as a result of an altercation between Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, and Daisy. The story's turning point occurs at the climax, following which the action shifts towards a happy ending.
The plot diagram makes it easier to spot important developments that affect the characters' growth. For instance, Gatsby's romantic interest in Daisy and his desire to take back the past have a big impact on who he is. Character reactions and development in response to the climax are shown in the declining action and resolution.