Sophomore Students Performed Scenes fromThe Great Gatsby in January 2013

If you were to watch a readers’ theatre presentation, you would notice certain things. First, a group of readers, varying in number, read from scripts. They sit on stools, boxes, chairs or on the floor and dress informally. Movements by the readers are kept to a minimum, and, when they occur, are intended to clarify action or reinforce relationships between characters.

Honors American Literature II students prepared and performed dramatic reading scenes in January 2013. The project represented the culmination of study of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and a new twist on the American Dream concept. Students performed three scenes:

Dinner Party: the scene in Chapter 1 of the book that foreshadows all the mystery in the novel.

Reunion Scene: the scene in Chapter 5 of the book when Gatsby’s attainment of his dream takes place.

Hotel Scene: the scene in Chapter 7 of the book when Gatsby confronts Tom, Tom confronts Gatsby, and they fight over Daisy.

Students defined the character relationships using much emotion, from sarcasm to outright loud anger, and entertained classmates and some visitors from other classes.