Literature Links: The Great Gatsby & Primary Sources from the Roaring Twenties

This three-part lesson from the Library of Congress* provides students with insight into the historical context of the 1920s and helps them recognize how popular culture reflects the values, mores, and events of the time period as they synthesize fictional events and primary sources. In a culminating project, students create a newspaper containing multiple types of content using both historical resources and content from the The Great Gatsby.

Lesson resources

• Part I: Using Primary Sources to Interpret Life during the 1920s
• Part II: Primary Sources from the 1920s and The Great Gatsby
• Part III: Creating a Literary Newspaper
• Student Newspaper Directions

Related resources

• The Great Gatsby: Establishing the Historical Context with Primary Sources Teaching with the Library of Congress March 26, 2015
• Books that shaped America: F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
• Letters About Literature: Xinyue Ye writes to F. Scott Fitzgerald about The Great Gatsby
• Today in History: F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Primary Source Spotlight: Jazz Music
• Primary sources & other resources from the 1920s

* Lesson credits: Margie Rohrbach and Janie Koszoru