In class this morning, I could tell they were not quite with me. (There was a student banquet on Sat and I think they were more tired and behind in school work than normal!) Most of them were too concerned about what tests they had and what work they hadn't done over the weekend.
I decided to abandon my planned lesson and get the film version of Great Gatsby out instead. We could watch the beginning and discuss whether it captured the novel.
We started with the Robert Redford/Mia Farrow version. It has a protracted start over the credits with a slooooooooooooooow build up. As we moved into the story, despite getting the background noise and music, we could not hear the dialogue! I messed around with wires, still no dialogue. So we watched a few minutes of mime. I paused the video and we discussed the visualisation of the characters and set - did it match with ours?
I had another film version too - Paul Rudd/Toby Stephens/. It started very close to the book - narration by Nick. Then it moved to Gatsby in the pool and showed him being shot. There was an eruption in the classroom.
"What just happened?"
"Is that the end?"
"Noooooo, does Gatsby die?"
Whoops! None of the class has reached the end of the novel yet! So I kind of ruined it for them. I'm trying to spin it as motivation - "Now you'll want to read because you don't know who shot Gatsby or why"!!
Note to teacher: watch film first so you know what's coming!
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