The Great Gatsby Research Paper

Featuring The Canon in English Education

The western canon is a compilation of books, music and arts, that scholars affirm as the most influential in shaping the Western culture. It consists of a canon for literature, named the literary canon as well. What society perceives as “classic books”, are included in this. Many other compositions of literature are also compared to works in the canon, in order to appraise their literary value. Classic literature, is also a considerable part of high school senior English courses. The Federal Minister for Education in Australia, suggested that more classic literature, should be taught in senior English classes. However, in Queensland, there is a good variety of classic literature studied in senior classes.

“The Great Gatsby”, is a fictional tale, that characterize themes of social stature, and love, and complications that are associated with them. Even though these themes might not be as amplified now as they were in the 1920s, they are still relevant to our culture. The character Jay Gatsby represents the nouveau riche and the characters of Tom and Daisy Buchanan, represent generational wealth. People with “old money”, consider people with “new money”, as gaudy, and there is large divide between the two social classes. In Australia, emerging affluent class and established affluent class are two of a few social classes that exist. They are very similar to the “new money” and “old money” categorization of the 1920s. The Great Gatsby, also portrays that romance is a matter of good timing. The character daisy, marries the wealthy aristocrat Tom Buchanan, when she was a young woman, according to 1920s conventions. She desired a wealthy lifestyle and had no trust in waiting for Gatsby to return from war, as a millionaire. When Gatsby arrives however, he is in fact a millionaire, which is represented through his “beautiful shirts” (luxurious). Incidents of women marrying for money and cultural traditions, instead of love, still prevails in society. The idea that love is deceitful, is also illustrated through dishonest relationships in the novel, such as that of Tom, and a women named Myrtle. It is apparent that the themes

Figurative language such as symbolism and metaphors are used for this, rather than blatantly stating information. Reading and analysing these texts, not only provide Students with lessons on life and morality, but also enhances their creative writing skills. However, adding more classic literature to English courses be a would overload for some students. For instance, the olden English prose in Shakespearean plays need translations, as it is incomprehensible to most people. It would be difficult and time-consuming to study many Shakespearean plays in one school semester. Overwhelming students with a lot of different classic novels and plays would also take away the fascination that comes from reading. English classes should make reading enjoyable for students instead of making them too busy. Ladies and Gentlemen of the ACARA, Classic texts are always given a lot of emphasis in Senior English classes, with different learning materials and discussions. This is very good, but immersing students too intensely into more classic literature is