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The Great Gatsby

Hadiqa6525

Studying the book and finding it incredibly difficult to understand the storyline.. what can I do?

Reply 1

Kallisto

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by Hadiqa6525

Studying the book and finding it incredibly difficult to understand the storyline.. what can I do?

Reading summaries to this book? maybe some critics? discuss with people or write in forums with them who read that (me for instance)? That is what I would do, if I were you.

For yourself, I advice you to be focused on the essentials and quintessence to get an overview about the storyline.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 2

Hadiqa6525

Original post by Kallisto

Reading summaries to this book? maybe some critics? discuss with people or write in forums with them who read that (me for instance)? That is what I would do, if I were you.

Okay, thank you.

Reply 3

Michiyo

Original post by Hadiqa6525

Studying the book and finding it incredibly difficult to understand the storyline.. what can I do?

Moved to English study help. :biggrin:

I studied The Great Gatsby in AS English Literature. What parts of the story do you have trouble understanding? Feel free to ask me anything about it and I will do my best to help :h:

My best advice is to read the book, highlight or underline important things and what they mean, read summaries, read essays about it (essays written by critics, for example), discuss it with your classmates, learn the historical and societal context of the book, and learn a bit about the author. Do not be shy to ask your teacher if you really do not understand something! :smile:

Reply 4

Etoile

Original post by Hadiqa6525

Studying the book and finding it incredibly difficult to understand the storyline.. what can I do?

Can you try and break it down a bit by maybe bullet pointing stuff like:
Who are the main characters?
What are the main events? (be really basic!)
What are the main themes?

Once you've listed those you could check with someone in your class or your teacher to make sure you're on the right track. It might also be useful to maybe read summaries like on Wikipedia, SparkNotes or in revision guides.

If you really can't get to grips with the chronology, watching the film might help, but you should always be aware when doing that that the director may have interpreted it to add things in or miss other things out.

Reply 5

Hadiqa6525

Original post by Etoile

Okay, thank you! I really appreciate the advice. I will try that.

Reply 6

Hadiqa6525

Original post by Michiyo

Moved to English study help. :biggrin:

I studied The Great Gatsby in AS English Literature. What parts of the story do you have trouble understanding? Feel free to ask me anything about it and I will do my best to help :h:

Well, truth is we have only read up to chapter 3 at the moment, and the thing is.. in class everyone has a really good idea of how to analyse things and they know what it is like from different perspectives and the meaning hidden behind it + their own interpretations of what certain things might mean, and I really struggle with those things but thank you for the advice, I will utilitise some of the techniques you have said. Thanks again.

Reply 7

jamesg2

The best support for “The Great Gatsby” that does not blow a hole in your pocket is “F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby” by Kathleen Parkinson. Her book makes clear that she has seriously studied the novel and provides lots of important ideas and thoughts. For me, her time sequence - which is page referenced - of the plot is worth the purchase on its own. What is even better the points she makes are page referenced to the novel. I believe you can get it from Amazon.