No novel is written for the sake of writing. You can be immersed in the plot and feel sympathy toward the protagonists, but there is something more about any book. The Great Gatsby essay should question the narrative to determine what the author’s purpose in writing was.
These topics can outline your creative writing, providing prompts for consideration. They are not delimiting the flight of your thought in any way but show you the right direction to follow. You can use the samples for inspiration or apply for professional writing help.
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💡 The Great Gatsby Essay Topics & Prompts
- Did Daisy genuinely love Gatsby, or did she want to return the past feelings? Why was preserving her social class so important? Or did she stay with Tom for other reasons, like the shared experience, stability, and the daughter? Do you think Daisy opted for Tom after a careful comparison?
- Old & New Money in The Great Gatsby. What did Gatsby lack to feel native in the old money class, apart from heritage? What did elevate him above the Old Money representatives and make him more humane? Why didn’t he possess the traits of the corruption of the higher class?
- Money & Wealth in The Great Gatsby. Money is helpless in matters of love and friendship. Nick Carraway was Gatsby’s only friend. As far as we know, only Daisy loved him, which is doubtful as well. Was it the reason why Gatsby’s success did not make him happy? Write an argumentative essay.
- Compare and contrast The Great Gatsby movie vs. the book in an essay. Does the movie represent the characters as profoundly as the book does? Make the book review from the point of view of a person who watched the film first. What are the strong and weak features of the film?
- How does Gatsby represent the American Dream? The essay should start with the historical background that formed the general idea of the American Dream. Is Gatsby’s version of the American Dream universal for all US citizens, or does it have any unique features? The American Dream in The Great Gatsby is a perfect title for the essay.
- Is Gatsby great? The essay should discuss the strengths and failures of Jay Gatsby by the character analysis. The essay should as well reveal why the novel has such a title. Is he great because he has made a fortune without any heritage, or is it an irony?
- The Great Gatsby symbolism is a good topic for an essay. The writing assignment could cover such motifs as the setting of the novel, the color symbolism in The Great Gatsby (especially the green light, the color of gold and white color), and the small symbolic details like bespectacled eyes of various protagonists and TJ Eckleburg on the billboard.
- Write The Great Gatsby literary analysis essay, exploring why the author chose these specific protagonists to transfer the main idea to the reader. What is the primary purpose of the novel, and what helped the author to explain it? Dwell upon the decline of morality as the typical feature of the Roaring Twenties.
- Time in The Great Gatsby. During the entire novel, Gatsby is trying to recapture his past feelings. Did he succeed, to some extent? Can living in the memories, even recreated in real life, make someone happy? The novel is full of flashbacks. Explain why the time is not linear in the story.
- The Great Gatsby themes might also be considered as an essay topic. The novel is multifaceted and profound, with several layers of meaning. Money and wealth, society and class, love and marriage, hope, morality, time, and the American Dream in The Great Gatsby are to be discussed in this essay.
✒️ The Great Gatsby: Essay Examples
Below you’ll find a collection of The Great Gatsby essay examples. Use them for inspiration!
