I have a friend who goes there!Hey all,
unfortunately, we at Bankstown Grammar have had this book inflicted upon us as well, and while I can appreciate its literary qualities, it simply can't hold my interest.
On the issue of context, the problem is that there were a great deal of interesting things going on in 1920s America, but they don't feature in the book to a large enough extent that one can write a good essay on it.
My advice would be to compile a list of all the events of the 1920s under sub-headings (art, science, entertainment, religion etc.), and do the same thing for the 1860s. Anything that evokes even the faintest sense of similarity, put in your essay. It may not seem important to you, but done well enough in an essay, it wont matter.
Good luck!
& I really like Gatsby/EBB =]
But also, Daisy didn't live up to Gatsby's dream of her.
"There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams - not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything."
I always found that quote interesting =]