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Victim vs. Villain in The Great GatsbyDefinition of victim: A person who has been attacked, injured, harmed, or killed by someone elseA person who is cheated or fooled by someoneSomeone or something that is harmed by an unpleasant event Definition of villain: A character in a play, novel, etc. who constitutes an important evil agency in the plotA cruel, malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime scoundrel In many books and movies, it is easy to tell whether a character is a “victim” or a “villain,” but in some (like The Great Gatsby) these lines get blurred, and it is harder than you think to make that decision. Your assignment will be to write a reading response about one of the main characters in The Great Gatsby and decide whether or not you think they are a victim or a villain based on what you have read so far. In reality, you might make arguments for both sides, but because this is a shorter writing assignment, just pick one side and stick to it. Your reading response should have a similar from to a literary analysis following the outline of Topic Sentence: Explains what your paragraph is about – One sentence about what theme and whyBackground: Who is saying your quote, and where is it coming from? Evidence: Quote with citation (Author, Pg. #)Analysis/Commentary: Use your own ideas explaining how you know this How does your evidence back up your topic sentence and what is it saying? Does this connect to other parts in the novel as well?What is your opinion about this topic (without using I)*Evidence and Analysis/Commentary can be repeated multiple times if you have more evidence When thinking about crafting your argument try to answer the following questions.. If your character is a victim, what or who is taking advantage, cheating, or harming that victim? If your character is a villain, how are they cruel, wicked, or taking advantage of othersMy example: Jordan Baker as a VillainTopic Sentence: In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jordan Baker is a villain because her lack of thoughtfulness toward anyone other than herself allows terrible acts to unfold within the novel. Background: When Jordan Baker is talking to Nick, she even seems to have an awareness of how selfish she is when she tells him about how she is a bad driver. She says, Evidence: “(The other people) will keep out of my way. It takes two to make an accident.” Nick responds by saying that she might someday meet someone as careless as herself on the road, but Jordan responds with the hypocritical statement, “I hope I never will. I hate careless people. That’s why I like you” (Fitzgerald, 58).Analysis: Some might say that Jordan Baker is not a villain because she doesn’t commit any of the actual crimes, and her carelessness doesn’t ever really cause any of the problems. However, many would argue that to watch terrible things unfold without doing anything to stop them is just as bad. She is also a vital part of everything that unfolds in the novel because she is the one who convinces Nick to invite Daisy and Gatsby over. This act shows that she is taking advantage of Nick, and even the previous quote shows that she is clearly asserting her dominance over him. She is wealthier than he is, and she is more well-known from her golf career as well, so she knows she can have Nick wrapped around her finger, and we see this throughout the novel. Throughout the entire story, Jordan is usually there when major events happen. She just casually listens and does nothing to help Daisy when she is caught between Gatsby and Tom in the hotel, and she even laughs and gossips about Tom’s affair in the beginning of the novel. During this time period, it is no surprise that Jordan would be a careless woman, as flappers were common in the 1920’s, and women were exercising their rebellion in many ways. Jordan is no exception to this, and it’s a fault in her character that her lack of care caused so many people to be hurt and taken advantage of in this novel, putting her character in the villain position. Some things to notice that you should reflect in your Reading Response as well.. Outline (Topic Sentence, Background, Evidence with Citation, Analysis)Topic SentenceDoes your topic sentence explain whether your character is a victim or villain and why?BackgroundDo you explain where (at what point in the book) your evidence is coming from and who says it? EvidenceDo you have evidence that backs up your topic sentence? Is it cited? (author last name, pg. #)AnalysisDoes your analysis explain why your evidence backs up your topic sentence? Does your analysis explain why your character is a villain or victim? Does your analysis explain who or what other characters your villain/victim has affected/been affected by? Does your analysis connect to the whole novel (not just the one citation)?Does your analysis connect to something even bigger (the time period?)Is your analysis approximately ? page typed? ................
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