American Literature

Option 1 – Watch either The Great Gatsby or The Color Purple and relate it to “The Way to Wealth”
The American Dream lecture in Week 1 pointed out that Poor Richard’s Almanac was an annual publication that included calendar lists, home recipes, weather forecasts, etc. What made Franklin’s almanac unlike other almanacs was the inclusion of Franklin’s witty parables and humorous writings. The maxims below relate to Franklin’s ideas of working hard, avoiding debt, and working toward attaining a virtuous character. Choose three maxims and align them with a character or characters in either The Color Purple or The Great Gatsby. For example, you might choose Celie from The Color Purple and discuss maxims 1, 4, and 6; or, you might choose The Great Gatsby and align Daisy with maxim 4, Tom with maxim 5, and Nick with maxim 6. In your outline, you will provide quotes from the film you select to support your observations about each character/maxim.