In Wold et. al’s “Engaging High School Students in Reading and Understanding the Canon Through the Use of Linked Text Sets,” Wold argues that a linked text set is the bridge that connects a student’s knowledge and understanding from their life to core canonical texts (Wold 391). Linked text sets are considered part of “a framework that is grounded in thoughtful planning that includes teen culture as a bridge to encourage students to want to read more about the world and the ever-present human conditions that are a dynamic part of daily living” (Wold 392). In regard to TESS Domain 3, adopting a linked text set for use in instruction aligns with 3c, “Engaging Students in Learning” because it presents students with a collection of instructional materials and resources that add depth and meaning to learning and which forge critical connections between the student and literature.

 

     Additionally, Wold outlines three specific ways a linked text set engages students. Using a linked text set helps to: support students at various reading levels, encourage consideration of multiple interpretations of a text, and make texts “accessible, engaging, and relevant” (Wold 392). “How does a linked text set accomplish all of this?” you may ask. Since linked text sets incorporate a variety of print (e.g., novels, short stories, poems, essays, etc.) and non-print (e.g., videos, movies, podcasts, music, art, etc.) materials and resources that serve the purpose of helping students to connect to a piece of canonical literature, they are designed to be accessible to students of different reading levels, interests, and beliefs because they expose students to works that involve a variety of literacies and a variety of opinions that can help shape a student’s understanding of the text. For example, if a student struggles to read a written text that is on their grade level, a linked text set that includes a video or graphic novel that addresses the same material or theme as the text enables that student to understand and relate to the text by reading or analyzing a type of media that they may comprehend more easily. 

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     In a unit I am preparing to teach at my Springdale High School internship placement over F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, I am planning to utilize a linked text set. Through my planning process, I have identified three Arkansas English Language Arts Standards that will be addressed in my unit: 
1.    RL.11-12.5: Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure parts of a text (e.g. the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact. 
2.    RL.11-12.6: Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g. satire, sarcasm, irony, or understatement).
3.    RI.11-12.7: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats in order to address a question or solve a problem.

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    By the time students have completed The Great Gatsby unit, there are three understandings I expect them to walk away with: 
●    Although its meaning has changed over time, the American Dream is a social and economic ideal which suggests that power, wealth, and status are attainable to all people provided they work hard. In a society characterized by systemic and structural inequalities, not all people have the same opportunity to achieve the American Dream.
●    Attaining material wealth is no guarantee of companionship, the realization of dreams, or protection from all consequences.
●    Literature serves a dual purpose of allowing people to both explore and critique cultural, historical, and social issues. 

     After re-reading Fitzgerald’s novel in preparation to teach this unit, I reflected upon the messages I received about the American Dream in my own reading and considered what I thought would be most important for my students to understand through their reading of The Great Gatsby. In the novel, Gatsby seemingly attains everything he could ever want. As a character, he initially represents the American Dream and its achievability. He even gets to have Daisy-the one thing he wanted the most. However, Nick Carraway, the novel’s narrator, reveals that Gatby’s expectations of Daisy are presumptuous and despite his enviable level of wealth, status, and success, he loses both the girl and his life by the end of the narrative. All of these events provided a rationale for the first two understandings I expect my students to acquire. Students will learn about and question the ability to attain the American Dream and consider the reliability of material wealth. 

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     In order for students to pursue these understandings, one of the essential questions of the unit is: what is the American Dream? Before students can examine the American Dream’s achievability and material wealth’s reliability, they need to first develop an understanding of what the American Dream is and then consider how it has transformed over time. I also expect them to come to the understanding that not all people have the same opportunity of realizing the American Dream because of systemic and structural inequalities. In order for students to reach this understanding, they will be presented with two more essential questions to drive their thinking: How has the American Dream changed over time? What do we consider success to be? Through the linked text set, both of these questions will lead students to analyze our modern ideas about the American Dream and turn inward to explore their own perspective on success. 

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     The third understanding concerning literature’s purpose of allowing people to explore and critique cultural, historical, and social issues, will be pursued through two additional essential questions. One question is: why do we write and read tragedies? This question aligns with Arkansas ELA standard RL 11-12.5 and encourages students to reflect on how Fitzgerald’s decision to write a tragic resolution critiques the idea of the American Dream as it was in the 1920s. The second question connected to this understanding is: Why do writers use irony? This question aligns with Arkansas ELA standard RL 11-12.6 and moves students toward the understanding of literature’s role of allowing people to critique social issues. 

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     Through these essential questions, the goal of the unit is for students to define, evaluate, and critique the ideal of the American Dream and consider the role that they play in this ideal, as well as the impact this ideal has had in their lives and their families. Additionally, students will consider how literature has been a vehicle for exploration and criticism and how they can use it to express their own perspectives on cultural, historical, and social issues. 

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     At the beginning of the unit, students will read Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and we will incorporate works from our linked text set list that allow students to explore what the American Dream is. After reading Gatsby, students will have been exposed to Fitzgerald’s perspective of the American Dream and its achievability, but it is necessary to invite them to explore a variety of perspectives in order for them to define the ideal and investigate what it means today and what it means to them. One non-print text we will read selections from is Malaka Gharib’s graphic memoir, I Was Their American Dream. The text is about Gharib’s experience as an American-born Filipino-Egyptian in the U.S. and it examines how she understands the American Dream ideal in her life and the lives of her parents. Reading Gharib’s graphic memoir in concert with The Great Gatsby will allow us to answer the essential question: what is the American Dream? The first chapter of the memoir is especially useful in offering students an immigrant parent’s perspective of the ideal, as Gharib includes a page that illustrates all the components that her parents thought the American Dream would include. 
 
     Another example of a non-print text we will examine as we pursue the essential question of what is the American Dream? is Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 film adaptation of the book, The Great Gatsby. We will watch selections from the film and examine what the film teaches us about the American Dream. Although the film is based on Fitzgerald’s novel, because it was made in the 21st century, it offers students a perspective on the American Dream that incorporates a minor level of commentary on how Americans view the ideal today. Students can evaluate the cinematography, the movie soundtrack, the special effects, and the costumes from the film and consider how their interpretations of the American Dream are shaped by Luhrmann’s choices for his film adaptation of the novel. 

 

     As we progress through the unit and begin developing an understanding of the American Dream, students will be ready to be exposed to different texts that challenge the American Dream and its achievability. At this point, we will incorporate a print text article by Sarah Churchwell from 2014 called “The Great Gatsby Delusion.” This article is a nice transition into developing an understanding that the American Dream is not within reach unless everyone is given equal opportunity and access to resources. Once we have read Churchwell’s article, we will begin to expand our understanding of the systemic and structural inequalities that are barriers to the American Dream. One way we will broaden our understanding is by watching a YouTube video called “Wealth Inequality in America.” This video details the differences between Americans’ perception of what wealth distribution in the U.S. is, what they think it should be, and what it actually is. Watching this video allows students to consider how the wealth distribution in America impacts one’s ability to achieve the American Dream. Additionally, the video includes several helpful graphics and charts that allow students at various reading levels to understand the information. Another way we will broaden our understanding of the systemic and structural inequalities at play is through reading Kyle Korver’s essay, “Privileged.” This print text will add another layer of understanding by calling attention to the reality of racial inequality and considering how this may restrict one’s opportunities to pursue the American Dream.