Jazz Age Morality Debate

This thought-provoking worksheet is designed for Grades 9-12 and invites students to engage deeply with The Great Gatsby through five provocative debate questions focused on morality, wealth, the American Dream, narration, and love. Students take a clear stance on each statement and defend their position with textual evidence, strengthening analytical thinking, argumentation skills, and close reading while grappling with the novel’s moral complexity.

Learning Goals

• Literary Argumentation (Secondary ELA) – Develop clear claims and defend interpretations using textual evidence
• Character & Theme Analysis – Evaluate moral responsibility, motivation, and ethical ambiguity in key characters
• Critical Thinking – Weigh multiple perspectives and consider alternative interpretations
• Discussion Readiness – Prepare ideas and evidence for academic conversation and debate

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Aligned with high school ELA standards for argument writing and literary analysis
• Debate-Driven Design – Encourages student voice, reasoning, and engagement
• Text-Dependent Questions – Requires close reading and evidence-based justification
• Flexible Use – Ideal for small-group debate, Socratic seminars, written responses, or assessment prep
• Low Prep – Print-and-use worksheet with structured prompts and response space

This debate worksheet helps students move beyond simple comprehension to wrestle with the ethical questions at the heart of The Great Gatsby. By forming and defending positions on complex issues, learners strengthen argumentation, interpretation, and evidence use-skills essential for advanced literary study. Whether used as a discussion starter, writing activity, or critical thinking exercise, this resource supports meaningful engagement with Fitzgerald’s exploration of morality in the Jazz Age.

This worksheet is part of our Great Gatsby Worksheets collection.