While creating each MGP genre, I was excited about how they began to connect as I

continued to create and work on new genres. At first, I was worried about my essential question

and how present it was in the novel, but the more work I did the more I realized it was a great

question to ask. I love being creative and having creative freedom, so this project was something

I looked forward to. With so many options and MGP's, I did find myself worried I was not

making the right choices. I found myself revising and changing genres many times before

turning them in, however, I am happy with the result.

Due to the questions' consistent reappearance throughout the entirety of the project, It

was important for me to decide on an answer. Wealth and inheritance play a major role in

character development and relationships throughout the novel. When asked specifically what

effect it has on relationships, the difference between old and new money is what I was truly

basing my answer from. Characters from the West Egg tend to get into disagreements and

arguments with those in the East Egg. While one side simply inherits money from family

members, the other works for their money, creating successful businesses and empires. While

both sides are considered to be full of wealth, how they are wealthy stems from different ways of

gaining money. The people who work for their money may be envious of the fact that others

don’t, while those with old money may be jealous of the success of a new empire those with new

money are building. While answering this question did not feel necessarily difficult to me,

planning each genre around the answer, without giving it away, was the most challenging part of

the project.

One activity I enjoyed was the pedagogical activity. I learned a lot about myself while

working on this genre because it confirmed that I could think with a “teacher hat” on. I feel as

though since I have not spent much time in the classroom, sometimes I struggle to think outside
of being a student. Beyond the pedagogical activity, all of the genre creations confirmed that I

can think of the novel in different ways. I always found some of the most interesting activities in

class to be the ones where we take old texts and rewrite them to be modern. This whole project

felt similar to those activities. While I always knew considering an essential question in different

ways would help promote further critical thinking skills, I never knew how tedious it was to

create leading activities myself. Each genre is different and having separate requirements was a

challenge, but I learned I am capable of not only creating but successfully creating different

modes of looking at a text and essential questions differently.

Also as a quick note, this project forced me to work on time management. It required a

lot of us, and while I am proud of the outcome, it is worth admitting I struggled to get everything

done. Finishing the project and getting everything in on time was a refreshing as well as a

confidence-building feeling.

When considering how this MGP would look in a classroom, I think there are a variety of

possibilities. After reading the novel, I believe discussing themes and the essential question

based on just the reading would be important. Having a conversation without making many

corrections to an answer would allow for a great reflection after looking at different genres. One

example of this would be to have students write an answer to the essential question after just

reading the novel. Then, for a week's worth of class, have students participate in skit reading,

fishbowl activities, and analyzing the artistic piece. After spending time with the different

genres, students will revisit the question and answer it again, seeing how their answer may have

changed or become more complex as the week ended.

Using the already-created genres themselves may be tricky. I think some of them, like the

script, would be helpful to act aloud with the class, having them mark moments that seem similar
or directly correlated to the text. However, when I think about the infographic, I believe that

would be more of an example that students would have for creating their infographic. The project

would be great to have in the class because of its dual purpose. Using it for an activity or as an

example is a positive way to help lead a class or assignment.

While working on this project I learned a lot about myself and the capabilities I have

going into teaching. Creating multiple genres to consider an essential question is difficult, but

becomes even more difficult when thinking about students it is mandatory. While the project was

a challenge, it ended up being extremely rewarding. The project gave me confidence as I begin to

lean into observations next semester. Overall, I am extremely proud of the final draft of my

multi-genre project!