This year, Arcadia High School’s (AHS) junior English classes hosted the annual Gatsby Day on Mar. 28. Junior English students were tasked with a Jazz Age-themed celebration after reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s renowned novel The Great Gatsby. This novel is set in the Jazz Age, also known as the Roaring Twenties, which introduced a great cultural and economic shift, including the era of mass consumerism. On Gatsby Day, students were asked to dress up in 1920s attire and bring food and visuals that represent the theme.
During the Jazz Age, men commonly wore tuxedos or three-piece suits while women embraced flapper fashion. Flappers were young women known for their bobbed hair and wearing short dresses to embrace freedom. They frequently dressed in sequined outfits adorned with fringe, creating the illusion of spinning as they danced. Some female AHS students imitated the novel’s protagonist, Daisy Buchanan, by dressing in flapper dresses and accessorizing with pearls.
Junior Esther Xuan participated in Gatsby Day during her period 3 class with Ms. Nicole Zaidi. “Our theme was Daisy’s wedding; we had lots of pearl decorations because Daisy wore pearls and chose her pearl necklace over Gatsby’s letter,” said Xuan. “We also brought food like cupcakes and had a window as decoration and a scale to represent the scale of justice.”
“I had a great Gatsby Day,” said junior Sarah Zulcic. “I made cupcakes, and it was so good I think I’m going to make them again.”
Juniors in AP Language and Composition organized a Jazz Age-themed table with food and decorations reminiscent of the 1920s. They researched the cultural, social, and economic situation of the time to understand the lifestyle then and its impact now. Some classes also wrote modern scenes imitating Fitzgerald’s writing style to delve into their themes.
When asked about her favorite part of Gatsby Day, junior Kayla Chan said, “My favorite part of Gatsby Day was the food, even though it was tedious to make; I think our group did really good. I also brought mojitos and made it a nonalcoholic drink.”
“The best part of Gatsby Day was when I dressed up as Dr. T. J. Eckleburg [and] made a giant board with eyes,” said junior Weijin Ren. “Our theme was the death of the American dream; we made a lot of signs of death and used juice as one of [the signs of death].”
Through food, art, and clothes, students were able to obtain a deeper understanding of the essence of the Jazz Age and The Great Gatsby.
Photos courtesy of Caroline Li, Arya Desai, & Mrs. DeSurra’s English class
