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Teaching Tender is the Night

Tender is the Shmoop. (...Ew.)

  • Activities: 13
  • Quiz Questions: 122

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So you're teaching Tender is the Knight to teens? Good luck—this book is racy.

Oh, wait...you mean Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald's final, heavily Zelda-influenced novel. If that's the case, we've got your back. Forget we brought up that other book, k?

In this guide, you'll find

  • creative writing projects where students dig in deeply to money, power, and memory.
  • faux court reports, to practice summarizing the trickier chapters and work on expository writing skills.
  • a little C-Span. Just because.

So join us. After you finish reading this helpful Shmoop guide, there'll be plenty of tenderness to go around.

What's Inside Shmoop's Literature Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring literature to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 13-18 Common Core-aligned activities to complete in class with your students, including detailed instructions for you and your students. 
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
  • Reading quizzes for every chapter, act, or part of the text.
  • Resources to help make the book feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
  • A note from Shmoop's teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the text and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching Tender is the Night?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: In Chapter 23 of Book Two of Tender is the Night, Dick is in court. He's raving and maddened and doesn't quite know what he's saying. In this assignment, your students will be Italian reporters (who report in English, obvi) who have witnessed Dick's inebriated rants. Your students will write a one-page report of what happened in court.

This should be a pretty quick writing assignment, so you can carve out about 30 – 45 minutes of class time for it.

Materials Needed: Pretty simple: paper, pencil, a copy of Tender is the Night; optionally, include the Shmoop chapter summary of Book Two

Step 1: First up, you have to finish reading Book Two of Tender is the Night.

Step 2: Once that's all done, Dick's inebriation should be fresh in your students' brains. Now it's time for them to sit down and write. You should explain that they need to write about what happened in the courtroom from the moment Dick enters to when he leaves. Here are a few questions to get them thinking:

  • What is Dick's demeanor like?
  • How is he standing?
  • What does his voice sound like?
  • What is he saying? How is his argument totally illogical?
  • Does he have family or friends present?
  • What about the officers? What do they have to say to/about Dick?
  • What about the judge? What does he have to say to/about Dick?

Once they've had a chance to ponder these questions, it's time they start writing their reports. For realz. The reports should be no longer than one page, and should sound like they came straight from the Italia Gazette. They should include a detailed description of everything that happened in court from an objective perspective, incorporating all of the details from the above questions and even dialogue straight from the book.

Step 3: Once they're finished, ask them to put their report on the editor's desk for review (yep, that's you).

Instructions for Your Students

Good news! It appears that you spent your four years of college in journalism school. Yup, you're a new, up-and-coming reporter and you're on the courtroom beat (hey, you gotta start somewhere). In this assignment, you'll be writing a quick report on the goings-on during the court scene in Book Two, when Dick Divers is called on to account for his actions.

Step 1: First up, you'll have to finish reading Book Two, or else you will be completely confused and confusion, though not uncommon, isn't very fun for anyone.

Step 2: Once that's all done, Dick's inebriation should be fresh in your brain. Now it's time to sit down and write about what just happened in the courtroom, from the moment when Dick enters to when he leaves. Stick close to the text here (hint: keep your book open). Here are a few questions for you to ponder (hint: jot down your answers):

  • What is Dick's demeanor like?
  • How is he standing?
  • What does his voice sound like?
  • What is he saying? How is his totally illogical?
  • Does he have family or friends present?
  • What about the officers? What do they have to say to/about Dick?
  • What about the judge? What does he have to say to/about Dick?

Now it's time you quit procrastinating and start writing your report. For realz. Your piece should be no longer than one page, and should sound like it came straight from the Italia Gazette. It should include a detailed description of everything that happened in court from an objective perspective, incorporating all of the details from the above questions and even dialogue straight from the book. (At least two quotes, please).

Step 3: Once you're finished, there's only one thing to do: put your report on your editor's desk. By editor, we mean…teacher.