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Gilded Age Dinner Party: Home

Gilded Tables: Food and Dining in Edith Wharton's New York

Assignment Overview

Directions: You will be one of the Gilded Age’s Fat Cats creating a party for the richest of the rich, the elitist of the elite.  You will plan and pitch the most extravagant party of the Gilded Age.  You are so rich that you have decided to show off your wealth to everyone else.  You will need to plan the location, the transportation, the entertainment, the seating chart, the speech, and the dining for the party.  You will be assigned a specific person that you are, an assigned set of guests that must be present, and must research one other person of the time to come to your party (maybe this could be where the entertainment comes in…there are only so many rich people).

With that information you must:

  • Select an appropriate location for your party (IT NEEDS TO BE RELEVANT/SPECIFIC TO YOUR ASSIGNED PERSON).
  • Select how people will get to your party (what kinds of transportation will people need to be able to get to your venue…it needs to be specific to the time period).
  • What will the entertainment be?  Is it a city where there are stars/musicians that can come?  Would your assigned person prefer a different entertainment like a fight or a race?  Be specific. 
  • You must create a seating chart for your assigned people.  Be careful and exact with who you place near who.  Are they friends?  Enemies?  Rivals?
  • Create a “presentation”/”speech” section that contextualizes your story.  What have you done that has made you so rich?  What is your backstory?
  • What will you be serving to show your extreme wealth?  Tell me how your dining options will get to your party.
  • THROUGHOUT YOUR PLAN YOU MUST USE RELEVANT AND SPECIFIC DETAILS FROM THE UNIT.  For example, if you are having expensive meat from somewhere else, what are the specific inventions/innovations that make that possible. 

Library Schedule:

  • Day 1 9/16 - 9/17: Introduce libguide, begin research and graphic organizer. 
  • Day 2 9/18 - 9/19: Introduce final product options, begin working on final products. 
  • Day 3 9/20: Finish working on final products. Due by end of day.

Step 1: Research

Research Outline:

Resources:

Database Access/Passwords: 

Step 2: Final Product

Final Product: The idea here is to pitch your dinner party idea; convince your audience that this will be the party of the year. You must record your presentation to submit. You can use any visual aids you want for your presentation (visual aids can be digital or tangible).

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