ENG 11H: American Literature
UNIT 8 Exam
40 Points
PART I. Multiple Choice: Select the letter that best completes the sentence or answers the
question.
1. What profession brought Nick to the East?
a. Automobiles
b. Motion pictures
c. The bond business
d. The theater
e. None of the above
2. In what year is the novel set?
a. 1926
b. 1922
c. 1917
d. 1929
3. Nick says this character “represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn.”
Who is that character?
a. Tom
b. Meyer Wolfshiem
c. Jordan
d. Gatsby.
4. What color is associated with corruption and deterioration in the novel?
a. Blue
b. White
c. Purple
d. Brown
e. Yellow
5. Upon seeing Daisy again, Nick is drawn to what feature?
a. Her face
b. Her voice
c. Her eyes
d. Her sadness
e. Her hair
6. The novel begins with Nick reflecting on his father’s maxim: "Whenever you feel like
criticizing any one...just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the
advantages that you've had." By the end of the novel, that saying likely reflects the idea
of:
a. The superficiality of appearances
b. Prevailing sense of the awareness of class
c. The importance of a moral justice
d. All of the above
e. None of the above.
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ENG 11H: American Literature
UNIT 8 Exam
40 Points
7. Why did Gatsby drop out of college?
a. He had an offer to go into the copper business with Dan Cody
b. He and Daisy were getting married, and he needed a job
c. He was humiliated by having to work as a janitor to pay his tuition
d. He wanted to study Russian, but his college did not offer it
8. On his introduction to Gatsby at the party, Nick is taken by a pronounced physical feature
of his host; what is that feature?
a. His stature
b. His good looks
c. His poise
d. His hope
e. His smile
9. What is the weather like the day of Gatsby and Daisy’s meeting?
a. It’s oppressively hot
b. It’s autumn and cool
c. It’s raining
d. It’s a gorgeous spring day
10. What item does Gatsby knock off the mantel piece during his “counterfeit pose”?
a. A medal
b. A dish
c. A rose
d. A clock
11. After Nick confesses to the cardinal sin of honesty and his intolerance for shabby
conduct, what does he do that could be interpreted as distinctly dishonest and
misguidedly tolerant?
a. He is judgmental
b. He drinks to excess
c. He helps arrange an extramarital affair for Daisy.
d. He sleeps with Jordan
e. He tolerates Tom
12. Consider the detailed explanation of Gatsby’s home and possessions; what sort of effect
is Gatsby attempting to achieve?
a. A romantic old European feel
b. A feel of excessive wealth and opulence
c. A feeling of the Midwest
d. Gothic
e. Early Halloween
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ENG 11H: American Literature
UNIT 8 Exam
40 Points
13. What distinguishes Gatsby’s bedroom from the rest of the house?
a. It’s the biggest room in the house
b. It is the grandest room in the house
c. It is spare and simple, startlingly unlike the rest of the house
d. It doesn’t go with the rest of the house
e. It’s sloppy.
14. Who is Dan Cody?
a. The man who is Gatsby’s best friend and benefactor
b. The man who fixed the World Series of 1919
c. The man who won Daisy’s affections
d. The man who is the perpetual tenant
e. The man who loves Gatsby’s library
15. What character best represents the vulgarity and materialism of the period?
a. Daisy Buchanan
b. George Wilson
c. Tom Buchanan
d. Myrtle Wilson
e. Jay Gatsby.
16. What character best represents the traditional, authentic American Dream?
a. Daisy Buchanan
b. George Wilson
c. Tom Buchanan
d. Myrtle Wilson
e. Jay Gatsby.
17. What character best represents the perversion of the American Dream during this period?
a. Daisy Buchanan
b. George Wilson
c. Tom Buchanan
d. Myrtle Wilson
e. Jay Gatsby.
18. When Nick tells Gatsby “You can’t repeat the past” Gatsby again responds with his
typical surprising comment, saying
a. “Why of course I can.”
b. “Why not?”
c. “I know Old Sport.”
d. “That’s right. It was a terrible mistake.”
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ENG 11H: American Literature
UNIT 8 Exam
40 Points
19. What was the weather like on the day Nick joins Jordan and Gatsby for lunch at the
Buchanan home?
a. It’s raining
b. It’s oppressively hot
c. It’s autumn and cool
d. It’s a gorgeous spring day
20. What is Gatsby’s reaction to seeing Daisy’s baby Pammy?
a. He falls in love with her beauty
b. He is impressed by her poise
c. He is repulsed
d. He is shocked; he can hardly believe she is real.
e. He is curious about her
21. How does Gatsby describe Daisy’s voice?
a. As full of money?
b. Like a rose
c. Like a siren
d. As full of mystery
e. Like a buzz saw
22. During the ugly scene at the hotel, Nick remembers that this day is memorable for what
reason?
a. He has a meeting with Wolfsheim
b. He has a date with Jordan
c. It’s his 30th birthday
d. It’s a family reunion
23. Why does Tom allow Daisy to return from the hotel with Gatsby?
a. He wants to see if their affair is real
b. He wants to give Daisy a chance to end her affair
c. He knows he has nothing to fear from Gatsby?
d. He wants Daisy herself to tell him he never loved him
24. Who is Michaelis?
a. Gatsby’s benefactor
b. Myrtle’s other “friend”
c. Tom’s rich, snobby friend
d. A Greek immigrant who runs a restaurant in the Valley of Ashes
e. He owns a garage in the Valley of Ashes
25. Who was driving Gatsby’s car back from New York?
a. Daisy
b. Gatsby
c. Tom
d. Jordan
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ENG 11H: American Literature
UNIT 8 Exam
40 Points
26. What does Tom use to manipulate Daisy back to him during the ugly scene at the hotel?
a. Memories of their past
b. His wealth
c. His wit
d. His charm
27. What setting in the novel best represents the product of 1920’s new money and
unrestrained style of living?
a. New York.
b. East Egg.
c. West Egg.
d. The Valley of Ashes.
e. Myrtle’s apartment
28. As Gatsby relates the story of his early courtship with Daisy, Nick realizes that Gatsby is
drawn to one central element about her. What is that element?
a. Her aura of wealth and privilege.
b. Her beauty
c. Her voice
d. Her wardrobe
e. Her wit
29. As Nick leaves Gatsby for the last time, he turns and tells him what he’s worth? What is
Gatsby worth according to Nick?
a. About a billion dollars
b. As much as he can make in the bootlegging business
c. The same as any West Egg resident
d. More than all of them put together
30. What does Gatsby refuse to believe about Daisy’s feelings for Tom?
a. That she was attracted to him
b. That she would consent to have a child with him
c. That she ever loved him
d. That she could love a racist.
31. In what location on his property does Gatsby die?
a. The pool
b. His house
c. His garden
d. East Egg
e. His library
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ENG 11H: American Literature
UNIT 8 Exam
40 Points
32. What is happening to the weather the last day Nick sees Gatsby?
a. It is changing to autumn
b. It’s raining
c. It’s oppressively hot
d. It’s turning to spring
33. Who was the only party goer to attend Gatsby’s funeral?
a. Owl Eyes
b. Klipsringer
c. Meyer Wolfsheim
d. The postman
e. The servants
34. What happens to Tom and Daisy at the end of the novel?
a. They go back to Chicago
b. They go away to Europe
c. They move away without leaving an address
d. The go to San Francisco
35. The schedule and the resolves in the copy of Hopalong Cassidy are allusions to an iconic
American document; what is that document?
a. Ben Franklin’s 13 Virtues
b. The Bill of Rights
c. Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
d. Gettysburg Address
36. Nick realizes in this chapter that he, Tom, Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan have something in
common; what is that commonality?
a. They were all Westerners
b. They were all young
c. They were all jaded
d. They all loved the East
37. According to Nick, what keeps Tom and Daisy from facing the consequences of their
careless and reckless behavior?
a. Their class
b. Their money.
c. Their arrogance
d. Their clinging to the past
38. Nick meditates on the Midwest toward the end of the novel; what is his attitude about
where he comes from?
a. He is a boring, stolid place
b. It’s haunted with memories
c. He remembers it with great warmth
d. He thinks about what it must have been like as settlers arrived
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ENG 11H: American Literature
UNIT 8 Exam
40 Points
39. What is on Gatsby’s steps as Nick visits the mansion for the last time?
a. An obscene word (obscene era)
b. A dog
c. Daisy
d. Party guests
40. What does Nick reflect on as he lies on Gatsby’s green grass at the end of the novel?
a. He considers what the island must have looked like to the first explorers.
b. What the island would look like without houses
c. How ugly and “incoherent” Gatsby’s house was
d. How he longs for home
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