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As we finish reading (according to the calendar) these questions and answers (in
complete sentences) should be in your binders.
The Great Gatsby
Ch 1
1. What have you done to get a girl/boy? What do people around here do?
2. noblesse oblige: “Whenever you feel like criticizing someone, remember that not
everyone has the same advantages that you do.”
3. vocabulary: feign, levity, parceled, impressionability, teutonic, investment securities, tag,
anti-climax, effeminate, leverage, pungent, wan, tangible, smirk.
4. What kind of person do you tell all your secrets to? Why that particular person? (150200 words)
5. Under what circumstance, if any, could it be all right to cheat on a boyfriend/girlfriend,
mate, lover? (150-200 words)
Ch 2
6. Do you recall ever having felt lonely in a crowd? Describe the circumstances. (150-200
words)
7. The “Valley of ashes” is a barren wasteland. List 10 descriptive phrases that Fitzgerald
uses to describe it.
8. The rest of the chapter takes place in an apartment in NY. Summarize what happens
there, in one paragraph.
9. Why is there a slap? Is slapping ever okay? What does the reader learn from the slap
about Tom? Myrtle? Nick? (100-150 words)
Ch 3
10. Chapter 3 opens with a lyrical description of Gatsby’s parties: “There was music from
my neighbor’s house through the summer nights.” Write a jot list of phrases in the first
six paragraphs that you feel give the best picture of the preparation for the parties, and
the parties themselves. (at least 15 phrases – don’t forget to use quotes)
11. Write down some descriptive phrases about the following people that Nick encounters,
and what they talk about.
The Englishmen (42)
Jordan
The girls in yellow dresses
Mr. Mumble
Lucille
The man with glasses sitting in the library
Gatsby
A tall, red haired young lady who sings (51)
12. Describe the events at the very end of the party, during and after the time that Nick and
Jordan say goodbye.
13. Describe Nick’s life that summer. (55-57)
14. Describe his relationship with Jordan. (57-59)
The Great Gatsby - Ch 4
15. Chapter 4 begins with a 10-paragraph comment on Jay Gatsby’s lifestyle, and the kinds of people he
entertained. Read the first sentence carefully and paraphrase it. (A paraphrase is a repetition of
something in your own words, the same approximate length as the original. Your paraphrase should
thus be about 25-30 words long.)
16. We learned some gossip about Gatsby in the last chapter. What new gossip do we learn in paragraph
2? In paragraph 3 we begin to learn more about Gatsby’s party guests – “those who accepted
Gatsby’s hospitality and paid him the subtle tribute of knowing nothing whatsoever about him.”
What is Fitzgerald saying about Gatsby? About his guests? (1 paragraph – 100-150 words)
17. There follows a list of guests and some odd bits of gossip about them. List 5 interesting people and
the gossip about them. Can you make any generalizations about Gatsby’s guests, from the list? (jot
list + 1-2 sentences)
18. The paragraph beginning “At nine o’clock one morning…” begins a scene between Gatsby and Nick
that continues for 11 pages, and ends with Gatsby’s disappearance from a restaurant. Read the scene
and summarize it. (200 words)
19. The rest of the chapter is a scene between Jordan Baker and Nick, which begins with an incredible
reminiscence by Jordan about events in her and daisy’s earlier life. What do we learn about Daisy?
(100 words)
20. At the end of the chapter, we learn something about Gatsby as well, something which, as Nick says,
makes Gatsby “come alive to me, delivered suddenly from his womb of purposeless splendor” (78).
What do we learn? What do we now know about Gatsby that we didn’t know before? Has your
attitude toward Daisy and Gatsby changed? You need to talk about Gatsby’s character here. (150200 words)
The Great Gatsby - Ch 5
21. Chapter 5 is the center of the book. This is where all Gatsby’s plans come to fruition, all Gatsby’s
and Daisy’s years apart, years of living separate lives, end. This chapter is full of nervousness!
Read the first sentence. For the first 4 pages (81-84) everybody jumps around like cats on a stove.
Make a jot list and quote 15 or so phrases that illustrate this nervous tension and excitement.
22. The theme and symbolism of time are all-important in this chapter. Gatsby was waiting for Daisy,
but he said, “‘It’s too late.’ He looked at his watch” (85). “Gatsby…was reclining against the
mantelpiece…His head…rested against the face of a defunct mantelpiece clock…the clock took this
moment to tilt dangerously…he caught it with trembling fingers…” (86). What is the significance
of the time theme in Gatsby? Think here of Gatsby the man, and the time he has spent waiting,
planning, for what? And what do you think is doing to happen now, to time, to Daisy and Gatsby? (1
paragraph – 150 words)
23. In the second half of the chapter, Nick, Daisy, and Gatsby all go to Gatsby’s house. Why does
Gatsby want to show off his house? Summarize the events in his house. Quote some phrases from
Gatsby and Daisy that show their feelings and reactions. (100-150 words)
24. p. 90 – Liars – have you ever lied about yourself? How did you feel? Did your lie work? What
makes us lie? What makes us decide to abandon lies and tell the truth? (100 words)
Ms. Spaugh’s story: “I used to lie to my father about people I wanted to come over to the house to
play. I would have them call me and pretend their mothers needed for them to come over. One day
my father caught me on the phone, setting one of these visits up. He just said, ‘I am disappointed in
you.’ As a young liar, I never regretted lying, only getting caught.”
The Great Gatsby, Ch 6
25. Chapter 6 begins with a reporter looking for news about Gatsby, then proceeds to Nick’s revelations
about the real Gatsby. Then the action moves to two social situations – some people on horseback
(including Tom) stop by Gatsby’s house for a minute, and Tom and Daisy come together to one of
Gatsby’s parties. First, look at the real Gatsby (98-101) and make a list of ten quotations that
describe who he actually is. For example, “James Gatz – that was really, or at least legally, his
name” (98).
26. Describe Dan Cody and his relationship with Gatsby. (100 words)
27. Summarize the incident with the Sloans in two or three sentences. What does this incident teach us
about Gatsby? What does it tell us about Tom?
28. Tom accompanies Daisy to a Gatsby party. Summarize the evening in about 100 words.
29. Nick says to Gatsby, “You can’t repeat the past.” Gatsby disagrees. “Why of course you can!”
What do you think? Can the past be recaptured? (75-100 words)
The Great Gatsby, ch 7
30. Chapter 6 ends with a kiss – the memory of Gatsby and Daisy’s first kiss. Fitzgerald says that with this kiss,
Gatsby’s “mind would never romp again like the mind of God” (110). In other words, Gatsby would no longer
be free, no longer be alone and independent. In chapter 7, we learn that Gatsby has fired all the servants, hired
new people who “weren’t servants at all” (114). What is happening in the relationship between Gatsby and
Daisy? (50-100 words)
31. Chapter 7 occurs in August. As you read pages 114 through the end of the chapter, jot down some quotes that
describe the weather. It’s hot, and Fitzgerald has made the weather hot to match the heat, or passion, in
people’s lives. (10 “hot” quotes) Jot down also some quotes that talk about “cool.” (5 “cool” quotes) Don’t
forget page numbers.
32. As the party leaves the Buchanan’s house for the city, there’s some confusion about cars, switching cars, which
is a plot device to help Fitzgerald end his story the way he wants to. (120-22). Explain what happens. (2-4
sentences)
33. The big showdown in chapter 7 begins at the Buchanans’ house and then moves to the Plaza Hotel in New
York. In between, there is a scene between Nick, Jordan, and Tom on one side and Wilson on the other (12225), at Wilson’s garage. There we learn that Wilson has fears which mirror Tom’s own fears. What do these
two have in common? (50-100 words)
34. Accusations, accusations. Chapter 7 is really full of them. Pick the five best quotes from Tom, Gatsby, and
Daisy. Pick the two best quotes from Jordan and Nick. (They don’t have to be all accusations – just pick your
favorite things they say.)
35. On page 135, Nick remembers that it’s his thirtieth birthday. What’s the symbolism? (2-3 sentences)
36. The last part of chapter 7 begins with the party leaving the Plaza Hotel. They leave in two bunches – Gatsby
and Daisy first, then Tom, Jordan, and Nick. We don’t get to listen in on Gatsby’s and Daisy’s trip home,
because we are with Nick (1st person limited narrator, remember). Therefore, as the second car “drove on
toward death” (136), we must learn what transpired as Nick learns it, piecemeal. What has happened? (13641) What is Tom’s response? (5-7 sentences)
37. We get a new version of the accident at the end of the chapter from Gatsby. What is it? (2 sentences)
The Great Gatsby, ch 8
25. Gatsby tells Nick, finally, his version of the story of his love for Daisy back before he went to war,
and how he, though intending “to take what he could and go,” (149) did something else instead. (1-3
sentences)
26. What happened after the war to keep them apart? (150-51) (4-5 sentences)
27. When Nick leaves Gatsby to go to work (153-54), he shouts something across the lawn – his last
words to Gatsby. What does he shout? Do you agree or disagree, and why? (2-3 sentences)
28. What happens between Jordan and Nick? (154-55) (2-3 sentences)
29. Nick has gathered information about what happened at the garage after he and the others left the
night before – and he tells us. What did happen? (156-60) (4-5 sentences)
30. The next morning Wilson sets out on a mission. Where does he go, and what does he do? (160-62)
31. Nick says that he doesn’t think Gatsby believed that Daisy would call him, even though he told the
butler to wait for the call. In Nick’s mind, “he must have felt that he had lost the old warm world,
paid a high price for living too long with a single dream” (161). Do you agree? Can a person live
too long with a single dream? (2-3 sentences)
The Great Gatsby, ch 9
45. When Nick is writing this, it’s been two years since the day that Gatsby died. He tells us that on that
day Wilson was judged a “madman” by the police, and that Daisy and Tom had packed their bags
and gone away. What more do we learn about Gatsby in this last chapter? (See especially the book
that Mr. Gatz shows Nick, p 173.) Do your feelings about Gatsby change now that he is called
“Jimmy”?
46. What do we learn about/from Meyer Wolfsheim and Klipspringer? (4-5 sentences)
47. Who comes to the funeral? What’s the meaning of the attendance at the funeral?
48. Describe the last meeting of Jordan and Nick. (176-78) (3-4 sentences)
49. Describe the last meeting of Tom and Nick (178-79) (3-4 sentences)
The end!
Essay: Reread the last 2 paragraphs of Gatsby, ch 9. What is your dream for the future? Do
you agree, as Fitzgerald suggested, that our dreams are actually products of our past, and that we
are actually being driven backward when we reach for our dreams?
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Follow essay guidelines
Graded with 20 point rubric