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The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Answers to the study guide questions must be written in your notebook.
Chapter 1
1. To whom is the novel dedicated?
2. What is the setting of the novel? (Where/when)
3. What advice did the narrator’s father give him?
4. What was the effect of this advice upon his life?
5. What attracted the narrator to Gatsby?
6. Who is Nick Carraway? What kind of narration is used in Gatsby? How does
this kind of narration affect the story telling?
7. What is his family background?
8. Where did Nick go to school?
9. What is the “Great War”?
10. What is Nick’s job?
11. Is he married?
12. When did he move east? During what season? Significance?
13. Describe his house.
14. What happens that makes him feel as though he belongs in West Egg?
15. Nick wants to become a “well-rounded man.” What is a “well-rounded man”?
16. Why is the area called East and West Egg?
17. Which is the wealthiest? Aside from wealth, what’s the difference between East
and West Egg?
18. What are the houses in Nick’s neighborhood like?
19. How does Nick’s house compare?
20. How does Nick know the Buchanans?
21. What has happened to Tom Buchanan since college and why?
22. What is Tom’s financial status?
23. Why do Tom and Daisy drift aimlessly?
24. Explain: “I drove over to East Egg to see two old friends whom I scarcely know
at all.”
25. Describe the Buchanan’s’ house. Compare Gatsby’s and the Buchanan’s’ house.
What is the difference between the two? What do the houses represent?
26. Describe Tom Buchanan (physically, voice, attitude). What inferences can we
make about him?
27. Describe Daisy. What does Nick say about Chicago that flatters Daisy? What
inferences can we make about her? What is her color?
28. What does Tom think of Nick’s job?
29. Describe Jordan Baker.
30. How does Tom react when Nick, Daisy, and Miss Baker mention Gatsby?
31. Is Tom a racist? Explain.
32. Why does Tom rush out of the room? Who is the “fifth guest” at the dinner
party?
33. How does Daisy feel about her daughter? What did she say when her daughter
was born?
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34. What does Daisy have planned for Nick and Jordan? What does the party
conversation reveal about the guests? What is the significance of the candles and
the season when the party takes place?
35. Why did Nick come east?
36. Who does Nick see when he returns home? Describe his stance. Who/what else
stands like that?
37. What is Gatsby staring at? Why green?
Chapter 2
1. What is the “valley of ashes”?
2. What are the “eyes of Dr. T.J.Eckleberg”? (the valley and the eyes are both
symbols)
3. How did Nick first meet Tom’s mistress?
4. Where does she live? What’s the significance of where the Wilsons live?
5. Describe her. What inferences can we make about her?
6. How does Tom arrange to see her?
7. Who is George Wilson? What is Tom’s excuse for stopping to see Wilson?
8. Why does Mrs. Wilson sit alone on the train?
9. What does Tom buy Mrs. Wilson?
10. Who is Myrtle? How can you explain Tom’s relationship with her?
11. Describe the New York apartment.
12. Why is Nick’s reporting of events that afternoon so confused? What do Tom and
Myrtle do that afternoon while Nick sits in the living room?
13. Who is Catherine?
14. Describe her. How can you account for the bizarre description of her?
15. Describe the McKees.
16. How did changing her dress affect Myrtle’s presence/attitude?
17. What does Myrtle’s comment about her “appendicitis” reveal about her?
18. What does Myrtle say in response to Mrs. McKee’s compliment? What does she
really mean?
19. Why was Catherine in West Egg?
20. Where is it rumored that Gatsby got his money?
21. How does Catherine feel about Gatsby?
22. Why can’t Tom and Myrtle get married?
23. Who started the rumor that Daisy is a Catholic? Why?
24. Why did Myrtle marry George Wilson?
25. How did Myrtle find out George wasn’t the man she thought she married?
26. How did Myrtle meet Tom? Why was she attracted to him?
27. What is Myrtle planning to buy tomorrow?
28. What kind of party is it? What do people talk about? How do they act? How do
they feel about each other: Why are the events/people so disjointed?
29. What does Tom do when Myrtle talks about Daisy?
30. What is strange about Mr. McKee’s luncheon invitation?
31. How does Nick end the night? With whom? What is the significance of this?
32. There are images of ashes throughout the chapter (dust on Wilson’s wrecked car,
powder on Catherine’s face, smoky air at the party, ashes on Wilson’s hair and
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clothes). What’s the connection between the ashes and “the foul dust” that preys
on Gatsby’s dream referred to in Chapter 1? (Take a stab at it.)
Chapter 3
1. What happened all summer at Gatsby’s house? Describe the food, liquor, and
orchestra. What metaphor is used to describe the party guests? What are the
predominant colors at the party?
2. How is Nick’s presence at Gatsby’s party different from most people’s presence?
3. How do people respond to Nick asking where Gatsby is? Why?
4. Why does Nick decide to get drunk?
5. Why does he change his mind?
6. What kind of tournament did Jordan play in?
7. What is the significance of Nick’s comment about the moon?
8. What is the significance of referring to a man as Mr. Mumble?
9. What happened to Lucille’s dress and what did Gatsby do about it?
10. What rumors does Nick hear about Gatsby?
11. What is wrong with Jordan’s escort/date?
12. What surprises the drunken man about the books in Gatsby’s library? Who is
Belasco? (look it up in the back of the novel)
13. What explanation does the drunken man offer for being in the library?
14. Who offers Nick a ride on his hydroplane?
15. What is special about Gatsby’s smile?
16. How old is he?
17. What did Nick expect Gatsby to look like? Why?
18. Why does Jordan like large parties? Is what she says reasonable?
19. What rumors does Jordan repeat about Gatsby?
20. How is Gatsby set apart from the rest of the party/crowd?
21. Why does the butler speak to Jordan Baker?
22. Who is Mrs. Sigourney Howard?
23. What happens to the drunken man from the library later in the evening? Why did
it happen?
24. What is Gatsby doing while all this commotion is going on? What is the
significance of his actions?
25. How did Nick spend the rest of his summer?
26. How does Nick see most people in New York spending their evenings? Why
does it make him unhappy?
27. How does Nick feel about Jordan? Why?
28. What character flaw does Jordan have? Give to instances where this flaw is
displayed.
29. Why does Nick remain involved with her after discovering the flaw?
30. Why does she think she’ll never get in a car accident? What does she say about
careless people? Significance?
31. Why doesn’t Nick let himself fall in love with Jordan?
32. What does he say about his own honesty?
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33. One of the themes explored in Gatsby is that of illusion versus reality. Find three
instances of how this theme is demonstrated in the first three chapters of the
novel.
Chapter 4
1. Copy five of the strange names of the guests who attended Gatsby’s parties that
summer. What is the significance of the names?
2. On what did Nick write the names? Significance?
3. What does the woman say about Gatsby’s past?
4. Describe Gatsby’s car. Significance?
5. What does Gatsby tell Nick about his past?
6. Why does Nick think he’s lying?
7. What part of the Middle West does Gatsby come from? What is wrong with
Gatsby’s answer?
8. Why does Nick want to laugh when Gatsby tells him how he spent the years after
the death of his family? (Indiana Jones?)
9. What’s Gatsby’s war record?
10. How does Gatsby convince Nick that his stories are true?
11. Why doesn’t Gatsby have any friends?
12. Why doesn’t Gatsby get a speeding ticket? Where was he speeding? What
inferences can you make about Gatsby based on this situation?
13. Describe Mr. Wolfsheim.
14. Who does Mr. Wolfsheim think Nick is?
15. What is strange about Mr. Wolfsheim’s cuff buttons?
16. What is Wolfsheim famous for? What inference can you make about Gatsby
based on his friendship with Wolfsheim?
17. How does Gatsby react when Nick introduces him to Tom Buchanan? Why?
18. How did Jordan meet Gatsby in 1917? (This is the first of several flashbacks in
the novel, used to fill in the gaps in Gatsby’s past.)
19. How old is Jordan? How old is Daisy? (Do the math!)
20. Why did Daisy and Gatsby break up?
21. What did Daisy do before her bridal dinner?
22. What did Tom begin doing during his honeymoon? What inferences about Tom
and Daisy’s marriage can we make?
23. Why did Gatsby buy a house in West egg?
24. What favor does Gatsby want from Nick?
25. What is one of the reasons offered for Gatsby’s parties in this chapter?
Chapter 5
The actual plot begins…
1. Why does Nick refuse Gatsby’s job offer/
2. Who is Nick’s “Finn”?
3. What does Gatsby do to Nick’s house before Daisy’s arrival?
4. How do Gatsby and Daisy react to seeing each other for the first time in five
years?
5. What is the history of Gatsby’s house?
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6. Why does Nick leave his own house that afternoon?
7. What does Nick discover when he returns?
8. Where did Gatsby get the money for his house? What is the problem with his
story?
9. What hints are there that Gatsby’s wealth might not be legitimately earned?
10. Who is Mr. Ewing Klipspringer?
11. Describe the interior of Gatsby’s house.
12. What effect does Daisy’s presence have on the way Gatsby looks at his
possessions?
13. Where does Gatsby get his clothes?
14. Why does Daisy cry about the shirts? What does it have to do with the epitaph on
p. xvii by Thomas Parke D’Invilliers?
15. How can Gatsby see Daisy’s dock?
16. Why doesn’t the green light mean the same to Gatsby anymore?
17. What is odd about the phone call Gatsby received?
18. What does Daisy want to do to the cloud? What is the significance of this?
19. Why don’t Daisy and Gatsby want Nick to leave them alone?
20. Why is there a look of bewilderment on Gatsby’s face at the end of the afternoon?
/ Why does Gatsby run down “like an over wound clock’? / Why is this episode
the climax of the novel?
21. Why does Nick finally leave the house?
22. Why does Gatsby own “things”? How does this make him better than Tom and
Myrtle?
23. Why does Gatsby say he’s attracted to Daisy’s voice?
24. Why are the relationships of Tom/Myrtle and Daisy/Gatsby impossible?
Chapter 6
1. What does Gatsby’s desire to go to Coney Island reveal about him and why is it
an indication that his relationship with Daisy is doomed?
2. Why does a reporter arrive at Gatsby’s house?
3. Who is James Gatz? How old was he when he ceased to exist?
4. Who were his parents?
5. Why did he come to hate women?
6. Who was Dan Cody?
7. How was he Jay Gatsby’s destiny?
8. Why doesn’t Gatsby drink?
9. What happened to his inheritance? What was he supposed to inherit?
10. Why do Tom and the Sloanes stop at Gatsby’s?
11. Why does Tom say Gatsby shouldn’t go to the Sloanes’ party?
12. Why do Tom and Daisy go to Gatsby’s party the next Saturday? What is the
difference between how Tom treats Wilson and the way Gatsby treats Tom?
What is the significance of this?
13. What is different about this party?
14. Explain: “I was looking at it again, though Daisy’s eyes.”
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15. Why is it ironic when Tom says he doesn’t want to be introduced as the polo
player because he would prefer to look at the famous people in oblivion? Why is
it ironic when he calls the party a “menagerie”?
16. Why doesn’t Daisy like West Egg? What is the only thing about the party that
Daisy likes?
17. Where does Daisy say Gatsby made his money?
18. What does Gatsby expect of Daisy?
19. What does Gatsby say about the past? Significance?
20. What does he intend to do?
21. What does he hope will happen between them?
22. Summarize what happened that autumn night five years ago between Daisy and
Gatsby.
23. Explain the final paragraph.
Chapter 7
1. What is strange about this particular Saturday night in West Egg?
2. Who is Trilmachio? (look it up in the back of the book)
3. What does Nick’s Finn tell him about Gatsby?
4. What excuse does Gatsby offer for firing all the servants?
5. Who are these new people he hired?
6. Why did Gatsby call Nick?
7. What is the National Biscuit Company better known as?
8. Who calls Tom Buchanan? What are the parallels between this dinner party and
the earlier dinner party at the Buchanan’s? (Chapter 1) Significance?
9. Who does he say it is?
10. Who is “bles-sed pre-cious”?
11. What is the “green Sound”?
12. What suggestion does Daisy make to beat the heat?
13. What does Tom realize about Daisy and Gatsby that day?
14. What does Gatsby say about Daisy’s voice? What does it have to do with the
novel’s theme?
15. What car does Tom take to town?
16. What is a medium?
17. What did Tom learn about Gatsby?
18. What is the significance of Gatsby wearing a pink suit?
19. What is wrong with Wilson?
20. What does Tom say about Gatsby’s car?
21. Why is Wilson desperate for money?
22. What did Wilson “get wised up to”?
23. How much does it cost to fill a gas tank in 1922?
24. Tom discovered the same thing about Daisy that Wilson discovered about Myrtle.
What is the difference in their reactions and what does it reveal about them?
25. Why does Tom decide to let Wilson have the car?
26. Who is Myrtle looking at? Who does she think she’s looking at?
27. Why is Tom so upset?
28. What do they decide to do that afternoon?
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29. Why does Tom ask Gatsby where he got the phrase “old sport”?
30. What does Gatsby say about going to Oxford?
31. What does Gatsby tell Tom when Tom begins pushing him?
32. Why did Daisy marry Tom?
33. Why do Nick and Jordan stay to listen to this conversation?
34. How long does Gatsby say he and Daisy have loved each other? Explain.
35. What happens when Gatsby asks Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved him?
36. What does Daisy mean when she says that Gatsby wants too much?
37. What are Gatsby’s “drug-stores”? So, what is Gatsby’s job?
38. Who is Walter Chase and what does his connection to Gatsby reveal about
Gatsby?
39. Why does Tom tell Gatsby and Daisy to go home together?
40. How old is Nick?
41. Why is Nick dreading the next decade?
42. How is Jordan different from Daisy?
43. After reading the rest of the chapter, discuss the dual meaning of the following
line: “So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight.”
44. Who is Michaelis?
45. What did Wilson do to Myrtle and why did he do it?
46. What happens to Myrtle Wilson? Be specific.
47. What kind of car hit Myrtle?
48. Whose car is it? Who could have killed her?
49. Why does Tom cry? What does he say about Gatsby?
50. Why is Gatsby at the Buchanan’s?
51. Who was driving the car?
52. Who will take the blame?
53. Why did Myrtle come out to the car?
54. Why does Gatsby stay?
55. Why does Gatsby worry about Daisy’s safety?
56. What does Nick see when he looks in the window?
57. Why is Nick appalled by Jordan’s suggestion that they go to dinner?
58. What does Jordan, Daisy, and Tom’s reaction to the events of the evening reveal
about them?
59. Explain: Nick leaves Gatsby “watching over nothing.”
60. What is the connection between the hot weather and the events of the chapter?
Chapter 8
1. Why does Gatsby say he won’t go away, even though he knows they will trace his
car?
2. Why did Gatsby tell Nick the story of Dan Cody?
3. What attracted Gatsby to Daisy?
4. How did he “take Daisy under false pretenses”?
5. Why did Daisy stop seeing Gatsby?
6. Why did she marry Tom? What does this reveal about Daisy?
7. What does Gatsby say about Daisy’s love for Tom?
8. Why doesn’t Nick want to go to work?
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9. What does Gatsby say to Nick just before he leaves? (first time he judges)
10. Explain what happens between Nick and Jordan.
11. How long were Wilson and Myrtle married?
12. What did Myrtle leave in the drawer? Significance?
13. Who does Wilson think is Dr. T. J. Eckleberg?
14. How did Wilson find out the car belonged to Gatsby?
15. Whose phone call was Gatsby waiting for?
16. Summarize what Wilson did after arriving at Gatsby’s.
17. What price did Gatsby pay for “living too long with a single dream”?
(Note: he dies with the dream still intact, waiting for the call)
18. In what season did the novel begin?
19. In what season was the climax of the novel?
20. What season is it now? Significance?
Chapter 9
1. What did Catherine testify about her sister? Why did she lie?
2. What happens when Nick calls Daisy?
3. Who cares about Gatsby’s death?
4. Who is Slagle and what does he say?
5. Who is Henry C. Gatz?
6. Why does Klipspringer call? Who is he?
7. Why does Nick hang up?
8. Why does Nick go to see Wolfsheim?
9. What did he have to do with Gatsby?
10. Why does he refuse to come to the funeral?
11. How did Gatsby treat his parents?
12. Who attends Gatsby’s funeral? How is his funeral like that of Willy Loman?
13. Why does Nick go back West/home?
14. Why does he see Jordan?
15. What did Tom say to Wilson that afternoon?
16. What does Nick mean when he says, “they were careless people”? Explain
thoroughly. How was Gatsby better than the other characters?
17. What commentary does Gatsby make on the concept of the American dream?