Name: _______________
The Great Gatsby Exam
source site:
http://seced.ucps.k12.nc.us/curriculum_documents/English/English%20III/the%20great%20gatsby/Great%2
0Gatsby%20Exam1.doc
A. Matching (1 Point each)
Match the following characters with the correct descriptions.
1. Nick Carraway
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
____________
Jay Gatsby
____________
Dan Cody
____________
Jordan Baker
____________
Meyer Wolfshiem ____________
Tom Buchanan
____________
George Wilson
____________
8. Myrtle Wilson
9. Klipspringer
10. Henry C. Gatz
____________
____________
____________
a. “one of the most powerful ends that ever
played football at New Haven”
b. His cufflinks are made of human molars.
c. The victim of a hit-and-run accident
d. Daisy’s second cousin once removed
e. He wants to buy Tom Buchanan’s car.
f. “She was incurably dishonest.”
g. “a product of the Nevada silver fields, of
the Yukon, of every rush for metal since
seventy-five.”
h. Dan Cody’s protégé
i. He owns a yellow Rolls Royce
j. The “boarder” in Gatsby’s mansion
B. Matching (1 Point each)
Match the following quotations with the correct characters. You may use the same character
more than once.
11. “Her voice is full of money.”
_____
12. “God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve
been doing. You may fool me, but you can’t fool God!”
_____
13. “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a
man will store up in his ghostly heart.”
_____
14. “He ran over Myrtle like you’d run over a dog and never
even stopped his car.”
_____
a. Nick Carraway
b. Daisy Buchanan
c. Tom Buchanan
d. Jay Gatsby
15. “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal
virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest
people that I have ever known.”
_____
16. “I’d to just get one of those pink clouds and put you in it
and push you around.”
_____
17. “I hate careless people. That’s why I like you.”
_____
18. “It’s up to us who are the dominant race to watch out or
these other races will have control of things.”
_____
19. “Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is
alive and not after he is dead. . . After that my own rule is
to let everything alone.”
_____
20. “I did love him once – but I loved you too.”
_____
e. George Wilson
f. Jordan Baker
g. Meyer
Wolfshiem
Name: _______________
C. Multiple Choice (1 point each)
21. Which of the following events does not occur during the twenties?
a. Women receive the right to vote
b. Prohibition is enforced
c. World War I ends
d. Duke Ellington performs for the Cotton Club
22. Which of the following statements demonstrates the thought process that the Harlem
Renaissance opposes?
a. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
b. “He came down with a hundred people in four private cars and hired the whole
floor of the Seelbach Hotel, and the day before the wedding he gave her a string
of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
c. “Nowadays people begin by sneering at family life and family institutions and next
they’ll throw everything overboard and have intermarriage between black and
white.”
d. “God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may
fool me but you can’t fool God!”
e. All of the above
23. In which of the following lines from e.e. cumming’s “Poem, or Beauty Hurts Mr. Vinal,”
does the author not use a commercial slogan to criticize commerce’s effect on art and
patriotism in the U.S.?
a. “Art is O World O Life”
b. “And there’s a/ hun-dred-mil-lion-oth-ers, like/ all of you”
c. “comes out like a ribbon lies flat on the brush”
d. “from every B.V.D./ let freedom ring”
24. Which of the following symbols from The Great Gatsby best reflects the central theme of
e.e. cummings’ “Poem, or Beauty Hurts Mr. Vinal?”
a. Nick’s clock
c. The eye’s of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg
b. Gatsby’s yellow car
d. The green light
25. Where do Myrtle and George Wilson live?
a. West Egg
c. Valley of Ashes
b. East Egg
d. New York City
26. Where does Jay Gatsby live?
a. West Egg
b. East Egg
c. Valley of Ashes
d. New York City
27. Where do Tom and Daisy Buchanan live?
a. West Egg
c. Valley of Ashes
b. East Egg
d. New York City
28. Where does Nick Caraway live?
a. West Egg
b. East Egg
c. Valley of Ashes
d. New York City
Name: _______________
29. Which of the following characters can be considered “old money?”
a. Daisy Buchanan
c. Jay Gatsby
b. Dan Cody
d. George Wilson
30. Which of the following characters is a member of the working class?
a. Daisy Buchanan
c. Jay Gatsby
b. Dan Cody
d. George Wilson
31. With whom does Myrtle Wilson have an affair?
a. Nick Carraway
c. Tom Buchanan
b. Jay Gatsby
d. Meyer Wolfsheim
32. With whom does Daisy Buchanan have an affair?
a. Nick Carraway
c. George Wilson
b. Jay Gatsby
d. Meyer Wolfsheim
33. Which of the following colors is not associated with Daisy Buchanan?
a. Yellow
c. Blue
b. White
d. Green
34. Who does Nick date?
a. Jordan Baker
b. Ella Kaye
c. Myrtle Wilson
d. Daisy Buchanan
35. Which of the following statements best describes Nick Carraway’s role as the narrator?
a. As readers, we know the thoughts of every character.
b. As readers, we can trust Nick completely.
c. As readers, we only know what Nick tells us.
d. None of the above.
36. What gift does Tom buy for his mistress in chapter 2?
a. a pearl necklace
c. golf clubs
b. a dress
d. a puppy
37. What does Gatsby always call Nick?
a. Pal
b. Buddy
c. Old sport
d. Old man
38. From where does Gatsby claim to recognize Nick?
a. He recognizes him from the war.
b. He knew him in college.
c. Daisy told him about Nick.
d. Meyer Wolfshiem told him about Nick.
39. Where is the billboard of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg?
a. West Egg
c. Valley of Ashes
b. East Egg
d. New York City
40. Which of the following describes Dr. T.J. Eckleburg?
a. Dr. T.J. Eckleburg sees everything.
b. Dr. T.J. Eckleburg represents commercialism and materialism.
c. Dr. T.J. Eckleberg has blue eyes and yellow spectacles.
d. George and Myrtle Wilson live across from Dr. T.J. Eckleburg.
e. All of the above.
41. Which of the following statements describes the green light across from Jay Gatsby’s
mansion?
a. The green light symbolized Gatsby’s goal in life.
b. The green light was on the property of Daisy Buchanan’s mansion.
Name: _______________
c. The green light represented Gatsby’s jealousy of Tom Buchanan.
d. All of the above.
e. None of the above.
42. In chapter 4 how does Gatsby explain his wealth?
a. He inherited it from his family.
b. He won it in the war.
c. He earned it through bootlegging.
d. He earned it by playing the stock market.
43. How does Jay Gatsby really earn his money?
a. He inherits the money from his parents.
b. He earns most of his money from the war.
c. He earns most of his money through the stock market.
d. He owes his wealth to bootlegging and gambling.
44. Which of the following statements best describes Meyer Wolfsheim?
a. He represents the seedy side of New York City with which Gatsby is connected.
b. He represents the growing popularity of the stock market. Both he and Nick sell
and trade bonds.
c. He is a musician who represents the growing influence of jazz music in New York
City.
d. He is a politician in New York. Wolfsheim is living proof that the New York
political system is corrupt.
45. Where was Daisy Buchanan originally from?
a. Chicago
c. California
b. Louisville
d. North Dakota
46. In chapter 5 when Gatsby reunites with Daisy, Fitzgerald writes, “His [Gatsby’s] head
leaned back so far that it rested against the face of a defunct [broken] mantelpiece clock
and from this position his distraught eyes stared down at Daisy who was sitting frightened
but graceful on the edge of a stiff chair.” Which of the following best reflects this
description of Jay Gatsby?
a. “’Can’t repeat the past?’ he cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’”
b. “I had expected that Mr. Gatsby would be a florid and corpulent person in his
middle years.”
c. “Well, they say he’s a nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’s. That’s where all
his money comes from.”
d. “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his
ghostly heart.”
47. Which of the following statements best explains the significance of Gatsby’s shirts in
chapter 5?
a. By throwing his shirts around the room, Gatsby rejects his wealth in front of
Daisy.
b. By throwing his shirts around the room, he proves that he has more money than
Nick.
c. When Daisy sees the shirts, she suddenly realizes that she should not have
given up on Gatsby when he was poor.
d. None of the above.
Name: _______________
48. Where was Gatsby originally from?
a. Chicago
b. Louisville
c. California
d. North Dakota
49. What did Gatsby’s father do for a living?
a. He was a farmer.
c. He was a stockbroker.
b. He was a teacher.
d. He was a bootlegger.
50. Who cheats Gatsby out of his inheritance from Dan Cody?
a. Myrtle Wilson
c. Tom Buchanan
b. Ella Kaye
d. Daisy Buchanan
51. Why does Tom go to Gatsby’s party in chapter 6?
a. He wants to watch Daisy.
c. He wants to make business connections.
b. He just wants to have fun.
d. He wants to play polo.
52. In chapter 7, why does Gatsby fire all of his almost all of his servants?
a. He did not fire them; they quit because they were tired of cleaning up after all of
his parties.
b. He did not want them to gossip.
c. They were stealing from him.
d. He could no longer afford them.
53. Which of the following statements best describes the Buchanan’s daughter?
a. Tom Buchanan is incredibly devoted to her.
b. She resembles her mother. Likewise, she will probably become like her mother.
c. Tom and Daisy hardly ever mention her. They seem to be more concerned with
material goods.
d. None of the above.
54. Who kills Jay Gatsby?
a. Nick Carraway
b. George Wilson
c. Tom Buchanan
d. Meyer Wolfsheim
55. Which of the following characters shows up at Gatsby’s funeral?
a. The man with the “owl eyes”
c. Dan Cody
b. Meyer Wolfsheim
d. Klipspringer
56. By the end of the main narrative, how old is Nick?
a. 25
c. 33
b. 30
d. 35
57. Which of the following statements concerning the nouveau riche in The Great Gatsby is
true?
a. George and Myrtle Wilson are both members of the nouveau riche.
b. East Egg consists mostly of members of the nouveau riche.
c. Stereotypically, members of the nouveau riche are reserved. They tend to keep
to themselves.
d. It was not unusual for a member of the nouveau riche in The Great Gatsby to be
involved in bootlegging.
58. Which of the following statements best characterizes the stereotype of the nouveau
riche?
a. “It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will
have control of things.”
Name: _______________
b. “Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered
along the water.”
c. “His [Tom Buchanan’s] family were enormously wealthy – even in college his
freedom with money was a matter of reproach.”
d. “On weekends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from
the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight.”
59. Which of the following quotations best exemplifies the theme of Existentialism?
a. “With Jordan’s slender golden arm resting in mine we descended the steps and
sauntered about the garden.”
b. “He came down with a hundred people in four private cars and hired the whole
floor of the Seelbach Hotel, and the day before the wedding he gave her a string
of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
c. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
d. “God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may
fool me but you can’t fool God!”
60. Which of the following quotations best exemplifies the theme of materialism?
a. “With Jordan’s slender golden arm resting in mine we descended the steps and
sauntered about the garden.”
b. “He came down with a hundred people in four private cars and hired the whole
floor of the Seelbach Hotel, and the day before the wedding he gave her a string
of pearls valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
c. “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
d. “God knows what you’ve been doing, everything you’ve been doing. You may
fool me but you can’t fool God!”
Name: _______________
D. Short Answer (10 points each)
Use a paragraph to respond to two of the three questions. If you answer all three, then I
will grade the first two. Make sure that you support each answer with at least three specific
examples. I am mostly interested in how you support your ideas.
1. How is The Great Gatsby a criticism of old money and the nouveau riche? What are
stereotypical characteristics of each group in the novel?
2. Explain the role of the 18th Amendment in The Great Gatsby. Use specific examples to
support your ideas.
3. How does F. Scott Fitzgerald criticize the American Dream in The Great Gatsby? Use
specific examples to support your ideas.
E.
Bonus (1 point each)
When did Fitzgerald publish The Great Gatsby?
What was the name of Fitzgerald’s wife?
Name: _______________
Specifically, what was e.e. cumming’s occupation during World War I?
F.
Essay Question (20 points)
In 1920 Congress ratified the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote. This gave
rise to the notion of the “liberated woman” and forced men to reevaluate the role of women in
American society. Likewise, in The Great Gatsby we see different views of women. Pick one
of the male characters from the novel and explore his perception of the role of women in
society. Then choose one of the female characters. How does she perceive the role of
women?
For this essay you should have at least four paragraphs. The first paragraph should
involve your introduction where you develop your thesis statement. Your next two
paragraphs should be your body paragraphs where you describe each character’s perception
of women. I am looking specifically for examples to support your argument. Your last
paragraph should be your conclusion. In particular, take the time to compare and contrast
the ideas of the two characters you choose. Do not feel like you need to restrict yourself
to just four paragraphs. If another one is needed to prove your argument more effectively,
then please go ahead and do so.
Notice that I will take off a point for every time I see a contraction or an
abbreviation.