The Great Gatsby Journals
Complete your journals in the following the format below. Number/list accordingly.
1. Title entries at the top of your page with chapter numbers and create your own title for
the chapter
2. Write a 5 sentence chapter summary. Include: setting, characters, time passage
(summer, fall, if time has elapsed since the last chapter, etc.), action, etc.
3. For each chapter (there are nine chapters so you will have nine character analysis: Nick
Carraway, Daisy Buchannon, Tom Buchannon, Jordan Baker, Owl Eyes, Jay Gatsby,
Meyer Wolfshiem, Myrtle Wilson, George Wilson), choose a different character to
analyze in the following format:
a. Name the character. Research the character’s name—is it allegorical, symbolic,
ironic, an allusion (it may not be spelled exactly, but does it sound like
someone/thing else), etc. and explain how.
b. Choose a quote from or about the character that best describes their personality.
Cite the page number.
c. Provide a physical description of the character based on text references using
page numbers (there will not be a description of Nick—why????)
d. Describe and explain the character’s role or archetype in the novel—narrator,
protagonist, antagonist, femme fatale damsel in distress, comic relief, , etc.
4. Choose a significant quote from the chapter. It must be different from the quote related
to your character. In 3-5 sentences, explain the significance of that quote. Think beyond
simple plot revelation, to literary features such as tone, irony, imagery, symbolism,
internal monologue, etc. This is practice for your commentaries.
5. For each chapter identify at least 2 symbols. Cite the page the symbol appears, and
explain what it may symbolize. Below is a list of some of the symbols in the text. This is
not a comprehensive list.
a. The color green
b. The color white
c. The color yellow/gold
d. The ash heap
e. The eyes of T.J. Eckleberg
f. Character’s careers
g. East
h. West
i. Rain
j. Heat
k. Cars
Due Dates
Ch. 1
Ch. 2
Ch. 3
Ch. 4
Ch. 5
Ch. 6
Ch. 7
Ch. 8
Ch. 9
this chapter we will discuss more in depth