Name: The Great Gatsby Reading Guide Chapter 1 Nick starts the
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Name: ________________________________ The Great Gatsby Reading Guide Chapter 1 1. Nick starts the novel by relaying his father's advice "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had." List Nick's advantages. Does he reserve judgement in the novel? What facts do you know about him, and what do you infer about him? What kind of a narrator do you think he will be? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 2. When Nick goes to Daisy’s for the first time Fitzgerald uses a lot of color imagery. Which colors jumped out at you the most? What do you associate these colors with? Why do you think he chose to use these colors? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: ________________________________ 3. Fitzgerald uses both direct and indirect characterization to bring Daisy and Tom to life. Find evidence (quote from the book) of indirect characterization for both of these characters and discuss what this tells you about them. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 4. Describe the "valley of ashes." What does it look like and what does it represent? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: ________________________________ 5. Describe Myrtle. What does she look like? What sort of aura does she have? What are her values? How do you know? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 6. Why does Tom break Myrtle’s nose? (hint: it’s not only because she keeps saying Daisy’s name) How does this support Fitzgerald’s depiction of Tom in chapter 1 (why aren’t you surprised that he would do that?)? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Name: ________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3 7. Pay attention to Nick's judgements. What do they reveal about his character that he does this (especially in relation to his opening comments)? Remember: Nick is the narrator. Every description is being given by him. Do you think he’s as honest as claims? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What rumors have been told about Gatsby? Why does Fitzgerald reveal rumors rather than fact? Name: ________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ 9. What is your opinion of Jordan Baker by the end of this chapter? Why? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Name: ________________________________ 10. What do you think Fitzgerald’s attitude toward the party goers is? What is said or happens in this chapter that makes you think that? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 4 11. What does Gatsby tell Nick about his life? Why does he tell him? What items does Gatsby have that supports his story? Do you believe Gatsby? Does Nick? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 12. What is Wolfsheim’s purpose in this chapter? Why did Fitzgerald put him here? Name: ________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 13. What does Jordan's story of Daisy's marriage reveal about Daisy? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Name: ________________________________ Chapter 5 14. What is Daisy’s reaction to Nick’s house? What does this have to do with all of Gatsby’s offers to fix up Nick’s house and all of the flowers he has sent? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 15. Describe the meeting between Daisy and Gatsby. How does is change by the end of the chapter? What effect does the rain have? What is the importance of the green light? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Name: ________________________________ Chapter 6 16. Why does Fitzgerald tell the story of Jay Gatz now? What purpose does it serve? What new insight do you now have? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 17. When Nick told Gatsby that "you can't repeat the past", Gatsby replied, "Why of course you can!" Do you agree with Nick or Gatsby? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Name: ________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 7 18. How does the heat of the day effect the feel and events of the chapter? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 19. Describe the fight between Gatsby and Tom. What do these men think of each other? How are they similar and how are they different? Name: ________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 20. What do you think Tom and Daisy were saying to each other in the kitchen? Do you think that Tom knew Daisy was driving the "death car"? Why, why not? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 8 21. How does Fitzgerald achieve a melancholic mood in the beginning of this chapter? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Name: ________________________________ 22. How does Nick's statement "You're worth the whole bunch put together" show a change in Nick from the beginning of the novel? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 23. Explain the effect the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleberg have on Wilson. How does Fitzgerald describe Wilson towards the end of the chapter? Why is it so appropriate? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 9 24. Why did Nick take care of Gatsby’s funeral? Who came? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Name: ________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 25. Why does Nick call Tom and Daisy “careless people”? Do you agree with him? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Bonus Questions Name: ________________________________ Each question is worth 5 points on the Gatsby test! 1. Does this novel have villains and heroes? Why, why not? If yes, who fits into these categories and why? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Name: ________________________________ 2. Why are we still reading a book written in the 1920's? What gives this book its longevity? And which of its themes are eternal in the American psyche. ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________
