The Great Gatsby Questions
All of these questions are going to be collected as extra credit toward your journal assignment or will
be used instead of a quiz if the student has an excused absent from class. Due May 6th.
Chapter 3
1. What do Nick’s descriptions of Gatsby’s parties reveal about the characterization of Nick and
Gatsby? What does it reveal about the guests that attend his parties?
2. What is different about Nick compared to the others at the party?
3. What are some of the rumors people are saying about Gatsby? What connection do Nick and Gatsby
have?
4. Where is Gatsby at the party? What is he doing (or not doing)? What might this tell you about him?
5. Who is “Owl Eyes” and what surprises him about the library? What is the symbolic meaning of this
revelation?
6. At Gatsby’s party, Nick encounters Jordan again. What impressions does she leave on the reader
this time? Cite and explain two examples from the text, one from early in the chapter, and one
from the end of the chapter.
Chapter 4
1. What does Gatsby tell Nick about his life?
2. Does Nick believe Gatsby? Why or why not?
3. Who is Meyer Wolfsheim?
4. Examine the description of Gatsby’s “gorgeous car.” What might its color symbolize?
What does it imply about Gatsby?
5. Nick describes New York as “rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built
with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the
city seen for the first time, in its wild promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world.” How does
this setting reflect some of the central ideas of the novel?
6. What does Jordan’s story about Daisy reveal about her? Cite two examples and explain how they
add to her characterization.
7. What is implied in the story about Tom’s car accident in Santa Barbara?
Chapter 5
1. On the day of Gatsby and Daisy’s meeting how is the weather symbolic of Gatsby’s mood? Cite
text and explain.
2. Describe what Gatsby wears on the day of the tea. What impression is he trying to make?
3. What aspect of Daisy’s character does Fitzgerald emphasize as Daisy drives up to Nick’s house?
What is his intent?
4. How is Gatsby’s tipping and catching of the clock symbolic?
5. How does Daisy react to Gatsby’s house? How does she react to his silk shirts? What does this
say about her?
6. What does the “green light” turn out to be? How does it reveal more characterization for Gatsby?
Chapter 6
1. Who is James Gatz? Summarize Gatsby’s life story.
3. How does the young James Gatz’s time with Dan Cody affect his ideas about how the rich
live?
4. Describe the meeting of Tom and Gatsby. What does this meeting reveal about them? How is
it clear that Gatsby is missing social cues and Tom and Sloane are disingenuous?
5. How do Daisy and Tom respond to Gatsby's party? Cite examples and explore what it reveals
about the characterization of each?
6. When Nick tells Gatsby that "you can't repeat the past", Gatsby replies, "Why of course you
can!" (116). What does this reveal about Gatsby’s motivation and beliefs? Cite text in your
response. Are his motivations and beliefs realistic?
7. How does Fitzgerald use imagery and diction near the end of the chapter to describe how
Gatsby’s abstract dream becomes tied to Daisy. Analyze specific examples.
Chapter 7
1. Why did Gatsby fire his servants and hire new ones? Who are the new ones?
2. It says, “The next day was broiling, almost the last, certainly the warmest, of the summer” (115).
What do you think will happen on a day that is described this way?
3. Describe Daisy and Gatsby's new relationship.
4. If Daisy says she's never loved Tom, is there someone whom she thinks she loves?
5. Describe the fight between Gatsby and Tom. What do these men think of each other? How are
they similar and how are they different?
6. What was significant about it being Nick's 30th birthday?
7. 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
1. How does Fitzgerald achieve a melancholic mood in the beginning of this chapter?
2. How are seasons used in constructing this novel?
3. Who is Dan Cody and what is his significance in Gatsby's life?
4. How does Nick's statement "You're worth the whole bunch put together" show a change in
Nick from the beginning of the novel?
5. How does T. J. Eckleberg affect Mr. Wilson?
Chapter 9
1. Why did Nick take care of Gatsby's funeral?
2. How was Jay Gatz's childhood schedule consistent with the adult Gatsby's behavior?
3. Who attended Gatsby's funeral? How and why is this significant?
4. What is the purpose of Nick's last meeting with Jordan?
5. Why does Nick call Tom and Daisy "careless people"?
6. Where does Nick go in the end?