The Great Gatsby Final Exam Study Guide
Answer the following questions:
1.
In what state does the novel take place?
2.
Nick feels that Daisy, Tom, and Jordan are what?
3.
In what era does the story take place?
4.
For entertainment, the characters of The Great Gatsby love to do what?
5.
Gatsby and Nick live where?
6.
Tom and Daisy live where?
7.
Gatsby‘s reunion with Daisy takes place where?
8.
Where did Daisy met Gatsby?
9.
What symbols in the novel are symbolic of money?
10.
Where were Tom and Nick educated?
11.
Gatsby is originally from
12.
Why does Gatsby throws his weekly parties?
13.
Why did Nick move to New York?
14.
In what war did Gatsby and Nick serve?
15.
Gatsby was so nervous upon seeing Daisy again that he knocked over what of Nick‘s?
16.
Whose voice is said to be “full of money”?
17.
What did Mr. Wilson find in Myrtle‘s drawer?
18.
Tom hit Myrtle because . . .
19.
Where did Tom met Myrtle?
20.
In the novel, Nick turns how old on his birthday?
Identify the following characters by their description / actions: a.
narrator and Daisy‘s second cousin once-removed b.
ex-football player with hot temper c.
the object of Gatsby‘s affection d.
Myrtle‘s sister e.
Jimmy‘s father f.
left his shoes at Gatsby‘s mansion g.
“incurably dishonest” professional golfer h.
attended Gatsby‘s funeral i.
shoots Gatsby, then kills himself j.
George‘s neighbor and friend k.
rumored to have fixed the 1919 World Series l.
boarder who played the piano during Gatsby‘s date m.
drunk patron of Gatsby‘s library n.
Tom‘s mistress o.
Gatsby‘s mentor and inspiration p.
eyes of God in the valley of ashes q.
dropped out of college r.
wore human molars as cufflinks s.
wanted a police dog t.
works in the bond business

Themes - Find quotes / examples from the novel that support the following themes:
1.
People don’t always get what they deserve.
2.
Some people try to be someone they are not, displaying false pretenses.
3.
Money is the root of all evil.
4.
There are limits to the idea of the “American Dream”.
5.
You cannot repeat the past.
6.
Money and materialism lead to corruption.
The following quotes represent what themes from the novel?
1.
“Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms farther. . . And one fine morning – So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
2.
“It’s a great advantage not to drink among hard drinking people. You can hold your tongue, and, moreover, you can time any little irregularity of your own so that everybody else is so blind that they don’t see or care.”
3.
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. . .”
The Great Gatsby Final Exam Essay Topics
1.
Compare and contrast the book and one of the movie versions of The Great Gatsby. How well do you think the cast of characters was chosen? What do you think about the direction, such as the decision to leave parts of the book out, or to add scenes to the film?
How well did the director capture the important themes and ideas of the novel?
2.
Compare and contrast Daisy and Myrtle. In what ways were they alike? Different? How does Fitzgerald, on the whole, characterize the women in this novel? Do you agree or disagree with the way women are portrayed? Or was this just an era of women asserting themselves for the first time?
3.
Compare and contrast Gatsby and Tom. How are they alike? How are they different?
What are the positive and negative characteristics of each? What might attract Daisy to each of them?
4.
Explore Gatsby as a symbol of the American Dream. Does he represent the realism of the American Dream? How? What might Fitzgerald be saying about the idea of the
American Dream throughout the novel? In what ways does Gatsby represent the ideal, and in what ways does he represent the decline of America, as seen by Fitzgerald?
5.
Fitzgerald uses color as a symbol throughout the novel The Great Gatsby. How is color used to define the characters? How is it used to create the setting? How is it used to create mood? Explore Fitzgerald‘s use of colors as symbols and their significance throughout the novel.
6.
Research the ― Lost Generation, ‖ a term coined by Gertrude Stein. F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of the writers Stein labeled as a member of this group. Write a paper that explores the reasons Stein created this label, who was considered a part of this
― Generation, ‖ the characteristics of this ― Generation, ‖ and how The Great Gatsby fits into this characterization.
7.
Discuss the use of the first-person point of view in this novel. Was it effective? Was Nick a reliable and truthful narrator? Why or why not? How might the novel have been different if the story had been told from the 3 rd person point of view, or even from the point of view of another character, such as Daisy, Myrtle, or even George Wilson?
8.
Select two of the other major symbols used in the novel and examine Fitzgerald’s use of these symbols as literary tools in his work.