Lima
English 11 Honors
Name:___________________________
Date/Block:_________________
The Great Gatsby: Study/Discussion Guide Ch. 5-6
Chapter 5
1. Why does Gatsby suggest they go to Coney Island at 2:00 am? Why is his house all lit up?
2.
What does Gatsby offer Nick for arranging his meeting with Daisy?
3.
What is the significance of the weather on the day the Gatsby and Daisy meet at Nick’s house?
4.
What is the significance of the way Gatsby is dressed for his meeting with Daisy? (84)
5.
What is Gatsby’s mood as he waits for Daisy? Why?
6.
On page 86, the adjectives artificial and counterfeit are used to describe the first reacquaintance between
Gatsby and Daisy. What does this say about the meeting? How do you think they truly want to act?
7.
Why does Fitzgerald include the clock in this scene? What might it symbolize? How?
8.
On page 89, Nick returns to his house and interrupts Gatsby and Daisy in conversation. What transpired
in the 30 minutes Nick was absent?
9.
IS there significance to the rain stopping on page 89?
10. On page 91, Nick states “Gatsby closed the door of the “Merton College Library” I could have sworn I
heard the owl-eyed man break into ghostly laughter.” Why would the owl-eyed man laugh?
11. Why would Gatsby invite Nick to accompany him and Daisy to see his mansion?
Lima
English 11 Honors
Name:___________________________
Date/Block:_________________
12. How is Gatsby reacting to Daisy being inside his house?
13. What is the significance of Daisy using Gatsby’s brush without asking?
14. On page 92, Gatsby shows daisy his shirts and begins “throwing them , one by one before us.” Daisy
reacts by “cry[ing] stormily” and stating “They’re such beautiful shirts…It makes me sad because I’ve
never seen such beautiful shirts before.” What is the tone and meaning of this scene?
15. What is the significance of the green light on Daisy’s dock? How do you know?
16. Discuss the significance of the quote on page 94 “The gray windows disappeared as the house glowed full
of light.”
17. What is the significance of the song “Ain’t We Got Fun”?
18. What is the “colossal vitality of [Gatsby’s] illusion”?
19. Nick describes Daisy’s voice as “a deathless song.” What does he mean by this?
20. Has the theme changed in this chapter?
Chapter 6
1. On page 97 a reporter comes to visit Gatsby. Why does Gatsby fall “just short of being news”?
Lima
English 11 Honors
Name:___________________________
Date/Block:_________________
2.
What Platonic conception does Gatsby have of himself?
3.
What is the service of “vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty”?
4.
On page 98, it states that Gatz “invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen-year-old boy would
be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” What is the significance of this
statement, is it a positive or negative statement? Why?
5.
On page 99 it is stated that “The most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted [Gatsby] in his bed at
night.” The other time that “grotesque and fantastic” is used in the novel is to describe the Valley of
Ashes. What does this tell us about Gatsby?
6.
What “unreality of reality” does Gatsby dream about?
7.
Why does Gatsby admire Dan Cody so much?
8.
What color does Nick use to describe Cody?
9.
Why doesn’t Gatsby drink much?
10. What does it mean when Nick states on page 101 that he had “reached the point of believing everything
and nothing about him”? Why is it significant that he states this just after telling the reader the truth
about Gatsby’s background?
Lima
English 11 Honors
Name:___________________________
Date/Block:_________________
11. On page 104 Nick states, “I was looking at [West Egg] through Daisy’s eyes. It is invariably saddening to
look at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment.” What is the significance
of this remark?
12. On page 107, it is stated that Daisy “saw something awful in the very simplicity she failed to understand.”
What does sentiment does this express about Daisy?
13. There is a philosophical moment expressed on pages 110 and 111. Gatsby states “Can’t repeat the
past…Why of course you can.” Examine these two pages and see if Gatsby’s vision is realistic.
14. *A student noted that the name “James Gatz” sounds more sophisticated than “Jay Gatsby.” Why would
Gatsby’s Platonic view of himself include a less sophisticated name to accompany a more sophisticated
ideal? Or, is the character Jay Gatsby really less sophisticated than James Gatz?