ALLUSIONS AND QUOTATIONS
You will need two highlighters or sticky notes in different colors. Fitzgerald alludes or refers to many people, places, events, etc. with which he expects us to be familiar. Use one of your highlighters to note any allusions as you read; we will discuss them in class. Also, as we read, I will ask you to highlight important quotations with your other highlighter. These quotations say something about a character’s development or advance a theme in the novel. Remember you can opt to read online, with an ebook, or a school text. The choice is yours.
STUDY QUESTIONS
The following questions are a combination of comprehension/knowledge level questions and interpretive level questions. These are the questions you may select from for your chapter RRJs. I will not collect your answers to all of the questions, but answering them will help prepare you for class discussion, quizzes, and the final test for the unit.
CHAPTER ONE: Focus Character Analysis and Point of View
1. How does Nick describe himself at the beginning of the novel?
2. How does Nick describe Tom Buchanan?
3. Who is Jordan Baker?
4. What is Gatsby doing when Nick first sees him?
5. Describe the ambiguity in Nick’s initial descriptions of Gatsby.
6. How does the tone of Nick’s description of Tom reveal Nick’s feelings about Tom?
7. How would you describe Daisy’s state of mind during dinner? What does she say and so that helps reveal her inner conflicts?
8. Nick thinks that, given the state of their marriage, Daisy should leave Tom, but it is clear to him that she has no intention of doing so. What indication is there that Tom and Daisy are closely linked despite their marital difficulties?
9. What indications are there that the green light will have a powerful emotional significance to Gatsby?
Source: created by Tara Neely
STUDY QUESTIONS
The following questions are a combination of comprehension/knowledge level questions and interpretive level questions. These are the questions you may select from for your chapter RRJs. I will not collect your answers to all of the questions, but answering them will help prepare you for class discussion, quizzes, and the final test for the unit.
CHAPTER TWO: Focus Motif of Eyes
1. How does Nick meet Tom’s mistress?
2. How does Myrtle react to Tom’s arrival?
3. Describe George Wilson. How does he react to Tom’s arrival?
4. How does Myrtle behave as the party progresses?
5. Describe the setting of the valley of ashes where George and Myrtle live. What aspects of the setting imply that it is intended to have a symbolic meaning as well as a literal one?
6. How does Fitzgerald describe Myrtle Wilson? Does her physical appearance reflect her character in any way?
7. Compare the setting of the party in this chapter with the setting of the party in Chapter One.
8. Why does Tom attack Myrtle at the end of the party? How does this exemplify Fitzgerald’s description of Tom in Chapter One?
Source: created by Tara Neely
STUDY QUESTIONS
The following questions are a combination of comprehension/knowledge level questions and interpretive level questions. These are the questions you may select from for your chapter RRJs. I will not collect your answers to all of the questions, but answering them will help prepare you for class discussion, quizzes, and the final test for the unit.
CHAPTER THREE: Focus Characterization of Gatsby
1. Describe the two ways in which Nick differs from the other guests at Gatsby’s party.
2. What does Nick think of Gatsby when he first meets him?
3. Describe the events and atmosphere of the party.
4. What does the owl-eyed man in the library find extraordinary about Gatsby’s library?
5. What does Nick learn about Jordan Baker after he has sent some time with her?
6. Why does Fitzgerald describe the party (in the passage beginning “By seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived”) in the present tense?
7. How does Nick characterize the guests at Gatsby’s party? What do his characterizations tell us about how Nick feels about most of these people? What sense of life in the Jazz Age do we get from the description of this party?
8. Describe the ambiguity in Gatsby’s character that strikes Nick.
9. Describe two incidents involving automobiles in this chapter. What role do automobiles seem to play in the novel so far?
Source: created by Tara Neely
It is common knowledge that many names have a meaning, a history, roots, and often times symbolize these things. The way that Fitzgerald named his characters in the novel is an example of the aforementioned blatant symbolism. Nearly every name in the novel, ranging from the main characters to characters who appear only once, was chosen with extreme care.
As reader, we have met most of our major characters. Begin to complete the character analysis handout. It will be due at the end of chapter 4 reading and it will be needed for the next activity.
