Name:______Period:______

Chapter 1:

Meet the characters. Who are the following people? Describethem.

Nick Carraway- (2, 3) / Jordan Baker- (8, 10, 11, 18)
Tom Buchanan- (6, 7, 10) / Daisy Buchanan- (8, 9)
A. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (1).
B. “I’m inclined to reserve all judgments” (1).
C. “I lived in West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two…Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water…” (5).
D. “And so it happened that on a warm windy evening I drove over to East Egg to see two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all” (6).
E. “She might have the decency not to telephone him at dinner time. Don’t you think?” (15).
F. “I saw that I was not alone—fifty feet away a figure had emerged from the shadows…he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way…I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock” (20-1).
G. Who is the narrator? (point of view?)
H. What is the setting?

Chapter 2

1. What is the “valley of the ashes”? (23)
2. Describe the “eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg” (24)
3. Who does Tom make Nick meet on the train ride into New York? (24)
4. What kind of a business does George Wilson run? (25)
5. How does Tom treat George?—Make an inference from the conversation they have. (25)
6. Why does Mrs. Wilson get on “the next train?” (26)
7. Where does Mr. Wilson think Mrs. Wilson goes when she gets on the train? (26)
8. Myrtle Wilson is characterized by her actions on pg 27. What does she buy, and what does she care about?
9. What does Tom buy for Myrtle? (28)
10. Who is Catherine? (28)
11. What does Nick do at the apartment? (29)
12. How is Catherine characterized? (30)
13. Who is Mr. McKee, and what does he do? (30)
14. How does Myrtle’s personality change when she changes her dress? (31)
15. How does the subject of Gatsby come up? (32)
16. What details does Catherine give Nick about Gatsby?
17. What does Catherine tell Nick about Tom’s and Myrtle’s marriages? (33)
18. What reason does Myrtle give for marrying George? (34)
19. What made Myrtle change her mind about George? (35)
20. Where did Myrtle first meet Tom? (36)
21. What do Tom and Myrtle get in a fight about? (37)
22. What does Tom do to Myrtle? (37)

Chapter 3

23. What kinds of entertainment does Gatsby’s house offer guests? (39)
24. What kinds of preparations are made for Gatsby’s parties? (39-40)
25. Nick is invited to Gatsby’s party by Gatsby’s chauffeur. Why is this important? (41)
26. What does Nick do at the party? (42)
27. What happened to Lucille’s dress, and what did Gatsby do?( 43)
28. What kinds of things do people say about Gatsby? (44 and other pages)
29. “Owl eyes” (a man in owl-eyed spectacles) was impressed that Gatsby’s books were real. Why? (45)
30. What do Nick and the man talk about on pg 47? (47)
31. What ironic moment occurs on page 48?
32. Who wants to talk to Jordan alone? (50)
33. Who is Mrs. Sigourney Howard? (52)
34. What happens when Owl Eyes tries to leave the party? (53-55)
35. On 56, Nick described how he spends most of his time. What does he do? (56)
36. What kind of a relationship do Nick and Jordan have? (57-59)

Chapter 4

37. This is a long, long list of people who went to Gatsby’s parties. (61-63)
38. Why does Gatsby come to Nick’s house in his car? (64)
39. What nickname has Gatsby given to Nick? (64)
40. Does Nick believe what Gatsby tells Nick about himself? (65)
41. What two items does Gatsby show Nick as proof that his story is true? (66-67)
42. What happens when the policeman stops Gatsby? (68)
43. Who is Mr. Wolfsheim? (69)
44. Mr. Wolfsheim tells a story about Rosy Rosenthal. What happened to Rosy? (70)
45. What is Wolfsheim’s opinion of Gatsby? (72)
46. According to Gatsby, Wolfsheim is a gambler. What did Wolfsheim do in 1919? (73)
47. Who does Nick see at the restaurant? (73)
48. Summarize the main details of the story that Jordan tells Nick about Daisy, Gatsby, and Tom. (74-78)
49. Why did Gatsby buy the house in West Egg? (78)
50. What does Gatsby want Nick to do? (78-79)

Chapter 5

51. Why does Nick think his house is on fire? What was actually happening? (81)
52. Why does Gatsby want to get Nick’s grass cut? (82)
53. Why does Nick ask Daisy to not bring Tom to his house for tea? (83)
54. What adjective could describe Gatsby’s mood before Daisy arrives at Nick’s house? (84)
55. What “surprise” does Nick receive when he goes back into his house with Daisy? (85)
56. Describe Daisy’s visit with Gatsby, focusing especially on the way that each of them acts toward the other. (85-89)
57. What is Daisy’s reaction to Gatsby’s house? (90-92)
58. What does Gatsby show Daisy? (90-92)
59. What makes Daisy cry? (92)
60. What is the significance of the green light? (92)
61. Who is Klipspringer, and what does he do? (94)
62. At the end of the chapter, what is the status of Gatsby’s and Daisy’s relationship? (96)

Chapter 6

63. Why did a reporter come to Gatsby’s door? (97)
64. What kinds of rumors are people discussing about Gatsby? (97)
65. Who is James Gatz? (98)
66. Who is Dan Cody? (98)
67. Where did Gatsby meet Dan Cody? (98-99)
68. When did James Gatz change his name to Jay Gatsby, and why? (98)
69. What is St. Olaf? (99)
70. What kind of business did Dan Cody do? (99)
71. What did Gatsby do for Dan Cody? (100)
72. Dan Cody was an alcoholic. How did this affect Gatsby’s own drinking? (100)
73. When Dan Cody died, what did he leave Gatsby? (100)
74. When did Gatsby tell Nick the story about Dan Cody? (101)
75. For several weeks, Nick didn’t see Gatsby. What was Nick doing? (101)
76. Tom gets brought to Gatsby’s house by some people. What do Tom and Gatsby talk about? (101-102)
77. What is Tom’s opinion of Gatsby, and the fact that Daisy knows him? (103)
78. What happens when Tom and Daisy go to Gatsby’s party? (104- 108)
79. What do Gatsby and Daisy do at the party and at Nick’s house during the party? (105)
80. Who is Miss Baedeker?
81. How did Daisy feel about the party and about West Egg? (107)
82. What does Tom think that Gatsby does? (107)
83. Daisy defends Gatsby by explaining why such “interesting” people come to his parties. What does Daisy say to Tom about Gatsby and his guests? (108)
84. What does Daisy tell Tom that Gatsby does? (108)
85. After the party, what does Gatsby tell Nick about how Daisy felt about the party? (109)
86. What does Gatsby think that Daisy should do? (109)
87. Gatsby says “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” What does he mean, and what is he referring to? (110)

Chapter 7

88. Why does Gatsby stop having parties? (113)
89. “I hear you fired all your servants.” Why did Gatsby do this? (114)
90. How does Gatsby react to seeing Daisy’s daughter? (117)
91. “She had told him she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw.” (119) Predict how Tom is going to react to seeing Daisy tell Gatsby she loves him.
92. Who takes which cars to New York (“town”)? (121)
93. Where do Tom, Jordan and Nick stop to get gas? Whose idea is it to stop? (122)
94. What does George say he needs money for? (123)
95. Myrtle sees Jordan from the upstairs window of the garage. Who does she think Jordan is? (125)
96. What does the group do at the Plaza Hotel? (126)
97. What things does Tom ask/accuse Gatsby about? (128-130)
98. What big statement does Gatsby make to Tom about Daisy? (130)
99. What does Tom say about the love between him and Daisy? (131)
100. What does Daisy say about her love for Tom and her love for Gatsby? (132)
101. What do Daisy and Gatsby tell Tom that Daisy is going to do? (133)
102. What are the details of Gatsby’s business? (134)
103. 16. Who is going home in Gatsby’s car? (135)
104. What did George do to Myrtle? (136)
105. What is the “death car”? (137)
106. What happened to Myrtle in the road?
107. What is the significance of “It was a yellow car.”? (139)
108. What does Gatsby confess to Nick about the accident on page 143?

Chapter 8—Explain significance of quotations

109. “I felt that I had something to tell him, something to warn him about, and morning would be too late.” –Nick (147)
110. “You ought to go away…It’s pretty certain they’ll trace your car.” –Nick (148)
111. “…he let her believe that he was a person from much the same stratum as herself—that he was fully able to take care of her” –about Gatsby (149)
112. “I can’t describe to you how surprised I was to find out I loved her, old sport…she was in love with me, too” –Gatsby (150)
113. “He was worried now--there was a quality of nervous despair in Daisy’s letters…She was feeling the pressure of the world outside…” (151)
114. “Of course she might have loved him just for a minute, when they were first married—and loved me more even then, do you see?”
–Gatsby (152)
115. “I didn’t want to leave Gatsby” –Nick (153)
116. “They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. “You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” –Nick (154)
117. “Usually her voice came over the wire as something fresh and cool…but this morning it seemed harsh and dry” –Nick about Jordan (155)
118. “About three o’clock the quality of Wilson’s incoherent muttering changed—he grew quieter and began to talk about the yellow car.” (156)
119. “…a couple of months ago his wife had come from the city with her face bruised and her nose swollen” (157)
120. “He murdered her” (158)
121. “It was the man in that car. She ran out to speak to him and he wouldn’t stop.” (159)
122. “By half-past two he was in West Egg, where he asked some one the way to Gatsby’s house. So by that time he knew Gatsby’s name.” (160)
123. “At two o’clock Gatsby put on his bathing-suit and left word with the butler that if any one phone word was to be brought to him at the pool” (161)
124. “It was after we started with Gatsby toward the house that the gardener saw Wilson’s body a little way off in the grass, and the holocaust was complete.” (162)

Chapter 9

125. How many years have gone by at the start of this chapter, before Nick started writing the story down? (163)
126. What did Catherine tell the investigators about Myrtle? (163-164)
127. Nick says, “I found myself on Gatsby’s side, and alone” What does he mean? (164)
128. What does Nick discover when he calls Daisy? (164)
129. Why does Nick try to get a hold of Wolfsheim? (165)
130. Describe the phone call that Nick receives. (166)
131. Who is Henry C. Gatz? (167)
132. What is Henry Gatz’s impression of Jay Gatsby? (168)
133. How do all of the people who used to go to Gatsby’s parties respond to his death? (169)
134. What further details about Gatsby does Nick get from Wolfsheim? ( 170-171)
135. Why does Henry Gatz show Nick the picture and the schedule? (172-173)
136. Who came to the funeral? (174)
137. On pages 175-176, Nick describes his feelings about the “Middle West” compared to the East? Which part of America does he feel he fits into more?
138. Describe the meet-up between Jordan and Nick. (177)
139. What did Tom tell Nick that he did that contributed to George killing Gatsby? (178)
140. What does Nick mean when he says Tom and Daisy are “careless people”, and is it true? (179)
141. On the last page of the book, Nick says “Gatsby believed in the green light” (180). Explain.

Discussion Questions: (Chapters 1-9)

Class Notes: