Name: American Literature
Ms. Zarkh
The Great Gatsby Reading Responses
Your Task:
For each section of reading, write a response of at least one full page—double spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins.
The book is full of rich language, which you should examine closely. Show your ability to think and read critically, not summarize plot. Answering the question might only be the first step—please explore other ideas and make other observations.
Chapter 2 Due
What impression do you have of the atmosphere of the party in the New York apartment and its guests? What is the basis of Tom and Myrtle’s relationship?
Chapters 3-4 Due
Choose two key passages from this section (each at least a paragraph in length). The passages should be those that you find particularly interesting in terms of understanding theme, conflict, symbolism, characterization, or some other idea that seems central to the novel at this point. Copy each passage, with page numbers, and write at least one discussion question related to each passage. (Your discussion question can begin with something that puzzled you in the text—e.g., What does Nick mean when he says…?—or it can be a question that gets at a key theme or idea of the novel, such as the other questions on this sheet.)
**You do not have to write a one-page response.**
Chapters 5-6 Due
What are your impressions of the meeting between Daisy and Gatsby? Nick says that Daisy “must have…tumbled short of [Gatsby’s] dreams—not through her own fault but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion” (101). What does the phrase “colossal vitality of his illusion” mean? What does Nick mean when he says Daisy fell short of that? How does this idea play out in the interactions between Daisy and Gatsby?
Chapter 7 Due
American author Kate Chopin wrote, “Perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even to suffer, than to remain a dupe to illusions all one’s life.” When and how do the characters “wake up” from their illusions in this chapter? Is it “better” that they do, even if it causes “suffering”? Close read Passage #10 in your response.
Chapters 8-9 Due
Is Gatsby “great”? Do you agree with Nick that the characters in the novel are a “rotten crowd” and that Gatsby is “worth the whole damn lot of them…” (162)? Consider Passages #12 and #13 in your response.