The Great GatsbyS.C.O.U.T. Questions: Chapters 7-9
Directions: Prepare answers for each of the questions on this chart. / Specific:●choice of details
●atmosphere
●Tone and Mood
●connotation
●people
●places
●time period
●verisimilitude / Comparison:
●Allusions
●Metaphors/Simile
●Symbols
●Personification
●Intertextuality
●Hyperbole
●Figures of Speech / Organization:
●Spatial- repetition and contrast
●Sequential
●First and Last-why
●Paradox
●Thesis/Antithesis/Synthesis
●Parallels / Unusual:
●Things that don’t make sense
●Things that seem out of place or time
●Anachronism
●Ambiguities / Theme:
●quotes
●symbols
●motifs
●characters and actions
●Epiphanies
●Rhetoric
●Catharsis
Chapter Seven / Why does the author continually specify that it was the hottest day of the year? / Why does Gatsby adopt such an aggressive attitude towards Tom when discussing Daisy in this chapter? How is this different from his earlier behavior? / Why did the author choose to make Gatsby’s main love interest such a dynamic character? / What changes occurred throughout the chapter regarding Daisy’s feelings for Tom and Gatsby? What causes them, why? / How does Daisy’s treatment of her daughter symbolize how she feels women in society are/should be treated?
Chapter Seven / Why did the author show Daisy’s daughter so late in the book? What was the purpose of Daisy showcasing her child? / How do the reactions to Myrtle’s death contrast? Consider the reactions of Wilson, Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, and Nick? / In the beginning, Nick says, “Her voice compelled me forward breathlessly as I listened,” and “Her voice, glowing and singing” to refer to Daisy’s voice. Later on page 120, Nick and Gatsby agree that Daisy’s voice is “full of money.” How do these observations compare/contrast? / What were Myrtle’s intentions when she ran in to the street before getting hit? / What did Tom mean when he said, “There are things between Daisy and me that you’ll never know, things that neither of us can forget”? Do you think this correlates with why they’re talking at the end of the chapter?
Chapter Eight / Why does Fitzgerald choose to use Wilson’s point of view instead of Gatsby’s when recalling the scene? / What do the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleberg mean? How has it changed throughout the novel? / “Toward dawn I heard a taxi go up Gatsby’s drive and immediately I jumped out of bed and began to dress. I felt I had something to tell him, something to warn him about, and the morning would be too late.” What about this quote shows Gatsby’s and Nick’s relationship, has it changed? If so, how and what was it before? / At the very end of the chapter, why does the author refer to Gatsby and Wilson’s death as a holocaust? / “They’re a rotten crowd . . . you’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” Why did need feel the need to say this? (page 154)
Chapter Eight / How is the tone of chapter 8 different from chapter 7? / In chapter 8, Gatsby ignores the gardener about draining the pool, which is where he eventually dies. Where else in the book does Gatsby ignore advice, leading to his downfall? / Where do we see the points of view shift in this chapter? Why do you think the author has chosen to tell the events of the chapter in this way? / Why did Wolfsheim’s protégé ignore the shots that he heard? / How does the pool mirror Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship?
Chapter Nine / What are Nick’s final thoughts on the world without Gatsby and why are they so important? / What does the green light symbolize in this chapter? How is it the same/different from previous chapters? / Is Nick an effective narrator? Why or why not? How would the story have been different if told from another point of view? / Why don’t any of Gatsby’s “friends” attend the funeral? / What does Gatsby’s unimportance following his death show us about the main goals of the people who he surrounded himself with during his life?
Chapter Nine / Why did the author incorporate Gatsby’s dad? What was the purpose? What does he add to the story? / How does Daisy relate the “original” Daisy (Ginevra King)? / What effect does the author achieve by not having the typical happy ending? / Why does Nick try so hard to find people to attend the funeral, even when he was shot down so many times? / “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” How is the theme of the entire story summed up in this final line of the novel?