Sofia Romero

11th-12th

Chapter1
1. Examine the connotative language Fitzgerald uses to contrast West Egg and East Egg.
-West Egg is the less fashionable, where the new money is. While East Egg is where the rich people live (old
money).

2. Look at the paragraph about Tom Buchanan beginning with, “He had changed since….” Find and list ten
words that contribute to the impact of the last sentence. What is the effect of the last sentence?
-Arrogant, Aggressive, and Cruel

3. What is the first thing Daisy says in the novel? In what different ways could you interpret her comment?
-"I'm paralyzed with happiness". It can be interpreted as that she’s happy to see her cousin but the way she
says it seems distant so it can also be interpreted as the opposite.

4. Explain the context and the meaning of Nick’s comment about Tom Buchanan: “Something was making
him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory
heart.”
-His ego got in the way of his commitment with his wife. He doesn't think about how others would feel about
his actions. His action and his heart doesn't add up, because of his ego.

5. Why is the darkness “unquiet”? (last sentence in chapter 1)

-There was constant noise in the night.

Chapter 2
6. Draw a sketch of the eyes of Dr. Eckleburg looking over the valley of ashes. Literally, what is this a picture
of?

7. List the three most effective images with which Wilson’s character is established. With which character is
he in direct contrast?
-Faintly-handsome, anemic and spiritless. Is a direct contrast to Tom, who is arrogant and unworthy.

8. Why does Fitzgerald add the detail about the dog-biscuit to the description of the party at Myrtle’s
apartment?
-She wants the world to think of her as upper class even though she lives in a small apartment while having
someone take care of her dog. The lower class doesn't get any attention.

9. How does Nick’s following comment give the reader insight into Fitzgerald’s handling of point of view in
the novel? “I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of
life.”
-That he has a not just a way of life, since the story is from Nick's point of view, it's important that he be a
reliable narrator.

Chapter 3
10. Look at the first paragraph in chapter three. Explain the following: its contrast with the previous scene
(look especially at irony) the sentence which creates a magical tone-- How? the overall effect of Fitzgerald’s
choice of verbs
-It really contrasts with the previous scene when he was in the Pennsylvania station. Fitzgerald verb tense
occurs in the fourth paragraph in order to completely change the tone.

11. What is the reason for and the effect of the shift in verb tense which occurs in the fourth paragraph in
chapter three?
-Past tense to present tense. It shows the contrast between the outside narrator to the inside narrator.
Fitzgerald verb tense occurs in the fourth paragraph in order completely change the tone. Fitzgerald likes to
change the tone with his use of verbs. lt also shows a shift from describing what he has observed versus what
he is currently observing.

12. From chapter three, pick one or two sentences you really like, write them, and describe Fitzgerald’s style.
-"The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow
cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher." Fitzgerald uses a considerable measure of light
symbolism in this sentence, which adds to the cheerful light inclination of the gathering and music occurring
in this scene. In spite of the fact that the storyteller is outside he can in any case observe the lights and that
bliss from inside.

13. Explain the meaning and purpose of this sentence: “It was testimony to the romantic speculation he
inspired that there were whispers about him from those who had found little that it was necessary to whisper
about in this world.”
-It shows how Gatsby is interesting to all people or shocks all people even those who are usually not
interested or shocked by many things and people.

14. Explain the point of Owl-Eyes’s admiration for Gatsby’s library

-He is surprised that there are actual book because people with money normally just got fake books for show,
but Gatsby has money and has also bought real books.

Chapter 4
15. Analyze the effect of language in the first sentence and first short paragraph (ending with “crystal glass”).
Look carefully.
-The author wanted to make an analogy, where he wanted to express that the crystal was something that
would bring misery and evil to agates

16. Explain how this comment characterizes Mr. Wolfsheim: “I understand you’re looking for a business
gonnegtion.”
-This statement portrays Mr Wolfsheim through an obviously depicted highlight. Rather than utilizing
"association", he articulates is "gonnegtion" which demonstrates that he doesn't articulate his 'c's accurately.
This equitable gives him a special portrayal, helping the peruser comprehend what he talks like.

17. Explain the significance of Wolfsheim’s cuff buttons.

-Mr. Wolfsheim wore them the day he met Nick. The molars could represent how Mr. Wolfsheim treats
humans as merchandise and has no moral about harming others in order to climb his way to the top. They also
reflect his arrogance and unmeasured wealth.

18. Explain the significance of Jordan’s comment that “the pearls were around her neck.”

19. Considering chapter four, what is meant by this comment by Nick: “Then it had not been merely the stars
to which he had aspired on that June night. He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his
purposeless splendor.”?
-Nick now considers that Gatsby has a new light, it is consider by him as a hero now.

Chapter 5
20. What atmosphere/feeling is created by the passage beginning “with enchanting murmurs….” ending with
“flight of stairs.” Cite some examples of language connected to this atmosphere.
-The atmosphere of a story are the emotional feelings that a story gives. In the passage the house is described
while Gatsby and Daisy make their way up the stairs. The description creates a feeling of seriousness to create
importance on the event of making their way up the stairs.

21. What do you think of the shirt scene? How does it affect your reaction to Gatsby and Daisy?
-This scene is just another way for Gatsby to show his wealth to Daisy

22. Explain why “the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever” and why Gatsby’s “count
of enchanted objects had diminished by one.”
-Nick makes these 2 observations after witnessing Gatsby's long desired to be with Daisy.

23. Explain Nick’s comment about Gatsby’s dream, in the paragraph beginning with “As I went to say
goodbye….” and ending with “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his
ghostly heart.” Connect to Nick’s comments in chapter one: “Only Gatsby
-Gatsby imagined an ideal thought of what Daisy would have think when she was invited to Gatsby’s house
today. Gatsby was waiting for this moment for five years.

Chapter 6
24. Read this quote: “The truth was that Jay Gatsby of West Egg, Long Island, sprang form his Platonic
conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he
must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty.” (Look up any
unfamiliar words.) Explain the following: the Platonic conception the effect of the Biblical allusion the point
about the nature of service After interpreting this comment, connect it to this quote from the introduction:
“What foul dust floated in the wake of his dream.”
-The Platonic conception: This conception was idealized by Gatsby as he thought of himself as someone, who
has under the spotlight and that was going to have a bigger effect later in the world. He was trying to show
himself as someone perfect, someone that would not make any mistake at all.

The effect of the Biblical allusion

The biblical allusion goes as he refers to himself as Jesus (“Son of God”) and this effect is present in him as
he changes the world around him making himself a new name, and getting a great amount of wealth. This
great changes though are still attached to his genuine personality, the personality that still feels guilt as to the
actions that he has committed therefore he will always try to make himself “worthy” of the life he lives for
making proud his father figure: Cody.

The point about the nature of service

The nature of the service corresponds to the part that God says we all are of service to others and in this case,
the service towards Daisy was selected to Gatsby despite him being vulgar, selfish and young person to serve.

After interpreting this comment, connect it to this quote from the introduction: “What foul dust floated in the
wake of his dream.”
The quote has a biblical allusion as it states that we have come from dust and we’ll end up like it, this is
shown in the example as Gatsby’s service and quest to Daisy lead to him failing 3 times besides also getting 3
people died making the return from dust to dust.

25. Analyze the language in the paragraph beginning “But his heart was in a constant, turbulent riot” and
ending with “fairy’s wing.” How does the language create a dreamlike world?
-The language used in the paragraph provides the reader with an image of how Gatsby feels he’s living his
current life compared to the one he had, the real one that he has escaped when he became part of society.
Words such “ineffable gaudiness” show how much he sees himself as an stranger to the world he’s
supposedly a part of despite him wanting other things that only Daisy can remind him that he truly wants.

26. Explain Gatsby’s attitude toward time.

-Gatsby hates time, he rejects it as he has become so desperate to change the past for regaining the young
Daisy that wanted the both of them to be together and so he builds himself a new identity, get wealthy and
buy a house near her with the believe that one day he will gain her back.

27. Look at the last three paragraphs, beginning with “One autumn night….” Which words contribute to the
tone of mysterious excitement established in the first paragraph? Explain the concept of “incarnation” in this
passage.
-Incarnation takes up in the passage a meaning where a deity becomes human, in this cas Gatsby this is shown
as in the passage he’s illustrated in a “white light” that is often the color of good besides the passage giving
other contextual evidence that points to him being someone of great power until he committed an act that
made him reincarnate such as kissing Daisy for the first time.

28. What is ideal about Gatsby’s dream? What is corrupt?

-One of the things that are ideal about Gatsby’s dream are the possibility of change, that society can be moved
to become something better as well as seeing that true love is something impossible to reach and what's
corrupt is the way he did those things of finding change and it points that the American Dream is something
unrealistic.

Chapter 7
29. How does Nick finally explain the charm of Daisy’s voice? In what sense, then, is Daisy connected to
“His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty”?
-Nick explains the charm of Daisy’s voice as it’s actually the fact that she comes from a wealthy background
making her a person that doesn’t require for other people to look more into her as they already see her as
beautiful because of her wealth.

30. What similar circumstance has been revealed both to Tom and to Wilson?
-The similar circumstance is shown as both Tom and Wilson discover that their wives are having an affair
with Gatsby and, Tom himself respectively.

31. Myrtle, watching Tom fill the car with gas, draws two wrong conclusions. What are they?
-Myrtle misheard a conversation between Jordan and Tom, assuming that Jordan is really daisy -since daisy is
tom's wife-, this is the first working conclusion, and after that she concludes that tom is driving his own car,
which is false, because the car belongs to Gatsby.

32. Explain Nick’s fascination with Tom’s transition “from libertine to prig.”
-Nick in this part of the story is not quite fascinated he is more disgusted by the fact that this transition leads
to the part of the story where he has to narrated tom cheating over daisy.

33. Myrtle is killed by a car. Whose car actually hits her? Who did she think was in the car? Why?
-She was hit by Gatsby's car, but Daisy was driving. She thought it was tom, because earlier in the story she
made the assumption that it was toms’ car.

34. Explain how the last two sentences of this chapter continue the theme of Gatsby’s dream
-The last two sentences continue Gatsby’s dream by showing Gatsby dreaming of a phone call from Daisy.

Chapter 8
35. Look at the paragraph beginning with “But he didn’t despise himself and it didn’t turn out as he had
imagined.” Particularly note the second sentence: “He had intended, probably, to take what he could and go—
but now he found that he had committed himself to the following of a grail.” How does this allusion add
meaning to the reader’s understanding of Gatsby’s dream?
-In Chapter Eight, Nick visits Gatsby's home to inquire about his friend's well being following the stressful,
climactic day. During a conversation between the two characters, Gatsby exposes more of his background as
he tells Nick about the first time he met Daisy. Gatsby explains to Nick that he lied about his family's social
status in order to court Daisy, and also elaborates on how he became enchanted with the idea of marrying her.

36. What simile in the paragraph beginning with “When they met again two days later it was Gatsby who was
breathless, who was somehow betrayed” creates a suggestion about Daisy?
-The simile is “of the freshness of many clothes and of Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the
hot struggles of the poor.” Where Daisy is compared to silver. This suggests that Daisy is not really into
caring about the poor people and their struggles because she is rich and feels safe and proud of it. Also this
shows that although Daisy is not perfect, Gatsby believes she is.

37. What effect does Fitzgerald create in the paragraph beginning “For Daisy was young and her artificial
world was redolent of orchids and pleasant, cheerful snobbery and orchestras which set the rhythm of the
year, summing up the sadness and suggestiveness of life in new tunes”?
-Fitzgerald tried to implicitly portray the artificial life of the wealthy by distracting themselves with temporal
pleasures that would not last forever. This artificial life carries within it the weight sad moments covered by
the artificial pleasures that could accumulate and then come to light at some point. Fitzgerald also wants to
show how Daisy is actually a weak character that is insecure of herself and of her love for Gatsby.

38. Why does Daisy marry Tom? Connect this to her “paralysis.”
-Daisy married Tom due to his wealth after Gatsby left for the war. After marrying Tom, she realizes the
restriction and consequences that marriage placed upon her. She enjoys having access to Tom’s money and
lifestyle but she is not satisfied and there is no way she could escape. It was too late by the time Gatsby made
his fortune. Separating from Tom was not an option for upper-class people like Daisy and her true feelings
were highlighted in her conversation with Nick regarding the birth of her child.

39. Explain this sentence: “But it was all going by too fast now for his [Gatsby’s] blurred eyes and he knew
that he had lost that part of it, the freshest and the best, forever.”
-This sentence describes that Gatsby is hopelessly trying to recreate the past he realizes because his eyes are
“blurred”. He sought to go back to the past and believes that time is going too fast. Heaven tries to walk
through the towns in which he spent time with Daisy before he had to go fight in the war.

40.Read the paragraph beginning “I’ve always been glad I said that….” How does this paragraph extend the
paradox of Nick’s feelings about Gatsby?
-Nick criticizes the members of the upper class especially those of the “old money” like Daisy, Jordan, and
Nick. However, he compliments Gatsby claiming that he was better than the rest of them. It also extends the
irony of Gatsby achieving the American Dream which he can never reach because he is not honest and is
involved in illegal activities.

41. Read this passage closely, beginning with this paragraph: “Wilson’s glazed eyes turned out to the
ashheaps, where small grey clouds took on fantastic shape and scurried here and there in the faint dawn wind”
and ending with “That’s an advertisement,” Michaelis assured him. What could this passage mean?
(Remember the earlier comment, “He was a son of God….”)
-That Wilson was warning him about someone watching them specially watching her, someone that could not
be tricked not even by lies; Doctor T. J. Eckleburg. And he said he was a god because God sees everything.

42. Who is that “ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward Gatsby through the amorphous trees”?
-The figure is likely that of George Wilson. It makes the most sense since both Gatsby's body and Wilson's
body were found the next day.

43. Explain Fitzgerald’s use of the word “holocaust” in the last sentence of Chapter 8.
-The word holocaust is been used by Gatsby to represent that he becomes the sacrificial victim of his amoral
friends’ actions. He’s a victim from Wilson and graves what happened with Myrtle Wilson.

Chapter 9
44. Read the following from Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography: Franklin is speaking of his efforts to reach
moral perfection: “It may be well my posterity should be informed that to this little artifice [his plan to reach
perfection], with the blessing of God, their ancestor ow’d the constant felicity of his life, down to his seventy-
ninth year in which this is written. What reverses may attend the remainder is in the hand of Providence: but if
they arrive, the reflection on past happiness enjoy’d ought to help his bearing them with more resignation. To
Temperance he ascribes his long-continued health, and what is still left to him of a good constitution; to
Industry and Frugality, the early easiness of his circumstances and acquisition of his fortune, with all that
knowledge that enabled him to be a useful citizen, and obtained for him some degree of reputation among the
learned; to Sincerity and Justice, the confidence of his country, and the honorable employs it conferred upon
him; and to the joint influence of the whole mass of the virtues, even in the imperfect state he was able to
acquire them, all that evenness of temper, and that cheerfulness in conversation, which makes his company
still sought for, and agreeable even to his younger acquaintance. I hope, therefore, that some of my
descendants may follow the example and reap the benefits thereof.” What in this chapter relates to what
Franklin has written? What is Fitzgerald suggesting?
-What in this chapter relates to what Franklin has written? What is Fitzgerald suggesting? Ben Franklin in his
autobiography sets up a plan to achieve moral perfection. HE discovers the task is far more difficult than he
imagined and eventually abandons the plan. Gatsby wants to achieve a plan of perfection, he makes a plan to
be seen as a very wealthy person and a gentleman, this is told by the father of Gatsby in his funeral.

45. Nick is comparing the vitality of his West with his memory of the East. Look at the paragraph beginning
“Even when the East excited me most….” Particularly the part following his mention of El Greco. What
language creates the tone? What is the tone? What is the effect of this passage?
-It has a very negative and dark meaning, at the end there is the image of the woman with jewels in her hand.
“Lusterless” and “solemn man” are the words that describe the dark tone of this passage.

46. Read the paragraph beginning with “I couldn’t forgive him or like him but I saw that what he had done
was, to him, entirely justified.” Read especially the part about Daisy and Tom. Explain Nick’s point here, and
connect it to his mention of the two things that Tom may be purchasing. How does this tie in to the “service of
a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty”?
-This connects to materialism and how he was serving parties to his guests like when the book says, “service
of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty.” He describes how they are very careless, selfish, and how he only
cares about money in the society who surrounds him. Nick says that they shook hands with Tom because he
describes him as a child.

47. How do the last four paragraphs of the book, beginning with “Most of the big shore places were closed
now” effectively connect the main ideas in the novel?
-These paragraphs are important because they combine the past and the future becoming a source of ideas and
dreams. These dreams are corrupted and that is the main theme of the book, the failed American Dream. In
this paragraphs its explained the life of Gatsby and how it didn’t turned out the way he expected to, so it
connects all the things that happened before and the way Gatsby used to think about rising from the ashes,
having a bright future just to impress the girl he liked and to finally have the social status that he always
wanted.