The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A Sample of the Study Guide Chapter 1
1. What is your first impression of Nick Carraway, Tom and Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker? What are their most notable qualities?
2. What similarities do these characters share? What are their differences?
3. Who is the most ‘real’ character we meet in chapter 1? Explain your choice.
4. What is the significance of the 2 ‘Eggs’? What do each of them represent?
5. Why did Nick travel to the East? In what ways does life in the East differ from his previous life?
6. Why do you think Nick became a bondsman? What is Tom’s opinion of the company that Nick works for?
7. Why do you think Tom and Daisy live such an extravagant lifestyle? What do they have which indicates they are wealthy?
8. What do you think we are meant to be feeling about the characters by the end of chapter 1? Are we meant to sympathise with them? Resent them? Explain.
9. What is Daisy’s reaction when Gatsby’s name is mentioned in conversation? Why do you think she reacted this way?
10. Why do you think Daisy and Jordan enjoy gossiping so much? What could possibly be gained by gossiping in this way?
11. We are told several things about Gatsby in chapter 1. Make a list of at least 5 things we learn about him in the chapter.
12. There are several ‘outrageous’ comments made in this chapter. Can you find two examples of comments which may be described this way?
13. There are several references to light in chapter 1. Make a list of these references. Why might the image of light be important to the story?
14. We learn that Tom and Daisy have a daughter but she isn’t talked about very much, especially not by her father? Why not? Do Daisy and Tom love their daughter? Is she important in their lives? Discuss these questions with reference to things the characters say in chapter 1.
15. The final image in the chapter is of Gatsby reaching out towards the green light. What do you think is the significance of the light? What might it represent? How can you explain his behaviour?
Reflections – A New Life – Nick moves to a new place to start a new life. Write a creative piece about someone starting a new life in each of the following places. After writing the two pieces, reflect on how different life in the 2 places would be:
a) Los Angeles / Hollywood
b) Iraq or Afghanistan
Spelling List
preoccupation, privy, unjustly, frequently, tolerance, gorgeous, elations, prominent, bungalow, universe, permanently, identical, phenomenon, wealthy, dominance, wistfully, buoyed, stationary, absurd, excitement, irrelevantly, physical, polite, anticipation, submerged, devoid, beautiful, sophisticated, imitation, vanished
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