The Great Gatsby Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Vocabulary Fortnight: (pg. 40) (noun) Two weeks. Gaudy: (pg.40) (adj) Extravagantly bright or showy, typically so as to be tasteless. Innuendo: (pg.40) (noun) When you say something indirectly — often of a hurtful or sexual nature. Prodigality (pg.40) Excessive or extravagant spending. Prodigality does not merely refer to spending above your means. It’s excessive or wasteful spending, often with an eye toward the luxurious. Think of the that film star who owns ten expensive cars but doesn’t drive. Life’s been good to me.. (Song)

Chapter 3: References Frisco (p.41) Joe Frisco was an American vaudeville performer who first made his name on stage as a jazz dancer, but later incorporated his stuttering voice to his act and became a popular comedian. Vaudeville (/ˈvɔːdvɪl, -dəvɪl/; French: [vodvil]) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment. It was especially popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. A typical vaudeville performance is made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts have included popular and classical musicians, singers, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, strongmen, female and male impersonators, acrobats, illustrated songs, jugglers, one-act plays or scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and movies. A vaudeville performer is often referred to as a "vaudevillian". Vaudeville developed from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrelsy, freak shows, dime museums, and literary American burlesque. Called "the heart of American show business", vaudeville was one of the most popular types of entertainment in North America for several decades.

Chapter 3: References The Follies: (pg.41) Reference to the Ziegfeld Follies, a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air.

Chapter 3 Vocabulary Vehemently (p.42) (adverb) When you do something vehemently, you do it with energy and passion. The word vehemently has a lot of force behind it. If you do something vehemently, then you do it forcefully and with emotion, and no one will doubt how you really feel. You’ll often hear it used to describe situations involving conflict or disagreement. Credulity: (pg.44) (noun) a tendency to believe in things too easily and without evidence. This noun is associated with being naïve, gullible or innocent.

Chapter 3 Vocabulary Homogeneity: (pg.44) (noun) Homogeneity is the sameness of things. If you're looking for homogeneity in your wardrobe, you'll want shirts and jeans that all have something similar about them. Homogeneity can also mean that something is the same throughout. Plain yogurt has a homogeneity about it — it's white all the way through and it should be the same texture throughout. Staid: (pg.44) (adj) Something that is staid is dignified, respectable — possibly even boring, like a staid dinner party that is heavy on the important guests but light on the laughs.

Chapter 3 Vocabulary Impetuously: (pg.45) (adverb) Impulsively, without taking cautions. Ascertain: (pg.45) (verb) Ascertain is a verb that means to find out something. This is a formal word that often applies to discovering the facts or truth about something through examination or experimentation. Information that is ascertained is certain beyond a doubt. If you want a less formal synonym, use discover.

Ch. 3 Symbolism: The Owl-Eyed Man Owls are a symbol of wisdom, but also of death. Also a symbol of the watchful eyes of God watching all the humans but not becoming too involved. He investigates Gatsby further- sees more to him than the other guests do. The owl-eyed man is surprised (and a little delighted) to find out that the books are real. So, Gatsby's done his due diligence in trying to fool people: he's actually gone out and purchased real books. But, as the man discovers, he hasn't cut the pages and actually read them. That's because he's the perfect Belasco, a reference to theater producer David Belasco. Gatsby knows how much he has to do to fool people, and he knows that he doesn't need to cut the pages. Nobody in this crowd is going to check, because they're just as fake as he is. That's what the owl-eyed man sees. The deckle edge dates back to a time when you used to need a knife to read a book. Those rough edges simulate the look of pages that have been sliced open by the reader. The printing happened on large sheets of paper which were then folded into rectangles the size of the finished pages and bound. The reader then sliced open the folds.*

Chapter 3 Vocabulary Vacuous (pg.46) (adj) Reserved for the harmlessly stupid and truly meaningless, vacuous is a smart- sounding way to describe something dumb. Celebrity gossip and reality TV are usually pretty vacuous, even if they're fun. Florid: (pg.48) (adj) Something that's elaborate and full of extra flourishes is florid, whether it's your relatives' ornate decorating style or the way they talk, using a lot of unnecessarily long, complicated words.

Chapter 3 Vocabulary Corpulent: (pg.48) (adj) Corpulent is a formal word that describes a fat person. If you are trying to be respectful when describing a fat man, you might refer to him as a "corpulent gentleman."

Chapter 3 Vocabulary Urbane: (pg.49) (adj) Urbane people are sophisticated, polished, cultured, refined. Echolalia: (pg.49) (noun) The repetition of other people's words or sounds is echolalia. When the toddler you babysit repeats everything you say, over and over again, you can call it "annoying," or you can call it echolalia.

Chapter 3 Vocabulary Convivial: (pg.50) (adj) Use the adjective convivial to describe your friend who is "the life of the party." The Latin word convivium means "a feast," and when convivial was first coined in the 1660s, its meaning related to the excess of food and drink during such celebrations.

Chapter 3 Vocabulary Ineptly: (pg.51) (adverb) The adverb ineptly implies doing something not only badly, but in a clumsy or awkward way. A waiter who does his job ineptly is likely to bring you food that someone else ordered and to spill water in your lap when he's refilling your glass. Vinous: (pg.51) (adj) of or relating to wine

Chapter 3 Vocabulary Subterfuge (pg.58) (noun ) the use of tricky actions to hide or get something.

Ch. 3 Discussion Questions Group 1: Look back at the beginning of the chapter, and note the preparations that go toward Gatsby’s parties. Why do you think he goes through all this trouble and expense? What do you think the purpose it? Group 2: What are some of the rumors being told about Gatsby? Why do you think Fitzgerald uses rumors instead of facts? Group 3: At the party, Nick and Jordan meet an “owl- eyed man” in the library. What is significant about him, and the library itself?

Ch. 3 Discussion Questions Group 4: What does Nick think of Gatsby after meeting him? Group 5: How is Gatsby different from his guests? Group 6: Describe the car accident toward the end of the chapter. How do the attitudes of the owl-eyed man and the driver reflect the culture of this time? Group 7: At the end, Nick states that he is one of the few honest people he knows. What is ironic about this?

The Great Gatsby Chapter 4

Ch. 4 Vocabulary Sporadic(pg.64) (adj) Sporadic is an adjective that you can use to refer to something that happens or appears often, but not constantly or regularly. Rajah (pg.65) (noun) An Indian king or prince Somnambulate (pg.69) (verb) To walk in your sleep Armistice: (pg.75) (noun) An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, since it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace.

Ch. 4 Discussion Questions Group 1: List the rumors you have heard about Gatsby. Group 2: Why does Fitzgerald list Gatsby’s party guests? Group 3: Why does Gatsby tell Nick about his life? Does Nick believe him? Do you? Why or why not? Group 4: What role does Meyer Wolfshiem play in the novel? What inferences can you make about Gatsby, after meeting this friend of his? Group 5: What does Jordan’s story about Daisy’s marriage reveal about Daisy? Group 6: Why does Gatsby want Daisy to see his house?