1. Gatsby questions: Chapter 1

2. Gatsby: Basic questions for Chapter One
1. What year is it?
2. Who narrates this chapter?
3. Where has the narrator moved from and to?
4. Where did the narrator study?
5. What relation is Daisy to the narrator?
6. How does the narrator (loosely) know Tom?
7. Who is Daisy’s friend and what is her occupation?
8. Tom makes repeated references to a book. What would a modern reader find controversial about this book?
9. Who calls Tom during dinner?
10. How does the chapter end?

3. Gatsby questions: Basic questions for Chapter 2
1. What is the name of the area between New York City and West Egg that Nick and Tom visit?
2. What is unusual about the landscape?
3. Who boards a train to New York and where do they sit?
4. What does Myrtle buy when shopping in New York?
5. What type of magazines does Myrtle buy?
7. How is the apartment furnished?
8. How is Myrtle physically described in the chapter?
9. What occupation does Mckee enjoy?
10. What does Tom do to Myrtle towards the end of the chapter?

4. Gatsby: Basic questions for Chapter Three
1. What rumours about Gatsby does Nick hear about during one of his parties?
2. A character is impressed by the fact that the books in Gatsby’s library are real. What is the name of this character?
3. What do Gatsby and Nick discover that they have in common?
4. What is Gatsby’s nickname for Nick?
5. What does he invite Nick to go and do in the morning?
6. Jordan is ushered off for a private talk with Gatsby. What does she say about the meeting to Nick as she leaves?
7. What happens at the end of the party outside the house?
8.Nick remembers something he once read about Jordan. What is it?
9. What does Jordan admit at the end of the Chapter?
10. Who does Nick say he needs to break “free” from?

5. Gatsby: Basic questions for Chapter Four
1. Why does Fitzgerald draw attention to the church bells ringing? What are they contrasted with?
2. Why does Nick offer such an extensive list of those people visiting Gatsby’s?
3. How does Gatsby’s car reflect both his character and the era?
4. How can Nick tell Gatsby is lying during their conversation in the car? What comic errors does Gatsby make?
5. What simile does Nick use to describe listening to Gatsby? Clue: reading…
6. How is Gatsby associated with corruption?
7. How is New York associated with reinvention, opportunity and possibility?
8. Gatsby is always on the phone (to places rather than people). What does this tell us about him?
9. How is Wolfshiem portrayed as a sinister and potentially dangerous man?
10. With Jordan’s narration, what do we learn about the Buchanan’s marriage?
11. What do we learn all those parties were really for?
12. ‘There are only the pursued, the pursing, the busy, and the tired.’ Discuss
13. Which other romance develops at the close of the chapter?

6. Gatsby: Basic questions for Chapter Five
1. What has Gatsby not used all year?
2. What makes Nick feel uncomfortable in his conversation with Gatsby?
3. What’s of interest about that clock on the mantelpiece?
4. What’s the weather like? Does it change?
5. What makes Daisy cry as Gatsby parades his material wealth and possessions?
6. Which song does Klipspringer play?
7. This is the moment Gatsby has dreamed of. How does Fitzgerald suggest doubt and uncertainty?
8. What is it about Daisy that captivates Gatsby? Who else did it captivate earlier?

7. Gatsby: Basic questions for Chapter Six
1. What do we discover Gatsby’s real name to be?
2. Where is Gatsby originally from? Who does this link him with?
3. ‘- his imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all. The truth was that Jay Gatsby…sprang from his platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God…and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty.’ This could be the very heart of the novel – what do you find there?
4. What do we learn about Gatsby’s younger life?
5. Does Gatsby like reality? How does he respond to it?
6. Who is Dan Cody (what does he pioneer? Where does his ship sail?) and what kind of education does he provide Gatsby?
7. Why does Gatsby miss out on dinner with Mr Sloane and co?
8. What business are some of the guests at Gatsby’s in? How is this appropriate?
9. How does Gatsby feel about the party?
10. What does Gatsby want now? Examine the final three paragraphs…