1. Chapters 1-3
The Great Gatsby

2. Quiz: Gatsby ch. 1
What advice did the narrator’s father give him when he was younger?
What book has Tom been reading (or describe what it is about)?
What does Miss Baker tell Nick (the narrator) about Tom at the dinner table?
What does Daisy say she hopes her daughter will become?
How is Gatsby introduced into the novel?

3. Nick Carraway opening self-characterization Advice from father (*1)
Holds back from judging others
People confide in him
Q: Why does Nick opens the novel by making these claims about himself?
Q: Is Nick a reliable narrator?
(the million dollar question!)

4. Nick Carraway Midwest background (Minnesota) Graduated from Yale 1915
Served in WWI
Came East spring 1922
Pursue bond business
Escape boredom of the Midwest
Escape marrying girl back home
Lives next door to Gatsby on West Egg

5. Tom Buchanan Q: What is your first impression of Tom?
Filthy rich (family money)
Just moved to East Egg from Chicago
Former football star at Yale
30 years old, arrogant, “cruel body”
Exhibits racism
In an affair with a woman in New York
Abusive? (Daisy’s bruised little finger)

6. Daisy Buchanan Q: What is your first impression of Daisy?
Nick’s second cousin once removed
Portrait (9)
Sad and lovely face
Compelling voice
Behavior
Flirtatious (with Nick)
Insincere (conversation about daughter)
Superficial (rumor about butler’s nose)
Q: How is Daisy NOT what we expect from a mother?

7. Jordan Baker
Introduction on p. 8: “balancing something on her nose” (haughtiness)
Petite, athletic body; blond hair
Golf star
Cynical, disinterested, bored
Nick remembers hearing a “critical, unpleasant story” about her (18)

8. Jay Gatsby Q: How does Fitzgerald create a sense of mystery
surrounding Gatsby in this
chapter?
Nick’s opening description (*2)
Mentioned by Jordan Baker at dinner
Seen by Nick on his lawn in the moonlight (*20-21)

9. Character Wrap-Up Questions
Which character(s) are sympathetic, and which character(s) do you instantly dislike?
How does Nick compare with and interact with the other main characters?

10. Setting West Egg New money The “less fashionable” of the two East Egg
Old money

11. Setting: Long Island, New York
“East Egg” and “West Egg”
Today known as “the Hamptons”

12. West Egg: Gatsby’s mansion
Gatsby’s house was “a colossal affair by any standard—it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden.” (p. 5)
Pictured to the left: Beacon Towers, thought to have inspired Gatsby’s mansion

13. West Egg: Nick’s house
Pictured above:
an average-sized bungalow
Nick’s house is “a weather-beaten cardboard bungalow at eighty a month.” (p. 3)
“My own house was an eyesore…” (p. 3)

14. East Egg: the Buchanans’ mansion
“Their house was even more elaborate than I had expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay.” (p. 6)
Pictured to the right: a typical Georgian colonial house

15. East Egg: the Buchanans’ House
Pictured below: Lands End, the mansion that inspired the Buchanans’ house
Torn down in April 2011

16. QUIZ: Gatsby Chapter 2 What is George Wilson’s profession?
Who is Catherine?
What is Mr. McKee’s job?
How did Myrtle know right away that marrying George was a mistake?
What does Tom do to Myrtle when she mentions Daisy’s name?
Extra Credit: Name the magazine that Myrtle buys.

17. Chapter 2 Valley of Ashes
Industrial wasteland located between the “Eggs” and New York City
Modeled after a cinder dump in Queens
Ash produced by coal-fired burners dumped into marshland
Today the site of Flushing Meadows park
Symbolizes poverty and hopelessness
Imagery: bleak, barren, gray
Location of the Wilsons’ garage

18. Valley of Ashes
“A literary traveler visiting Corona finds not an ash dump, but Flushing Meadows park, larger even than Central Park, adorned with two lakes (one of them for sailboats), an art museum, a golf course, a zoo, the National Tennis Center, and the New York Hall of Science.”
--Roger Starr, City Journal, Autumn 1992

19. Valley of Ashes “Eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg”
Faded billboard left by an oculist
Symbolism?

20. Chapter 2 Meet Tom’s Mistress…and More
George Wilson: blond, dispirited, anemic
Myrtle: mid-thirties, sensuous, materialistic
Q: Myrtle’s other traits?

21. Chapter 2 Meet Tom’s Mistress…and More
Catherine (Myrtle’s sister): modern woman (bob of red hair), worldly, gossip
Mr. McKee: feminine man, photographer
Mrs. McKee: “shrill, languid, handsome, and horrible” (30); flatterer, racist comment

22. Chapter 2 Plot Tom and Nick stop at Wilsons’ garage Train to NYC
Introduction to George & Myrtle Wilson
Train to NYC
Myrtle buys “Airedale”
Apartment at 158th street
Decorations characterize Myrtle
Drunken party
Rumor about Gatsby: related to Kaiser Wilhelm
Tom breaks Myrtle’s nose
Nick helps Mr. McKee into bed

23. Chapter 2 Analysis What draws Tom and Myrtle to each other?
Why doesn’t Tom divorce Daisy and marry Myrtle?
Why does Tom break Myrtle’s nose?
What role does Nick play in the party scene? *p. 35
“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”

24. QUIZ: Gatsby Chapter 3
Identify one rumor spread about Gatsby at the party.
What is Owl Eyes surprised to discover about Gatsby’s library?
Why does Gatsby recognize Nick?
As Nick leaves the party, what “bizarre and tumultuous scene” has drawn a crowd of observers?
What character flaw does Nick detect in Jordan?

25. Chapter 3 Roaring Party! Evidence of Gatsby’s wealth (39-40)
Rolls Royce
Many servants
Crates of oranges and fruit
Lavish buffet
Alcohol
Full orchestra
The Guests
West Egg,East Egg, and beyond
Invited and uninvited
Nick’s invitation: “signed Jay Gatsby, in a majestic hand” (41)

26. Chapter 3 Will the real Gatsby please stand up?
Rumors
Lucille’s replaced gown (43)
German spy (44)
Killed a man (44)
Went to Oxford (Jordan) (49)
Nick meets Gatsby
Shared war experience: Third Division
“Old sport”
Reassuring smile (*p. 48)
“An elegant young roughneck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd”
Invitation to go hydroplaning

27. Chapter 3 Will the real Gatsby please stand up?
Behavior at party
Aloof from guests (50)
Doesn’t drink (50)
Phone calls from Chicago, Philadelphia (48, 53)
Speaks privately with Jordan (“I’ve just heard the most amazing thing…”) (50-52)

28. Chapter 3 Roaring Party! “Owl Eyes” Library scene Car accident (54)
Astonished that Gatsby’s books are real (45)
Symbolism?
Car accident (54)
Confusion about who was driving

29. Chapter 3 Nick and Jordan
Budding relationship
Conversation about drivers
Jordan: “It takes two to make an accident,” “I hate careless people” (58)
Jordan’s dishonesty and Nick’s “cardinal virtue” (59)
Remembered story: cheating at golf tournament (57)
Nick breaks off relationship back home (59)
Q: Do you believe Nick’s claim that he is an honest person?

30. Chapter 3 Analysis What mood is created in the party scene, and how?
When Nick meets Gatsby at the party, is Gatsby what you expected?