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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Catherine tell Nick that Mr. Gatsby acquired his wealth?

2. What comment does the stout, middle-aged man that Nick and Jordan meet in the library say about Gatsby’s books?

3. What is Daisy’s condition the day before her wedding?

4. Who is Jordan’s escort to Gatsby’s party?

5. What do the young ladies at Gatsby’s lawn party speculate about his line of work?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Myrtle Wilson come to own an Airedale puppy?

2. How does Nick describe Gatsby’s manner when he picks Nick up for lunch in his splendid car?

3. What does the man with the owl eyes reveal to Nick and Jordan when they meet him in Gatsby’s library?

4. Why doesn’t Nick call out to Gatsby when he sees him looking out over the ocean?

5. What is the request that Gatsby asks Jordan to make to Nick?

6. What does Catherine, Mrs. Wilson’s sister, tell Nick about Gatsby?

7. What does Gatsby tell Nick about his life as they drive to lunch?

8. What does the narrator, Nick Carraway, reveal in the first chapter about how he judges other people?

9. Describe why Nick likes life in New York.

10. How does Nick Carraway know Daisy and Tom Buchanan?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Fitzgerald describes the settings in the novel in great detail. Describe the different settings in the novel and explain the contribution of each setting to the story. Are these settings essential for the storyline or could the story have happened anywhere? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Dr. Eckleburg’s billboard watches over the “valley of ashes.” How do Dr. Eckleburg’s watchful eyes condemn the morally corrupt lives of the spiritually barren and overindulgent characters in the novel? Compare the “valley of ashes” to the lives of these materialistic characters.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the resolution of the story as it relates to each of the main characters in the novel. Explain the metamorphosis each character experiences in the final three chapters. Describe how Nick’s words ” So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”, relate to Jay Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and Nick.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 650 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample