Major Works Data Sheet



West Forsyth

Major Works Data Sheet

AP Language and Composition

|Title of Work: The Great Gatsby |Characteristics of the genre |

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|Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald |The Social Criticism genre often critiques society’s flawed social structures. |

| |They create a story in which the characters are revealing a specific component |

|Date of Publication: |of society in which they believe should be changed. |

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|Genre: The Great Gatsby can belong to an assortment of genres, two major genres |Modernist Novel: Many modernists’ novels are set post World War I and the |

|include Modernist Novel, and Social Criticism. |characters face struggles brought about by an increasingly industrialized and |

| |globalized world. Characters frequently are confronted by the innovations of |

| |the change world around them |

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| |Represented a shift in what was considered to be culturally sensible after |

| |World War I. Brought in new themes that were popularized after the war, such as|

| |the world becoming more and more industrialized and globalized |

|Historical Information about the period of publication: |Biographical information about the author |

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|The jazz age was often called the roaring twenties because everyone and |Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (F. Scott Fitzgerald) was born in 1896 in St. |

|everything was on the verge of changing or getting “more sophisticated”. Everyone|Paul, Minnesota. Fitzgerald attended Princeton University until he left in |

|parties until 2 a.m., had a lot of money, and seemed to be very successful. Older|1917 to join the army. When he returned from battle at the age of twenty-three,|

|generation thought the newer generations were absurd for what they thought of as |his first novel, This Side of Paradise, was published by Scribners in 1920. He|

|fun and tried to pass amendments that would alter the way of living for the newer|married Zelda Sayre in that same year and they spent much of their time |

|generations, one being the 18th amendment (1919), which would obviously later be |indulged in their travels to New York, Paris, and the Riviera together. |

|overcome. World War I had left America in shock from the violence it caused. |However, in the 1930, nervous breakdowns began to plague Zelda and she ended up|

|People were spending money and the economy had never been better, this would end |needing to be placed in an institution for her safety. This only added to |

|the 30’s with the great depression. |Fitzgerald’s issues while writing Tender is the Night in 1934, as he had to |

| |handle his own problems with drinking during this time as well. |

| |F. Scott Fitzgerald eventually began writing commercial short stories for The |

| |Saturday Evening Post which came as a result of his desire to accommodate the |

| |greater lifestyle that he was accustomed to. However, Fitzgerald left for |

| |Hollywood where he worked on screen plays for the remainder of his life in |

| |1937. “Through some of his other works of literature such as The Beautiful and|

| |Damned and The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald steadily became a major force in the |

| |literary world. However, while working on The Love of the Last Tycoon, |

| |Fitzgerald died of a heart attack at the age of forty four in 1940. Francis |

| |Scott Key Fitzgerald is known as one of the most influential and important |

| |writers of the twentieth century through his strong social insight and |

| |impressive lyricism (Simon and Schuster, 217).” Fitzgerald is especially able |

| |to portray different perspectives from different characters when explaining the|

| |idealization of the “American Dream” and how it can be achieved from each |

| |different point of view. |

| |He is also able to emphasize the traits of each character and how the |

| |characteristics between them vary significantly as well as the consistency of |

| |other characters throughout The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald paints a fascinating |

| |picture of how The Great Gatsby portrays lifestyles from different perspectives|

| |throughout the 1920s to give readers a better idea and how different situations|

| |were acted upon in the specific time period as well. |

|Plot Summary |

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|Chapter 1- The setting starts in summer of 1922, the narrator, Nick Carraway has just arrived to New York from Minnesota. He begins the book by commenting about |

|himself and how he grew up privileged. When he was younger, his father told him “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one just remember that all the people in |

|this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” This quote is significant because it establishes his wealth and social status early on. His new residency |

|is in West Egg, Long Island and unlike Nick; most people there did not grow up with money, and were considered “new rich.” Nick graduated from Yale University and|

|had several social connections. |

|Nicks Cousin, Daisy also lives in West Egg with her husband Tom, who was a former acquaintance of Nicks. Nick planned on having dinner with just the two of them, |

|but was surprised to meet another woman at dinner named Jordan Baker, a friend of the two. Tom and Daisy seem like a happy married couple, but in reality it is |

|very gilded, pleasant on the surface but underneath is disrupted. Tom leaves the dinner unexpectedly to answer a phone call and eventually Daisy runs after him. |

|Jordan informs Nick that it was Tom’s mistress. After dinner Jordan leaves because she has a golf tournament early in the morning. Eventually Daisy and Tom set |

|Jordan and Nick up, and the two have intimate relations. Once he returns home, he sees the infamous Gatsby standing on his lawn looking out onto the water. Gatsby|

|seems to be staring out at a green light in the distance. This green light is foreshadowing a symbol that represents his hopeful goal to pursue Daisy. |

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|Chapter 2- Fitzgerald describes the valley of ashes – the area between the Eggs and New York City. Included in the description is the description of the eyes of |

|Dr. Eckleburg. Tom takes Nick into the city and to meet “his woman.” Nick gets dragged into a awkward party where he doesn’t know anyone and ends up getting |

|drunk. Tom and Myrtle get into a fight and Tom hits her. Gatsby is mentioned at the party, sparking Nick’s interest in him again. Nick hears some gossip that the |

|reason Tom and Daisy don’t get a divorce is because Daisy is Catholic, which is untrue. Myrtle discusses her hatred for her husband. Myrtle tells Nick the story |

|of how she met Tom. Nick ends up trying to get home at four in the morning. |

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|Chapter 3- Nick hears the noise from Gatsby’s party and describes the extravagant and abundant provisions required to maintain the incessant activity. He |

|describes his attendance at the party and the superficiality of the other guests including those who converse with Jordan. He has a strange experience with a man,|

|obviously drunk, who is obsessed with Gatsby’s extensive library. Nick talks to a man who is actually Gatsby. He then engages in roundabout conversation with |

|other guests about Gatsby while Gatsby is on the phone. Gatsby then talks to Jordan for an hour while Nick is continued to be bored by the guests. Near the end |

|of the party, someone wrecks their car driving drunk. Nick returns home after promising Gatsby to go hydroplaning the next day. |

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|Chapter 4- Nick goes to eat lunch in the town with Gatsby, while driving there Gatsby tells Nick a lot of things about his past such as the college he attended |

|which he said was oxford, and how he came from the Midwest. Nick becomes doubtful of Gatsby’s story because when asked what part of the Midwest Gatsby said “San |

|Francisco.” Gatsby also tells stories of him getting medals for his achievements in World War 1 from several different European countries. Gatsby later shows Nick|

|these medals as he notices Nick seeming quite doubtful. On the way to the city for lunch Gatsby is pulled over by the police for speeding, but he then shows them |

|a card and the policeman apologizes for bothering him. This is very significant because this allows Nick to experience just how powerful this man Gatsby is, that |

|he is powerful enough to be above the law. At lunch Nick is introduced to Meyer Wolfshiem. Through their conversations with Meyer Nick begins to think that Meyer |

|may be involved in some type of illegal activity and that Gatsby may be involved. Jordan Baker and Nick have a conversation in this chapter that reveals a lot of |

|Gatsby and Daisy’s past and how they were engaged and things got broken off and how Gatsby is supposedly still in love with her, then a plan is devised for both |

|of them to show up at Nicks house for tea without the two knowing each other will be there. |

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|Chapter 5- Nick comes home to find that Gatsby’s house is lit up as if he is throwing a party. After a little while longer, Nick realizes that Gatsby isn’t |

|throwing a party but just has all the lights on. Gatsby walks up to Nick and asks him if he wants to go to Coney Island. When Nick refuses Gatsby asks if Nick |

|wants to go for a swim. Once again Nick turns down the offer saying that it is too late and he has to go to sleep. Gatsby then starts asking him about which day |

|to invite Daisy over for tea. Gatsby requests that the date be moved forward because he needs to get the grass cut. Nick looks at the grass-line between their |

|lawns and notices that Gatsby’s lawn is perfectly cut but his is not. This leads Nick to believe Gatsby is refering to his own grass that needs to be cut, not |

|Gatsby’s. Gatsby also wants to make sure he is not bothering Nick as he tries to choose a day and decide on one that is convenient for him. The next day Nick |

|calls Daisy to invite her from his office telling her to not invite Tom. The day of the tea party it was raining and a man arrives at Nick’s house to cut his |

|grass. Gatsby comes a little later looking tired and wearing a blank expression. They both anxiously wait for Daisy’s arrival. When she finally arrives Gatsby is |

|still extremely nervous and there is akward conversation between him and Daisy. Nick also notices that Gatsby doesn’t remove his hands from his pockets. After the|

|cakes and the tea had been brought in, Nick talked with Daisy while Gatsby looked at them unhappily. When Nick had an opportunity to leave he seized it and tried |

|to go away. On his way out Gatsby asked him where he was going and said he needed to talk to him. Gatsby tells Nick that the tea party was a horrible idea. Nick |

|reassures Gatsby that they are just both a little emarrassed and he should go and talk to her. After the talk Nick does go outside and wait until it is sunny. The|

|grocer’s automobile drove up carrying the supplies for dinner. Nick goes back in and makes noise in the kitchen because there is such an akward silence in the |

|house. When Nick walks back in he finds Gatsby to be a new man and Daisy is wiping away tears. Now that it has stopped raining, Gatsby offers to show his house to|

|Daisy and Nick. Nick is surprised to hear that Gatsby is offering to bring him, but Gatsby assures Nick that he wants him to come. While looking at Gatsby’s house|

|Nick and Gatsbt start talking. Gatsby makes a remark that it only took him three years to save up the money to buy his house. Nick is confused and says he thought|

|Gatsby inherited his money. From this point on Gatsby’s responses are quick and as if he is trying to hide something. Daisy comes out from washing her face and |

|ends Nick and Gatsby’s conversation. They take a tour through Gatsby’s house but the whole time Gatsby can’t stop looking at Daisy. Gatsby shows them both all of |

|his clothes that are sent to him from England at the beginning of each season. Daisy starts to cry saying that she has never seen such beautiful shirts. After |

|that they go outside and it is raining once again. They go inside and look at pictures of Gatsby on a yacht with a man named Mr. Dan Cody. Gatsby calls in a man |

|named Mr. Klipspringer to play the piano even though the man says he isn’t that good and is out of practice. Gatsby continually cuts the man off from talking and |

|orders him to play the piano. They all sit and listen to the man play piano while the sounds of the thunderstorm and New York come in from outside. Nick notices |

|that the black look had come back over Gatsby’s face. He concludes that in Gatsby’s mind, Daisy is more than just herself. He thinks that Gatsby’s imagination had|

|taken over the idea of Daisy. |

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|Chapter 6-It is revealed that Gatsby has been lying all along about his identity. His real name is James Gatz and he comes up with a fantasy that he really isn't |

|who everyone thinks he is-or who he thinks he is. He disowns his parents due to their inability to live up to his imaginary standards-they were farmers and poor. |

|One day while on the beach, Gatsby spots a man named Dan Cody- a man with a yacht. The plan he's been thinking about for so long starts to spin in his head and he|

|decides to swim over to him. Dan asks Gatsby many questions including what his name is. Gatsby uses his false name instead and tells him all sorts of lies-like |

|who he knows and what's he's been through. Cody falls for it and ends us buying clothes for Gatsby and basically becomes a grandfather-like figure to Gatsby- this|

|is the official beginning of Gatsby. Later in the chapter, Tom and two of his friends arrive at Gatsby's house and Gatsby brings up the fact that he knows Daisy. |

|The way Gatsby says this and the very fact that Gatsby says this rubs Tom the wrong way and there is immediate tension between the two. Tom and Gatsby had |

|actually already met at one of Gatsby's parties and while there, Daisy and Gatsby spent time together. In Gatsby's mind, Daisy doesn't seem to be enjoying herself|

|but in reality she isn't living up to his expectation of her. Nick later explains to him that he can't live in the past and Gatsby replies, "Why of course you |

|can!" The point is that Gatsby wants things to be like were five years ago and Nick is trying to make him understand that things have changed, the past is dead |

|and gone. Gatsby just won't accept this- and suffers because of it. |

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|Chapter 7- The chapter opens with news that Gatsby has fired all of his servants and replaced them with new ones who are suspected to have some connection to |

|Wolfsheim. Daisy has asked Gatsby to lunch at her house that afternoon and Nick tags along-much to Daisy’s relief. Nick and Gatsby arrive to the Buchanan’s house |

|during on an extremely hot day to find Daisy and Jordan lounging on couches. When Nick inquires about Tom, he overhears the end of a conversation between Tom and|

|Wilson where Tom decides not to sell Wilson his car. |

|As Tom exits the room, a nurse leads Daisy’s daughter in. Gatsby seems to be in shock about the little girl, for he often forgets Daisy is a mother. Daisy seems |

|more interested in showing off her child then actually speaking with her. She shows a distant, passive way of mothering. |

|After they have lunch, Daisy and Gatsby share a passion-filled look and Tom notices. This confirms his suspicions of Daisy and Gatsby’s involvement with each |

|other. He then agrees with Daisy and they all head to New York. Gatsby and Daisy drive alone in Tom’s car while Tom drives with Nick and Daisy in Gatsby’s car. |

|Tom stops at Wilson’s gas station only to find out that Wilson has figured out about Myrtle’s infidelity-he just has not identified her lover. He plans to move |

|out West to get her away from things. Tom offers to sell Wilson Gatsby’s car and they continue to New York. |

|The group decides to go to a hotel to escape the heat. In the hotel room, Tom begins to needle Gatsby and try to make him look like a fool. He first criticizes |

|him about calling everybody “old sport” and then doubts that he actually went to Oxford. This leads to him confronting Gatsby about him and Daisy’s affair. |

|Through the argument, Daisy admits to not only loving Gatsby for five years but also admitting that at some point, she did love Tom. This news horrifies Gatsby. |

|Tom also accuses Gatsby of being involved in the bootlegging business. Confident that he has scared Gatsby away from Daisy, Tom sends Gatsby and Daisy home in |

|Gatsby’s car. A short while later Tom Jordan and Nick follow in Tom’s car. |

|The chapter flashes to a coffee shop owner to describe Myrtle Wilson’s death, and catches up with Tom Nick and Jordan as they pass Wilson’s gas station to find a |

|commotion. They go inside and see Myrtle’s dead body. Tom hears that a yellow car hit Myrtle. Tom knows that this must be Gatsby’s car and tells Wilson that |

|Gatsby was the one driving-that Gatsby killed Myrtle. |

|When Tom gets home, he doesn’t drop Nick off in West Egg. Tom takes Nick and Jordan to his house and heads inside to see about Daisy. Jordan heads inside, and |

|Nick remains on drive. He meets Gatsby, who has been hiding in the bushes. Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy had been the one driving, and he would still take the fall|

|for her. Nick leaves Gatsby on the porch of the Buchannan’s house and heads home. |

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|Chapter 8- After a sleepless night, Nick hears Gatsby coming home and goes to see him. Nick tells Gatsby that he should probably leave town, but Gatsby doesn’t |

|want to leave Daisy. Gatsby tells Nick of his real past. He tells Nick about how he fell in love with Daisy, but she was too rich for him to marry. He lied to |

|Daisy to make her think he had just as much money as she did so that she would be with him. He went off to war and Daisy was going to wait for him, but when he |

|got sent to Oxford she couldn’t wait anymore and began seeing other people. When Gatsby came home she was married to Tom. Gatsby asks the Gardener not to drain |

|the pool yet because he hasn’t used it all summer and wants to go for a swim. Nick is running late for work and leaves Gatsby’s house. Nick tells Gatsby that he|

|is worth more than the “old money” rich people he pretends to be, and later is happy that he did. Jordan calls and Nick denies seeing her. This conversation is|

|ultimately the ending of their relationship. George Wilson is still in a panic and explains that he had confronted Myrtle about having an affair after he found a|

|dog collar when they didn’t own a dog. He thinks the person who killed her is the man who she was with. He says he is going to find out who owns the car. |

|Wilson kills Gatsby while Gatsby is floating on a raft. Nick and the house servants find Gatsby dead. |

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|Chapter9- In the beginning of chapter nine, Nick is explaining how he immediately felt that he needs to give Gatsby a proper funeral. He tries to find Daisy and |

|get her to come considering that there was a love affair in the process between the two. But upon calling her he soon finds out that Tom and Daisy have fled to |

|somewhere unknown at the time. Nick also tries enlisting Meyer Wolfshiem and Kilpspringer who have their own obligations. There obviously wasn’t a friendship |

|between these men and Gatsby because they didn’t feel obligated to come for even simple mourning purposes. Although Wolfshiem seemed sincere in his response to |

|the death of his friend, was his reason to avoid his friends’ deaths for his own sentimental purposes. Also Kilpspringer has the audacity to ask for Nick to send |

|him his tennis shoes instead of coming to a “friends” funeral. Very few people attend his funeral; most importantly attending was his father. Henry C.Gatz, |

|Gatsby’s father, comes to his funeral and is quite astonished at the life that his son has accomplished. He actually takes a picture of his house because of how |

|proud he is of him. |

|Gatsby’s father showed Nick a book that laid out Gatsby’s daily schedule for each day. Gatsby created this schedule to improve himself. He was very consciously |

|aware of his actions simply because one of his “to-dos” was being better to his parents. Nick begins contemplating the values that the East holds to him and |

|realizes that he needs to move back to the Midwest. He feels like the respectable thing to do is end things with Jordan before leaving. Upon talking to her she |

|tells him that she has become engaged to another man in response to him breaking up with her. Before leaving he also runs into Tom. He initially doesn’t shake |

|hands with him but soon does reluctantly. |

|Tom explains how he is the one who told Wilson that Gatsby’s car had run over Myrtle. He continues to say that it was like “running over a dog and never stopped |

|the car”. Nick becomes increasingly irritated with this non-sense because it is not the truth. But loyal to Daisy he would never tell Tom the truth. He believes |

|that Daisy and Tom are people who don’t care about others and any mess or trouble they cause, they can just leave to others to clean up. Tom and daisy believe |

|that their vast luxuries and money will protect them from any repercussions of their actions. |

|Describe the author’s style: |Give an example that demonstrates this style, and explain how it does so: |

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|Memorable Quotations |

|Quotation (and speaker) |Significance: |

|“After Gatsby's death the East was haunted for me like that, distorted beyond my |Gatsby’s death helps Nick (quoted here) reflect on the nature of the community |

|eyes' power of correction. So when the blue smoke of brittle leaves was in the |and society he is living in. This society is “haunt[ingly]” empty; there is no |

|air and the wind blew the wet laundry stiff on the line I decided to come back |depth to it, almost lifeless. It seems that Gatsby was the only thing keeping |

|home.” |him in East Egg. And now that he is gone, he has become disgusted with living |

| |and conversing with the shallow people of this community. |

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|“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures |Nick is telling the reader his feelings about Tom and Daisy. However, the |

|and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness, or whatever |quote’s real significance comes from the fact that Nick does not have the |

|it was that kept them together and let other people clean up the mess they had |demeanor to or boldness to express his feelings on the faults of his ‘friends’ |

|made.” |to anyone. These judgments never leave his mind. The quote is just an example |

| |of this constant part of Nick’s personality. |

|“It excited him, too, that many men had already loved Daisy - it increased her |Nick is telling the reader his perception of Gatsby’s infatuation with Daisy. |

|value in his eyes.” |Nick is starting to explain the essence of Gatsby’s reasons for liking Daisy. |

| |It is more of the idea of Daisy and her position in society that is appealing |

| |to Gatsby. His ‘love’ for her sprouts from the valuable of a person he thinks |

| |she is. The fact that other men had already loved her is just further |

| |exposition; more evidence of this phenomenon. |

|“He thinks she goes to see her sister in New York. He's so dumb he doesn't know |Tom is talking to Nick about Wilson and his relationship with Myrtle. The quote|

|he's alive.” |shows how Tom weakly justifies his affair with Myrtle, implying that she |

| |deserves better than her “dumb” husband. |

| "And as I walked on I was lonely no longer. I was a guide, a pathfinder, an |Narrator's first instance of equality with the "superior" class in America when|

|original settler. he had casually conferred on me the freedom of the |he is able to know something another doesn't. The upper class in West Egg is |

|neighborhood." |portrayed as an unreachable and closed off place unless invited yet still wants|

| |to be admired by the classes below, the fact that Nick has access and knowledge|

| |of it gives him a sense of importance. |

|"After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon |Gatsby wishes for the past where despite all the luxuries and |

|the more practical measures to be taken...just as if it was five years ago." |matierial happiness, everything was better. Daisy and he were young and he |

| |loved her in his way, all the riches he accumulated later were all attempts to |

| |recreate the past with her. Gatsby never realizes though that no matter what, |

| |that past cannot be reborn exactly as you wished for because people change over|

| |time. |

|"This is a valley of ashes--a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into |This quote from The Great Gatsby symbolizes the hollowness of those such as the|

|ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and |Buchanans. The lives they live are fake and can be seen as a public display. |

|chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who |The valley of the ashes also represents the plight of the poor (such as Wilson)|

|move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. Occasionally a line of |caused in large part by the greed of the wealthy. |

|gray cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak, and comes | |

|to rest, and immediately the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up| |

|an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight." | |

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|"Can't repeat the past?... Why of course you can!" |This quote from Gatsby is important because it shows the illusion of a life |

| |that Jay Gatsby was living. He spent the majority of his adult life trying to |

| |achieve something that not only forced him to change who he was, but also made |

| |him delusional to reality because his life’s goal was getting Daisy. |

|"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year |This quote is important because it contradicts Nick’s opinion about recreating |

|recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run |the past. While Nick didn’t believe recreating the past was possible, he did |

|faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning-- So we beat on, |somewhat admire Gatsby’s persistence and passion (however delusional it may |

|boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." |have been) to his life’s goal. |

| |Scarlet Letter |

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|"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one...just remember that all the people |This quote sets the stage for the rest of the novel. The Great Gatsby focuses |

|in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had." |around people who look like they have it all. The appearance is perfect and the|

| |characters are a part of high class society and yet these people who seem to |

| |have all the advantages, don’t have the most important ones such as character |

| |or a good family life. |

|Major Characters |

|Character’s name: |Role (what role does this person have in |Significance (why is this character |Character traits (what sort of person is |

| |the story?) |significant to the story?) |this?) |

|Buchanan |Wife of Daisy and having secret affair with|Represents “family money”, lives the dream |Arrogant, rude, self-centered |

| |Wilson’s wife Myrtle |Gatsby hopes for and demonstrates emotional| |

| | |static | |

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|Gatsby |Newcomer who had a previous love with Daisy|Represents the futility of chasing the |Hopeful, immature, committed |

| |and hopes to win her back |American dream and the ironic ruin and | |

| | |despair it brings to him | |

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|Nick |Relative of Daisy who stays in NYC to learn|Serves to provide commentary on other |Honest, sincere, simple |

| |about stock, becomes Gatsby’s closest |characters; his neutrality allows for their| |

| |friend |channeling of emotion through him | |

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|Wilson |Operator of a gas station in the “valley of|Shows the effects of the superficial action|Hard-working, vengeful, accommodating |

| |ashes” where he lives modestly with his |of the American dream; how hard work | |

| |wife Myrtle; murders Gatsby then commits |ultimately loses to money and inherited | |

| |suicide |power | |

|Meyer Wolfsheim |Runs illegal alcohol with Gatsby and meets |He helps show Nick Gatsby’s life aside from|Shady and cunning |

| |Nick while they are eating with Gatsby |partying. He also shows Nick how Gatsby | |

| | |makes all of his money. Nick had heard | |

| | |that Gatsby ran illegal alcohol, and seeing| |

| | |Meyer proves this. | |

|Mr. Gatz |Gatsby’s real father from Minnesota who |He was Gatsby’s only family to show up to |Elderly and poor |

| |shows up when he hears of his sons death |get his body and his only known family | |

|Dan Cody |Bought things for Gatsby when he was young |He greatly influenced everything in |Physically strong, but soft minded |

| |as well as taking him around the world 3 |Gatsby’s life | |

| |times | | |

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|Daisy |Daisy is Buchanan’s wife who had a previous|Daisy causes Gatsby to chase the American |Weak, ditsy, unrealistic |

| |affair with Gatsby. |dream in futility and shows the frailty of | |

| | |a young girl caught up in the nonsense of | |

| | |richness. | |

|Myrtle |Has a secret affair with Tom, and is later |Shows the underlying deception of the |Naïve, unstable |

| |killed in the car accident where Daisy is |wealthy in her affair, and how, despite her| |

| |driving. |husband’s love and hard work, the wealthy | |

| | |destroy the weak and come out on top. | |

|Jordan Baker |The girl who Nick grows fond of, friends |The only real friend of Daisy and, after |Pompous, arrogant, stubborn |

| |with Daisy and a successful athlete. |appearing likable to Nick, later reveals | |

| | |her true superficial nature. | |

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|Describe the setting(s) and the mood the setting(s) create: |What is the significance of the opening scene? |

|Summer 1922 in Long Island and New York City |The opening scene shows us Nick Carroways conflicting viewpoints on society. It |

|The Great Gatsby captures the Roaring 20s very well and also captures the way of |also gives us necessary background to Nick and his family. It introduces us to Nck|

|life many Americans lived during this time. It creates a |by how he talks not only about himself, but about others as well. |

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|Major symbols, motifs, images: |What is the significance of the ending/closing scene? |

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|- The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleberg: The eyes of God observing the immoral, selfish | |

|acts of Tom, Nick, Myrtle, and all the others. Tom doesn't seem to notice or care| |

|about the eyes, and although Nick does notice them and is disconcerted by them, | |

|he does not understand exactly what they are. | |

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|- The valley of ashes: Burning = hell, as punishment for the sins of the | |

|characters. Ashes also mean death, dry lifelessness, showing the lack of real | |

|life in the characters' actions or souls: Tom is with Myrtle because he's bored | |

|and it feels good, Myrtle wants to fill up her apartment with a million pretty | |

|and useless things, and Nick is just along for the ride because he has nothing | |

|else to do, and none of them have any real purpose. Also, every time they pass | |

|through the ashes, they get dirtier. Maybe you can wash the soot off your nice | |

|clothes, but eventually it gets down into your lungs where you can't scrub it | |

|out. | |

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|- Green light: Gatsby's goal of being with Daisy again. From far away at his | |

|home, in the fog, the light is mysterious and exciting. Once he finally meets his| |

|goal, he realizes that his dream all along isn't all that he'd hoped it would be.| |

|The enticing green glow is really just a dusty plastic light. | |

|Green is also the color of new beginnings. | |

| | |

|-Gatsby’s Parties: These parties symbolic for hope because Mr. Gatsby threw the | |

|parties to attract Daisy over so they could once more be together. Also the | |

|parties signified the American moral of the roaring 20s by always partying. | |

| | |

|-East Egg v. West Egg-: Long Island was divided into two sections East Egg and | |

|West Egg. West Egg is a symbol of those who wish to live the lifestyle of the | |

|wealthy versus those in East Egg who have been wealthy for generations. West Egg | |

|is another reference to the American moral of the 20s in the way that they spend | |

|the money they don’t have in order to be like the rich. | |

| | |

|- Weather: The story starts at the beginning of the summer and the emotional and | |

|relational entanglements get thicker and thicker as the summer reaches its | |

|hottest days. Finally all of the excitement ends abruptly at the end of summer, | |

|when a cold fall chill enters the air. | |

| | |

|- Clothes: Clothes help both to show aspects of the main characters and to | |

|develop the setting of the frivolous, material-based lives of the rich. When Nick| |

|first meets Daisy and Jordan, they are wearing very light, delicate dresses, | |

|resembling the breezy way they approach life and especially the ambivalence and | |

|superficiality of Daisy's mind. Tom's tight riding clothes are a direct contrast:| |

|They seem to be so tight that they would allow little movement, similar to Tom's | |

|rigid beliefs, racism, and obstinate determination. His frame strains the clothes| |

|as they try to force the brutish, "hulking" man into the idea of wealthy | |

|respectability. The nouvea-riche Gatsby, on the other hand, uses his fortune to | |

|buy dozens of nearly identical fine shirts--trying, like Tom, to emulate the | |

|ideal of riches, but not succeeding--creating less an image of nobility than | |

|vaguely of obnoxiousness, like he's trying too hard. | |

| | |

|- Lies and misinformation: All of the characters in The Great Gatsby, except for | |

|Nick, get tangled in a huge web of lies. Myrtle and Tom cheat on their spouses, | |

|and Gatsby's whole identity is built around lies and misinformation, from the | |

|origin of his fortune and education to his own name. Even those involved in the | |

|lies of others are still mistaken, as when one of Myrtle's friends believes that | |

|Daisy and Tom had not divorced because Daisy is Catholic. Except for Nick, no | |

|characters ever learn the full truth about anything: Gastby dies believing that | |

|Daisy will leave Tom for him; Myrtle's husband mistakenly believes that Gatsby | |

|was Myrtle's lover; and Tom, who seems to have won the dangerous game he was | |

|playing with Gatsby by the end of the book, is still unaware that his "love", | |

|Daisy, is actually Myrtle's killer. | |

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|Themes: |

|-The Gilded Wealthy: The wealthy is a theme in the book because the book is surround by the upper-class and what they represent. The wealthy in the book shows how |

|dishonest, misleading, and careless the upper class can be, because they are the ones with money, which in many eyes represents power. The wealthy are “gilded” |

|because they are not as nice as they look, and they also give people a false identity of themselves, because that is how they want to be seen such as Gatsby. The |

|wealthy are also careless, because they can be. The one person they show a bit care about is themselves. Many people would be satisfied with what the wealthy |

|possess, but in the book, the wealthy are clearly not. The affairs are a clear sign of this, because the wealthy cannot just be loyal and be true to themselves as |

|well as others. The wealthy will never be reach there satisfaction, and will do anything which includes hurting people psychically and emotionally, lying, and |

|stealing just to try to reach something they cannot. For example, Gatsby is greedy and will do anything to be rich, Tom will cheat on his wife, and Jordan turns out|

|to have another man in the book. |

| |

|-Hopeless Love: Hopeless love is a theme in the book because many of the character’s downfall in the book is because of the hopeless love they have for people. The |

|affairs seem to be a normality to them in the book, because they often have affairs and aren’t afraid of people knowing. For example, the time Tom brought Nick into|

|the city and had him meet his mistress that is also having an affair on her husband. As no one is who they say they are, the affairs continue and their “love” for |

|their significant other is hopeless. As the wealthy are gilded, so is their love. Daisy and Gatsby may have been in love in the past, but Gatsby’s love for her is |

|also hopeless, because he cannot just let go of the past. Daisy admitting she never loved Tom makes it that much worse and gives Gatsby hope. Tom will also say he |

|loves Daisy, but his love her hopeless, too, because throughout the book, he cheats with Myrtle. |

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|- Discontentment: The lack of contentment in the characters is shown continuously. Obviously, their lack of satisfaction tremendously affected their marriages and |

|their happiness as well. The dissatisfaction in the Buchanan's marriage caused Daisy to search for love from some one else. Likewise, Daisy's husband Tom seeks for |

|love from Myrtle Wilson. Ironically, Myrtle Wilson is also married. The novel clearly centers on the main characters as they constantly lust for love outside their |

|marriage. In addition, Gatsby desire for a married woman shows that there is a lack of satisfaction in his life, even though he had reached such a high class in the|

|society. |

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|-The power of money and wealth: The wealthy and the poor are explicitly distinguished throughout the Great Gatsby. The East Egg signifies "Old money." They are |

|established wealthy people. On the other side is the West egg, which represent "New money." The west egg mostly consists of the working class. The east egg |

|occupants believe that they are superior to the West egg, and do not socialize with them. The power of wealth is shown when Daisy chooses to marry Tom instead of |

|Gatsby, because of his class and wealth. Another way the importance of wealth to the society is shown was when Gatsby transformed his life so he could reside on the|

|"East egg" and win Daisy back. |

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|-Marriage: Marriage is defamed when spouses cheat on each other and fall in love with other people. Marriage was considered a sacred institution in the 1920's but |

|the Great Gatsby showed a different side of it that was normally not shown. |

| |

|-Wealth: The Great Gatsby shows that wealth is not always fulfilling. Gatsby throws parties that have many extravagant guests and things but he is still not happy |

|because he lacks a good companion. |

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