The Great Gatsby

Question 1

When was ‘The Great Gatsby’ set?

Answer 1

1922

Question 2

What are the THREE main settings of the novel?

Answer 2

1. West Egg
2. East Egg
3. Valley of Ashes

Question 3

What are the SEVEN contexts of the novel?

Answer 3

1. The Great Depression
2. Wall Street Crash
3. Twenties
4. Prohibition
5. New Woman
6. Flappers
7. Decadence/ Fin-de-siecle

Question 4

What is ‘The Great Depression’?

Answer 4

A severe worldwide economic depression that took place mostly during he 1930s
It was the longest, deepest and most widespread depression of the 20th century.

Question 5

What is the ‘Wall Street Crash’?

Answer 5

A major American stock market crash that occurred in 1929

Question 6

What is the ‘Roaring Twenties’?

Answer 6

Refers to the decade of the 1920s is Western society and Western culture, it was a period of economic prosperity with a distinctive cultural edge in the United States and Europe

Question 7

What is ‘Prohibition’?

Answer 7

Prohibition in the United States was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933.

Question 8

What is the ‘New Woman’?

Answer 8

A feminist ideal that emerged in the late 19th century and had a profound influence on feminism into the 20th century.

Question 9

What is meant by ‘Flapper’?

Answer 9

Women in the 1920s where young women were known for their energetic freedom, embracing a lifestyle viewed by many at the time as outrageous, immoral or downright dangerous.

Considered the first generation of independent American women, flappers pushed barriers in economic, political and sexual freedom for women.

Question 10

What is meant by ‘Decadence’ and ‘Fin De Siecle’?

Answer 10

Decadence - Moral or cultural decline because of excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury.

Fin De Siecle - End of the century

Question 11

How does ‘Decadence’ relate to ‘The Great Gatsby’?

Answer 11

Term decadence is often associated with this decade – literally meaning the falling away or in decline.
This way of thinking alarmed those who valued traditional Victorian values and felt that society was threatened to its core.

Links to the reluctant acceptance of the new woman, Jordan.

Question 12

How does ‘Fin De Siecle’ relate to ‘The Great Gatsby’?

Answer 12

During the 1900s the role of women changed drastically: marriage and motherhood was no longer seen as the inevitable role for women as a result of educational and employment prospects improving.

Question 13

What are the THREE main Themes?

Answer 13

1. The American Dream
2. Class
3. Love/ Obsession

Question 14

How does ‘The American Dream’ link to ‘The Great Gatsby’? Give an example of a character who resembles this.

Answer 14

American Dream refers to the notion of freedom, ensures all Americans the possibility of upward social mobility as long as they work for it, like Gatsby.

He is a clear embodiment of the American Dream: he was born poor and rose to achieve a higher wealth and social status.

Question 15

How does ‘Class’ relate to ‘The Great Gatsby’?

Answer 15

West Egg (New Money) vs East Egg (Old Money)

Gatsby lives in West Egg and Daisy lives in East Egg.

Question 16

What types of LOVE are there in ‘The Great Gatsby’? Give an example of characters who present the types of love.

Answer 16

• True Love - Gatsby’s love for Daisy, Tom for Materialism
• Loss of Love - George and Myrtle, Gatsby and Daisy
• Unrequited/ Petrarchan Love - Gatsby and Daisy
• Lust love - Nick and Jordan

Question 17

THREE Key symbols in ‘The Great Gatsby’

Answer 17

• Dr T.J Eckleberg’s eyes
• Green light
• Valley of Ashes

Question 18

What do ‘The Eyes of Dr T.J Eckleberg’ symbolise?

Answer 18

• Eyes painted on an old advertising billboard over the valley of ashes
• Represent God staring down upon and judging American society as a moral wasteland
• Fitzgerald suggests that symbols only have meaning because characters instill them with meaning

Question 19

What does ‘The Green Light’ symbolise?

Answer 19

• Situated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby’s West Egg lawn.
• Represents Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for the future
• Gatsby associates it with Daisy, and in Chapter 1 he reaches toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal.

Question 20

What does ‘The Valley of Ashes’ symbolise?

Answer 20

• First introduced in Chapter 2, the valley of ashes between West Egg and New York City consists of a long stretch of desolate land created by the dumping of industrial ashes.
• Represents the moral and social decay that results from the uninhibited pursuit of wealth, as the rich indulge themselves with regard for nothing but their own pleasure.
• Also symbolises the plight of the poor, like George Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes and lose their vitality as a result.