The Great Gatsby - Chap 1

Question 1

Who are the main 5 characters in this chapter?

Answer 1

Nick Carraway
Jay Gatsby
Daisy Buchanan
Tom Buchanan
Jordan Baker

Question 2

What are the key themes of this chapter?

Answer 2

Roaring Twenties
The American Dream
Class (Old Money VS New Money)

Question 3

What sort of narrator is Nick Carraway? And a quote that could show this

Answer 3

An unreliable narrator
“I am one of the few honest people I have ever known” (chapter 3 soz)

Question 4

What did Nick recall his father telling him at the beginning of the chapter?

Answer 4

“Whenever you feel like criticising anyone, just remember that all the people in the world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had”

Question 5

What was Nick ‘unjustly’ accused of being in college? And what could this suggest about him?

Answer 5

A “Politician”
This could suggest he can be viewed as manipulative and a liar, someone you cant fully trust

Question 6

What does Nick claim to do when he sensed someone about to share their “intimate revelations” ?

Answer 6

He “frequently feigned sleep” when an “intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon”

Meaning he would fake being asleep just so he wouldn’t have to listen or deal with it, enforcing him being an unreliable narrator as he sees himself as seemingly non-judgemental

Question 7

How does Nick first introduce Gatsby?

Answer 7

As “The man who gave his name to this book”

Question 8

How does Nick describe Gatsby in Chapter one?

Answer 8

“something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life” in referral to his personality

Question 9

How does Nick view Gatsby as?

Answer 9

“An extraordinary gift for hope”

Question 10

Where did Nick go to college and what year did he graduate?

Answer 10

Yale 1915

Question 11

Where did Nick go after finishing college? And how did he feel afterwards?

Answer 11

He “participated” in the “Great War” (World War 1) and he “came back feeling restless”

Question 12

What egg did both Nick and Gatsby live in?

Answer 12

West Egg

Question 13

How does Nick describe West Egg compared to East Egg?

Answer 13

As “The less fashionable of the two”

Question 14

How does Nick describe Gatsby’s mansion?

Answer 14

As “A colossal affair by any standard”

Question 15

Where does Nick drive to? And who is he visiting?

Answer 15

To East Egg, where he visits Tom and Daisy Buchananan

Question 16

How does Nick know Daisy and Tom Buchananan?

Answer 16

Daisy is Nick’s “second cousins, once removed” and he knew Tom in college

Question 17

How does Nick describe Tom Buchananan?

Answer 17

As “A sturdy straw haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner”

Question 18

How does Nick describe Tom Buchananan’s eyes?

Answer 18

“Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward”

This could suggest he was always looking down on people, he believes he is better than everyone else

Question 19

How did Nick describe Tom Buchananan’s body?

Answer 19

An “enormous power of that body” and that is was “capable of enormous leverage - a cruel body”

Question 20

What did Jordan Baker’s introduction suggest about her? Quote to support?

Answer 20

She came off as intimidating and disinterested, Nick felt himself almost “murmuring an apology for having disturbed her”

Question 21

How does Nick describe Daisy’s laugh?

Answer 21

As “An absurd charming little laugh”

Question 22

How did Nick describe Daisy’s way of making people feel special?

Answer 22

When describing her laugh, he says she looks up at him “promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see”

Question 23

How does Nick describe the way Daisy murmurs, and what could the reasoning for this be?

Answer 23

He states her “murmur was only to make people lean towards her”
This could be to create intimacy between the people she speaks to, but also to place attention upon herself

Question 24

How old is Daisy and Tom Buchananan’s daughter? And how does Tom react once Daisy tries to introduce Nick to their daughter?

Answer 24

She is three years old and Tom reacts dismissively, quickly changing the conversation to focus on Nick’s work life instead

Question 25

How does Nick describe Jordan Baker’s appearance? And what could this suggest?

Answer 25

“She was a slender, small breasted girl, with an erect carriage which accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulders”
Nick was clearly attracted to her and the way she held herself suggested she wanted people to look at her

Question 26

How did Tom move Nick into the next room? And what does this suggest about him?

Answer 26

Nick states Tom “compelled me from the room as though he were moving a checker to another square”
Which suggests he enjoys to be in control of people and his surroundings

Question 27

What does Tom state in his outburst about civilisation?

Answer 27

That “the idea is if we don’t look out, the white race will be utterly submerged” he also goes on to state “it’s all scientific stuff”
which shows how brainwashed and truly arrogant he is

Question 28

What does Jordan Baker reveal to Nick when Tom takes a phone call?

Answer 28

That “Tom’s got some woman in New York”

Question 29

Why does Daisy present herself as pessimistic?

Answer 29

She states she is “pretty cynical about everything”

Question 30

What did Daisy say her reaction was to her daughter being a girl?

Answer 30

She was “glad it’s a girl” and that she had hoped “she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”

Question 31

What is Jordan Baker’s profession?

Answer 31

A professional golfer

Question 32

Who did Nick notice once he had left to go home?

Answer 32

“A figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbours mansion and was standing with his hands in his pockets”

Question 33

Who was this mysterious figure?

Answer 33

“Mr Gatsby himself”

Question 34

What did Gatsby do?

Answer 34

“He stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way”

Question 35

What was Gatsby reaching for?

Answer 35

“A single green light”