Name: ______
Date: ______
Gatsby Practice Test: Student Copy
Directions: Read and annotate page 6, beginning from “Why they came East I don’t know” to “defiant wistfulness on his own” on page 7. Answer the multiple choice questions. In the box, explain why your answer is correct.
1. Tom’s palace is brought alive by Fitzgerald’s
A. use of colorful language.
B. use of personification.
C. attention to verisimilitude.
D. creation of beauty.
E. choice of words.
2. The sentence “And so it happened that on a warm windy evening I drove over to East Egg to see two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all” contains a(n)
A. seemingly contradictory statement
B. example of verisimilitude.
C. metaphor.
D. anaphora.
E. hyperbole.
3. Fitzgerald’s description of Tom causes the reader to
A. distrust Nick as a narrator.
B. evaluate Tom as a rival to Nick.
C. more fully appreciate Tom’s importance.
D. suspect Tom’s capacity for violence.
E. dislike Tom almost immediately.
4. Telling the reader “They spent a year in France” is an example of how Fitzgerald
A. adds an international flavor to the novel.
B. adds a geographical allusion.
C. mirrors events in his own life.
D. highlights the theme of immigration.
E. mirrors events in Tom’s life.
5. In the sentence “Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body…”, the best definition of the word “effeminate” is
A. flashy.
B. somewhat feminine looking.
C. weak through over-refinement.
D. absence of vigorous qualities.
E. traditionally associated with women.
6. From this passage we can discern that
A. Nick is very intimate with Tom and Daisy.
B. Nick and Daisy are cousins.
C. Nick’s parents are friends with Tom’s parents.
D. Nick went to school with Tom.
E. Nick graduated from New Haven.
Answer Explanations:
1. Answers (D) and (E) are too general. Although the language describing Tom’s palace is colorful (A) the vividness of the image does not necessarily call to mind any real place or lifestyle (C). The personification (B) of the lawn running toward the house, jumping over sundials and brick walls, and drifting up the walls in the form of vines emphasizes the virility and liveliness of the house, tying it clearly into the virile and muscular
description of Tom that follows in the next paragraphs.
2. Since the expression “old friends” implies some longstanding and intimate knowledge, and “scarcely” indicates little knowledge, “two old friends whom I scarcely knew” is an example of a seemingly contradictory statement (A).
3. (A) can be ruled out, as the reader does not yet have enough information about Tom to compare the established character with this first impression. Nick says that he always had the impression that Tom approved of him, thus eliminating the possibility of a rivalry (B). Tom’s stance, spread-legged and in riding clothes would better suggest an air of self-importance, thus eliminating (C). (D) is tempting, but, while the passage does suggest
strength, there is no reason yet to suspect a violent nature. The air of self-importance, however, combined with the suggestion that there are those who hate Tom, and Nick’s description of Tom’s condescending nature all point to (E) as the best answer.
4. The mere mention of a foreign country is not enough to create a “flavor,” so (A) is eliminated. (B) is an incorrect use of the term “allusion.” (E) would create a circuitous sentence—Nick tells the reader that Tom spent a year in France in order to mirror events in Tom’s life. (D) is irrelevant as it is Americans traveling in France, not immigrants coming to the United States. Only (C) is a logical choice as Fitzgerald and Zelda spent some time traveling in Europe like Daisy and Tom.
5. There is nothing in flashiness (A) to suggest a contrast to “enormous power” as this sentence does. The same is true of vigor (D). While the denotation of “effeminate” has to do with feminine qualities (B and E), the import of the sentence is clearly to contrast the fussiness of the riding costume and the “enormous power” of Tom’s body, thus establishing (C) as the best answer.
6. It is stated in the passage that “we were never intimate” so (A) is eliminated. Nick and Daisy are cousins, but that is indicated earlier in the book, not in this passage, thus eliminating (B). (C) is never addressed. One could assume that (E) Nick graduated from New Haven since he was in the senior club; however, (D) is the only answer that can be discerned from this passage.