The Great Gatsby
Pre-AP Packet One: Chapters 1 & 2
Name:______Per:____
Score:______/25
You must bring this packet AND your novel to class every time we meet—if you don’t have BOTH items, you are not ready to learn, and therefore will be counted as tardy.
This packet is due on ______, the day of your quiz over chapters 1 & 2.
If you are absent, you need to do the reading and complete this packet BEFORE this date. If you want to know the exact pages we read on a given day, you can text a friend OR check www.landoflit.yolasite.com for the reading calendar (under the “Gatsby” tab).
Vocabulary for Chapters 1 & 2
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Reading Guide
*Please note – if you read ahead, DO NOT give away any key plot Points!*
Chapter 1
1. Describe the setting of the novel (time and place).
2. Distinguish between East Egg and West Egg.
East Egg:
West Egg:
3. Who is the narrator? What point of view is this?
4. Discuss the background and family history of Nick Carraway, and tell why he has come to the East.
5. What does he mean when he says, “I’m inclined to reserve all judgments?”
6. Describe Daisy and Tom Buchanan.
Tom:
Daisy:
7. How does Nick know them?
8. Describe Jordan Baker.
9. What are your initial impressions of the Buchanans and Miss Baker? Why?
10. What is the significance of the phone call Tom receives?
Which character explains the significance of the phone call to Nick?
11. What does Daisy mean when she says that she hopes her little girl will be a fool because “that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool?”
12. When does Nick first see Gatsby? What does he observe Gatsby doing?
Chapter 2
1. Describe the “valley of ashes” (the wasteland) between West Egg and New York City.
2. Contrast the green light at the end of Chapter 1 and the gray images in the Valley of ashes in Chapter 2. How is Fitzgerald using colors to build/support the themes of his novel?
3. What are the “eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleberg?”
4. Identify and describe Tom’s mistress. What does she look and act like?
5. Describe George Wilson. What kind of man does he seem to be?
6. How is Myrtle’s “dream world” apartment different from her real life? What is her life like with George?
7. What further information does this chapter reveal about Gatsby?
8. Identify and describe Catherine. What does Catherine tell Nick about Daisy’s relationship with Tom? Why does this surprise Nick?
9. What fight takes place between Tom and Myrtle near the end of the chapter?
Literary Allusions: The River Styx
A literary allusion is when an author refers to another piece of literature, a myth, or an incident in history.
The passage about taking the bridge to New York City is an allusion to the River Styx. This activity helps you get more out of the text.
Directions: Research the River Styx. Answer the following questions in the space below.
1. What is it?
2. What does it look like?
3. Why is it an important place?
Answer the following in a well developed paragraph: How does Fitzgerald draw on the imagery of the River Styx in order to make a point about the valley of ashes? What is this point? Do you think the comparison between the River Styx and the valley of ashes is an appropriate one? Why or why not?
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Understanding the False Eyes of “God”
The industrial age in the early part of the twentieth century brought with it a questioning of religion and of beliefs.
1. What is modernity?
2. What is industrialism?
3. What is the religious tone of the post-WWI era?
Dr. T. J. Eckleburg’s billboard and its eerie eyes are the eyes of God in a post-industrial,
modern age. Do you agree with this statement? Write a paragraph below to explain your answer.
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