The+Great+Gatsby

Welcome to The Great Gatsby discussion page! Here you will find handouts, links, etc. that may help you understand the novel a bit more...or maybe give you a different perspective and something to think about! You are expected to log in at least every other day and contribute at least two substantive posts to discussion...see you on the discussion boards! I really suggest that you "monitor" each discussion you post on so that you can follow the progress as people post their own responses.


 * Discussion Questions by Chapter:**
 * //Chapter I Discussion Questions/prompt//**
 * //Respond to the question/prompt(s), defending your answer with the text as appropriate, or if “challenged” to do so//
 * Take a look at Nick’s opening lines. If this advice is the lens through which we read //The Great Gatsby//, how does it affect our view of the events that transpire? Does refraining from criticism promote compassion, or amorality?
 * Why does Nick describe Daisy’s voice in the way that he does: “...an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget: a singing compulsion, a whispered ‘Listen’, a promise that she had done gay, exciting things just a while since and that there were gay, exciting things hovering in the next hour.” (14) Do you think he is the only person to be affected that way by her voice? Why? Who else might be affected by Daisy’s voice?
 * Could Daisy be a symbol/allegory for anything? What? Why?
 * What impression do we get of Gatsby from Nick’s description of him at the end of the chapter?


 * //Chapter II Discussion Questions/prompts//**
 * //Respond to the questions/prompt(s), defending your answer with the text as appropriate//
 * //Scholars have asserted that the eyes of TJ Eckleburg are symbolic of the eyes of God. What evidence is there in the text to support this?//
 * //In this chapter we are introduced to the Valley of Ashes. In what ways is this area different from the descriptions of East and West Egg? What is Fitzgerald trying to accomplish through his description? What might the Valley represent or be symbolic of? Why?//
 * //Tom says of Wilson: “He’s so dumb he doesn’t even know he’s alive.” Why does Tom have this opinion of Wilson? What does this tell us about Tom? About Wilson?//
 * //Afterwards in Pennsylvania Station, how do you think Nick Carraway feels about the evening he has just spent?//


 * //Chapter III Discussion Questions/prompts//**
 * //Respond to the questions/prompt(s), defending your answer with the text as appropriate//
 * //What differences are there between Nick’s first visit to Tom’s house in East Egg and Gatsby’s house in West Egg? Tom and Gatsby are both wealthy; what do you think is the reason for the difference? Even if we don’t get to see a party on East Egg, what do you think it would be like? Why?//
 * //Is it possible to “buy” your way into a certain social class? Why or why not? What evidence is there in the text to support your answer?//
 * //Why do you think Nick thinks of himself as being one of the few honest people he has ever known?//


 * //Chapter IV Discussion Questions/prompts//**
 * //Respond to the questions/prompt(s), defending your answer with the text as appropriate//
 * //Does it seem weird that Gatsby has a medal from World War I in his pocket? Why do you think he has it there? Why do you think he takes the trouble to show Nick?//
 * //Gatsby tells us a lot about himself in this chapter. Do you believe him? Why? Why not? What evidence from the text can you use to support your conclusions?//
 * //Daisy’s voice is mentioned again in this chapter, this time by Jordan. What do you think is the “something” that is in her (Daisy’s) voice? Why? What evidence can you find in the text to back up your conclusions?//
 * //How does Gatsby contribute to the air of mystery and intrigue that surrounds him?//


 * //Chapter V Discussion Questions/prompts//**
 * //Respond to the questions/prompt(s), defending your answer with the text as appropriate//
 * //What was Gatsby really doing with all of those lights blazing in his house at that late hour?//
 * //Do you think that Gatsby likes Nick? Is it possible that Nick is being “used”? Why? What evidence in the text is there to support your answer?//
 * //What do you think Gatsby was hoping would come out of his “reunion” with Daisy? What evidence is there in the text to support your answer?//
 * //Why does Gatsby seem to reevaluate his possessions based on what Daisy thinks of him?//


 * //Chapter VI Discussion Questions/prompts//**
 * //Respond to the questions/prompt(s), defending your answer with the text as appropriate//
 * //What problems are there with someone trying to BE the Platonic conception of themselves?//
 * //Is the love that Tom and Gatsby have for Daisy genuine/real? Why? Why not? Do they believe they love her?//
 * //What does Nick mean by “it is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment”?//
 * //What does Daisy’s comment, “These things excite me so,” tell us about her? What else do we learn about her in this chapter?//


 * //Chapter VII Discussion Questions/prompts//**
 * //Respond to the questions/prompt(s), defending your answer with the text as appropriate//
 * //What might be symbolized by the fact that Tom and his friends had horses to ride but Gatsby only had a car?//
 * //What might be symbolized by the fact that Tom and his friends left before Gatsby was ready?//
 * //Can you repeat the past? Why? Why not? Why does Gatsby believe that you can?//
 * //Why is Gatsby so excited about telling Tom the truth about himself and Daisy? What is revealed in this scene about Gatsby and Daisy? Do they grow closer together in the scene, or farther apart?//


 * //Chapter VIII Discussion Questions/prompts//**
 * //Respond to the questions/prompt(s), defending your answer with the text as appropriate//
 * //Thus far in the novel what is there to make Gatsby “great”? Why?//
 * //The Valley of Ashes makes infrequent appearances in the novel. A quick Internet search will bring up several possible things symbolized by the Valley and the eyes of TJ Eckleburg. What do you think these things symbolize? Why? How can you support your answer from the text?//
 * //What do you think Gatsby was hoping would happen as he waited outside Daisy’s house? Why?//
 * //Why do you think Fitzgerald so often uses imagery of ghosts and shadows in the novel (as on p. 159)?//
 * //As Nick leaves Gatsby, why does he call out, “You’re worth the whole damn bunch of them put together”? Do you think Nick believes this? What does he like about Gatsby?//


 * //Chapter IX Discussion Questions/prompts?//**
 * //Respond to the questions/prompt(s), defending your answer with the text as appropriate//
 * //Why do so few people show up for Gatsby’s funeral or even seem to care that he is dead? What does this suggest about him and his friends and acquaintances?//
 * //Did Gatsby achieve the American Dream? If yes, when did he lose it? If not, why? What is the “American Dream”?//
 * //As Nick remembers his earlier returns to the Midwest from school, why does he “see now that this has been a story of the West, after all?” What might have been the “deficiency” possessed by all of them in the story that made them “subtly unadaptable to Eastern life”?//
 * //As you look back at the novel, why do you think Fitzgerald used the word “great” to describe Gatsby in the title? Was Gatsby in any way “great,” or is Fitzgerald being ironic?//

//I think that I need to clarify what I mean by "substantive". I expect that you have two posts every other day. I expect that one of those posts be a response to a group member's post. You may agree with a classmate and offer further examples; you may disagree with another post and explain why you disagree; you may request that a class mate clarify their position/statement; you can propose a "new" observation and back it up from the text....the choice is up to you!//
 * 4-18-11**

Shmoop's Gatsby Page: Shmoop is a GREAT website that offers all kinds of resources for discussion, research, etc. Check it out! The Great Gatsby full Text Online