Read the Blog entries on Gatsby.
Click for a pdf & printable version of this page. For some browsers you may need to right-click and save to your computer before you can view it.
VOCABULARY
1. affectation
2. apparition
3. aquaplanes
4. asunder
5. cataracts
6. caterwauling
7. condescension
8. contemptuous
9. convivial
10. cordial
11. corpulent
12. credulity
13. cynical
14. deplorable
15. din
16. duster (clothing)
17. echololia
18. erroneous
19. florid
20. fortnight
21. gaudy
22. harlequin
23. hastily
24. haughty
25. homogeneity
26. hors d’œuvre
27. impetuously
28. incessant
29. indignant
30. ineptly
31. innuendo
32. insolent
33. jauntiness (jaunty)
34. jovial
35. loitered
36. malevolence
37. melancholy
38. obstetrical
39. omnibus
40. opal
41. permeate
42. poignant
43. prodigality
44. rivulets
45. row
46. sauntered
47. shorn
48. spectroscopic
49. speculation
50. staid
51. stout
52. subterfuges
53. tactfully
54. tantalizing
55. traps (n)
56. tumultuous
57. vehemently
58. veranda
59. vinous
60. wan
QUESTIONS
61. Pay attention to Nick's judgments. What do they reveal about his character that he does this (especially in relation to his opening comments)?
62. Describe Gatsby the first time Nick sees him.
63. What rumors have been told about Gatsby? Why does Fitzgerald reveal rumors rather than fact?
64. Let’s log a number of the attendees and their descriptions (some pop up more than once):
Name of “guests | Description from text (page no. citation) |
Girls in yellow | |
The “undergraduate” | |
Owl Eyes | |
Wives of the sober husbands | |
Red-haired lady from a famous chorus
| |
65. Why is Owl Eyes so amazed? (See note on didn’t cut the pages) What does it mean when Owl Eyes assumed that the books were fake to begin with?
66. How does Nick meet Gatsby? What does Nick think of Gatsby after meeting him?
67. How is Gatsby different from his guests?
68. What happens in Gatsby’s driveway when the guests leave? Why is the situation both funny and frightening?
69. Why does Nick choose to share his thoughts and feelings with Jordan?
70. After a section break, Nick begins a description of his other summer activities. Characterize his language, descriptions,
71. What are the rumors concerning Jordan? Could they be true? How is she described like Gatsby?
72. Nick thinks he's one of the few honest people he knows, why? Do you think he is honest? Why?
NOTES
Gilda Grey’s
(1901-1959), star of the Ziegfried Follies who introduced the dance called the “shimmy.”
Belasco
David Belasco (1854-1931) was a Broadway producer known for the realism of his sets.
…didn’t cut the pages
When printing a book, printers use a broad sheet that they fold in 2, 4, 8 or 16 sections to create their edition. As a broad sheet pages are printed on both sides (say 4 on each side), and then folded over in preparation for binding. When the folded pages have been sewn together, the “uncut” pages will not open properly (because they are folded either on the top, side, or bottom. Traditionally, books were shipped this way and the owner was given the privlige of cutting the pages. Gatsby are uncut and, therefore, unreadable. If you’re interested there are many electronic versions of bookbinding books (with pictures) available on the web at http://www.aboutbookbinding.com/index.html.
Third Division, Ninth Machine-Gun Battalion, Seventh Infantry
The Ninth Machine-Gun Battalion (Sixth Infantry Brigade) and the Seventh Infantry Regiment (Fifth Infantry Brigade) were both in the Third Division. On June 6, 1918 the Ninth Machine-Gun Battalion (Nick) was at Chateau-Thierry, and the Seventh Infantry (Gatsby) was brought up to defend the town.
…right side up, but violently shorn of one wheel…
The wheel-wells were exterior to the main body of the vehicle, unlike today’s automobiles whose wheels are within the body shell, and, therefore, protected. Here are some pictures of cars that might lose a wheel if someone drove them recklessly.
…the white chasms of lower New York
Lower Manhattan is south end of Manhattan Island, the downtown area, the heart of the old colonial settlement. It is the government and financial center of New York City. It is characterized by massive buildings, narrow streets, and multitudes of denizens scurrying about the city sidewalks. The photo below was taken in 1928 of lower or downtown Manhattan.
Fifth Avenue
You can see what Nick is visualizing when he speaks of the “flicker of men and women and machines” on Fifth Avenue and “the Forties were five deep with throbbing taxi cabs” (here “Forties” means the 40th to 49th street—including the famous 42nd St.—which run East-West crossing the North-South Avenues, like 5th). Below is a photograph from 1924 of taxis lined up on Fifth Avenue awaiting passengers, probably during rush hour when all the markets closed for the day.
For more information on Fifth Avenue, you can try the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Avenue