The Great Gatsby Chapter 1: Summary and Study Questions
Guess first. Then read the summary. Then open the answers.
Chapter questions
- Question 1 · Recall
Where does Nick Carraway rent a small house?
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He rents it in West Egg, for eighty dollars a month, right next to a huge mansion that belongs to Gatsby.Reference: Chapter 1, Nick's move to West Egg
- Question 2 · Recall
Who is the golfer who plays in tournaments and is staying with the Buchanans?
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Jordan Baker, whom Nick meets when he goes to dinner at Tom and Daisy's house in East Egg.Reference: Chapter 1, Nick's dinner at the Buchanans
- Question 3 · Recall
What does Nick see the mysterious figure do at the end of the chapter?
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The figure stretches his arms out toward a green light across the water. Nick thinks it may be Gatsby, but he does not go over to find out.Reference: Chapter 1, Nick's return to his own lawn
- Question 4 · Why
Why does Nick go to East Egg at the start of the story?
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He goes to visit his second cousin once removed, Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan.Reference: Chapter 1, Nick's visit to the Buchanans
- Question 5 · Why
Why does Daisy say she hoped her daughter would be a beautiful little fool?
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She tells Nick that she thinks being a fool is the best thing a girl can be in this world.Reference: Chapter 1, Daisy and Nick on the veranda
Chapter summary
Nick Carraway, a man who graduated from New Haven and fought in the First World War, moves to West Egg and rents a small house for eighty dollars a month. His neighbor is a very large mansion that belongs to a man named Gatsby. One evening Nick drives across the water to East Egg to see his second cousin once removed, Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan, a wealthy former football player, at their big home.
At dinner Nick meets Jordan Baker, a golfer who plays in tournaments and is staying with the couple. Tom talks about a book on race. A phone call interrupts the meal, and Jordan quietly tells Nick that Tom has another woman in New York. Later, on the veranda, Daisy tells Nick what she said the day her three-year-old daughter was born: that she hopes the girl will be a beautiful little fool, because that is the best thing a girl can be in this world. When he gets home, he sees a figure on the lawn next door stretch both arms toward a green light across the water. Nick suspects it is Gatsby but leaves him alone.
Come back in a few days and try these 5 again before you open the answers.
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