1. Describe the mood at the start of this chapter, and explain how Fitzgerald creates
this mood.
2. What was it that attracted Gatsby to Daisy? What can be inferred about his
character from this?
3. Why does Daisy end up marrying Tom? What can be inferred about her character from this?
4. Nick states that he “disapproved of [Gatsby] from beginning to end.”
     a) What evidence is there in the novel that this is, or is not, true?
     b) Why might he state this at this point in the narrative?
5. Do you agree with Nick, that Daisy and Tom are part of a “rotten crowd,” and that Gatsby is “worth
the whole damn bunch put together”? Explain your opinion.
6. Briefly explain George Wilson’s thoughts, feelings, and emotions after the death of Myrtle.
7. Summarize and explain what happens at the end of this chapter.

1. How does the weather impact the action of chapter 7?
2. Who observes that Daisy’s voice is “full of money”? What is meant by this, and which deeper theme of the text does it relate to?
3. Are Tom and Wilson complete opposites? Explain why or why not.
4. In what way is Tom a hypocrite?
5. Why do you think it is so important to Gatsby that Daisy says she never loved Tom?
6. Do you think that Daisy really planned on leaving Tom? Explain why or why not.
7. What is your opinion of Daisy at this point in the novel? Explain your answer fully.
8. Re-read the final paragraph of the chapter.
a) In what way is Gatsby staring at “nothing”?
b) Do you find Gatsby’s care for Daisy endearing? Explain why or why not.

1. What are the key differences between James Gatz and Jay Gatsby?
2. Who exactly was Dan Cody, and why was he important to Gatsby?
3. In what ways does Gatsby embody the ideals of the American Dream?
4. What does Daisy think of Gatsby’s parties? Make sure to back up your answer with specific quotations
from the text.
5. Explain Gatsby’s emotional state after the party.
6. Nick says that Gatsby shouldn’t “ask too much of her” (in reference to Daisy). Do you agree with him?
Do you think that Gatsby’s expectations are too high? Explain your opinion with clear reasons.
7. a) What are the differences between Nick’s view of reliving the past, and Gatsby’s?
     b) Whose view do you agree with more, and why?

1. Explain three examples of how Fitzgerald illustrates that Gatsby is nervous about
seeing Daisy again, through his use of indirect characterization.

2. This chapter, at times, could be described as humorous. Do you agree or disagree?
Explain your answer fully with specific reference to the text.

3. What do we learn about Gatsby’s motivations in life, through this chapter? Make sure to embed evidence
in your answer, to back up your claim.

4. How do you think Daisy feels about being reunited with Gatsby? Explain fully.

5. What is the significance of the ‘green light’ at the end of the dock at Daisy’s house?

6. Explain how Fitzgerald uses weather symbolically in this chapter.

7. When Daisy sees the many shirts in Gatsby’s home, she weeps.
     a) Do you believe that that she is crying over their beauty? What other explanation might there be?
     b) What does this illustrate about Daisy’s feelings?

8. Do you think that Gatsby is fully satisfied now that he has reconnected with Daisy? Explain fully.

1. a) What types of people attend Gatsby’s parties?
    b) How well do they know Gatsby? Why do they attend his parties?
2. Explain the contradictory feelings which Nick has towards Gatsby.
3. Gatsby tells quite the story about his own life. Do you believe it? Explain why or why not.
4. Who is Mr. Wolfsheim, and what is illustrated by his association with Gatsby?
5. Having heard Jordan’s account of Daisy and Gatsby’s history together, what reason is given for why he lives the way he does?
6. Why does Gatsby want Nick to invite Daisy to tea? Do you think that this is a fair request? Explain why or why not.
7. At this point in the novel, there are various - somewhat conflicting - stories and rumors about Gatsby. What is your opinion of his character?

1. In your own words, describe the parties which Gatsby throws.
2. What similarities and differences are there between the party Tom throws in the New
York apartment, and the party Gatsby throws?
3. a) In what way is Nick’s meeting of Gatsby somewhat anticlimactic?
     b) In what way does this meeting help develop Fitzgerald’s characterization of Gatsby?
4. a) Do you think that Gatsby enjoys his own parties? Explain with a reason from the text.
     b) Why do you think that Gatsby throws these types of parties? Try to think of at least 2 or 3 possibilities.
5. Why might Fitzgerald have included the incident with the car accident at the end of the party? What
does it illustrate about people, or behaviors of the time?
6. Does Nick have romantic feelings towards Jordan Baker? Explain your answer fully with close reference to
the text.
7. Do you trust Nick as a narrator? Explain why or why not.

1. a) What/where is the ‘Valley of Ashes’?
     b) How does the this location relate to the economic context of the time?
2. a) Describe the character of Myrtle.
     b) In what ways are Myrtle and Daisy similar and different?
     c) Do you feel any pity for George? Explain why or why not.
3. What evidence is there in the text that Myrtle feels she belongs more in Tom’s world, than in the Valley of
Ashes?
4. What is ironic about the way that Myrtle talks about the man she told to bring the ice?
5. What do we learn about Gatsby in this chapter? Why is this significant?
6. Do you think that Tom will or will not leave Daisy for Myrtle? Explain you answer fully.
7. Find a quote from the text which supports the idea that Nick has ambiguous feelings about the society he
finds himself surrounded by.

1. a) What is the setting for this novel?
     b) How might the setting influence / inform some of the key themes?

2. What is the difference between East and West Egg?

3. Do you think that Nick is a person you would be friends with? Explain why or why not
with close reference to the text (specifically in terms of describing his personality).

4. Who is the one person immune from Nick’s negative reaction to that one summer, and why might this make
the reader suspicious of his unbiased narrating?

5. Nick describes Tom as having a “cruel body” - what might he mean by this? What does this tell us about
his opinion of Tom?

6. Why does Daisy want her daughter to be a fool? What does this reveal about Daisy?

7. In what way is Nick’s first glimpse of Gatsby somewhat eerie? Why might Fitzgerald have written it this way?

It all started when I picked up the wrong suitcase from the airport...