Chapter 1 Practice Quiz — The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 1
Why does Nick Carraway move from the Midwest to New York?
After serving in World War I, Nick feels restless and decides to go east to learn the bond business. He also wants to escape rumors of an engagement back home.
Where does Nick rent his house, and what is notable about it?
Nick rents a small bungalow in West Egg, Long Island, for eighty dollars a month. It is squeezed between two enormous mansions, one of which belongs to Jay Gatsby.
Why does Nick drive to East Egg in Chapter 1?
He goes to have dinner with his second cousin Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom, whom Nick knew at Yale.
What interrupts dinner at the Buchanan house twice?
Phone calls from Tom's mistress in New York interrupt dinner twice, creating an awkward tension that everyone at the table tries to ignore.
What does Daisy tell Nick she hopes her daughter will be?
Daisy says she hopes her daughter will be "a beautiful little fool," suggesting that ignorance is the best defense for a woman in their world.
What does Nick see when he returns home to West Egg at the end of Chapter 1?
Nick sees Gatsby standing alone on his lawn, arms stretched toward a single green light across the bay. Gatsby then vanishes into the darkness.
What rumor do the Buchanans confront Nick about as he leaves?
They ask if he is engaged to a girl out West. Nick denies it, saying the gossip is one of the reasons he moved east.
How does Nick describe Tom Buchanan's physical appearance?
Tom is a sturdy, straw-haired man of thirty with a hard mouth, supercilious manner, and an enormously powerful body that Nick calls "a cruel body."
What is distinctive about Daisy Buchanan's voice?
Daisy has a low, thrilling voice that compels people to lean in and listen. Nick describes it as a series of notes that will never be played again.
Who is Jordan Baker, and what is her profession?
Jordan Baker is a young woman Nick meets at the Buchanans' dinner. She is a professional golfer whose face Nick recognizes from newspaper sports photographs.
How is Gatsby first presented in Chapter 1?
Gatsby appears only as a silhouette at the end of the chapter, standing on his lawn at night, trembling as he reaches toward a distant green light across the water.
What advice did Nick's father give him, and how does it shape his narration?
His father told him to reserve judgment because not everyone has had the same advantages. Nick claims this makes him tolerant, though his narration is full of sharp judgments.
How does the geography of East Egg and West Egg reflect social class?
East Egg represents old, inherited wealth with tasteful elegance, while West Egg represents new money and self-made fortunes. The bay between them symbolizes the social divide.
What does Tom's discussion of "The Rise of the Coloured Empires" reveal about him?
It reveals Tom's desire to use pseudoscience to justify his privileged position. His intellectual pretensions mask insecurity, and Daisy's mocking responses show she does not take him seriously.
How does Chapter 1 introduce the theme of moral decay beneath glamour?
The Buchanans' beautiful home and lavish dinner conceal Tom's blatant infidelity, Daisy's deep unhappiness, and a hollowness that Nick senses beneath the surface charm.
What role does the American Dream play in Chapter 1?
Nick moves east full of hope, and Gatsby reaches toward the green light with yearning. Both are drawn by the promise of transformation, but the chapter hints that the dream is already compromised.
What narrative technique does Fitzgerald use in The Great Gatsby?
Fitzgerald uses first-person retrospective narration. Nick tells the story after the events have already occurred, coloring his observations with hindsight and foreshadowing.
How does Fitzgerald foreshadow tragedy in the opening paragraphs?
Nick refers to "what preyed on Gatsby" and the "foul dust" that floated in the wake of his dreams, hinting that Gatsby's story will end badly even before the plot begins.
What does the wind and curtain imagery in the Buchanan house symbolize?
The billowing curtains and women seeming to float suggest beautiful instability. When Tom shuts the windows and the wind dies, it symbolizes his controlling power over the household.
How does Fitzgerald use juxtaposition in Chapter 1?
He contrasts West Egg with East Egg, Nick's bungalow with Gatsby's mansion, Daisy's charm with her insincerity, and Tom's physical strength with his intellectual weakness.
What does "supercilious" mean as used to describe Tom Buchanan?
Supercilious means behaving as though one is superior to others. It describes Tom's arrogant, condescending manner.
What does Nick mean when he calls personality "an unbroken series of successful gestures"?
He suggests that personality is a performance—a chain of deliberate, convincing acts. In Gatsby's case, something "gorgeous" made his gestures feel authentic rather than artificial.
What is the significance of the quote "I hope she'll be a fool—that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool"?
Daisy's remark about her daughter reveals her cynicism about women's limited options in a patriarchal society and her own disillusionment with a marriage where she must ignore her husband's infidelity.
Why does Nick say "Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope"?
Nick implies that withholding judgment means keeping alive the possibility that people can be better than they appear. It signals his desire for fairness, though the novel tests this ideal.
What does Nick mean when he says Gatsby "represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn" yet there was "something gorgeous about him"?
Nick acknowledges that Gatsby embodies vulgar materialism and self-invention, yet his extraordinary capacity for hope and romantic idealism sets him apart from everyone else Nick encountered.