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Exam 2 – English 215

Multiple choice. On your answer sheet, write the letter of the correct answer. (2/each)

1. What business is Nick in?

a. bonds
b. insurance
c. car sales
d. bootlegging
e. all of the above
f. none of the above

2. How is Nick related to Daisy?

a. He is her nephew
b. He is her cousin
c. He is her uncle
d. He is her brother

3. Who does Nick live next door to?

a. Tom
b. Daisy
c. Jordan
d. Gatsby

4. Gatsby uses this familiar saying to greet people:

a good buddy
b. good pal
c. old boy
d. old sport
e. none of the above
f. at different times, all of the above

5. Gatsby calls Klipspringer by the name of:

a. Walter
b. Michael
c. Ewing
d. Sarah
e. None of the above

6. When Gatsby is pulled over by a patrolman he:

a. shows the cop a white card and the cop apologizes
b. shows the cop a Christmas card
c. threatens the cop and scares him
d. gives the cop some alcohol to bribe him
 e. none of the above

7. Jordan Baker is :
a. a professional golfer
b. a tennis player
c. a ballerina
d. an actress
e. none of the above

8. “Hopalong Cassidy” is the name of:

a. a book Gatsby once owned
b. Nick’s nickname at Yale
c. Gatsby’s nickname at Oxford
d. Tom’s name for Gatsby when they go horseback riding
e. none of the above

9. Who is Chester McKee?

a. the downstairs neighbor of Myrtle Wilson in New York
b. the brother in law of Myrtle Wilson
c. the mechanic at George Wilson’s garage
d. the chauffeur who finds Gatsby’s body
e. none of the above

10. What act of physical violence defines Tom?

a. He smashes a drinking glass at dinner with Nick, Jordan, and Daisy
b. He smashes a tea cup at tea with Nick, Gatsby, and Daisy
c. He breaks Michaelis’s knee with a tire iron
d. He breaks Myrtle Wilson’s nose with his open hand
e. none of the above.

Matching. Match the character in the left column with the corresponding trait or
description in the right. Write all answers on your answer sheet. (2/each)

C- 11. Tom Buchanan a. “her voice was full of money”

E - 12. Nick Carraway b. accused of being “dishonest”
B - 13. Jordan Baker c. racist
G - 14. the owl-eyed man d. has “gonnegtions” (connections)
H - 15. George Wilson e. is “inclined to reserve all judgments”
F - 16. Henry Gatz f. “solemn old man, very helpless
and dismayed”
A -17. Daisy Buchanan g. obsessed with books
D -18. Meyer Wolsheim h. covered in ashes
J - 19. Myrtle Wilson i. “product of Nevada silver fields” and the
Yukon
I - 20. Dan Cody j. owns a dog
Identification. Identify (a) the speaker; (b) the character or situation being described; and (c)
the importance of what is said. (2 /each)

21. “ [He]believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It
eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther....
And one fine morning-- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into
the past."

Nick at the end of the novel is speaking about Gatsby’s pursuit of an unattainable dream and
likening him to the original Dutch sailors who first spied the “green breast” of the New World.
He also indicates that Gatsby’s pursuit was futile to begin with, like a boat trying to move
“against the current”

22. “They’re a rotten crowd,” I shouted across the lawn. “You’re worth the whole damn bunch
put together.”

Nick shouts this to Gatsby in chapter 8, after Gatsby has kept his vigil over Daisy, trying to
protect her from the consequences of her crime. The statement shows Nick’s very profound
identification with Gatsby and his obvious defense of him in the face of those who would make
him a scapegoat.

23. “Then it was all true. I saw the skins of tigers flaming in his palace on the Grand Canal; I
saw him opening a chest of rubies to ease, with their crimson-lighted depths, the gnawings of his
broken heart.”

Again, this is Nick describing Gatsby. The passage occurs when Gatsby shows him proof
positive (the Oxford photo, the medal) that the rumors about his exotic past are true.

24. “Anyhow, he gives large parties,” said [name], changing the subject with an urban distaste
for the concrete. “And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any
privacy.”

Jordan Baker says this at Gatsby’s party in chapter 3. The remark is ironically true: anonymity
is afforded by large groups wherein she need not make conversation or even necessarily stand
out. The party, then, is a kind of protective camoflauge. The quote speaks to the hollowness of
some men and women in the jazz age.

25. “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman,” she said finally. “I thought he knew
something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe.”

Myrtle Wilson says this about her husband, George, in the scene in her apartment in New York.
The remark comes, ironically, on the heels of her lover, Tom, having just bought her a dog as an
impromptu present. Another irony is that Myrtle is of no higher social station than George;
however, she has pretensions to one that are produced by the fact that she is the mistress of a
wealthy WASP.
Essay (50 pts). In your blue book, write a developed, specific essay of at least 500 words on one
of the following topics.

(a) Time is a major concern in The Great Gatsby -- past versus present and the dissolution of the
line between the two. The narrative structure of the novel itself deals with perceptions of time.
Numerous images and symbols in the text relate to time. Write an essay exploring this issue.

(b) Compare and contrast Gatsby and Tom. How are they alike? How are they different? Given
the extremely negative light in which Tom is portrayed throughout the novel, why might Daisy
choose to remain with him instead of leaving him for Gatsby?

Extra Credit

EC 1. What city is Daisy originally from? Louisville

EC 2. What country awarded Gatsby a medal? Montenegro
EC 3. What age is Nick? 30