The Great Gatsby – Chapter 1

  1. Give a recount of the events in the opening chapter
  • During the first chapter, we met the narrator Nick. He introduces himself supposedly as “non judgemental”. Ironically, next we meet Tom and Daisy and Nick shows a strong negative judgement towards them. Tom is a brute, rude and intimidating man, whereas Daisy is a light, spacey beautiful girl. You could say in a nutshell, they were polar opposite. We find out that Tom is cheating on Daisy with “some woman in New York”, furthermore establishing the relationship between Daisy and Tom. We also meet Jordan Baker who is described as an “intimidating” woman. Right at the end of the paragraph, we get a small glimpse of Gatsby at the end of the wharf reaching out to some “green light”.
  1. Make a list of 5 words used to describe Daisy, Tom and Jordan Baker. Explain what impression these words helped you form
Jordan Daisy Tom
Rapid Charming Supercilious
Slender Fluttering Hulking
Small-breasted Lovely Sturdy
Erect carriage Bright Gruff
Polite Passionate Hard
  1. Explain your first impression of Nick

–  My first impression of Nick is that (unlike he says), he is a judgemental person towards the people he likes and likewise the people he does not. He also thinks very highly of Gatsby as a person. I think his true colours will show sufficiently throughout the course of the book.

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