Do Now: Questions For the End of the Novel
1) Who seems closer to fulfilling his American Dream, Tom or Gatsby? Define your vision of the American Dream and analyze each character’s relation to it.
2) Why and in what way does Jay Gatsby sustain Nick’s need for wonder? Is Nick’s capacity for wonder limited in any way or by anyone?
3) What is the line between fiction and reality in the novel? How do Fitzgerald and the novel’s characters use the art of storytelling and why? What’s the message about fiction in the twentieth century? What’s the message about reality and truth in the twentieth century?
4) Is Gatsby’s quest heroic? Could you define Gatsby as a hero or a tragic hero? If he’s tragic, what is the real and ultimate tragedy in the book?