Fitzgerald and the Roaring Twenties Answers

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Read the excerpt from Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house. A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding-cake of the ceiling, and then rippled over the wine-colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea.Based on this excerpt, what inference can be made about the Buchanans?

A
They are people of exquisite taste and refinement, who have spent a fortune on the decorations of their home.
B
The image of luxury and elegance that they project is unstable like the wind blowing through the room.
C
The Buchanans have fallen on desperate times and are trying to mask their financial collapse from friends.
D
Like the open windows of their house, the Buchanans openly embrace new people and new ideas.
2
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Read the excerpt from Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor’s lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires—all for eighty dollars a month.What does this excerpt reveal about Nick?

A
He is not particularly impressed by material wealth and fashionable appearances.
B
He plans to move into another house as soon as the opportunity arises.
C
He is wealthy enough to live in West Egg but not wealthy enough to rent a very nice place.
D
He is desperate to become part of the elite society of West Egg and East Egg.
3

Read the excerpt from Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard—it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby’s mansion.How does Fitzgerald use setting in the exposition of this passage?

A
He underscores the cultural differences between West Egg and East Egg.
B
He introduces the reader to the themes of jealousy and undying love.
C
He suggests that Gatsby is sophisticated and very wealthy.
D
He creates atmosphere and establishes geographic context.
4

Read the excerpt from Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens—finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy afternoon, and Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch.Based on this description of the Buchanans’ house, what inference can be made about many East Egg residents?

A
They hide their unattractive qualities beneath beautiful, light, and dreamy appearances.
B
They commonly ride horses in the afternoon or early evening hours.
C
They are more sophisticated than West Egg residents, because they have less money.
D
They place more importance on the appearance of their homes than in anything else.
5

Which best describes the role of setting in a story?

A
Setting is used to emphasize ideas and theme.
B
Setting is used to introduce new characters.
C
Setting is used to lessen a story’s emotional tone.
D
Setting is used to de-emphasize an existing conflict.
6

Read the excerpt from The Great Gatsby.I lived at West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them.The phrase, “I lived at West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two” reveals

A
the narrator’s upper-middle-class, socioeconomic standing.
B
the narrator’s awareness of social judgments and their central role in the novel.
C
the narrator’s deep desire to fit in and be friends with the fashionable crowd.
D
the narrator’s insecurities as he befriends a new group of individuals.
7

Read the excerpt from Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, a partial view of my neighbor's lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires—all for eighty dollars a month.Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water, and the history of the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there.The contrast created between East Egg and West Egg suggests that

A
the main character feels comfortable in all social situations.
B
Nick will experience a series of financial pitfalls as the story unfolds.
C
the story’s conflict will be based on wealth and appearances.
D
the story will be presented from a number of differing perspectives.
8

Read the excerpt from The Great Gatsby.It was a matter of chance that I should have rented a house in one of the strangest communities in North America. It was on that slender riotous island which extends itself due east of New York—and where there are, among other natural curiosities, two unusual formations of land. Which words from the passage are most indicative of the types of situations the narrator will encounter in the novel?

A
“natural” and “slender”
B
“strangest” and “unusual”
C
“matter” and “chance”
D
“natural” and “formations”
9

Read the excerpt from The Great Gatsby.The telephone rang inside, startlingly, and as Daisy shook her head decisively at Tom the subject of the stables, in fact all subjects, vanished into air. Among the broken fragments of the last five minutes at table I remember the candles being lit again, pointlessly, and I was conscious of wanting to look squarely at every one, and yet to avoid all eyes. I couldn’t guess what Daisy and Tom were thinking, but I doubt if even Miss Baker, who seemed to have mastered a certain hardy skepticism, was able utterly to put this fifth guest’s shrill metallic urgency out of mind. To a certain temperament the situation might have seemed intriguing—my own instinct was to telephone immediately for the police.The phone calls that Tom receives during the dinner are an indicator that

A
he is trying to prevent his marriage from failing.
B
he and Daisy are not a happily married couple.
C
he would rather be in the city than on the island.
D
he has important business deals in the works.
10

The location of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is important because

A
it emphasizes the decadence of the 1920s.
B
it appeals to most readers of the novel.
C
it underscores the main points of the plot.
D
it is as complicated as the main characters.

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