In Nicks Carraway's younger years, his father gave him advise "Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone", "just remember that all the people in this worls haven't had the adventages that you've had".

Nick Carraway moves to West Egg to try out the bond business, as everyone he knew was in the bond business. Rented a house right next to Gatsby's mansion.

He visits East Egg to meet an old friend Tom Buchanan and his second cousin Daisy Buchanan. He goes to Tom's mansion where he greets them and Daisy's friend Jordan Baker. Tom gets a call, so he leaves the room and Daisy followed him hurriedly.

As they sit on a porch Nick gets surprised by Jordan, she tells him that Tom has a woman in New York.(mistress from New York called tom)

Dinner got a bit akward and Jordan had a golf tournament the next day so wanted to go to sleep. As she left, Tom and Daisy hint Nick to date Jordan. Nick leaves, they both stand at the entrance cheerfuly.

When Nick arrieves home he spots Jay Gatsby outside his mansion with his arms reaching in the dark to the green light thats coming from Daisy's house.

Research question

Who is this mysterious wealthy man, the great gatsby?

Why is he so known?

Quotes

"I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."

Jordan says this to Nick, refering to the social norm values at the age they are living.

Vocabulary

Privy-to be told information that is not told to many people.

feigned- to pretend to have a particular feeling, problem.

quivering-to shake slightly, often because of strong emotion.

prominent- very well known and important.

unobtrusively- in a away that is not easy to notice.

gaiety- hapiness and excitement.

feebly- in a weak way, without energy.

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F.Scott Fitzgerald was born in 1896. He was stationed in Alabama and he met Zelda Sayre and later marrried her in New York. The couple's youth, beauty and nutorious lifestyle made them famous during the era that Fitzgerald dubbed "the Jazz age".

Raymond Chandler said of Fitzgerald, "he had one of the rarest qualities in all literature - charm... It's not a matter of pretty writing or clear style. Its kind of subdued magic, controlled and exquisite, the short of thing you get from good string quartets"

Sunday afternoon and Tom Buchanan insists that Nick needs to come to New York city with him. On the way there, the train passes through this area that Nick calls the valley of ashes. Its where the railway meets the roadway. Its gray, dry and barren. And the only thing that sticks out is this billboard its for an optometrist named Doctor T.J. Eckleburg and features these eyes that kind of watches over this valley. Tom Buchanan suddently grabs his elbow, forcing him to come with him. "We’re getting off," he insisted."I want you to meet my girl." They both went to a car selling garage where he met George Wilson and Myrtle Wilson who own the garage. Tom is Faking a friendship with George, Tom is doing it so that he can spend time with Myrtle Wilson, George’s wife. Tom whispers to Myrtle, "Get on the next train" to New York.

And she does, so three of them go to New York City together. Once they get there, they go to the apartment that Toms keeps for Myrtle. On the way there, she goes shopping, she buys herself a puppy, and when they arrive, she says - "Lets have a party". She invites her sister, Catherine, and Catherine invites the McKees, the downstairs neighbors. They have a very rowdy drinking party and Nick gets very drunk. When Catherine hears that Nick is from West Egg, he asks him if he knows Gatsby. She also tells Tom about Tom and Myrtle’s relationship. That they love eachother and neither of them can stand their spouses. She explains that the only reason they aren’t married is that Toms wife is a Catholic and she won’t allow it. Night goes on and everyone gets inecreasingly drunk. Around midnight Tom and Myrtle get into an argument when she mentions Daisy. Tom slaps her so hard that it breaks her nose. Nick is done at this point. Nick and Mr. McKee slip out the door and head down the elavator. Mr. McKee invites Nick to lunch, Nick accepts.

When Nick comes out of this drunken fog, he is in train station waiting for his train home.

Research question

Why cheating is a thing in every age now it seems like.... why people make the wrong choices in marrige, if they love someone else?

Quotes

"It’s really his wife that’s keeping them apart. She’s a Catholic, and they don’t believe in divorce."
Daisy was not a Catholic, and people really do belive in lies.

Vocabulary

anaemic-suffering from anaemia (lack of iron)

transcendent- greater, better, ,ore important.

oculist- person who examines or treats people’s eyes.

torpedoes- a long, thin bomb.

assertions- a statement that you strongly belive is true.

erroneous- wrong or false.

oboes- a tube shaped musical instrument.

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 Nick Carraway had heard the music from his neighbor's house through the summer nights, the party’s sounded lavish and one day Nick Carraway is standing in his garden when Gatsby's butler approaches him with an invite to a party tomorrow night, he apologizes on behalf of Gatsby for not inviting him earlier. When he gets to the party he realizes that he is one of the only people who actually got invited and everyone else got there through someone else, not Gatsby. The party was glamorous, he had a big orchestra, girls doing stunts, everyone drinking champagne from large glasses. As Nick was ready to get drunk he met Jordan Baker, they spent the night talking and having fun, even so much fun that Nick felt that he had a slight crush on her. They heard rumors that Gatsby has killed a man and a few more rumors went around like he was a German spy during the war and after talking to more people Jordan said that she wants to get out so they start looking around to find the host. At one point they wander into the library where they meet a man, Nick calls him Owl Eyes because of these great big glasses that he wears. He seems absolutely astounded that the books in Gatsby’s library are real books and they went on. After a lil while they sit down with some people that Nick doesn’t know. One of the men at the table says to Nick, like "You look familier, wheren’t you in the army?" They talk a little bit about France and where they were stationed during the World War I. Nick says, ''I got invited to this party, but i haven’t even met Gatsby." The guy looks at Nick and he’s like, "I’m Gatsby." Nick is really surprised, he was expecting some older man, but this guy was young, good looking and had a very striking smile that makes you feel like you’re the only one in the room. But Nick also notices he’s got a really elaborate way of speaking, kind of like hes very carefully considering everything he says.

Gatsby requested an eye to eye talk with Jordan Baker. So Jordan leaves with Gatsby. The party finally wraps up. Nick is looking for Gatsby to say goodbye and he and Jordan finally come out of the study. Nick says goodbye to Gatsby and he heads home. He finds a crowd outside and someone who is very drunk has landed their car in the ditch. The person who appears to be getting out of the car is the one that Nick calls Owl Eyes. The man says he wasn’t the one driving, theres somebody else in there.

Research question

Why host big parties like Gatsby does, even though he doesn’t know all the people? What is the meaning of these parties?

Vocabulary

piccolos- musical instrument, small fluete

prodigality- the quality of spending or using large amounts of money.

prosperous- successful, usually by earning a lot of money.

condescending- treating someone as if you are more important than them.

subterfuges- a trick or a dishonest way of achieving something.

convey- to express a thought, feeling

indifferent- not being interested in someone or something.

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Late july and one morning Gatsby picks Nick up in his car. Gatsby invites him to lunch so they drive up to the city together. On the drive there the conversation is akward. It seems like Gatsby keeps trying to say something and then backs away. He finnaly says "Okey i’m going to tell youthe story of my life", i’m from a very wealthy family, i was educated at Oxford. After my family died, i inherited a ton of money. I lived in all the big cities in Europe. And i was trying to forget this very sad thing that happened to me. Nick is listening to this and he’s thinking that this is nonsense. Gatsby goes on, he says "When the war started, i accepted an officer’s commission." I did really well, "iv’e got all the medals", and he really actually shows Nick one of these medals, a little medal from Montenegro. And he also shows Nick a photo from Oxford. Nick feels convinced about the story. Gatsby asks for a favor from Nick, but asks that it can’t come from him. Jordan Baker, she’s going to explain everything and ask the favor. So Nick meets Gatsby for lunch and there is another guest there, a good friend of Gatsby’s named Meyer Wolfsheim. He says that Wolfsheim is a gambler. He says, "He’s the guy that fixed the World Series back in 1919." He’s also a businessman. Wolfsheim mentions this to Nick, he says "I hear you’re looking for a business connection" at wich point Gatsby breaks in and he’s like "No, no, no, not this guy." Nick and gatsby are finishing lunch and Nick sees Tom Buchanan across the resturant. They meet, and Nick introduces his neighbor - "This is Mr. Gatsby." Gatsby kind of shakes Tom’s hand, but he won’t participate in a conversation. When Nick turns around, Gatsby is gone.

That afternoon, Nick is having tea with Jordan Baker, and the following scene is told in first person from Jordan’s point of view.

Jordan’s story begins in autumn of 1917 in Lousville. Daisy was 18 at the time this story began. She says Daisy was always very popular. Everybody wanted to spend time with her. All these young army officers wanted to date her.

One day, Jordan sees Daisy with a young officer and Daisy introduces him as Jay Gatsby. The two of them just seem absolutely perfect for each other. Time goes on, Jordan kind of forgets about it. She says by the next spring, there were some rumors circulating about Daisy - that she had tried to run away to New York to say goodbye to some soldier who was going oversease. Daisy was hardly ever going out anymore. She wouldn’t have anythinh to do with any of the young soldiers in town, but by the next autumn - so fall 1918 - Daisy was back to normal. She was going out again, meeting people. And the next summer, 1919, she married Tom Buchanan. It is a massive event. Tom brings a hundred people down from Chicago, and the day before the wedding, he gives Daisy a string of pearls worth $350,000. Jordan is one of Daisy’s bridesmaids,and the night before the wedding, she finds Daisy alone in her room, dressed for dinner, clutching a letter, and completely drunk. She tells Jordan, "You tell all of them that i changed my mind". She’s got this letter clutched in her hand the entire time, and she starts crying hysterically. Jordan is freaked out by this. She runs out, gets one of her maids. They get Daisy into a cold bath, and Daisy even takes this letter into the bath with her. She won’t let it go untill this thing is coming to pieces. So Jordan cleans her up, and sends her out to the rehearsal dinner. And the next day, the wedding goes forward like nothing ever happened. Tom and Daisy immediatly head off on a three month honeymoon. Jordan sees them afterwards and she thinks they are totally in love. Daisy was just always watching for him, always wanted to know where he was. And a week after i saw them, Tom was in a car accident with one of the chambermaids from the hotel that they were staying at. Daisy has her baby the next April. Jordan tells Nick, "I forgot about all of this, untill that night that you came over for dinner. When i said Gatsby’s name, Daisy recognized it." And the favor that Gatsby wants Jordan to ask for Nick to invite Daisy over for tea, so Gatsby can also come over and see her. Jordan says, "He bought that house to be close to her." He throws those parties hoping that she will wander in." He is looking for a chance to see her again.

Research question

Why do women stay with a man that cheats?

Why not wait for the right man to marry?

Vocabulary

fluctuate- to change

rajah- a male indian ruler

vitality-energy and strength

lapsed- no longer involved in an activity or organization.

somnambulate- to walk around while sleeping

nymph- a goddess or spirit in form of a young woman.

eagerly- in a way that shows that you want to do or have something very much.

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Nick gets home after spending the evening with Jordan. Gatsby is still awake and he comes over to see Nick, and Nick agrees to call Daisy to invite her for tea. Gatsby then asks how much money he makes. "If you’re in the bond business, i think there’s a project you could help me out with." But Nick cuts him off, he says that he’s got too much on his plate already, and thanks him. The next day Nick calls Daisy and invites her to tea. The day for tea arrives and its pouring rain. Gatsby sends somebody over to cut Nick’s lawn. He sends a whole greenhouse of flowers. but then Gatsby almost bails out before Daisy gets there. Nick convinces him to stay, and that moment they do hear a car pull up. Nick goes and greets Daisy. When he brings her back in, the living room is empty. About that time there is a knock on the door. Gatsby has gone outside, run around the house and come back in the front door again. Gatsby walks into the living room where Daisy is. Nick doesn’t see the moment when they meet again. He just says he hears a choking murmur, and then hears Daisy say, "I certainly am awfully glad to see you again." Having tea together was awkward. At one point Nick can’t stand it, he tries to like step into the kitchen for a moment alone, but Gatsby follows him, and Nick is like, "What are you doing? You are being so rude." He sends Gatsby back into the living room. He goes outside and roams the garden for a half an hour. When he comes back inside, Gatsby and Daisy both seem much more calm. Daisy looks like she has been crying, but Gatsby looks like he is glowing. Gatsby invites both Nick and Daisy over to the house and they explore all the rooms. While Diasy’s looking around, Gatsby’s telling Nick, "You know it only took me three years to earn the money for this house." And Nick responded with - "I thought you inherited your money" Gatsby’s like, "I did. I just lost it all during the war." So Nick asks him about his business, Gatsby responds with - thats my affair. They finally come to Gatsby’s bedroom, where Gatsby pulls out this big stack of his silk shirts and throws them on the bed. Daisy starts crying into the pile of shirts, and she says she’s crying becouse she’s never seen such beautiful shirts. Then they go to Gatsby’s window, witch looks out over the bay and Gatsby says, "if it wasn’t raining we could see your house from here." Nick is looking around the rest of the room and he sees a photograph of a man on a yacht, and says that its his best friend - Dan Cody, he has passed away now. After leaving the bedroom he meets a man that never seems to leave the house after te party’s, he gets him to play the piano for them. Nick watches them, he wonders if Daisy has fallen short of Gatsby’s fantasies of her - not theough any faults of Daisy’s, but because Gatsby’s fantasies have gone beyond human proportions. Nick wonders how anyone could possibly live up to those standards.

Research question

Is Gatsby’s love and wealth worthy of Daisy coming back to him and changing her life for this man?

Vocabulary

plunge- to move or fall suddently.

peninsula- a long piece of land that sticks from larger area.

vaguely- in a way that is not clearly expressed.

delicatessen- a small shop that sells high-quality foods.

defunct- no longer excisting, living or working correcly

abortive- abortive attempt or plan has to be stopped because it has failed.

muster- to produce or encourage something

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More speculations and rumors swirl around about - who Gatsby is.

One day, a reporter randomly shows up to Gatbsy’s mansion and asks if he wants to comment? This young reporter is just taking a shot hoping to get some kind of information about the story of Gatsby. Nick gives us a piece of Gatsby’s real backstory. His real name is James Gatz and he is from North Dakoda. Now when he is 17, he is working lakeside and Dan Cody’s yacht drops anchor there. Dsn Cody takes him on as crew and for the next 5 years he travels around on Dan Cody’s yacht.

The story jumps back to 1922. Nick goes to visit Gatsby one Sunday afternoon and Tom and a couple of his friends happen to come by on horseback. This couple that rode up with Tom are the Sloanes. Ms. Sloane is happy to be there, happy to hang out with Gatsby, but Mr. Sloane is very standoffish. Gatsby tells Tom that he knows his wife Daisy. And he invites them all to his next big party. In return Ms. Sloane invites Gatsby to supper, but then when he goes inside to get his coat the three of them get back on their horses and leave without him. Tom is irritated about Gatsby saying he knows Daisy. However, Tom shows up at one of Gatsby’s parties. The next big party, he and Daisy and Nick all come along and hang out with Gatsby. Gatsby wants to show off all of the celebrities these famous personalities who attend his parties. Tom’s not impressed, with this. Later on when they sit down to eat, Tom goes to another table says he is making some friends over there and Daisy tells Nick - he’s picking up a girl. Daisy seems to be doing great, she’s smiling, being polite and dances with Gatsby, but Nick realizes that she is not having a good time. Tom seeing all of this wants to know what Gatsby really does. "Is he a booylegger?" Tom decides, he’s going to look into Gatsby a little bit. Tom and Daisy go home, the party ends and Nick is chatting to Gatsby afterwards.

Gatsby has a lot of expectations of Daisy. Going to Tom - saying she never loved him and to divorce him and get back together with Gatsby. To get married at her parents house.

Nick is hearing all of this and tells him to not expect this much of Daisy. "You can’t repeat the past" Gatsby disagrees "Of course you can", Gatsby tells Nick about the first time he kissed Daisy. The moment that changed his life forever. Listening to Gatsby, Nick is starting to remember something from the past, but cant quite remember what.

Research question

Why does Tom still looks for other women, when he has a women already, why cant he appriciate whats already good?

Vocabulary

inquire- to ask for information

laudable- deserving praise, even if there is little to no success.

initiative- a new plan or process to achieve something or solve aproblem.

meretricious- seeming attractive but really false or of little value.

steward- a person whose job it is to organize a particular event.

profoundly- deeply or extremely

evidently- in a way that is easy to see.

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Gatsby quits having his parties, and fires all of his servants. Nick in wonder asks whats going on, Gatsby says "Daisy comes over a lot in the afternoons and i needed someone who wouldn’t gossip." Gatsby and Daisy invite Nick over to Daisy’s house for lunch. It is the hottest day of the summer, Nick and Gatsby arrive at Daisy’s house. When Tom is out of the room, Daisy goes right up to Gatsby, kisses him and tells him she loves him. Then Daisy’s little girl comes in, her 3 year old daughter. Gatsby seems really surprised, almost like he didn’t believe she was real. The 5 of them - Tom, Daisy, Nick, Jordan and Gatsby all sit down for lunch and whole thing is kind of uneasy. Daisy is excited that Gatsby is at their house and Tom notices and he gets suspicious. Tom and Daisy deside that they’re all goning to the city for the afternoon to New York. Tom wants to drive Gatsby’s car, Rolls Royce. Gatsby doesn’t like that. Gatsby tries to convince him not to as theres not enough gas, but Tom answers with "Dont worry i’ll stop at a drug store." Daisy says shes gonna drive with Gatsby in her car, Tom you take Gatsby’s car and take Nick and Jordan. 2 cars speed off the afternoon. They drive upon the Valley of Ashes. Geirge Wilson comes to pump gas for them and he is looking rough. He tells Tom, "Myrtle and i are moving out to West." He has figured out that Myrtle is having an affair and thats why he wants to move. He hasn’t figured out that it’s Tom that Myrtle is seeing, but still, Tom is feeling agitated about this.

A couple of hours ago, everything was right in his worrld, and since thenn he’s figured out that Daisy is having an affair and his girlfriend is moving.

Five of them make it to the hotel and check in at Plaza Hotel, to make themselves some drinks. They open a window and they hear the wedding March, there is a wedding happening on the bottom floor of the hotel. Daisy remembers her wedding. They talk a little and Tom asks Gatsby about Oxford. Gatsby says he only was there for 5 months. Daisy tried ti intervene, but Toms not having it. He says to Gatsby "what kind of conflict are you trying to cause in my house?" Tom goes on this speech, on how nobody values family life anymore, nobody values marrige anymore. Nick is trying to hold it together and not laugh because of the hypocrisy. Daisy cannot stand this and interupts Tom and says,"You know what? I just wana go home" But it is too late. Gatsby stands up and tells Tom, "Your wife never loved you. She married you because i was poor, but it was a mistake and she never cared about you." Tom doesn’t believe him. Gatbsy tells Daisy,"Look at him and tell him you never loved him." Daisy tries, but she says,"I can’t say that I never loved Tom." Gatsby is shocked by this, but he keeps going. He says "Tom, Daisy is leaving you." Tom says "She’s not going to leave me for a common swindler." Tom reveals the investigations results, that Gatsby is a bootlegger, a criminal and that he has stuff going on, that’s so big, that his associates are even scared to talk about it. Gatsby is really shaken up to hear, that Tom knows all this and tries to deny all of this. Daisy is horrified, and says she wants to go home. Tom sends Daisy and Gatsby home in Gatsby’s car, he knows he has won the argument at this point.

As they went home Tom went to see George Willson and see his wife getting hit by a car, the car that hit her was the one who Gatsby was driving.

Research question

Why revenge and lies are a part of human doing? Why people do it?

Quote

 “Throw me down and beat me, you dirty little coward!” Myrtle said these words to Goerge right before running into the dark and getting hit by a car. Meaning that goerge was abusive to her.

Vocabulary

harrowing- extremely upsetting because connected with suffering.

combustion- the process of burning

awning- a cloth of plastic cover fastened to a building and supported by a frame from sun or rain.

cynically- in a way that shows you believe that people are only interested in themselves and are not sincere.

morbid- too interested in unpleasant subjects, especially death.

boisterously- in a noisy, energetic and rough way.

contingency- something that might possibly happen in the future.

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Nick hears Gatsby come home very early the next morning. Nick goes over to his house and says that police are going to be looking for his car. Gatsby should leave the town for a few days. Gatsby says "I can’t go anywhere without knowing what Daisy’s going to do."

Moment when Gatsby gives Nick his real history, Nick learns about Dan Cody, also tells how he met Daisy, how this relationship first came to be. He met Daisy during the war - 1917 in Lousville. Says Daisy was the first nice girl he has ever known. She’s also very appealing because she’s wealthy, and he knows a lot of other men are in love with her. Daisy falls for Gatsby too, but she doesn’t know that he is poor. Gatsby says he was kind of hiding behind is army uniform, maintaining this illusion that he was from a similar background to Daisy. Gatsby says he wasn’t expecting to fall in love and he feels bad because all of this was under false pretences. He’s let Daisy believe that he can take care of her that he’s in a position to commit. Their relationship lasts about a month before he leaves to Europe. Gatsby does very well during the war. Promoted quickly, becomes a major. And the whole time hes’s corresponding with Daisy back and forth, after the war ended he tried to get home, but he ended up in Oxford instead. As time goes on, Daisy’s letters start to change, becoming very doubtful. She’s not sure that waiting on him is the right thing to do, she doesn’t understand why he can’t come home. Then she meets Tom, and had to make a decision and so she got married. Gatsby got the letter while he was still in Oxford. He leaves, gets back to louisville but Daisy is already gone on her honeymoon. Gatsby is destroyed. Feels like he’s lost something very important that its gone forever. He tells Nick all of this during breakfast. Nick needs to get to work but feels bad for leaving Gatsby, and tells he needs to go but he would call him at noon. Gatsby agrees and says that Daisy will call too. Nick is doubtful of that. Before Nick goes he tells Gatsby. "They’re a rotten crowd. You are worth the whole bunch of them put together."

The next day, Gatsby waits outside Daisy's house, hoping she'll come to him, but she never does. Nic tries to convince him to leave, but Gatsby refuses, saying that he's waiting for the phone call from Daisy that will make everything right.

 Meanwhile, a man who is grieving his wife’s death believes that Gatsby is the one that killed his wife, even though it wasn’t true. 

Gatsby has gone down to the pool, Nick gets to his house and he’s got a bad feeling. Nick, the butler and the chauffeur, they all rush down to the pool where they find Gatsby’s body. Wilsons body is in the gass few feet away.

Research question

Who murdered who? And why didn’t the police come investigate Gatsby?

Vocabulary

extravaganza- a large, exciting, and expensive event or entertainment.

stratum- one of the parts of layers into witch something is separated.

redolent- smelling strongly of something or having qualities that make you think of something else.

ancestral- relating to members of your family from the past.

exasperated- annoyed, especially because you can do nothing to solve a problem.

scurried- to move quickly, with small, short steps

perceptible- that can be seen, heard or noticed.

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No one really cares about Gatsby after he's gone. Nick tries to reach out to people like Tom and Daisy, but they don’t even show up for the funeral. It’s like they didn’t care at all about him. The only people who came were : Nick Carraway, Gatsby's father Gatz and a few of Gatsby's servants.

Nick also talks to Jordan, but they end up parting ways because it turns out she’s engaged to another man.

Later that fall, Nick also comes across Tom, he tries to avoid him but Tom sees him and aproaches him. Nick finnaly asks "What did you say to Wilson? How did he get Gatsby's name?" Tom admits Goerge Wilson showed up the day after the accident. He showed up at Tom and Daisy's house as they were getting ready to leave town, Tom gave Wilson Gatsby's name. Nick goes to Gatsby's house one more time. The house is still comepletely empty and he spends some time there alone in the quiet thinking about the island itself. The green of the land, was so full of hope and promise. He says for Gatsby, the green light that he saw across the bay, that's what was full of hope and promise for him. Gatsby truly believed that the dream, the promise could be grasped. You could catch it if you just tried hard enough.

"So we beat on, boats against the current, born back ceaselessly into the past."

Research question

Even with paths crossing, the goal is not reachable. Wealth is more important then true love?

Vocabulary

adventitious- not expected or planned.

rapidly- in fast or sudden way.

solemn- serious and without any humour.

ceaselessly- in a way that does not stop, or seem to have no end.

partition- a vertical structure like a thin wall that separates one part of a room or building from another.

quivered- to shake slighly, often because of strong emotion.

reluctant- not willing to do something and therefore slow to do it.

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