Help your 11th grade ELA students move beyond simply understanding The Great Gatsby and begin analyzing how Fitzgerald creates meaning through his language and literary choices.

This Chapter 1 Close Reading activity features three carefully selected passages from Chapter 1, each followed by scaffolded questions that guide students from interpreting Fitzgerald's words to analyzing characterization, literary devices, and larger meaning.

Students then bring their observations together in a chapter synthesis question, giving them practice using multiple pieces of textual evidence to develop an interpretation.

What's Included

3 carefully selected Chapter 1 passages
Scaffolded close-reading questions for each passage
Questions focused on:
- Interpretation
- Characterization
- Diction and imagery
- Figurative language
- Narrator's perspective
- Fitzgerald's authorial choices
Chapter synthesis question
Student printable PDF
Teacher answer key
Teacher instruction page
Google Docs digital version
Easy-to-follow directions for assigning the digital version

What Students Will Analyze

Students closely examine passages that introduce important ideas about:

Nick Carraway's perspective and outlook
Nick's claim that he “reserves judgment”
The limits of Nick's tolerance
Tom Buchanan's characterization
Fitzgerald's use of physical description and metaphor
Daisy Buchanan's voice and influence
The tension between Nick's stated beliefs and the judgments he makes

Rather than simply identifying literary devices, students are asked to consider how Fitzgerald's choices create meaning and what those choices reveal about the characters and narrator.

Scaffolded for Literary Analysis

Each passage follows a progression from understanding → interpreting → analyzing. Students first examine what Fitzgerald is saying, then consider what the passage reveals, and finally analyze how Fitzgerald's language contributes to the larger meaning.

The final synthesis asks students to connect the three passages and develop a broader interpretation of Nick as a narrator.

Digital + Printable

The resource includes both a printable PDF and a Google Docs version, making it easy to use for:

Whole-class close reading
Independent practice
Partner work
Homework
Guided literary analysis
Test or essay preparation
Digital or paper-based instruction

English Enclave