Gatsby Multiple Choice Practice

1. Gatsby Multiple Choice Practice

2. Passage 1 B C A D D B A Passage 2 C A D B D E C Correct Answers--Passage 1

3. Exam Corrections • Score and chart yourself • With a partner, do exam corrections for all questions you missed • At the end, we’ll discuss why each answer is correct

4. Please take out a different colored pen from the color you did your exam corrections with • As we go through the correct answers and the rationale behind them, add notes to your exam correction paper • Your grade on this MC practice will be a combination of your independent work and how much you take from this discussion

5. Passage 1#1 (B) Generalize • The phrase “one of those men” makes clear that Tom is not unique in having reached his “peak” at an early age. He is only one of a general class of such men.

6. #2 (C) paradox • Nick describes the Buchanans as “two old friends” he “scarcely knew at all.” These two seemingly contradictory phrases present a paradox.

7. #3 (A) adjectives • Nick uses the adjectives “hard,” “supercilious, arrogant, enormous and cruel” to convey his attitude that Tom is a somewhat threatening figure.

8. #4 (D) conversations responses of other characters • Other characters do not respond to Tom in conversation. There is direct narrative comment (“There was a touch of paternal contempt in it”). Tom’s actions are described (“Turning me around by one arm…”). His own words (“I’ve got a nice place here”) reveal his character, as does the physical description of Tom in the fifth paragraph.

9. #5 (D) hyperbole • There is no hyperbole evident. The house is described using color imagery, “wine-colored rug,” metaphor “frosted wedding cake of the ceiling,” simile, “like pale flags,” and onomatopoeia, “whip and snap.”

10. #6 (B) metonymy • In a metonymy, the name of a thing is replaced by the name of something closely associated with it. In this case, it is the dresses which “ballooned slowly to the floor,” but the narrator says the women “ballooned slowly…”

11. #7 (A) sympathy and censure • The narrator seems sympathetic toward Tom and Daisy, describing them as old friends and recalling his college days with Tom and Tom’s desire for Nick’s approval. However, in his description of Tom’s childish seeking of some “irrecoverable football game” and certainly in his description of Tom in the 5-7th paragraphs, there is an element of censure.

12. Passage 2#8 (C) understandable • Catherine implies that “living over that garage” has been difficult for Myrtle and that it is surprising that in eleven years, Myrtle has not had other “sweeties.”

13. #9 (A) paradoxical • Nick describes himself in seemingly contradictory terms: “within and without,” “enchanted and repelled.”

14. #10 (D) II and III only • The only reason Myrtle gives for thinking her husband is not “fit to lick my shoe” is that he did not own his own suit, and she began her affair with the brutish Tom when she was drawn to his “dress suit and patent leather shoes.” This focus on the superficial reveals Myrtle’s lack of a sense of proportion and values. Likewise, her random listing of the trivial “cute little ashtrays” with the serious “black solid bow for mother’s grave” reveals this lack. Pointing at Nick during her story about her husband does not serves the same purpose.

15. #11 (B) Nick wiping the lather from Mr. McKee’s cheek • Nick’s gesture serves as one small way of cleaning up a mess and restoring order in the midst of this chaotic evening. All of the other choices--a sleeping guest, a groaning dog, random coming and going, the argument between Tom and Myrtle--fit in with and contribute to the chaotic atmosphere.

16. #12 (D) class consciousness • Tom breaks Myrtle’s nose because he does not believe she has “any right to mention Daisy’s name.” Myrtle, the wife of a garage owner, is not fit to speak of Daisy, who is Tom’s social equal. The fact that Tom flaunts his affair with Myrtle in public and receives phone calls from her at home make clear that he is not tenderly concerned for Daisy’s honor. The issue is Myrtle’s rights, not Daisy’s honor.

17. #13 (E) dispassionate • Nick simply reports the details of the violence and its aftermath in a straightforward manner. There is not hint of his personal reaction.

18. #14 (C) I and II only • The final paragraphs, which jump from scene to scene erratically, are as chaotic as the party and reflect the drunken state of the narrator, which was made explicit earlier in the chapter. However, the actions (the ride in the elevator, tucking Mr. McKee into bed, and Nick’s awakening in the train station) are presented in sequence.

19. Let’s score and chart our paper • # answered - the # correct • Multiply # wrong x .25 • # correct - # wrong • Take answer from #3 and divide by the total # of questions (14)

20. Please staple your exam correction sheet to the FRONT of the MC practice and place in the turn-in tray