Nick rents a small house in West Egg, with Gatsby's mansion on one side. What plot fact does this establish at the start?

At dinner in East Egg, the telephone keeps pulling Tom away from the table. What does Jordan tell Nick?

After the Buchanan dinner, Nick sees Gatsby stretching his arms toward a tiny green light across the water. What happens before Nick speaks to him?

On the train to New York, why does Tom make Nick get off before the city?

In Myrtle's New York apartment, she repeats Daisy's name until Tom reacts violently. What is the immediate consequence?

How does Nick end up at Gatsby's first party in Chapter 3?

Near the end of Gatsby's party, a coupe ends up in a ditch with one wheel off. What does the wreck show in the plot?

Daisy says she hopes her daughter will be a beautiful little fool. What does that line reveal about Daisy?

Myrtle changes into an elaborate dress in the apartment and her manner changes with it. What does this show about her motive?

George Wilson talks with Tom about the car Tom may sell him. What does their exchange show about their relationship?

Catherine says Tom and Myrtle cannot marry because Daisy is Catholic and does not believe in divorce. Why is this claim ironic?

Nick recalls a story that Jordan moved her ball in a golf tournament and calls her incurably dishonest. What does this do for their relationship?

Nick opens by recalling his father's advice to reserve judgment. What does this opening prepare readers to notice?

Nick says Gatsby turned out all right, even though Gatsby represented everything for which Nick has scorn. What narrative tension does this create?

At Gatsby's party, guests trade rumors that Gatsby killed a man or was a German spy. How does Nick's narration use these rumors?

Nick says he was within and without at Myrtle's apartment party, simultaneously enchanted and repelled. What point of view does that capture?

What social contrast does the novel establish between East Egg and West Egg in the first chapters?

Between the Eggs and New York, Nick describes the valley of ashes. What role does that setting play?

The huge eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg look over the valley of ashes. What are they literally?

When Nick first sees Gatsby reaching toward the green light, what does the image emphasize at that moment?

Owl Eyes is amazed that Gatsby's library books are real but have uncut pages. Which idea does the detail sharpen?

In Gatsby's blue gardens, guests come and go like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. What does the simile suggest?

Nick describes Tom with arrogant eyes and a cruel body that seems to lean aggressively forward. What does the diction stress?

Daisy and Jordan seem to float in the Buchanan sitting room as curtains blow around them. What tone does this airy imagery create?

In the valley of ashes, ashes grow like wheat into ridges, hills, and grotesque gardens. How does this imagery work?