The Great Gatsby — A Level Student Guide
The Great Gatsby — A Level Student Guide
Details
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is one of the defining novels of twentieth-century American literature — a powerful exploration of love, wealth, ambition, class, identity and the elusive American Dream.
Set in the glittering but morally unstable world of 1920s New York, the novel follows narrator Nick Carraway as he becomes fascinated by his mysterious neighbour, Jay Gatsby. Behind Gatsby’s spectacular parties and extraordinary wealth lies an obsessive dream: to recover his relationship with Daisy Buchanan and recreate an idealised past.
This comprehensive Coleman’s Notes® A Level Student Guide takes students beyond plot knowledge into the close literary analysis, interpretation and critical argument required for advanced study.
Inside this 64-page guide: detailed Plot Summary; chapter-by-chapter analysis of all nine chapters; character studies and relationship map; extended analysis of Gatsby, Nick, Daisy, Tom, Jordan, Myrtle and George Wilson; the American Dream; class and social division; love, desire and possession; time, memory and the past; carelessness and responsibility; identity and self-invention; appearance and reality; isolation; Aspects of Tragedy; symbolism and imagery; narrative method and the reliability of Nick Carraway; structure and time; historical and cultural context; A Level literary methods; critical perspectives; key quotations with analysis; fifteen key episodes; ten critical debates; five essay plans; five model answers; additional practice essay questions; 25 Exam & Revision Questions; exam technique guidance; revision toolkit; thirty Quick-Recall Questions with answers; and a final revision checklist.
Particular attention is given to Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway, examining how Fitzgerald uses Nick’s retrospective narration to construct Gatsby simultaneously as romantic dreamer, self-created millionaire, criminal outsider and modern tragic protagonist.
The guide also provides substantial analysis of Daisy and Tom Buchanan, Jordan Baker, Myrtle and George Wilson, showing how their relationships illuminate Fitzgerald’s treatment of privilege, gender, social mobility, desire and responsibility.
Dedicated sections examine Gatsby and the American Dream, Nick and the problem of reliability, women and gender, colour and symbolic networks, settings as moral geography, and five different approaches to tragedy.
Designed specifically for A Level English Literature study and revision, this premium guide helps students move from knowledge of the novel towards confident, sustained literary argument.
Individual Student Guide — £7.95
UNDERSTAND • ANALYSE • REVISE • SUCCEED
Coleman’s Notes® is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by AQA, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s publishers or other rights holders.