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A very common essay prompt/discussion topic for The Great Gatsby is to have you compare and contrast a pair of characters in Gatsby. Why do teachers love these prompts so much?

These compare/contrast essays are an opportunity for you to tie the character similarities and differences to larger observations about society and class, the American Dream, or identity in the novel. They also allow you to practice standard English class skills: close reading, using lines from the text as evidence, and taking a stance and presenting a supporting argument in an essay.

We’ll go over some basic dos and don’ts for writing compare/contrast essays before diving into some analysis of the most asked-about character pairings. Keep reading if you have a Compare/Contrast assignment on the horizon!

Chapter 6 of The Great Gasby is a major turning point in the novel: after the magical happiness of Gatsby and Daisy's reunion ins Chapter 5, we start too see the cracks that will unravel the whole story. Possibly because of this shift in tone from buildup to letdown, this chapter underwent substantial rewrites late in the editing process, meaning Fitzgerald worked really hard to get it just right because of how key this part of the book is.

So read on to see how it all starts to fall apart in our full The Great Gatsby Chapter 6 summary. Gatsby and Daisy each try to integrate into the other one’s life, and both attempts go terribly. Gatsby can’t hang with the upper crust because he doesn’t understand how to behave despite his years crewing a millionaire’s yacht, and Daisy is repulsed by the vulgar rabble at Gatsby’s latest party. Recipe for eventual disaster? Absolutely.

Curious about the man who created The Great Gatsby? Did you know that some of the events of this novel are actually based on things that happened to F. Scott Fitzgerald himself? This article will give you a broad overview of Fitzgerald’s life, with a focus on the autobiographical details that he later worked into The Great Gatsby. 

Use this background on The Great Gatsby author to further deepen your understanding of the novel, to connect it with the historical period that it's describing, and to better analyze the motivations of the characters.

Most often, your first sense of a book is your reaction to its title. The best titles make novels sound mysterious, exciting, or interesting, attracting readers. Well-chosen titles also give readers a sense of what they can expect to find within the pages of the book.

At the same time, a title is usually an author’s way of declaring what is and isn’t important in the book. A title can reflect a work’s theme or focus, pointing out the right frame of mind for reading.

So how does the title of The Great Gatsby work? What is it showing us about the book that we are about to read - and how does our understanding of the title shift as we make our way through the story? Is Gatsby really great?

In this article, I’ll dissect the different meanings of this title and explain the other titles that Fitzgerald was considering when he was writing the book.

The Great Gatsby takes place during a time that's now known as the Jazz Age or the Roaring 20s. Wondering what the world was like when Jay Gatsby struck it rich in bootlegging? Curious to see how much Daisy and Myrtle's struggle for more echoes the lives of real women? Interested in the other ways that The Great Gatsby era matters to the plot of the novel? 

This article will guide you through the historical, economic, and social movements of the 1920's as they relate to events, themes, and characters in The Great Gatsby.

Because The Great Gatsby is nine chapters long, getting to Chapter 5 means that we’ve arrived in the exact middle of the story. Thus, it makes sense that this chapter takes a single event - Daisy and Gatsby’s perfectly romantic reunion - and uses it to both tie together everything that has been set up so far, and also to create such a delicate balance of safety and happiness that it’s clear that everything will soon crumble.

But before the bubble of love pops, enjoy the world’s most magical, most carefully planned “accidental” date.

There's a reason why magazines regularly put together lists of the greatest first lines in all of literature: book openings make a huge impression on readers. How a book starts helps us orient in the world that the book is creating.

First, it gives us our first idea of the narrator, and the type of narration we're going to encounter. Will it be a breathy first-person confession? Or a cool and detached third-person observation?

Second, it introduces the setting, letting us know where and when the story takes place - which is very important for modulating reader expectations. What we think about two people kissing in prim and proper Victorian England will be very different than what we think about the same couple in modern day Canada.

So what does the beginning of The Great Gatsby reveal? Read on for the meaning of this work's epigraph, its opening line, and its beginning paragraphs.

Fresh from the world of organized parties that we saw in Chapter 3, now we dive head-first into the world of organized crime. In The Great Gatsby Chapter 4, our narrator Nick gets a short private audience with one of New York's premier gangsters - Meyer Wolfshiem, Gatsby's business partner. But, just as Chapter 4 exposes the seamy side of get-rich-quick East Coast life, we also learn the origin story of Gatsby's love for Daisy.

So, basically: come to The Great Gatsby Chapter 4 for human teeth as jewelry, stay for the thwarted romance.

To figure out which year of high school academics is the most important, it helps to think of high school as a marathon.

In order to win a marathon, of course you have to run the whole time—if you stop running, then lots of other people will pass you. But because you're human, when you're running a marathon, you can't really run at the same speed the whole timed. Instead, you learn to pace yourself early on, and then really bust out your best sprint when it counts—at the finish line.

So which part of high school is that all-out sprinting finish line? Read on for our answer.

Chances are, you've heard the phrase "rigorous course load" before. You probably even know that this is something colleges really look for in applications for admission.

So how can you ensure that your high school course load is rigorous or challenging enough? How do you balance this with getting a good GPA? How do you balance the need for rigor with your limitations, extracurricular interests, family and friends, and desire to not overwhelm yourself?

Read on for our advice on choosing between harder classes and more classes, and harder classes and better grades. We also go over how many AP classes and electives you should take.

Just as there are noteworthy examples of excellent college essays that admissions offices like to publish, so are there cringe-worthy examples of terrible college essays that end up being described by anonymous admissions officers on Reddit discussion boards.

While I won't guarantee that your essay will end up in the first category, I will say that you follow my advice in this article, your essay most assuredly won't end up in the second. How do you avoid writing a bad admissions essay? Read on to find out what makes an essay bad and to learn which college essay topics to avoid. I'll also explain how to recognize bad college essays—and what to do to if you end up creating one by accident.

If you've been sitting in front of a blank screen, unsure of exactly how to start a personal statement for college, then believe me—I feel your pain. A great college essay introduction is key to making your essay stand out, so there's a lot of pressure to get it right.

Luckily, being able to craft the perfect beginning for your admissions essay is just like many other writing skills—something you can get better at with practice and by learning from examples.

In this article, I'll walk you through exactly how to start a college essay. We'll cover what makes a great personal statement introduction and how the first part of your essay should be structured. We'll also look at several great examples of essay beginnings and explain why they work, how they work, and what you can learn from them.

Are you worried that your college plans will be derailed by an underwhelming GPA? Don't be discouraged and don't give up on your dream of college! You can still go to a great school, even if you have a low GPA.

Whether you are just starting high school or already at the application stage, read on to see the many things you can do to either raise your GPA, boost the rest of your application, explain your circumstances, or even find an alternate route to a degree.

Do you need to print out some graph paper for an assignment, a project, or just for fun? Are you curious about the different types and what they're used for? Then you've come to the right place to browse and print out whatever graph paper you need!

The most basic answer to the question of how many pounds in a ton? There are 2000 pounds in a ton.

Still feel confused? You're not alone. But why is the ton a measurement that no one ever quite understands or remembers? This conversion is endlessly confusing because a ton can refer to 11 different forms of measurement.

In this article, I’ll explain exactly what a ton is, what it measures, and how to convert tons to pounds. I'll go into the differences between a ton, a metric ton, and several other kinds of tons. And finally, I'll give you a brief history of this often mixed up and misused unit of measurement.