Analyzing Character: Grade 11 ELA Worksheet
This worksheet helps Grade 11 students analyze character development, motivations, and relationships in literary texts.
Includes
Standards
Topics
Analyzing Character: Grade 11 ELA
Name:
Date:
Score:
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. Pay close attention to the character's actions, dialogue, thoughts, and how other characters perceive them to analyze their motivations and development.
Passage from 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Excerpt)
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning— So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. His voice was a low, pleasant murmur, and he smiled at me with an understanding that went beyond words. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced—or seemed to face—the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey. Precisely at that point it vanished—and I was looking at an elegant young roughneck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd. Sometime before he introduced himself I’d got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care. His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed. And then there was the smile itself, or rather the quality of the smile, which was not quite right.
1. Based on the passage, what is the most prominent characteristic of Gatsby's smile?
It is overtly deceptive, designed to trick others.
It conveys a profound sense of understanding and reassurance.
It is a sign of his deep sadness and regret.
It suggests a lack of genuine emotion.
2. The narrator's description of Gatsby as an "elegant young roughneck" suggests what about his character?
He is a man of refined taste who has overcome a difficult past.
He possesses both sophistication and a hint of a less polished background.
His elegance is a façade, masking true vulgarity.
He is a wealthy individual who is secretly involved in illegal activities.
3. The phrase "elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd" suggests Gatsby is trying to project an image of .
4. The narrator's observation that Gatsby's smile "was not quite right" implies a sense of or insincerity.
5. How does the narrator's initial impression of Gatsby's smile evolve throughout the description, and what does this evolution reveal about Gatsby's character?
6. Analyze the significance of the opening lines: "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us." What does this tell us about his fundamental desires and worldview?
7. The narrator immediately trusts Gatsby's sincerity based on his smile.
True
False
8. Gatsby's voice is described as consistently gentle and soothing, without any hint of roughness.
True
False
9. In a well-developed paragraph, discuss how Fitzgerald uses indirect characterization (through the narrator's observations and descriptions) to create a complex and somewhat enigmatic portrayal of Jay Gatsby in this passage. Refer to specific textual evidence to support your analysis.