Citing Textual Evidence Worksheet

Citing Textual Evidence: Grade 11 ELA

Read the passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. For each answer, you must cite specific textual evidence to support your claims.

Passage from 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves on the trees, and the blue gardens of Gatsby’s house, and the orchestra playing on the casual innuendo and the constant flicker of men and girls going and coming with the current of the four winds, and the stars shining, and the cars and the voices and the laughter, from the island to the sea, we all bent to the indefatigable rhythm of the city. I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life. As the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes—a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder."

1. What is the narrator's initial feeling about the scene at Gatsby's house? How does this feeling evolve as the moon rises? Provide textual evidence to support your answer.

2. Analyze the significance of the phrase "a fresh, green breast of the new world." What does this imagery suggest about the setting and its historical context? Support your analysis with evidence from the text.

1. Which of the following phrases best captures the narrator's conflicted perspective on the events at Gatsby's house?

2. The phrase "commensurate to his capacity for wonder" primarily refers to:

1. The narrator describes being "within and without,   by the inexhaustible variety of life."

2. The vanished trees that had made way for Gatsby's house had once pandered in whispers to the   of all human dreams.

Discuss how Fitzgerald uses imagery and diction in this passage to convey themes of the American Dream, nostalgia, and the impact of human development on nature. Provide at least three pieces of textual evidence to support your claims.