Literary Elements Analysis Worksheet - Grade 11

Literary Elements Analysis

Read the following passage carefully. Then, answer the questions that follow, paying close attention to the literary elements at play.

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

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” He didn’t say any more, but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. It was an admonition to reserve all judgments, a habit that has had me in good stead, both in my provincial first year at college and since in my career as a bond man. A sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.

1. What literary element is primarily established in the opening paragraph of 'The Great Gatsby'?

2. Analyze the significance of the father's advice to the narrator. How does this advice contribute to the narrator's characterization and potential role in the story?

3. The phrase "A sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth" suggests a theme of   in the novel.

4. The narrator's mention of his "provincial first year at college" and "career as a bond man" helps establish the   of the story.

5. The narrator's father's advice encourages immediate judgment of others.

6. Discuss how the literary element of setting (time and place) might influence the themes and characters introduced in 'The Great Gatsby,' even based on this short excerpt.