Gatsby
Literary Terms
Essay Writing
Test-Taking Strategies
Shenanigans and Tomfoolery
100

The author of the novel

Who is F. Scott Fitzgerald?

100

Ex: Referring to Daisy's voice as money.

What is a metaphor?

100

A type of essay in which you are arguing a claim regarding a book or other similar media. Usually, the claim involves theme or other elements and devices. 

What is a literary analysis?

100
Refusing to do this on a reading test is a great way to get Mr. O'C to reconsider his career choices.

What is going back into the passage?

100

This is Mr. O'C's favorite book, and may just end up being his favorite movie if he can manage to go see it again. Amaze!

What is Project Hail Mary?

200

Examples of this might include the green light, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg, or the clock Gatsby almost breaks. 

What are symbols/what is symbolism?

200

Ex: Nick Carraway being the one to tell the story

What is first-person narration?

200

This is the most important sentence in any given essay.

What is the thesis statement?

200

On the ACT, SAT, or most English tests, this is something that is never smart to do, even if you have no idea what the answer is.

What is leaving it blank?

200

This is a term for a lot of the work I get from students who know who they are. It was also the Merriam- Webster 2025 word of the year.

What is slop/AI slop?

300

The infamous gambler that Gatsby does business with that leads Tom to believe his money was not made cleanly. 

Who is Meyer Wolfsheim?

300
Ex: The reader's awareness that Tom is upset over Myrtle's death because of their affair and is hardly even interested in harming Daisy over the Gatsby situation. Gatsby is not aware of the affair and therefore is far more concerned. 
What is dramatic irony?
300

This is the term for your works cited page with the addition of small paragraphs below each citation.

What is an annotated bibliography?

300

This is the act of crossing off what you know for sure is not right. 

What is process of elimination?

300

Forgive me because I'm employed, but I've been told this has tragically happened to the legendary ASU frat king.

What is framemogged?

400

The act of romanticizing the past or longing for a previous time. Something Gatsby is victimized by/entranced by...

What is nostalgia?

400

A logical fallacy in which the person argues that if their opponent gets their way, then a negative chain of events will occur as a result, but this chain lacks logic and evidence and is moreso used to provoke fear. 

What is the slippery slope fallacy?

400

The "academic standard" for essay formatting needs to include the following 3 things.

What are size 12, times new roman, and double spaced?

400

This is considered the hardest part of taking the ACT. Hint: it's not a specific section or type of question!

What is timing/pacing?

400

This is an example of a state where the largest city (by population) is also the capital city. Hint: This is not counting metropolitan areas, just the city within its limits!

What is Georgia, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Arizona, Ohio, West Virginia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Iowa, Oklahoma, Utah

500

This is what the symbol of Dr. Eckleburg's eyes represents specifically to George Wilson.

Who/what is God?

500

A logical fallacy in which the person doesn't directly address the argument. Instead, they use the opponent's argument to create a different issue that is much easier to attack, and attack that instead. 

What is the Straw Man Fallacy?

500

These are the three things your annotations should offer in an annotated bibliography.

What are summaries, things to show credibility, and descriptions of how the source supports the argument?

500

This is the rule for the ACT in which students can report their highest score for each section even if the test was taken multiple times. 

What is superscoring?

500

These are the 4 major North American sports teams Mr. O'C is a fan of:

Who are the Giants, Devils, Magic, and Rays? Buccaneers and Lightning are also acceptable responses since we have a split household.

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