Marking Scheme - Examinations.ie

The Great Gatsby (ii)
(ii) “Readers often find aspects of The Great Gatsby attractive but ultimately the world of
the novel is not admirable.”
Discuss this view, supporting your answer with suitable reference to the text.
Mark ex 60 by reference to the criteria for assessment using the following breakdown of marks.
P 18
C 18
L 18
M 6
60 marks A+ B C D E-
100% 60 – 51 42 33 24 23 – 0
30% 18 – 16 13 10 8 7 – 0
10% 6 – 5 4 3 3 2 – 0
Candidates are free to agree and/or disagree with this view, but they should focus on more than one
aspect of the novel that they find attractive/unattractive and whether they find/do not find the world
of the novel admirable (though not necessarily equally).
Code AA +/– for attractive/unattractive aspects of the novel
Code WA +/– for the world of the novel is/is not admirable
Possible points:
- Jay Gatsby’s story represents the ultimate romantic/delusional dream
- initial glowing images/symbols are gradually modulated
- readers become aware of the moral wasteland beneath the attractive veneer
- sympathetic characters counterbalance the biting social satire
- Gatsby’s enigmatic character is attractive/shallow
- tensions between the utopian and materialistic versions of the American Dream Etc.
18