Blog Topic #1: Rhetorical Strategies

·         Alliteration: "romantic readiness" (6).

·         Repetition: "old sport" (52).

·         Oxymoron: "jovial condescension" (54).

·         Simile: "At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete" (Fitzgerald 117).

·         Personification: "From the ballroom beneath, muffled and suffocating chords were drifting up on hot waves of air" (139).

·         Parallelism: "Doubtless there was a certain struggle and a certain relief" (159).

·         Anadiplosis: "...because no one else was interested―interested, I mean, with that intense personal interest to which everyone has some vague right at the end" (172).

            Throughout The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald relies upon the reader to engage in revealing the rumors and truths about Gatsby, much like a detective, into chronological order. Repeatedly, he includes rhetorical strategies that convey his personal, affectionate writing style that parallels the early 1920's, when the novel takes place. After five long years of separation and doubt filling Gatsby's , and former lover, Daisy's,  minds, Gatsby easily recalls the long-desired moment when they first kissed and reiterates to Nick that "At his lips' touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete" (117). Fitzgerald incorporates a multitude of similes that help to embellish the reader's imagination and subtly convey Gatsby's extensive loneliness that he struggled to fill with large parties. Although, at times, Fitzgerald can be obscure and intentionally unorganized in his  arrangement of events, he is able to effectively exemplify the emotions that fill the room at all times with his descriptive personification, "From the ballroom beneath, muffled and suffocating chords were drifting up on hot waves of air" (139).  By simply incorporating what the music sounded like, Fitzgerald illustrates the lengthy awkwardness generated when Tom begins to question Daisy whether she ever loved him or not. After Gatsby's death, Nick, the main character, finds himself "surprised and confused"(172) and  thought to himself, "I was responsible because no one else was interested―interested, I mean, with that intense personal interest to which everyone has some vague right at the end" (172). The inclusion of this anadiplosis provides an intimacy of Nick's thoughts to the reader, which Fitzgerald continuously aims to address.  It is here that Fitzgerald reveals the truth about what he thought of the 1920's, everyone striving for happiness but somehow landing just short of it and for some, like Gatsby, this meant dying alone.

Blog Topic #2: Diction

            The Great Gatsby, a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is said to be "an American masterpiece" partly  because of Fitzgerald's ability to convey the character's thoughts and feelings toward the events that occur with his expressive word choice. Most often, Fitzgerald establishes tone through the thoughts of his narrator, Nick, who possesses a widespread amount of curiosity about his next door neighbor, Gatsby. Full of admiration in Gatsby, Nick uses a combination of concrete and abstract diction to describe his first thoughts about Gatsby: "gorgeous," "intricate," and "extraordinary" (6).  Nick's flowery word choice calls attention to Fitzgerald's adorning tone toward Gatsby, and to some extent foreshadows Nick's growing interest in Gatsby. Later on, after establishing a closer relationship with Gatsby, Nick begins to feel that he was "bizarre," "sinister," and "somber" (69). With this elevated, yet abstract diction, Fitzgerald reveals a solemn, condescending tone in which Gatsby is portrayed to believe himself to be superior to all others. After Gatsby's death, Nick finally understands the struggles Gatsby faced to reach happiness; when searching for Gatsby's close relatives and friends he realizes that he had acquired a "defiance" for everyone and  mirrored Gatsby's feelings of "scornful solidarity" (173) toward those who were not the least bit lugubrious. The parallel of Nick's emotions and Gatsby's former emotions reveals a disdainful tone toward those who do not appreciate the happiness they possess. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald illuminates a range of tones, however, repeatedly, he bridges back to the idea that every person has their own faults therefore evoking a rather hateful tone. However, through Nick's criticisms about characters that employ a rather harsh tone, Fitzgerald teaches us that everyone has minor faults but it is up to us whether or not we dwell over them.

Blog Topic #3: Syntax

·         "He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity" (97).

            After a dreadful five years of waiting to see Daisy again, the day has finally came, and while Gatsby gives Daisy a tour of his house, Nick follows closely behind. Nick's thoughts start to wander off and he realizes that Gatsby has longed for this day for such an extensive amount of time that his hopes for their reunion had become unfathomable. Fitzgerald's long, fragmented sentence expresses Gatsby's time-consuming search for happiness. The sentence structure leads the reader to identify the anguish that Gatsby has suffered through, revealing a sorrowful tone. By using commas to separate fragments, Fitzgerald is able to mirror Gatsby's experience of long-awaited pleasure while at the same time allow for clarity through his sentences. This slow-paced sentence is intended to provoke pity for Gatsby, for he had waited so long to endure bliss yet even now with Daisy in front of him,  his expectations do not live up to reality.

·         "But with every word she was drawing further and further into herself, so he gave that up and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily, undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the town" (142).

             This long, choppy sentence starts off with a fast pace and shifts into a slower, more dramatic one. By doing so, Fitzgerald effectively portrays Daisy's clear thoughts and shifts into Gatsby's reestablished agony out of realization that he cannot bring back the past. This syntactical sentence further elucidates a somber tone that becomes more apparent toward the end of the novel. In addition to this, the sentence reveals the theme of "The Decline of the American Dream;" the inclusion of "dead dream" suggests that Gatsby's dream of contentment with Daisy is "no longer tangible" because although Daisy once loved Gatsby, she would be crazy to leave Tom for him.

Blog Topic #4: Text Connections

           The central theme in the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is one of unending hope.  Fitzgerald goes to great lengths to illustrate one individual’s specific journey of hope but also uses symbolism throughout the story to highlight this general condition of the human race.  The Great “Jay” Gatsby is a, “poor son-of-a-bitch” (183) whose sole focus and motivation in life is to become successful enough to win back the love of a girl. Daisy loved him at an earlier age but he never felt worthy of her affection.  Fitzgerald introduces Gatsby very early in the story but only as a very mysterious figure. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, has just spotted Gatsby “But I didn’t call to him for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness” (25-26).  Unknowingly, Nick was glaring at the green light that represented Gatsby’s aspiration to attain a brighter future. A text-to-world connection can be made, in comparison with Gatsby’s view of the light, to a green light over a body of water that has throughout time represented hope to mariners from far distant ages.  Later in the novel, the green light is referenced again as Gatsby and Daisy are reunited after five years apart.  While touring his Mansion Gatsby notes, “if  it wasn’t for the mist we could see your home across the bay”, “you always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock…Daisy put her arm through his abruptly but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said.  Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever.  Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her, almost touching her.  It had seemed as close as a star to the moon.  Now it was again a green light on a dock.  His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one” (98).  This represents the diminishment of hope.  It’s as if the thought of attaining happiness by gaining Daisy’s love is greater than her love itself.  Hope often exists in that state for humans—larger than life. Once again, a text-to-world connection can be made to a mariner as he approaches a safe harbor. The green channel marker is just a light in the darkness, but when visualized in a storm it seems to be a great unattainable symbol of survival.  The narrator reflects at the end of the story, after Gatsby had come so close to realizing his dream only to fall short and die alone, “And as I sat there, brooding on the old unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock…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” (189).  Not only is the green light a text-to-world connection but it is also a text-to-text connection because of its reoccurring presence throughout the novel. Overall, the green light can be connected to the human races unending endeavor for safety and happiness. 

Blog Topic #5: Personal Review

        Fitzgerald stated in 1920 that "An author ought to write for the youth of his generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward" (ix); I believe he has done just so in The Great Gatsby. I find it ironic that while the assignment to read this book came from  my "schoolmaster," as a "youth," reading it generations after it was written, I was completely captivated.  Fitzgerald's ability to capture a period in time instantly transported me to where I felt I was a 1920's contemporary. The feelings and interactions between characters are not so distant from those exhibited by my peers, on the other side of the country, almost a century later. Although not necessarily a good thing, I found it easy to relate certain qualities of numerous characters to those of my friends. You don't have to search too far in South Orange County, in 2012, to find someone with the cocky confidence of Jordan, or the entitlement attitude of Daisy. The manner in which Fitzgerald slowly reveals the background of Nick's "time in the east"―bouncing between present time and memories, exposing only pieces of the whole story―kept me intrigued and anxious until all was disclosed. At first, this was not enjoyable and I found it hard to follow Fitzgerald's unique writing style with numerous flashbacks.  I found myself reading a paragraph, flipping back pages to a previous chapter and sorting through the bits and pieces as he slowly offered the whole story.  However, with time, I found myself absorbed in the task of solving the puzzle of The Great Gatsby and refused to put it down.  Truly, a timeless read.