Rhetorical Strategies

Blog # 1: Rhetorical Strategies

           

• Imagery: “Absolutely real-have pages and everything. I thought they’d be a nice durable cardboard. Matter of fact, they’re absolutely real” (30).

When Nick is invited to Gatsby’s house for a party, he and Jordan Baker encounter the “owl-eyed man.” He sits there, mumbling to himself in astonishment because the books in the library are “absolutely real [with] pages and everything.” The image that Gatsby is trying to portray is merely a façade; he does not want people to see him for what he truly is, which is a fraud. This is similar to how he tells everyone that he went to Oxford, but he is simply hiding the fact that he gets his money through crime. The books are also seen to represent Gatsby himself; the pages are untold since they have been unopened, similar to Gatsby’s own life.

• Paradox: “I came into her room… and found her lying on her bed as lovely as the June night in her flowered dress—and as drunk as a monkey” (76).

The insertion of the abrupt statement “and as drunk as a money” after the hyphen contradicts her outward disposition of being “as lovely as the June night.” Daisy in her flowered dress is simply her appearance, while being as drunk as a monkey displays her internal distress that has been caused by her conflicting love relations.

• Symbolism/Allusion: “Standing behind him, Michaelis saw with a shock that he was looking at the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, which had just emerged, pale and enormous, from the dissolving night” (128).

A biblical allusion can be made with Eckleburg. The eyes of the doctor or portrayed as being the eyes of God, which explain why Michaelis was so shocked. They are described as being enormous, which is how Christ was commonly depicted so that they were they eyes that looked into heaven. Eckleburg serves as the Christ Pantokrator, the overseer and all-knowing ruler of all.

• Cacophony: “By midnight the hilarity had increased. A celebrated tenor had sung in Italian, and a notorious contralto had sung in jazz, and between the numbers people were doing “stunts” all over the garden, while happy, vacuous bursts of laughter rose toward the summer sky” (37).

The loud, chaotic scenery mirrors that of Fitzgerald’s style. He includes, throughout the book, usually when there are heated arguments, many cacophonies that add to the suspense of the scene. In this example, they depict the people singing in jazz, which is appropriate since it was the Jazz Age. The raucous that is present here reflects the West Egg Aristocracy that does not value the self-made man or individual pursuit of happiness; they only value pursuit of happiness through alcohol. The loud and obnoxious scene of drunken people solidifies the recurring them of the decadence of moral and social values as well.

Diction: Elevated and Grotesque.

Blog # 2: Diction

·       Throughout The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald utilizes elegant and over-the-top diction that portrays the high-class society that belongs to the “Egg” divisions. Nick Carraway, the narrator, displays his formal diction when he describes Jay Gatsby: "The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty” (95). The words “platonic” and “meretricious” connote a sense of higher education that the aristocracy of the time would say to establish a tone of utmost superiority. The word meretricious describes itself, gaudy and flashy and bogus. The language used clearly reflects the different social classes, as they differentiate between the levels of wealth.

·       Fitzgerald successfully creates a negative atmosphere when describing the valley of ashes. He not only employs diction, but he also incorporates figurative language to depict the devastation that is the valley of ashes. As Nick drives from East Egg to West Egg, he sees the valley of ashes and describes it as being a “grotesque garden” (19). The juxtaposition of grotesque gardens creates negating connotations. The narrator is painting the picture of a desolate, hideous garden that is essentially dividing two types of aristocracy (the East and West Egg). This further reveals Nick’s outward disdain towards this land that is left degraded by the industrial, urban society that is in moral decay.

·       The female primary protagonist is Daisy Buchanan, who eventually has an affair with Gatsby. Gatsby, as would any male be, has a natural affinity towards her, most likely caused by her voice that can be so enticing. Jay Gatsby describes her voice as being “full of money” (118). Stating that she is full of money has a positive connotation, as it creates the image that her voice chimes and clinks while exposing her obsession with wealth. Fitzgerald typifies her in this way to show why Gatsby constantly tries to impress her with parties that display his wealth. Furthermore, her mouth full of money lends itself to a sense, or tone, of assurance that she is financially stable and has high ranks on the societal level. 

Syntax

Blog # 3: Syntax

·      “He literally glowed; without a word or gesture of exultation a new well-being radiated from him and filled the little room” (87).

Gatsby, after many years, is finally reuniting with Daisy, his long lost love and the girl he has been attempting to allure by throwing lavish parties. At the start, Gatsby is hesitant and is concerned with the fact that Daisy might have lost her love for him. To his delight, Gatsby learns that Daisy returns these mutual feelings of love. Gatsby is overjoyed, and the sentence displays it clearly with the employment of the semicolon. The semicolon serves to disconnect his joyous state of mind, beginning with “He literally glowed,” to bring it to the readers main focus that he is now surging with love and happiness, as described in what follows the semicolon. Normally, Nicks attitude towards Gatsby is ambivalent and doubtful, but in this instance, he can not help but write of Gatsby’s newfound love with nostalgia since it is one of the few times that he admires him

·      “I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone-he stretched out his arms towards the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glance seaward-and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of the dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness” (15).

While Nick is returning home, he catches sight of Gatsby in the darkness. The sentences are complex and compound-complex, allowing for the passage to have fluidity, which emphasizes the dreaminess of the situation and the mysteriousness of Gatsby. The hyphen utilized is indicative of a pause and expands Nick’s illusionary thoughts regarding the green light, which represents money. Here, the tone is seen as calm, curious, and quiet, almost resembling a psychedelic experience.

·      “I must have stood for a few moments listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the groan of a picture on the wall. Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room and the curtains and rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor” (13).

While Nick is visiting Tom and Daisy, he describes a sudden chaotic moment. The second sentence of the two is compound and is composed of a polysyndeton. The compound sentence serves to illustrate Nick’s constant rambling thoughts as he goes on to portray the transition in scene. Firstly, upon meeting Daisy, he is in tune with his surroundings as her hears the “whip and snap,” creating somewhat of a nervous, curious tone, which should be expected since Tom enters. The appearance of Tom, seen in the compound sentence, signals a transition in the tone, as his dull personality radiates throughout the room since the chaotic feelings of the scene have vanished, and the only feelings lingering are that of force and harshness, seen with the “boom” in the entry of Tom.

Personal Opinion

Blog # 5: Personal Review

            Known as the “Great American Novel,” The Great Gatsby, is Fitzgerald’s literature at its finest. As I soon came to realize, the book was not centralized on a complex love story, but instead on the decay of traditional values that the American Dream had once embraced. It is essentially a story of love thwarted by greed, hypocrisy, cynicism, materialism, and battling of social classes. While the story was eloquently composed of elevated syntax, the high levels of pessimism were much less appreciated. The plot itself is well written and well executed, and Fitzgerald does a superb job at taking the reader deep into the novel so as to make it a first hand experience. This may be true, but a majority of the plot was dull and dreary, making it a book that would be better suited as a beach read rather than one required by the school district. That being said, I can see that the novel’s rich language and syntactical composition lends itself to be a timeless classic. While I may have never met any people like those depicted in the novel, I felt that I, to some extent, personally knew the characters since they were so well portrayed. Equally important is the fact that with all the attributes of the characters, readers could make connections with them.

            Other aspects of the novel that were enjoyed were its historical significance. The time period of the novel is basically represented in the following quote: “Gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession.” Fitzgerald did tie this idea into his novel, especially seen in Jay Gatsby’s parties and other characters’ complex, confusing romances. What I particularly enjoyed most about the book was its significance in the fact that it served as a transitional piece of literature crafted to represent the first depiction of the “Lost Generation,” or generation of people overly obsessed with money and materialistic culture.

            Arguably the most frustrating aspect of the novel was its conclusion. The end was incredibly predictable and cliché with the murder of one of the many people involved in the affairs. Does this novel need be suggested to others? Truthfully, yes. There are countless books today that lack the language, syntax, and importance that is in The Great Gatsby, but, to be honest, it will most likely be left on my bookshelf to collect dust.

Text Connection

Blog # 4: Text Connection

Instant Gratification versus Postponed Gratification

            F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, is scripted with certain characters that represent the book’s motifs. One such character, Tom Buchanan, displays great levels of impatience when interacting with other characters. Fitzgerald makes many text-to-world connections in order to connect Tom’s impatience with that of today’s society. The modern world is constantly demanding, like Tom’s attitude, and we desire things instantaneously. Take for example the ability to download media. The Internet allows us to transfer and buy songs, movies, and books within ten minutes. This idea of instant gratification consequently leads to impatience, as society becomes easily aggravated without this access. Society’s dependence on technology and Tom’s dependence on wealth signify the moral decay of his time and ours, as well as the end to what was the American Dream. Cleary, Society’s impatience mirrors that of Tom’s in that it captures the decadence of the American Dream. Tom lives in an era with an over abundance of materialism and prosperity, similar to that of ours, thus indicating the end to the famous time period of new discovery and individual pursuit of happiness. Seeing that both Tom and today’s people share equal settings, in terms of goals and social corruption, the causes for his impatience and ours can be considered the same.