Blog Topic #5: Personal Review:

            The novel The Great Gatsby is interesting and captivating, it really allows the reader to become part of the story and see the lives of these fortunate New Yorkers from the eyes of a not so fortunate man working in the bond business. Nick Carraway, the very relatable onlooker, allows a link from our society into the high society of the people he spends his summer with. The characters at first seem very pretentious, but you later realize that if you pay attention to their lives and what they have gone through, you may be able to understand where they are coming from and why they act the way they do. The novel overall was a page-turner and I always wanted to know what would happen next.

            I was very surprised because most assigned books are not very enjoyable and are difficult to read, but this book always left me wanting to read more. Though it is not the most exciting book I have ever read, I enjoy how most of the action occurs at the end of the novel. It all leads up to the death of Gatsby and I personally had no idea it was coming. I didn’t dislike anything in the novel, I felt like it grabbed my attention just enough and was a great story. The thrill of what happened at the end in the swimming pool leaves room for the reader to decide what they want about what happens to the rest of the characters. I enjoy the way Fitzgerald leaves room for interpretation.

            The piece is unique in its use of rhetorical strategies, diction, and syntax. I felt that it was on the easier side when analyzing it because Fitzgerald was more obvious about the strategies than some other writers are. There were many lessons taught throughout the book and they can be interpreted many ways, but two that I believe are very important are the idea that just because someone is part of the upper class doesn’t mean that they are better than you, and striving to work your hardest and do your best will take you very far in life.

Blog Topic #4: Text Connections:

            The Great Gatsby very firmly establishes that there are specific classes and many people’s lives depend on these social standings. Daisy is a wife who often sits around and waits for her husband to come home. From a text-to-world view, having more money and being in the upper class has always been a problem, slaves and servants have often wanted to rebel. There have been many laws passed saying that everyone deserves equal opportunity so taxes are raised so that everyone has Medicare. This has become controversial and being able to throw a lavish party exemplifies the opportunities that people with more money have. Daisy does not have much power in her relationship with her husband and this shows that the standard of men having more power is very dominant. In the past there has been much controversy of the equality of all people, until the 19^th Amendment was passed. In 1920 a woman’s life mostly consisted of doing whatever their husband told them to; they were often not let out of the house unless the husband approved it. Many societies today still treat women that way and expect them to just deal with it. Daisy and Myrtle are great examples of waiting to be told what to do by either their husband or their lover even though the 19^th Amendment had been recently passed; the men still had the idea that they had full control over their women. Though Daisy seemed to be able to do what she wanted, she had to deal with many years of her husband cheating on her while she had never even kissed Gatsby and her husband threw a tantrum. The classes and roles of women have evolved and changed over the years, but in this book these ideas create the setting and tone of New York during this time.

Blog Topic #3: Syntax:

“Well this would interest you” (Fitzgerald 83).

Gatsby uses declarative syntax in order to try to lure Carraway into his trap of

trying to get him to bring Daisy over. As a rich man, Gatsby is used to trying to deceive others in order to get what he wants and in this case he masks his actual hope with the idea that he actually wants Nick to work for him. Through the declarative statement Gatsby is getting Nick excited for what he is about to tell him. In the end Nick cannot be deceived and denies Gatsby’s offer because he is already granting Gatsby the presence of his cousin and does not want to get tangled up in the questionable business Gatsby runs.

·      “It eluded us then, but that’s no matter – to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther… And one fine morning---” (Fitzgerald 180).

`           In this mysterious sentence, the syntax is very bizarre and not in line with the rest of the book. Fitzgerald interrupts the sentence with a dash and puts three periods to allow the reader to take their mind to wherever they think it should go. With this cryptic syntax he eludes to the fact that Gatsby is dead and we one day will be too, so we must decide what we will do until that day comes. It is very secretive but in its own way it gives courage through its peculiar appeal to the idea that tomorrow will be better.

Blog Topic #2: Diction:

           Fitzgerald writes so that the characters are always finding out new things about each other. It seems to be a very secretive group of friends, yet they are often very open with each other. Gatsby and Daisy have an interesting relationship as well as Tom and Myrtle, though they both know about the other’s wrong doings. Tom and Daisy are upset when the topic of either Gatsby or Myrtle comes up. In the event of Tom getting gas at the drugstore Myrtle becomes very jealous because she thinks she sees Daisy. Her face seems, “purposeless and inexplicable,” through the diction, she realizes her selfishness and that she doesn’t have the right to feel this way because Tom isn’t her husband (Fitzgerald 124). This shows the way that people with access to money felt about themselves and the way they felt they should be treated. This applies to all of the self-absorbed characters in the book.

            The idea of jealousy is often used throughout the text because of all of the intermixed relationships and issues. The idea that Myrtle looks at Jordan, whom she thought was Daisy, with eyes, “wide with jealous terror,” proves the idea that though the characters seem to not realize the anger of their counterparts, they are full of anger themselves when they watch the exact same thing happen to them (Fitzgerald 125). It seems that if each of the characters was to step back and realize what they are doing to their neighbors, they will realize that the others are feeling the same hurt they themselves are feeling.  The diction throughout the writing proclaims the feelings without just blatantly stating what the person’s emotion are. He takes the readers on a journey through the ideas of the characters and the passion they feel towards the events going on in their lives. The word choice and sophisticated diction cause the reader to have to think hard to know exactly what is going on with the characters and how they feel about the situations they are going through.

Blog Topic #1: Rhetorical Strategies:

•       Polysyndeton: “This is a valley of ashes – a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald 23).
•       Vernacular: “’He went to Oggsford College in England. You know Oggsford College” (Fitzgerald 72).
•       Simile: “It had seemed as close as a star to the moon” (Fitzgerald 93).
•      Alliteration: “His hand took hold of hers, and as she said something low in his ear he turned toward her with a rush of emotion” (Fitzgerald 96).
•       Allusion: “It was when curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night – and, as obscurely as it had begun, his career as Trimalchio was over” (Fitzgerald 113).

            In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald exemplifies his sophisticated style through the many rhetorical strategies he uses in his text. He applies many different strategies to highlight the ways that Nick is so different from the people he surrounds himself with and how he likes to learn their ways.  Through the polysyndeton used on page 23, Fitzgerald explains how the rich people make their houses out of “ashes” because though their houses are very nice, many of the people have been through a lifetime of hurt and trouble. Fitzgerald hides these problems through his flow of words in this specific sentence. The use of a simile, “It had seemed as close as a star to the moon” (Fitzgerald 93), reflects the poetic style that Fitzgerald often employs in the book. This poetry causes the reader to indirectly reflect on the work and realize that Fitzgerald really takes time to piece together his writing. This poetic style can also be shown through the alliteration of “his hand took hold of hers” (96). When he repeats the letter “h” he emphasizes the significance of how important this moment was, the time when Gatsby and Daisy finally admit their love. His poetic style helps the reader to relate to them on a deeper level. The flow of the work as a whole and the educated diction allows for a tone that can be taken very seriously. The writer appeals to the pathos of the readers by using this style to show them that his story is credible. The extremely educated style is exemplified through the many rhetorical devices used in the text. This allows the reader to relate more easily to the characters and the points trying to be made throughout the story.