The Great Gatsby - Stylistic Devices

Many of the people in the world regard The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, one of the greatest literary classics of all time. However there is always at least one, most the time few and far between, that disagrees with this statement. H. L. Mencken is one of these persons. After reading the novel Mencken writes an excerpt to be published in the magazine Evening Sun, after all he is one of the leading literary critics of his time. In this essay we will discover how Mencken uses rhetorical devices to portray his thoughts of the novel, The Great Gatsby.

The narrator compares her beauty displaying regrets to children having to children departing from playing outside in the evening. Daisy is a beautiful girl that Nick becomes instantly star-struck in; however, the reader knows that her personality kills this star-struck from the phrase, “then the glow faded, each light deserting her with lingering regret.” Her personality is compared to “like

The juxtaposition between Gatsby at his ‘enormous house’ and Gatsby at Nick’s house shows that Gatsby can only be comfortable in his own environment. This is previously shown when his mask slips in the car ride to New York in chapter 4. Fitzgerald uses only two settings for chapter 5 in order to draw parallels between the change of scene and the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy. At the start of the chapter - where Nick, Daisy and Gatsby are gathered in Nick’s house – the relationship between Daisy and Gatsby seems incredibly awkward and both characters seem extremely tense and nervous to be re-united and this is shown by Gatsby’s ‘abortive attempt of a laugh creating an uncomfortable sense of pity for Gatsby. Gatsby previously tries to make Nick’s house as close to his own as possible ‘trim the grass quote here!’ proving that he knows his mask will slip at Nick’s house. However, when Gatsby invites Nick and Daisy over to his house his relationship with Daisy gradually becomes stronger and Gatsby becomes far more relaxed. Gatsby becomes the romantic at his mansion, ordering music to be played; it is not ironic that Kilspringer plays the love nest.

In Chapter 3 one of Jay Gatsby’s parties take place, the main theme of this book is the 1american dream, wealth followed by love and then isolation at the end. The author of this book F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many literary devices, character description, party atmosphere, setting and and the role of the narrator which is Gatsby’s neighbor Nick Carraway.

Gatsby. Web. 15 Mar. 2016. Provides information to help students further their studies of The Great Gatsby, as well as resources that the student can use to find more information they may need. Contains information on F. Scott Fitzgerald and the historical context of The Great Gatsby. Provides different types of resources for research such as; An Index to The Great Gatsby, a study guide, setting explanations, and videos. This source is credible due to the fact that it was created for the “Electronic Materials for Children and Young Adults”, and was written by who has her masters at the Indiana University- Purdue University in

Gatsby cannot be classified as a truly moral person who exhibits goodness or correctness in his character and behaviour. Gatsby disputes most moral damage throughout the novel. Gatsby exhibits characteristics explaining the reason behind moral decay in society. Corruption and lies are responsible for the destruction of humanity. Gatsby’s whole life’s basically is a lie as he created a fake identity for himself. A whole new persona, Jay Gatsby is not even his real name. Gatsby

Analysis: Fitzgerald uses ashes, fire and dust to represent the unachievable desire for the great American Dream. Fitzgerald uses the character George Wilson as a voice of many who live in the valley of ashes to get away from the filthy place, he said “i’ve been here too long. I want to get away”. This show through Wilson's hardest efforts to achieve his dreams he is still stuck in this dump. It speaks to the lost expectations and dreams of individuals who have neglected to satisfy the American Dream.

The third chapter of the great Gatsby takes place at Gatsby’s luxurious mansion where he hosts a very lavish party where guests sometimes “came and went without having met Gatsby at all”, many guests “were not invited”, but they still “went there” (page 41). Fitzgerald utilizes visual imagery to portray how Gatsby’s lavish home attracts people to his parties not because they identify themselves as friends nor even acquaintances, but because of his wealth, people do not seek him out nor do they thank him for his hospitality, they treat his home like an “amusement park” (page 41). The use of this simile demonstrates, again how his so-called guests views his parties. Fitzgerald uses auditory imagery to show how Gatsby’s guests do not seem to respect

One strong theme of modernism in literature is the attack and or decline of The American Dream. The American Dream is the idea that everyone, men, and women, have an equal opportunity to achieve wealth, success and or happiness through determination, and hard work, in other words, the pursuit of happiness. Two writers that illustrate this theme of modernism are F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby, and Ernest Hemingway, author of The Sun Also Rises.

The Great Gatsby has been around for ages; it is a story of a young man in the 1920’s who is thrown into a new world made up of the new and the old rich. He is confused by the way these people act and in the end cannot stay another minute in this strange, insensitive, materialistic world. The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many techniques to help the reader understand how Nick Carraway (the narrator) is feeling throughout the story. In the book The Great Gatsby, the author F. Scott Fitzgerald uses effective language to make his writing successful. He uses the techniques of imagery and irony to display this message.

The book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is about the society of New York in the 1920s, and the drama that occurs in their personal lives. One such character is Jay Gatsby. Ever since his youth, Gatsby had shown signs of grit and determination, and the persistence to always follow his hopes and dreams. In the story, Gatsby’s main goal is to be with Daisy, who he believes is his one true love. Along his road to successfully be with Daisy, Gatsby becomes very wealthy and buys a house in sight of hers. One night, Gatsby looks out his porch in his backyard, and reaches out towards the light of Daisy’s house across the pond. In this passage, the author uses symbolism and connotation to convey to the reader Gatsby’s perseverance and hopefulness, while also nodding to the achievements that he and many like him have made along the way.

Daisy, like her husband, is a girl of material and class at heart, and Gatsby being her escape from a hierarchist world. Daisy has just grown up knowing wealth, so in her greedy pursuit of happiness and the “American Dream” Myrtle Wilson died, Gatsby's heart and life were compromised, without claiming responsibility on her part. Daisy was “by far the most popular of all the young girls in Louisville...” (116) Jordan says, describing early affections between Daisy and Gatsby. She goes on to say, “...all day long the telephone rang in her house and excited young officers from Camp Taylor demanded the privilege of monopolizing her that night.” (116) . Daisy was a fancied girl who has Gatsby tied around her finger, Jordan explains that he was looking at Daisy “...in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at some time...” (117). Daisy, abusing Gatsby’s love for her uses it to create security and protection, greedily and selfishly allowing him to take the fault. While Daisy’s beautiful, alluring traits turn her into an innocent, naive flower, she plays the ultimate villain.

The Great Gatsby is filled with symbols and symbolism, which try to convey Fitzgerald's ideas to the reader. The symbols are uniquely involved in the plot of the story, which makes their implications more real. There are three major symbols that serve very important significance in the symbolism of the novel. They are "the valley of the ashes," the reality that represents the corruption in the world, the green light of Daisy's lap that Gatsby sees across the bay and lastly, the symbolism of the East Egg and West Egg or more important the east and the west of the country.

The passage is structured into three sections, each differing in the use of narration, description, and dialogue. The first paragraph is Nick’s narration that prepares the reader to discover the “strange story” of Gatsby’s youth. The following five paragraphs are an intriguing mixture of narration and description. Gatsby’s descriptive revelation of his past is retold through by Nick’s narration. The filter of Nick’s own opinions inevitably affects the nuance of Gatsby’s experiences. Nick’s biased disapproval of the rich is conveyed through subtle words such as “bought luxury,” which implies his scorn for the rich who enjoy excessive luxury at the expense of others’ efforts.The last paragraph consists of Gatsby’s monologue only, in which the expression of his thoughts are independent of Nick’s opinion. Through this Fitzgerald provides the reader with Gatsby’s honest thoughts, in which his illusions are further made obvious. For example, his misguided belief that Daisy thought he “knew a lot because [he] knew different things from her” is overconfident and idealistic, giving the reader an insight into his character.

1. Point of view – the view or perspective of how the story is narrated (i.e first person)