Personal Review

Blog topic#5: Personal Review

            To be honest, when I first heard that we had to read a book over our Christmas vacation I was not too thrilled about the idea. But after reading the first several chapters, I came to realize that The Great Gatsby was one of the more interesting books I had read throughout my high school experience, especially compared to The Scarlet Letter. Love stories are my favorite types of novels and when I learned that this story contained a pair of lovers, I was instantly intrigued. With the complex, yet detailed descriptions of each character given by Fitzgerald, the readers were more likely to find them easily relatable and amiable. The excitement started out very leisurely but soon picked up-tempo throughout the book. The plot, composed of scandals and the desire to achieve the “American Dream” provided a heartbreaking ending. At times, I felt the delivery of the story was hard to follow by jumping from past to present quite frequently. Throughout most of the novel I truly enjoyed how Fitzgerald conveyed the character, Daisy. She seemed like the typical debutante woman with a passion for life. She did, although, posses several flaws like how she acquired a deep need to be loved by any man that took interest in her. After marrying Tom, I truly was inspired by Gatsby as he dedicated himself to winning his true love back. I was not happy when the novel concluded with Daisy and Tom sneaking away at the crack of dawn, this is just proving how Daisy was just running away from her problems. The story definitely kept me on the tip of my toes at Fitzgerald decided to keep Gatsby’s past concealed, but slowly revealed it little by little during the chapters. Concluding the novel with a tragedy was not my cup of tea, I am all for a good happy-ending to any story. Overall, this book was not my favorite, but it was also the not the worst I have read in past years. I applaud Fitzgerald for his unique way of incorporating such various scenes that all lead up to such an unhappy ending.

Text-to-World

Blog topic #4: Text-to-World

            F. Scott Fitzgerald employs text connections in his novel, The Great Gatsby, in order to relate to his widespread of readers. One of the principal themes conversed about during the entire novel is the concept of people aspiring to achieve the “American Dream”. Characters were developed along the plot of the story each with their own dream to reach their own ambitions during the roaring 20’s. Although not all of the characters are able to successfully fulfill their dreams, there are a few that accomplish their goals while encountering several bumps in the road that could have possibly led them off course from their triumphs. For example, the main character of the novel, Jay Gatsby, struggles with his fight to fit in with the new trend of the 1920s which was to gain a social status in society while also becoming wealthy and successful in life. With his newfound prosperity and popularity he had yet to gain one thing; the love of his life, Daisy. Following Word War 1, people began immigrating towards urban lifestyle, occupying city after city. The economy began to increase and the entertainment industry boomed as people now had more time to spend doing leisurely activities due to the shortening of work hours. Civilians became interested in high fashion and luxuries that they couldn’t previously have afforded, this became known as the “American Dream”. Along with this, the so-called dream offered a possibility of good fortune, individualism, revelation, and the pursuit of happiness.

            Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, has a strongly negative attitude towards the way he views the wealthy people of New York. During his visit he finds he is less than satisfied with what he has experienced and whom he has met, with the exception of Jay Gatsby, who stood out to him as someone nothing short of “gorgeous”. Nick admires this man for his apparent luxurious lifestyle and success, he observes him as a respectable man who was born with nothing and made his life into something people desire. Nick, in fact, has his own aspirations of living the “American Dream” and looks to Gatsby as a role model as he is the only one who truly challenges Nick’s tradition ways of thinking.

            The “American Dream” is still alive today. Although certain aspects have changed, people still desire to accomplish the best of their abilities. John Wooden once said, “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” Life is not about what you get in life, but about the experiences you get out of life. The “American Dream” pertains to people who hope to live successfully and allow them to prosper just like several characters within this novel. Families all over the country see this dream as a sign of ambition for their futures. Altogether, the collaboration of success and hope help provide many to achieve their dream for a better future.

Syntax

Blog Topic #3: Syntax

• “You’re a rotten driver, “ I protested. “Either you ought to be more careful, or you oughtn’t to drive at all.”

“I am careful.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Well, other people are,” she said slightly.

“What’s that got to do with it?’

“They’ll keep out of my way,” she insisted. “It takes two to make an accident” (58).

            Beginning chapter three, Fitzgerald utilizes the concept of wealth and glamour by providing detailed and descriptive sentences that elaborate the lavish lifestyle the upper class was living while it also being the dream the middle-class longed for. Later on, the chapter focuses on the pull between fantasy and reality. When getting down the true aspect of life, the author sets a more relaxed and calm mood by providing simple and concise sentences that get straight to the point and allow the reader to feel alleviated.

• “Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes, and a bright passionate mouth…” (9).

Fitzgerald’s repetition or anaphora of the word “bright” to describe Daisy’s physical appearance exposes her apparent youthful elegance and light. Daisy seems to only show herself in the color white, which is her way drawing attention to herself in a crowd.  She acquires a mysterious quality within herself that inadvertently attracts other people to her. Highlighting Daisy in this manner, the author is able to illustrate her as the epitome of the wealthy class, for which so many people now desired to become part of. 

Diction

Blog Topic #2: Diction

            In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald incorporates a multitude of elevated language to stress his view on the sophisticated lifestyle the characters of the book were succumbing to. This civilized yet modern tone becomes permeated throughout the duration of the novel.  The author develops the attitude of the narrator to be tolerant and also nonjudgmental, yet he views people as having “fundamental decencies [being] parceled out unequally at birth”(2). Other prominent words such as “uniform” and “privileged” briefly describe the sophisticated manner of Nick Carraway, as well as help the reader judge this class of people that live up to the preferred lifestyle. Nick gives off strong reactions towards his experiences after moving to the East and later returns back home. On his journey he comes to find that Jay Gatsby stands out as the only exception to his moral standards as “there was something gorgeous about him” (2).  Nick admires Gatsby, despite that he is everything that he had previously stated as “snobbish,” but refers to Gatsby as being an “intricate machine” having a “heightening sensitivity”(2).  Fitzgerald is continually using elegant diction to give his perspective on the upper-class society, but Gatsby proves to be a challenge to Nick’s customary standards, as he has to come to grips with reality and learn you can’t judge a book by its cover. This general concept is relevant throughout the majority of the novel, until the reader reaches the concluding chapters. Finalizing the story, the reader soaks up the idea that money doesn’t actually buy happiness and it can in fact lead to corruption and devastation.  At first the author uses fancy word choice and elevated language to glorify certain aspects of living a fruitful life; but in the end, he uses the same type of word choice to prove that living in a sophisticated manner was disgraceful and demeaning. The narrator refers to Wilson as being “deranged by grief,” (164) where the reader can clearly see how Fitzgerald is demeaning the previously ornamented and sophisticated tone. This volta of tones quickly shifts to that of shame and disgrace. This newfound tone sets a moral example that friendship lasts longer and is more valuable than money will ever be. When no one arrives to Gatsby’s funeral, the author demonstrates the reality that friendship can’t be bought.  Even though there is a sudden shift in tone created by the author, Fitzgerald maintains his straightforward, cultivated manner while instilling his words of wise wisdom into the minds of the readers. Life isn’t about becoming the follower who becomes lost in a sea of people just like them, it’s about standing out as an individual and as John Wooden said, “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

Rhetorical Strategies

Blog Topic #1: Rhetorical Strategies

• Metaphor: “her artificial world was redolent of orchids…”(151).
• Simile: “While fresh faces drifted here and there like rose petals blown by the sad horns” (151).
• Aphorism: “whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you have” (1).
• Personification: “I must have stood for a few minutes listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the groan of a picture on the wall” (8).

Throughout The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald employs a plethora of rhetorical strategies through the duration of his writing that clearly demonstrate the ideal lifestyle that was longed to be a priority for people in the time of the 1920s. The author opens up the novel with the narrator of the story, Nick, as he relays his father’s wise advice, “whenever you feel like criticizing any one, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you have’ (1). This aphorism calls attention to Nick’s observations of the varieties of lifestyles he witnesses in New York. He comes from a middle-class life and when he goes to NY, he doesn’t have to worry about money, but he sees many people wrestling to make ends meet. His dad lets him know that he can’t judge people by his own ethical standards, or else he will not see the big picture. He begins to comprehend the reality of what people were now becoming as he views the wealthy with a different opinion. Gatsby’s depiction of Daisy is that of pure admiration as well as fictitious, one could say he fell in love at first sight after they stumbled upon each other before the coming of war. Here, Gatsby saw her just as a jovial adolescent, yet she was truly living a guarded life.  The specific metaphor “redolent of orchids, ” (151) highlights Daisy’s luxurious, cosmopolitan lifestyle. The orchid, to which she is being compared to, is known to be a sophisticated species of flower, which suits Daisy’s character. Relating Daisy to an orchid illustrates the ultimate reflection of what people desired to become during this era. Going on, the author introduces the setting of the characters teatime, “While fresh faces drifted here and there like rose petals blown by the sad horns” (151).  This simile being incorporated portrays the rhetor’s thoughts that people come and go regularly and are not likely to be remembered just as rose petals are constantly being blown in the wind, they won’t be missed. This symbolizes the “American Dream” as people found a new ambition for leisure time, which they were given due to the shortening of work hours after the war. Fitzgerald applies his central message of living the “American Dream” by assimilating a variety of rhetorical devices in his writing that aid in his explanation of how the lives of the people living in the 1920s were drastically being changed.