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Syeda Sabeera
Mrs. Cullen
AP English III-1
March 12, 2009
The Great Gatsby: Connecting Device to Meaning
|Chapter |Device/Strategy |Passage and page number |Connection to Meaning |
|1 |Juxtaposition |“There’s a bird on the lawn that I think must be a |Fitzgerald’s purpose of juxtaposing is to show the relationship between Daisy and Tom. And to point up the|
| | |nightingale come over on the Cunard or White Star Line. He’s|soft, charming qualities of Daisy, to the harsh behavior of Tom is to… This juxtaposition also contrasts |
| | |singing away—” her voice sang “It’s romantic, isn’t it, Tom?”|the nightingale and the mysterious calling. This implies that the telephone breaks a part the happy mood |
| | | |of the table, which further shows the negative attitude of Tom. The other connection is it shows about the|
| | |The telephone rang inside, startingly, and as Daisy shook her|how weak Daisy’s and Tom’ relationship is, only one phone call and they were distrusted which destroys |
| | |head decisively at Tom the subject of the stables, in fact, |there romantic situation between them. Tom and Daisy's relationship is confusing at times and it leads |
| | |all subjects vanished into air. (20) |many people to wonder why they stay together. Their action towards their marriage relationship seems to |
| | | |confirm that they no longer love each other anymore; however, they still stay together. This device also |
| | | |imposes the foreshadow of Gatsby’s and Daisy’s affair because we know as we go further in the book, it |
| | | |tells us that they were having a affair before Daisy got married, and she promises Gatsby that she will |
| | | |wait, but she didn’t and left Gatsby. |
|2 |Setting |“This is a valley of ashes-a fantastic farm where ashes grow |The reference-valley of ashes is a picture of an absolute sadness and poverty. It lacks a fascinating |
| |(a setting specific to the |like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where|surface and lies empty and old halfway between West Egg and New York. This device suggests that the |
| |novel, not ' for ex. ' New |ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke”|beneath the decoration/ornamentation of East Egg and the artificial attraction of West Egg lies the same |
| |York City) |(23) |ugliness as in the valley. It is only the home of poor people. Fitzgerald also puts attention of Georges’s|
| | |“The interior was un prosperous and bare; the only car |garage, which implies and shows the deprived characters in the novel like George Wilson. Nick describes, |
| | |visible was the dust-covered wreck of a Ford which crouched |George garage as nothing but covered with dust, and there George have only one car. In addition this |
| | |in a dim corner. (25) |reference, helps reader understood Mrs. Wilson character too, as we see her reaction and attitude after |
| | | |she gets out from George’s garage, she changed her clothes and went to the part in the West Egg-which is |
| | | |the other side of the valley of the ashes. That’s the reason that Mrs. Wilson is always upset that her |
| | | |husband is not rich, which draw her attention towards Tom’s (Daisy’s Husband) wealth. These details |
| | | |created a weak relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and showed us (reader) that one side of valley of |
| | | |ashes, poor people and their worries live and on the other hand people do parties all week. |
|3 |Paradox |“Anyhow he gives large parties,” said Jordan, changing the |The insertion of this device gives out lot of purpose. Firstly, this shows Nick’s reaction towards Gatsby.|
| | |subject with an urban distaste for the concrete. “And I like|Knowing that Nick earlier, really wants to know about Gatsby, interested in his background and made Gatsby|
| | |large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there |as his Inspiration. Nick sees Gatsby as a very rare sort of man, judging just from the way he has smiled |
| | |isn’t any privacy.” (54) |at him. After leaving, Carraway's curiosity has become uncontrollable and he asks Jordan for information |
| | | |about Gatsby, but she responds with the same indifference as usual. This device fits because Jordan’s |
| | | |reply is simply that Gatsby gives large parties and that's really all she cares about. She mentions that |
| | | |some say he had gone to Oxford University, but she is doubtful. This device also show the character of |
| | | |Jordan, She is used to having a many people around and she feels uncomfortable when there are very little |
| | | |people. She is a very social women and her being intimate with people may be difficult. Her way of |
| | | |thinking on this subject shows her personality. |
|4 |Allusion |“(Wolfsheim) He’s the man who fixed the World’s Series back |The inclusion of this reference serves a number of purposes. First, the reference helps to characterize |
| | |in 1919….the World’s Series had been fixed in 1919, but if I |Gatsby and the men with whom he associates. Knowing this bit of history, Fitzgerald’s readers also put |
| | |had thought of it at all I would have thought of it as a |the men into the category of criminals in powerful organizations. We are given some of our first hints at|
| | |thing that merely happened, the end of some inevitable |just how Gatsby may have acquired his fortune, yet the mystery is also heightened with this prospect. In |
| | |chain.” |addition, the reference helps to characterize our narrator, Nick, as we see his reaction to the |
| | | |implication made on Wolfsheim. Nick feels he has been blown into reality somehow coming face to face with|
| | | |a person he previously only thought of as an enigma. This can also describe Nick’s changing feelings about|
| | | |Gatsby. He is at first intrigued and impressed by his mysterious neighbor, but as more details are |
| | | |revealed, Nick’s incredulity and even annoyance grow. Finally, the detail creates a strong realism for |
| | | |the reader. Anyone familiar with this period in American history will know of this event and likely have |
| | | |a connection with it. |
|5 |Tone shift |“He waited a moment longer, hoping I’d begin a conversation, |The tone shift for the first one is significant because it shows the enthusiasm of Gatsby to talk with |
| |Tone #1 = Eager |but I was too absorbed to be responsive, so he went |Nick and he wants to have conversation with him. This also shows the closeness of both characters towards |
| |Tone #2 = Timid |unwillingly home.” (83) |each other which led to the strong friendship. |
| |Tone #3= Affectionate |“However, as calmness wasn’t an end in itself, I made an |The second tone shift is the time when Daisy, Gatsby and Nick are having conversation. But nick feels shy,|
| | |excuse at the first possible moment, and got to my feet.”(87)|because he thinks that may be he is in between Daisy and Gatsby. Fitzgerald purpose of using this device |
| | |“His hand took hold of hers, and as she said something low in|shows the reader about the hesitation in Nick while they are having a conversation. |
| | |his ear he turned her with a rush of emotion.” (96) |The third tone shift shows the love and passion between Daisy and Gatsby. As we know from earlier that |
| | | |even though Daisy is married, she like Gatsby more than any, and we see there love everywhere in the |
| | | |novel. While Daisy was leaving, Gatsby said something and she was blushed with the love. |
| | | | |
|6 |Flashback |“Cody was fifteen years old then, a product of the Nevada |Fitzgerald purpose of using this device is to show the further explores of social class as it relates to |
| | |silver fields, of the Yukon, of every rush for metal since |Gatsby. Nick's description of Gatsby's early life reveals the sympathy to status that urge Gatsby on. His |
| | |seventy-five. The transactions in Montana copper . . . made |embarrassment at having to work as a janitor in college contrasts with the promise that he experiences |
| | |him many times a millionaire.” (99) |when he meets Dan Cody, who represents the accomplishment of everything that Gatsby wants. Acutely aware |
| | | |of his poverty, the young Gatsby develops a powerful obsession with increase wealth and status. Gatsby's |
| | | |act symbolizes his desire to throw away his lower-class identity and recast himself as the wealthy man he |
| | | |visualizes. The grateful Cody took young Gatz, who gave his name as Jay Gatsby, on board his yacht as his |
| | | |personal assistant. Traveling with Cody, Gatsby fell in love with wealth and luxury. Cody was a heavy |
| | | |drinker, and one of Gatsby's jobs was to look after him during his drunken binges. This gave Gatsby a |
| | | |healthy respect for the dangers of alcohol and convinced him not to become a drinker himself. Knowing the |
| | | |history, we know that Gatsby don’t drink in parties which is just because he knows the affect. This device|
| | | |best fit because it shows that ever since Cody was fifteen he have been doing business or have plans for |
| | | |to do business. |
|7 |(a) Logos | | |
| |(b) Ethos | | |
| |(c) Pathos | | |
| | | | |
| |Hint: You need to provide a | | |
| |clear example of each appeal| | |
| |in the argument to “win” | | |
| |Daisy. | | |
|8 |Analogy |I have an idea that Gatsby himself didn’t believe it would | Fitzgerald showed Jay Gatsby as he is stuck in a past obsession. During his life he became obsessed with |
| | |come and perhaps he no longer cared. If that was true he |wealth and being rich, after suffering from losing the love of his life, Daisy, because he could not |
| | |must have felt that he had lost the old warm world, paid a |support her. Gatsby’s life becomes devoted to winning her back, after becoming friendly with her cousin, |
| | |high price for living too long with a single dream. He must |Nick. Gatsby is known for his parties, with lavish decorations and excited guests. His parties were in the|
| | |have looked up at an unfamiliar sky through frightening |hope that maybe Daisy would come by to a party and reunion with Gatsby. After losing Daisy once again, |
| | |leaves and shivered as he found what a grotesque thing a rose|Gatsby’s life has changed again for the worst. This device imposes that when Gatsby goes swimming, Nick |
| | |is and how raw the sunlight was upon the scarcely created |describes all of the changes that have probably occurred to Gatsby since he lost Daisy. The sky was |
| | |grass. A new world, material without being real, where poor |unfamiliar, the raw sunlight and an unreal world. Specifically, Nick states how Gatsby must realize how |
| | |ghosts, breathing dreams like air, drifted fortuitously |fantastic a rose really is. Rose’s are the symbol of love, but Nick claims they are that way only because |
| | |about…like that ashen, fantastic figure gliding toward him |people make it that way, and exaggerate that characteristic. To Gatsby, Daisy was a rose, because he made |
| | |through the amorphous trees. (169) |her that way. Her personality and character were always described in a positive way and showed his wanting|
| | | |of true love. Now that Gatsby has lost Daisy, he does not see a rose as a symbol of love anymore. The |
| | | |1920’s was a time that had many changes in men and women’s way of life, where prosperity and material |
| | | |objects became available. Gatsby is represented as a man who had fulfilled the American dream, earning |
| | | |more money then anyone could imagine and living in a lavish mansion. The only part missing to his life is |
| | | |a woman to marry and stay by his side. Once losing the one woman who could have been that missing part, |
| | | |his life changes, with his death. Afterwards, he is still remembered a man who through incredible parties,|
| | | |but to Nick, Gatsby’s death meant losing a friend. Gatsby dies before what would have been the |
| | | |disappointing revelation of Daisy's return to Tom. |
|9 |Irony |“Probably it was some final guest who had away at the ends of|The inclusion of this device emphasizes the dishonor of the issue regarding the recent events that had |
| | |the earth and didn’t know that the party was over.” (179) |occurred. Through, this statement Nick means to use guest as sarcastic manner, which ridicule Gatsby’s |
| | | |party guests for not knowing that the party is over. This also shows that Gatsby parties were really |
| | | |fancy, that few numbers of people knows who Gatsby really is. And still people are just coming for their |
| | | |parties, but no one knows that all parties are vanished because Gatsby died. |
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