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. First of all, in H. L. Mencken’s Argumentative Analysis, we see how he conveys his tone to show his views of Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. The tone of this analysis is disinterested and unexcitable. Mencken is disappointed in the novel because it is talked up to be one of the best literary achievements ever seen. However according to the tone of Menken’s analysis, he seems to be greatly disappointed in the novel that is supposed to be so great. We see this here, “ … the plain fact (is) that it is simply a story-- that Fitzgerald seems to be far more interested in maintaining its suspense than in getting under the skins of its people” (23-24). Through this we see that Mencken’s tone is conveyed. Mencken is obviously disappointed in the novel, because he simply calls it a story. If however, Mencken had been impressed with the novel, he may have called it something more exciting like a “page-turner” or a “compelling read”.
The “curtains” have human-like qualities, for they are making “whip and snap” sounds. Also, the “picture” has human-like qualities of “groan.” Fitzgerald adds these sounds to show the awkwardness setting in the Buchanan’s house. Just walking in the hallway of Tom Buchanan made Nick feel unease; it was so quiet that Nick can hear the cry of a picture and the lash of the curtain moving.
F. Scott Fitzgerald was an American Author during the late 1910s who was well known for writing; Zelda: A Biography, West of Sunset and The Great Gatsby. He is well known for his diverse use of figurative language, which is used to immerse the reader into the story. In Chapter 3 page 40 of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes both visual imagery and similes to immerse the reader into the story for further understanding.
In the eye opening novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many arguments based on society that the author was trying to make through his use of characterization. The dark novel is about love, expectations, disappointments, false hopes, and an overall look on what the narrator, Nick Carraway, experiences in the summer of 1922, spent in the town of West Egg. There were various amounts of arguments about society that were displayed by Fitzgerald throughout many different characters based upon their lifestyles and personality. However, Search for Perfection and Illusion vs. Reality are the two most important arguments about society that Fitzgerald made throughout the characterization of Jay Gatsby.
intruding to him until the third chapter but instead building up the mystery around him. It also expresses how he would be with a crowd that he invites but he’s not part of the group at all. Like when you shop up to a party that you don’t know anyone. That feeling is showed off to him as I read on “standing alone on the marble stops and looking from one group to another” “Sometimes they come and went without having met Gatsby at all”.
As the narrator, the audience gets a deep insight into how Nick feels about Gatsby. Nick views Gatsby as an admirable figure, and thinks that Gatsby’s capacity to dream makes him “great.” Nick illustrates how, “...Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island sprang from his platonic conception of himself. He was a Son of God. A phrase which means anything means just that.” Plato was a Greek philosopher who created the idealism that every person aspires to some perfect or vastly superior form of itself. Therefore, when Nick refers to “platonic conception,” he is describing how Gatsby created himself based on envisions of his fondest dreams. Born into a poor farming family in North Dakota James Gatz always had a dream to belong in the upper class of
“The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart,” was said by Maya Angelou. Many authors strive to write books that have a purpose, including the author of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald. The author strives to display multiple purposes to readers through strong, sophisticated writing. The purposes Fitzgerald shows in The Great Gatsby include that substance in relationships matters, the truth is important, and that actions have consequences. Fitzgerald executes the purposes successfully by using rhetorical choices such as irony, homilies, simple dialogue, similes, and syntax
Many novels are written as a means of scrutinising the details and flaws of a specific society. The author’s purpose is to use the novel as a lens through which they can offer their own critical perception. The highly praised novel The Great Gatsby provides such a view into 1920s America, an era which was often described as the “Jazz Age” or the “Roaring 20s,” mainly due to the +and carefree nature of the wealthy. This higher class, who were essentially safeguarded by their money, lived life as if it was an endless party. It is this particular group that F. Scott Fitzgerald mainly targets when providing his criticism
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, has been celebrated as one of the greatest - if not the greatest - American works of fiction. Of course, one could convincingly argue that Gatsby barely qualified as fiction, as it is the culmination of a trio of Fitzgerald’s work that
In the film of The Great Gatsby, based on the novel, Director, Baz Luhrmann shares the elaborate tale of the infamous Jay Gatsby. Taking place in the era of the 1920’s, also known as the roaring twenties, Luhrmann is able to bring the film to life by constructing breathtaking scenery creating a glamorous environment full of ecstasy in order to make the modern day audience get a feel for what life in that time period would have been like today. Though the story is about the main character, Jay Gatsby desperately trying to rekindle the spark he once had with his past love Daisy, Luhrmann infers that this is more than just another film about hopeless love. Throughout the film Luhrmann there is much evidence that reveal the overall theme of the story. Through the overdramatic characters, who seem oblivious to consequences of their actions, as well as the events that take place toward the end of the film, Luhrmann looks to show the audience the destructiveness of money, wealth, and the American Dream. As the film concludes, the narrator, Nick Caraway, solidifies that the purpose of telling the story of The Great Gatsby is to reveal how hopes of achieving the American Dream can corrupt and degrade the human spirit.
F Scott Fitzgerald used a powerful choice of words for his book "The Great Gatsby."
Oftentimes society gets so caught up in achieving greatness that it is blinded to the obstacles of reality. The American Dream can sometimes be so unachievable yet so alluring that people cannot help but strive after it as if it were their destiny. Fitzgerald highlights this phenomenon in his novel The Great Gatsby through many characters and their pursuit of their own American Dreams. Fitzgerald uses figurative language and contrasting diction to show his cynical attitude about the pursuit of the American Dream and the blindness of those who believe in it.
In the passage, the author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, uses pugnacious and arrogant tones to reflect Nick’s initial thoughts of Tom, first through Tom’s appearance, then through his actions. Nick’s tone, when he first sees Tom waiting for him in his riding clothes, shifts from one of curiosity to fear and aggression. When Tom begins to talk, all of Nick’s initial thoughts of him are verified through Tom’s abrupt arrogance. Although Nick does not directly acknowledge his hatred and envy of Tom, through Nick’s description of Tom’s appearance and condescending attitude towards him, the reader recognizes a rigid tension between the two.
Written during and regarding the 1920s, ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald is both a representation of this distinctive social and historical context, and a construction of the composer’s experience of this era. Beliefs and practises of the present also play a crucial role in shaping the text, in particular changing the way in which literary techniques are interpreted. The present-day responder is powerfully influenced by their personal experiences, some of which essentially strengthen Fitzgerald’s themes, while others compete, establishing contemporary interpretations of the novel.
The F. Scott Fitzgerland who's an author of the Great Gatsby passage usage of diction, image, details, figurative language and different type of structures of the sentence creates the passage more visible and understandable.For example, the author uses a word" the valley of ashes" to describe the valley. Furthermore, he creates an image in the reader's mind with descriptive and concise words for the valley in the better structure of the sentence. Besides, he also uses the figurative language to create a better image that helps the reader to comprehend. Moreover, he uses detail such as the eye of doctor T.j. are blue and gigantic, to convince the reader to ponder about how it's important to the story. Overall, the author would have a
While there are themes of romanticism and realism in The Great Gatsby, in assessing the critic’s statement, it doesn’t favor either philosophy. Which in turn, shows the novel not to be a “profoundly anti-romantic novel”, but rather an optimistic tragedy. Fitzgerald expresses such intent in his usage of romanticism and realism