Prewriting Strategies
I chose the Great Gatsby because that is what I related very well in my middle school.
The Analysis
Theme-The theme of the novel is about love between two young people, man and woman. The setting is quite on of age, based in the years where world wars were still taking place (The Great Gatsby 12).
The geographical setting of the novel is based in Newyork. The era in which the book is set is full of moral decay and cynicism(The Great Gatsby 12).The novel is full of the symbolism and other literally styles that I will analyze here below. The novel I can say uses little words that generate into big ideas.
The novel is carefully set in the 1920s where there were economic and social struggles. The social aspect of the time is very much focused on social aspect. We have a first-person narrator point of view from Nick Carraway. At the beginning of the first chapter, he says that he reserves all judgments.
The novel has a lot of literary fiction (Hoover 40). It is fragmented in a non-linear fashion that tries to bring out various truths that a normal writer cannot or may find difficult to put across. The tone of the novel sounds very cynical and controlling .Nick is very much inclined to the social aspect of life, he very much values what others perceive of him.
This novel capture a lot in the society for example how people are always resistant to changes. Change is a very important in the society considering that it is all over the space. Culture is changing thus affecting every situation. Changes in this novel are depicted from the new immigrants into the country-the southern Europeans.
Literary devices used in this novel include foreshadowing, irony, drama situational devices, allusion, aphorism and symbolism. I will discuss a few of these devices (Hoover 40).
Flashback-An example of a flash back occurs in chapter four of the book whereby we are taken back to a date that is 1917. Authors to end suspense on the audience and enhance understanding of the novel’s plot use this device.
Symbolism is presenting a thing that represents both itself and something else. Fitzgerald made many things in the novel highly symbolic to try and better convey his themes among others; he uses colors, locations, seasons, cars, and Daisy’s voice (Fitzgerald 6).
Foreshadowing-The act of presenting materials that hint at events that occur later in a story. All the way leading up to the climax, Fitzgerald hints at the downfall of Gatsby, such as in Chapter 3 where he writes, “He snatched the book from me and placed it hastily on its shelf muttering that if one brick was removed the whole library was liable to collapse.”
A simile is a comparison of two things using the word like or the word as. Some items and animals have very common characteristics. When a person behaves like them, the a simile may be used to explain this. It is also used to help the reader to create an image Similes occur very regularly throughout the book (Fitzgerald 6). Some examples include at the start of chapter 3, where Nick narrates to us,” In his blue garden men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.” Another one occurs in chapter 7, when Nick says, “Daisy and Jordan lay upon an enormous couch, like silver idols, weighing down their own white dresses against the singing breeze of the fans”. These occur rather regularly throughout the book.
Aphorism is a saying used by an author to portray something. It is a saying used to express the truth and the depth of an action. Most of the time, this saying is usually a proverb or a simile. A good example of an aphorism is such as a proverb that is because it implies to a generation (Fitzgerald 6). An example of an aphorism occurs early in the book when Nick Carraway narrates for us the wise advice his father had given him, “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages you’ve had.
Metaphor is a way of comparing two things without necessarily mentioning the liking words such as ‘like’ and ‘as’ .metaphors are used in many writings to express the extent of an action or professionalism of the character . In this subject essay for instance, we see in chapter one Daisy using a metaphor to describe Nick in when she says, ‘You remind me of a- of a rose, an absolute rose. Doesn’t he?’ Metaphors occur frequently in the book.
Work cited
The Great Gatsby. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1925 pg 12
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 2004. Print.p6
Hoover, Bob (10 May 2013). "'The Great Gatsby' still challenges myth of American Dream". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pg 40
