MATTHEW  ISOM

FITZGERALD'S WRITING STYLE IN THE GREAT GATSBY

 

Your assignment (10 pts.) is to give the class one (not two) insightful observations concerning Fitzgerald’s writing.  (Or choose Hemingway.  Not both).  

You do not need to limit yourself to the passage about Daisy’s house.

 

Observations might include, but not be limited to, the following:

• Word choice--the two others use different kinds of words.  Consider connotation, verbs, adjectives, etc.  

• The sound of the line when read aloud.  Cadence, lyrical flow, repetition

• Imagery.  Be sure to explain the effect of the imagery

• The types of ideas in the writing.  The way ideas are created.  

• The amount of attention devoted to description of things

 

(Student 1) Fitzgerald chose certain forms and genres in which to describe aspects of the novel. One example is food such as wine and a wedding cake mentioned a couple times throughout the novel. This could be for many reasons, he could be emphasizing the theme of wild parties that consist of common food and drinks like cake and wine. Fitzgerald could be appealing to the senses, food is an international language everyone loves and understands, what better way to appeal to the human race than with food. (Marisa Yoakum)

 

(Student 2) The “Roaring Twenties” enabled Fitzgerald to create fascinating ideas of realism in his work. Parties and bootleggers are often mentioned to make a vibe of how luxury and the “High-life” had once been like. Fitzgerald relates his life into his writing, to show how a good life can soon downfall to hardships. In The Great Gatsby, the audience can imagine the misery and scandals that happen among people with seemingly perfect lives, “Tom’s got some woman in New York.” (Page15 -Miss Baker). Heartache and affairs travel in domino effects through this book, Tom’s affair is only the beginning. Thus drama ate at the characters’ lives as it happens to real people. Fitzgerald’s writing addresses realistic problems that makes the reader to think. (Morgan Wells)

 

(Student 3)

Fitzgerald way of writing makes things sound flowing and descriptive making sure that you have an image in your head what things look like.  By making connections to things that the average person have seen in their whole life, you(as the reader) have an idea what the subject of discussion in the book looks like.  Fitzgerald uses imagery a lot in the book to emphasize the lifestyle of flappers, Gatsby’s parties, and rich people grand style of living.  Like his themes of the book “The Great Gatsby,” the morality declination of people how they are wasting their lives away for these big flare parties of Gatsby and other rich people.  for an example in chapter Nine it's talking about the American dream of 1920s america of individualism and the pursuit of happiness.  He is depicting the American dream through the parties and the lies of couples that they are happy married couple but its all a fake.  (Lizbeth Mendoza Castellanos)

(Student 4) Fitzgerald’s word choice in his writing is very fluid. He writes with high and descriptive vocabulary yet still seamlessly weaves his words together to create a very flowy piece of writing. As rich and complicated as Fitzgerald’s words are, the way he incorporates it in context still somehow makes his work understandable to the standard audience. (Holly Duvall)

 

(Student 5) Fitzgerald uses extensive imagery to convey his thoughts and the story. To better help his reader understand the surroundings or situation in which the story is taking place, Fitzgerald will define and analyze things that need to accentuated. A very common passage in which he presents this is the description of Daisy’s home. Although that is a popular example the novel itself is bound with extraordinary imagery that compels the reader to keep reading. (Alec Scott)

 

(Student 6) Fitzgerald uses highly exaggerated imagery, which is almost dreamlike. His descriptions of “floating rounds of cocktails,” the valley where “ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys (as if the buildings themselves are made of ashes),” and a portrait of “a hen sitting on a blurred rock.” The fact that these descriptions, and many others, are very bizarre, out of the ordinary, and in some cases completely impossible, keeps the reader interested because they are so different from everyday life. (Janson Guevara)

 

(Student 7) The passage describing Daisy’s house on page 8 is a good example of Fitzgerald’s style of characterization. Fitzgerald often gives lengthy descriptions of objects and places in order to make a point about his characters and their lives. For example, the breezy, open-air quality of Daisy’s house represents instability in her life and in her relationship with Tom. Rather than being a long-winded, unnecessary description, the passage provides important insight into Daisy’s life. (Katie Hill)

 

(Student 8) Fitzgerald’s ideas behind his writing are his ideas of the American Dream, and how lives can be controlled, and ruined by greed and a sense of unfulfillment. In The Great Gatsby, Gatsby has everything that you think a man could want, wealth and fame and popularity. However Fitzgerald’s point behind creating a character like Gatsby is that of how you can have a lot of money, but those aren't the values to focus on. Fitzgerald uses these ideas of the American Dream and certain values throughout the novel. (Eric Stephens)