The Great Gatsby Rhetorical Analysis Essay
In the classic novel, The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a young man discovers concealed secrets from his neighbor, relatives, and close friends. At one point in the book, located on page fifty-five, Nick, the main character who is on a journey of mysteries, shows a fond interest in the peculiar acts of his neighbor Gatsby. Questions arise in Nick's mind. Why was such a popular man such a loner all at the same time? On this particular page, Nick questions these ideas. The passage reveals to the reader a sad sympathetic story behind the so-called "Great Gatsby" using tone, imagery, and diction giving the reader a more obsolete and clearer vision of Gatsby.
Loner, "a person who avoids the company or assistance of others", according to Merriam-Webster's dictionary. In many point of views, this was a simple, one …show more content…
sentence, explanation of Gatsby. The passage on page fifty-five brings out that concept of Gatsby being a loner. It is true that Gatsby had grand parties and invited a lot of grand people but it was the parties that were popular and well known, not Gatsby. Words or often phrases such as "seeing nothing sinister about him" and "off from his guests" categorize Gatsby as a bashful party thrower who rather take in the action rather than participate in it. Through phrases such as these, the meaning of passage fifty-five can help be determined and made less blatant to a reader. It helps draw focus on what is needed and grows a mysterious interest in the reader. Also, through repetition like, "But no one swooned backward on Gatsby and no French bob touched Gatsby's shoulder, and no singing quartets were formed with Gatsby's head for one link", the reader gets a sense of sympathy knowing that not only has Gatsby been set off from his guests once but this is an on going sadness for Gatsby.
"His tanned skin was drawn attractively tight on his face and his short hair looked as though it were trimmed everyday." Descriptions such as this one will often help a reader determine the tone and feelings an author tries to express in a passage.
In the case of the passage on pages fifty-four through fifty-five, imagery again is used to determine the tones and expressions of characters and the setting. An example of this is the following line: "Gatsby, standing alone on the marble steps and looking from one group to another with approving eyes." This example of imagery in the passage works in it because the fragment, "standing alone" gives an obvious clue that Gatsby is a loner. Another example is when Fitzgerald describes the dancing girls "swooning" back and forth with all the guys except Gatsby. His fluent description of the girl's movements is an example of imagery. Both of these contribute to the meaning of the passage by giving the reader context clues to figure out the tone of the passage. They also provoke certain aspects of sensory in the reader that help pop ideas into the readers mind about possibilities on why Gatsby is so
lonely.
There are three concepts in finding the tone of a passage. One, the subject must be identified. In the passage on page fifty-four through fifty-five, the subject was Gatsby's grand party. The next step in finding the tone is author's attitude toward the subject. One who did not read closely might find that the tone is mysteriousness but after closer reading, it is unmistakably sympathy for the attitude toward the subject. As for the last step, the reader must figure out the tone being given to himself or herself from the author. In the case of this passage, that tone was mysterious. The key component though for tone is finding the overall tone. For this passage, the overall tone was sympathy. Nick was sympathetic toward Gatsby because he was such a loner. Although the mood was sad, it was overly sympathetic.
Life is full of surprises, mysteries, and amazements. Every person at some point in life will experience these parts of living. For Nick, he takes his curiosity of Gatsby and discovers a sad mystery of the quite great one. Although I am not the author, this passage was probably selected to give the reader a closer understanding of how the other characters viewed Gatsby. English has further helped in being able to understand these small language concepts in the novel. The author is able to relay this message to his readers through language techniques such as diction, imagery, and tone, which in return contribute to the meaning of the passage by giving the reader a sense of passion and sympathy toward the characters and text.
Loner, "a person who avoids the company or assistance of others", according to Merriam-Webster's dictionary. In many point of views, this was a simple, one …show more content…
sentence, explanation of Gatsby. The passage on page fifty-five brings out that concept of Gatsby being a loner. It is true that Gatsby had grand parties and invited a lot of grand people but it was the parties that were popular and well known, not Gatsby. Words or often phrases such as "seeing nothing sinister about him" and "off from his guests" categorize Gatsby as a bashful party thrower who rather take in the action rather than participate in it. Through phrases such as these, the meaning of passage fifty-five can help be determined and made less blatant to a reader. It helps draw focus on what is needed and grows a mysterious interest in the reader. Also, through repetition like, "But no one swooned backward on Gatsby and no French bob touched Gatsby's shoulder, and no singing quartets were formed with Gatsby's head for one link", the reader gets a sense of sympathy knowing that not only has Gatsby been set off from his guests once but this is an on going sadness for Gatsby.
"His tanned skin was drawn attractively tight on his face and his short hair looked as though it were trimmed everyday." Descriptions such as this one will often help a reader determine the tone and feelings an author tries to express in a passage.
In the case of the passage on pages fifty-four through fifty-five, imagery again is used to determine the tones and expressions of characters and the setting. An example of this is the following line: "Gatsby, standing alone on the marble steps and looking from one group to another with approving eyes." This example of imagery in the passage works in it because the fragment, "standing alone" gives an obvious clue that Gatsby is a loner. Another example is when Fitzgerald describes the dancing girls "swooning" back and forth with all the guys except Gatsby. His fluent description of the girl's movements is an example of imagery. Both of these contribute to the meaning of the passage by giving the reader context clues to figure out the tone of the passage. They also provoke certain aspects of sensory in the reader that help pop ideas into the readers mind about possibilities on why Gatsby is so
lonely.
There are three concepts in finding the tone of a passage. One, the subject must be identified. In the passage on page fifty-four through fifty-five, the subject was Gatsby's grand party. The next step in finding the tone is author's attitude toward the subject. One who did not read closely might find that the tone is mysteriousness but after closer reading, it is unmistakably sympathy for the attitude toward the subject. As for the last step, the reader must figure out the tone being given to himself or herself from the author. In the case of this passage, that tone was mysterious. The key component though for tone is finding the overall tone. For this passage, the overall tone was sympathy. Nick was sympathetic toward Gatsby because he was such a loner. Although the mood was sad, it was overly sympathetic.
Life is full of surprises, mysteries, and amazements. Every person at some point in life will experience these parts of living. For Nick, he takes his curiosity of Gatsby and discovers a sad mystery of the quite great one. Although I am not the author, this passage was probably selected to give the reader a closer understanding of how the other characters viewed Gatsby. English has further helped in being able to understand these small language concepts in the novel. The author is able to relay this message to his readers through language techniques such as diction, imagery, and tone, which in return contribute to the meaning of the passage by giving the reader a sense of passion and sympathy toward the characters and text.