Discussion Preparation Locate, cite and copy 4 different passages from the text where the author develops one of the following elements: setting, tone, POV, characters. Annotate the passage for elements. In the second row, interpret the author s use of these elements. Passage that develops setting and annotation (p.5 (1)) I lived at West Egg, the--well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. My house was a the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, and squeezed between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard--it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool and more than forty acres of lawn and garden. It was Gatsby s mansion. Identify the literary device(s) used. Interpret how the author used each device to develop setting.. The author uses contrasting images such as factual imitation and spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy to introduce the setting of Gatsby s mansion. He describes the home as a factual imitation. This is almost a paradox because it is factual (or real) while also being an imitation of something. He also mentions the spanking new paint under a layer of ivy. The ivy growth would suggest age and possibly neglect, while the new paint suggests recent attention paid to its appearance. These contrasting images present the reader with a setting that is somewhat fake and superficial, a setting that is attempting to be something that it is not. In the sentence, I lived at West Egg, the--well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them, the author uses an interrupted sentence structure including a hyphen to interrupt Nick s statement here. Adding the hyphen and then stating well, the less fashionable of the two adds a tone of embarrassment to the description of West Egg. Adding the hyphen adds a pause to Nick s description, therefore establishing the fact that he is slightly ashamed of the reputation that his new home has in contrast with East Egg. The author uses hyperbole when he states more than forty acres of lawn and garden. This hyperbole establishes the grandness of Gatsby s mansion in Nick s eyes. The mansion is over the top and, as we will see, its owner is as well.
Passage that develops tone and annotation. (p.4 (1-4)) It was lonely for a day or so until one morning some man more recently arrived than I, stopped me on the road. How do you get to West Egg Village? he asked helplessly. I told him. And as I walked on I was lonely no longer. I was a guide, a pathfinder, an original settler. He had casually conferred on me the freedom of the neighborhood. And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees--just as things grow in fast movies--i had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer. Identify the literary device(s) used. Interpret how the author used each device to develop tone. The word choice in this section of the text create a tone of hope. Nick uses the words guide pathfinder and original settler to describe himself. These words signify that there is something to discover within Nick s new life in West Egg. They also suggest a sense of control over one s destiny. Using these words in relation to Nick creates a tone of hopefulness. The word freedom is also used because Nick realizes that his life has many possibilities at this point, again emphasizing the tone of hope at this point in the novel. The author uses imagery in the following quotation: and so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the tree. The imagery used in this section further reinforces the tone of hope. Nick uses the image of the sunshine promoting the growth of new leaves to mirror his own feelings of growth. He feels his life was beginning over again just as the natural world around him was springing to life.
Passage that develops point of view and annotation. (p.1 (1-3)) In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I ve been turning over in my mind ever since Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all the people in the world haven t had the advantages that you ve had. He didn t say any more but we ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence I m inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. Identify the literary device(s) used. Interpret how the author used each device to develop point of view. The author establishes the first-person point of view here with the use of the pronouns me my, me, and I. This signals to the reader early in the novel that we will see the events of the book through the eyes of Nick. The events will be colored by Nick s own opinions of the characters. Nick also gives us information about his own lack of judgement which suggests to the reader that he is a reliable and unbiased narrator.
Passage that develops character and annotation. (p.3 (1)) I graduated from New Haven in 1915, just a quarter of a century after my father and a little later I participated in that delayed Teutonic migration known as the Great War. I enjoyed the counter-raid so thoroughly that I came back restless. Instead of being the warm center of the world the middle-west now seemed like the ragged edge of the universe--so I decided to go east and learn the bond business. Everybody I knew was in the bond business so I supposed it could support one more single man. All my aunts and uncles talked it over as if they were choosing a prep school for me and finally said Why--ye-es with very grave, hesitant faces. Father agreed to finance me for a year and after various delays I came east, permanently, I thought, in the spring of twenty-two. Identify the literary device(s) used. Interpret how the author used each device to develop character.
The author uses imagery to develop the characterization of Nick. He uses the contrasting images of what Nick thinks the middle west should feel like ( warm center ) and what it actually felt like to him ( ragged edge ) to create a sense that Nick is lost, or has lost his bearings. The author also uses the word restless to describe Nick, giving the reader the idea that Nick is a character who is, again, looking for a home or a place to belong. This word contrasts with the word permanently to show how Nick hopes for a place to end his restlessness. These devices develop Nick as a character who is looking for a place to put down roots and end his restlessness. It also establishes him as a character who feels like he is on the brink of something.