F. Scott Fitzgerald's seminal classic The Great Gatsby is considered to be the definitive literary work of the Jazz Age. It examines a world of wealth and privilege, society and class, the quest for love, and the search for what was once lost. Probably more than any other written piece of the period, it encapsulates the yearning that many in America felt following World War I, a longing for a new tomorrow and our place within it. Fitzgerald manages to introduce most of his major characters within the confines of Chapter One in one fashion or another through the use of exquisitely detailed descriptions and ornate language. It seems to us that F. Scott Fitzgerald loves winding, garden-path sentences. He likes to begin a sentence with one idea, person, or location and end in a completely different universe. Because of this, he draws amazing connections.

In this example, watch how he begins with personality and ends with earthquakes:

If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. (1.4) How’s that for some plate tectonics? Our speaker talks about the “unbroken series of successful gestures” that characterizes personality, but we can’t help but think of the series of successful words that live in this very sentence. Unlike a personality, these words are broken up by three commas. We can’t get enough of the commas and semi-colons that live in The Great Gatsby; they are everywhere, and they make for some juicy, action-packed sentences. Sometimes, we have to read sentences over and over again just to make sure we understand them, just to make sure we actually did read the phrases “whole caravansary” and “card house” in the same sentence (8.15).

Fitzgerald seems to love the chaos of a ramble, but he also loves to enforce order. He creates beautifully ornate sentences that gallop like wild horses in all directions, and he also simultaneously lassos these sentences and pulls the reigns. Get out your chaps, find your spurs, and giddy on up.

Literal Vs. Figurative Language

Fitzgerald manages to make use of both literal and figurative language to introduce his characters. Here is a reminder of each for those who forgot...

Literal Language - Literal means adhering to the basic facts, or to the ordinary usage and standard meanings of words. It refers to what is actually or obviously true, with no exaggeration or embellishment.

Figurative Language - Figurative language or speech contains images. The writer or speaker describes something through the use of unusual comparisons, for effect, interest, and to make things clearer. The result of using this technique is the creation of interesting images.

1st Assignment

As you read Chapter 1, you will make note of at least FIVE direct quotes that describe a character in the novel through the use of literal and/or figurative language. You will type these quotes directly into the CLASS CHARACTER page, MAKING NOTE AT THE END AS TO WHOM THE QUOTE IS DESCRIBING. Be sure to include quotation marks around the quote and include pagination.

2nd Assignment

You will meet in your literature groups and make a collective decision in each quote as to which use literal language, which use figurative language, and which employ both. You will do this by accessing your literature group page (where a copy of all submitted quotes will lie) and highlighting elements of each quotes in three ways... BLUE for LITERAL LANGUAGE, RED for FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, and ORANGE for when you are UNSURE. We will discuss those.

3rd Portion

We will share our findings as a class, group by group, answering questions, and discussing results. Each group will then be asked to come up with a summary statement, 1/2 to 1 full page, as to why they feel Fitzgerald employed his use of language in this fashion and why some characters are described in different terms than others.