Rhetorical Strategies
in the Great Gatsby
·
Metaphor: “If
personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was
something gorgeous about him” (2).
·
Oxymoron: “A succulent hash
arrived, and Mr. Wolfsheim, forgetting the more sentimental atmosphere of the
old Metropole, began to eat with ferocious delicacy” (71).
·
Polysyndeton: “This is a valley
of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and
grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising
smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and
already crumbling through the powdery air” (23).
·
Simile: “The glow faded, each
light deserting her with lingering regret, like children leaving a pleasant street
at dusk” (14).
In the novel, “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald utilizes
rhetorical strategies to create a complex style in his writing. The use of the
rhetorical strategies, the polysyndeton in particular, conveys a complicated
yet revealing style that can be found throughout the novel. The long, complex
sentences that Fitzgerald employs in his novel mirror the complexity of the
story of Gatsby, and the style of writing used matches perfectly with the
complications of the plot. The similes, metaphors, alliterations, oxymorons,
and other rhetorical devices used also add to the complexity of the story by creating
a complex style.
The four examples are strong and great. Right now, I cannot think of critiques for them. For the commentary, it is thorough to say the least. You analyze how both Fitzgerald’s style and the plot are affected by the use of rhetorical strategies. However, there is a certain essence of redundancy between the second sentence and the last sentence. Also, the vocabulary is significantly stronger than the syntax analysis which is great.
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