Style and sentence structure in The Great Gatsby
Language style in The Great Gatsby
Many long sentences with complex syntax (word order) and sentence structure. Not just simple sentences, but cumulative sentences: clauses added on that expand, comment on, explain and elaborate on/enhance the meaning.
Convoluted writing style: many overlapping folds/layers, boxes in boxes, difficult, elaborate and intricate sentence structures.
Punctuation: An unusual number of semi-colons, commas and dashes.
Parallelism.
Detailed descriptions (many adjectives and adverbs)
Ornate language. Evocative/emotive diction.
Fitzgerald uses both literal and figurative language to introduce his characters:
Literal Language- adhering to the basic facts, or to ordinary usage and standard meanings of words. It refers to what is actually or obviously true, with no exaggeration or embellishment. \n \n Figurative Language! - Figurative language contains images. The writer or speaker describes something through the use of unusual comparisons, for effect, interest, or to make things clearer; Metaphors and similes and symbols. “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”. (simile, hyperbole). The imagery used is compelling because….
Example of style: ‘The groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath.’ The parallelism of the verbs (that all denote change), along with the lack of conjunctions, speeds up the scene. This party scene is supposed to feel chaotic, hysterical, fast-paced, in order to emphasize that the event is excessive. The style adds to the sense of the excitement of the people there.
Sometimes long (complex) sentences are contrasted with short (simple) sentences: “And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy” (49). In this conversation, short, pithy sentences are exchanged. Declarative statements of fact (not descriptive or reflective). The syntax is here used to highlight the feelings of the characters. This sentence structure shows the speaker’s loneliness. A sudden short sentence takes the reader by surprise.
Daisy is characterized by her language (like all the characters): She asks rhetorical questions. This syntax could also show Daisy's egotism in the fact that she may not care about other people's answers. Her sentences are often incomplete; trail off into silence, or merely expressions of emotion. Elegant but ridiculous statements.
Sentence structure in The Great Gatsby
Phrase: lacks subject and verbal. Does not make up a complete sentence. Examples: “my car” (noun phrase), “very blue” (adjective phase)
Clause: subject and verbal. Can be a complete sentence, but isn’t necessarily. “I am going to sleep” (independent clause, complete sentence). “Since I am tired” (dependent clause, not complete sentence).
Sentence: subject and verbal. Can consist of more than one clause, as in the complex sentence: “Since I am tired (dependent clause), I am going to sleep (independent clause)”.
Sentence types:
- simple sentence (I am hungry)
- compound (I am hungry and I am thirsty) – coordinating conjunction (“and” and “but” are conjunctions)
- complex (Since I haven’t eaten, I am hungry.) – subordinate clause (since = subjunction).
Parts of sentence:
“I am hungry” is a simple sentence made up of an independent clause.
“I am hungry and I need to find somewhere to sleep” is a compound sentence consisting of two independent clauses conjoined by a coordinating conjunction.
“Since I am tired, I need to find somewhere to sleep” is a complex sentence. The adverbial
“Since I am tired” is a dependent clause (introduced by the subordination “since”)
Phrase: lacks subject and verbal. Does not make up a complete sentence. Examples: “my car” (noun phrase), “very blue” (adjective phase)
Clause: subject and verbal. Can be a complete sentence, but isn’t necessarily. “I am going to sleep” (independent clause, complete sentence). “Since I am tired” (dependent clause, not complete sentence).
Sentence: subject and verbal. Can consist of more than one clause, as in the complex sentence: “Since I am tired (dependent clause), I am going to sleep (independent clause)”.
This first sentence is a declarative statement uttered by the narrator, Nick Carraway. Look at how many clauses this relatively short sentence contains:
- my father gave me some advice (independent clause, would function as a simple sentence on its own)
- “In my younger years my father gave me some advice” (complex sentence with a dependent/subordinate clause at the beginning – a temporal adverbial)
- “In my younger years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind.” (a dependent/subordinate that-clause added on at the end)
- “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind.” (an adjective phrase that adds information - tells us what Nick was like when he was younger)
- “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.” (another temporal adverbial added at the end)
Some grammar terms:
- juxtaposition (placed next to each other, often for comparison)
- apposition (phrases with equal meaning): Elisabeth, my English teacher, is strict.
- subordination of dependent clause (complex sentence): Because she is hungry (dependent clause), she must eat (independent clause)
- coordination of independent clauses using the conjunction “and” (compound sentence): She is hungry and she is thirsty
“No - Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams (apposition) that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.” adverbs and adjectives
“I spent my Saturday nights in New York (independent clause), because those gleaming, dazzling parties of his were with me so vividly that I could still hear the music and the laughter, faint and incessant (inserted adjective phrase), from his garden, and the cars going up and down his drive*” (dependent clause with complex structure)*
Fitzgerald loves winding (“garden-path”) sentences that begin with something simple (one idea, person, or location) and end up somewhere else entirely, usually something of importance -something that adds purpose to the novel or a theme. In this example, 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.
What is the effect?
- to draws interesting connections and make us see normal things in a new way?
- to show how during this time everything was fast paced and rapidly changing in a matter of minutes? To evoke a chaotic accelerated lifestyle?
- the break in the sentence is comparable to how people pause while they are talking when they have an idea mid-sentence?
- to make us think of Nick as educated and elegant?
- to create a certain mood in the reader (which one)?