Stellar thesis statements
2 essential components:
1. Summary of Nick’s purpose/main conclusion in the novel
2. Explanation of how he uses language to support that conclusion
*You don’t need to list the 4 rhetorical strategies, but you should at least refer to his “use
of language” or his “rhetorical strategies” etc.
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In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby, protagonist Nick Carraway shows his cynicism of
the wealthy white class in New York is justified through his use of imagery, tone, diction
and details (Seney).
As the novel’s narrator, Nick Carraway uses a variety of language devices to convey his
point that the rich are careless, delusional, and utterly destructive in their actions
(Young).
Nick Carraway uses the rhetorical strategies imagery, tone, and word choice to give us
the message that life is just an illusion and that people hopelessly grasp for things that
aren’t there (Williams).
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway uses imagery, personification,
appeals to logic, and different tones to show how focusing on dreams and working so
hard to achieve them can blind us from reality (Stukaloff).
Great examples and analysis from charts
Word Choice
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Example: "I understand you're looking for a business gonegtion" (Fitzgerald 75).
Analysis: "Wolfsheim's speech contains this odd colloquialism that makes it possible to
imagine a nasal tone to his voice. This is turn makes him seem somewhat unpleasant"
(Young).
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Example: Nick narrates that "It was James Gatz who had been loafing along the beach
that afternoon" (Fiztgerald 98).
Analysis: By using the word "loafing" to describe the way James walks it shows that
James may not have anything to do. He is wandering around with no goals in sight
(Ariizumi).
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Imagery
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Example: While in the company of Tom Buchanan, Nick notes, "He was silent for a
moment. The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet" (Fitzgerald 107).
Analysis: "This passage appeals to the sense of sound. Tom is quiet but you can hear
the sound of his shoes on the pebbles. These actions show that Tom is thinking, pacing.
In context it has a slight negative feel to it because Tom is slightly exasperated with
Gatsby and his parties" (Ariizumi).
Literary/Language Devices
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Example: "Rather ill at ease among swirls and eddies of people I didn't know though
here was a face I had recognized on the commuting train" (Fitzgerald 42).
Analysis: "The device used here is dehumanization, the opposite of personification.
This literary variety transmogrifies humans into objects. It creates an interesting
aesthetic that demeans those incorporated" (Southworth).
Detail
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Example: "only the hot whistles of the National Biscuit Company broke the simmering
hush at noon" (Fitzgerald 114).
Analysis: The mentioning of the National Biscuit Company isn't absolutely necessary
but it adds character to the otherwise non-descript whistles" (Dunn).
Syntax
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Example: "It was James Gatz who had been loafing along the beach that afternoon in a
torn green jersey and a pair of canvas pants, but it was already Jay Gatsby who borrowed
a row-boat, pulled out to the Tulomee and informed Cody that a wind might catch him
and break him up in half an hour" (Fitzgerald 104).
Analysis: "The exact momnet of James Gatz's transformation to Jay Gatsby is shown by
this balanced sentence. The actions of Gatz and Gatsby are detailed in much the same
structure, making it clear they are the same person but different personas" (Young).
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Example: " 'I'm p-paralyzed with happiness' " (Fitzgerald 8).
Analysis: "this interruption of the sentence shows her stutter. Her being paralyzed with
happiness has literally stopped her speech for a moment" (Bangerter).
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Example: Nick states "Perhaps Daisy never went in for amour and all--and yet there's
something in that voice of hers..." (Fitzgerald 82).
Analysis: "the way he leaves this paragraph hanging also leaves your mind hanging and
wondering what Daisy is up to" (Buschini).
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Example: Nick thinking of Tom's reaction to Daisy killing Myrtle: "he might think he
saw a connection in it--he might think anything" (Fizgerald 152).
Analysis: "The use of a dash adds suspense to the already tense scene of events. Nick is
weighing the outcomes and wrath of Tom if he finds out who really killed Myrtle"
(Whyte).
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Example: Nick says "I went in--after making every possible noise in the kitchen, short
of pushing over the stove--but I don't believe they heard a sound" (Fitzgerald 89).
Analysis: "Nick essentially interjects his own train of thought here. It emphasizes how
he's conscious of Daisy and Gatsby's privacy and is trying not to intrude. Also it shows he
feels a little awkward around the two seeing each other for the first time in a while"
(Murphy).
Tone
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Example: Nick says "Conduct may be founded on the hard rock or the wet marshes, but
after a certain point I don't care what it's founded on" (Fitzgerald 6).
Analysis: "Nick is irritated and fed up with excuses. Whether someone was taught to
conduct others one way or another all ways should be respectable. He does not care what
it is founded on. People should hold themselves and conduct their business civilly and
with care. It does not matter how you were raised or where you came from" (Wald).
Example: At the beginning of chapter one to the end of paragraph two. Nick explains a
bit about his father.
Analysis: Nick's tone as he explains his father is puzzled. He remembers something his
father once told him and still does not completely understand it (Fitzgerald).
Example: "Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my
reaction--Gatsby, who represented everything for which I have unaffected scorn"
(Fitzgerald 2).
Analysis: "His distaste is clear in his wording, yet at the same time a sense of
dumbfoundedness is also present in his tone" (Bangerter).
Rhetorical Appeals
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Example: Nick says "This is untrue. I am not even faintly like a rose" (Fitzgerald 19).
Analysis: This shows that Nick has a firm grip on what he is and what he isn't, giving
him credibility [ethos] because he is honest and modest" (Cummings).
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Example: Nick says "Michaelis and this man reached her first, but when they had torn
open her shirtwaist, still damp with perspiration, they saw that her left breast was
swinging loose like a flap, and there was no need to listen for the heart beneath. The
mouth was wide open and ripped at the corners, as though she had choked a little in
giving up the tremendous vitality she had stored so long" (Fitzgerald 137).
Analysis: "Nick's vivid description of Myrtle's death almost shocks the reader. There is
not this strong of an appeal to pathos until this paragraph. It does a great job of
describing the horror and sadness of the situation (Murphy).
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