The Great Gatsby Critical Analysis Essay
Critical Analysis – an essay that analyzes a piece of literature using existing criticism to back up an original
thesis. As pertains to English class, this means that you will read a novel, formulate an original (meaning your
own) thesis statement about the novel, and use published literary criticism to support your thesis.
Other definitions to help you:
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Criticism – writing that analyzes a literary work in order to evaluate how it does or does not succeed in
communicating its meaning or achieving its purpose
Analysis – a way of thinking that involves taking apart, examining, and explaining a subject or an idea
Steps to Writing a Critical Analysis
1. Read and understand the novel
2. Decide on the particular element (literary device – theme, character, etc.) that you wish to explore:
a. Symbolism - Write an essay analyzing the symbolism that Fitzgerald uses in his novel The
Great Gatsby.
b. Identify the symbols and analyze their meanings in the story as well as the author's purpose for
including them in his novel. Symbols you could investigate include, but are not limited to, the
following:
i. The green light at the end of Daisy's dock
ii. The eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg and the character Owl Eyes
iii. The Valley of Ashes
iv. The colors repeated throughout the story (i.e. yellow, cream, white, blue, green, red, gold,
and silver)
c. Characters- Write an essay analyzing one of the main characters of the novel The Great
Gatsby. The following topics are suggestions on how to analyze each character.
i. Analyze Jay Gatsby. What makes him "great"?
ii. Examine Nick as a narrator. What is his style of narration? Is he a trustworthy narrator?
iii. Examine Daisy Buchanan as a character. What parallels do you see between her and
Zelda Fitzgerald?
iv. Examine Tom Buchanan as a character. Should readers feel sympathetic for him? Why or
why not? How does he symbolize the world of the very rich?
v. Examine Jordan Baker as a character, looking at her name, her honesty or dishonesty, her
athletic career, and/or her relationship with Nick.
vi. Examine Myrtle Wilson as a character. What makes us sympathetic to her? How is she in
some ways like Gatsby?
d. Themes- Write an essay analyzing a theme found in the novel The Great Gatsby.
i. What is meant by the phrase "the American dream"? How is Gatsby a novel about the
American dream?
3. Identify concrete details from the novel that support your topic
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The Great Gatsby Critical Analysis Essay
4. Formulate a thesis statement
5. Find existing literary criticism dealing with your topic
6. Write the rest of the of the essay, proving what you allege in your thesis statement by citing:
1. concrete details from the novel
2. existing literary criticism
AND adding your own commentary that:
1. analyzes the examples from the novel
2. explains your opinion/interpretation of the existing criticism
Writing a Strong Thesis Statement
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This will be the most difficult part of writing your essay. You should spend plenty of time formulating
your thesis statement because it will be the foundation of your entire essay, determining the direction of
both research and content. You are NOT merely explaining the novel. You are saying something
BRILLIANT and ORIGINAL about the novel.
Not sure where to start? Brainstorm! Answer these questions:
What do you think of The Great Gatsby? Did you like it? Why/why not? What specifically did you
like/dislike about it? Which aspects of the book stood out to you? What are some lessons we can learn
from the book? Why are these lessons important? How does Fitzgerald get them across? How does the
book relate to you personally? How is this book still applicable today, even though it was written almost
90 years ago? Which literary devices did you notice?
A good thesis statement will:
1. be provable with evidence from both the novel and outside criticism
2. analyze the use of at least one particular literary device. EX: theme, characterization, satire, symbolism,
etc. Your analysis can focus on the literary device itself (how/why it’s used, the effect of its usage, etc.)
OR it can focus on an issue from the novel that deals with a literary device or that is developed through
use of literary device.
Lit. Device Example Thesis: Fitzgerald’s use of color imagery and symbolism help to establish prominent
themes.
Blue allows the reader to add an element of "other worldliness" to the story. It shows the dreams and
thoughts of characters in the novel. Dr. T. J. Eckleburg has enormous "floating" blue eyes, which are said
to be God's eyes. They are believed to view the world as God himself would. At one point Myrtle is clothed
in a blue dress, which represents her dreams of escaping her mundane life and running away with Tom.
Most importantly, Gatsby's gardens are described as being shades of blue and are initially shown as a place
where people could escape from the world and be out of touch with reality.
Yellow illustrates the greed and wealth of the characters. Yellow is one of the main symbolic colors in
The Great Gatsby. It represents the wealth and extravagance of the rich. It also demonstrates how careless
the wealthy can be, though they are considered "high class" with all their money. Gatsby's car is yellow.
Yellow is also a shade used to connect a person's snobbery with her money--Daisy is referred to as "the
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The Great Gatsby Critical Analysis Essay
golden girl," Jordan's hair has an "Autumn leaf yellow" tint, Gatsby wears a gold tie, and the twins at one of
Gatsby's parties are dressed in yellow.
Green represents the struggle that Gatsby has between his wealth and his dreams. Green is a mixture
of the colors blue and yellow; it represents Gatsby's dreams and his wealth hopelessly tangled together.
There is a green light at the end of Daisy's dock, which suggests Gatsby has kept his dream of the Daisy he
knew and loved before he made his fortune, and the fact that their relationship will always be affected by
money. Green is also traditionally represents spring or a new beginning. Gatsby sees the green light as hope
for a relationship with Daisy.
3. Lead to analysis, NOT description or plot summary.
a. For example, a good thesis statement that leads to analysis might be: In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The
Great Gatsby, the moral decay of society is reflective of each of the three principal characters. In
this essay, the writer will explain what she means by “moral decay of society,” explain why the
moral decay of society is an appropriate theme for the novel, discuss each principal character’s
(Gatsby, Daisy, Tom) actions/motivation, and explain how those actions/motivations reflect her
definition of “moral decay of society.”
b. A thesis that only leads to description might be: In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Tom
Buchannan is a violent and cruel person. This statement leads only to a description of Tom’s
character. The writer would need to analyze what function Tom’s cruelty serves in the context of the
whole novel or the effect Tom’s character has on the plot, theme, other characters, etc.
c. Finally, a thesis that leads only to plot summary: In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the
titular tragic hero attempts to win the love of Daisy Buchannan. This starts off well with the
interpretation of Gatsby’s character as a tragic hero, but the essay would lead only to a re-telling of
Gatsby’s actions, which is insufficient. The writer would need to comment upon Gatsby’s actions or
interpret them in a unique way in order to analyze the significance, author’s purpose, etc.
REMEMBER: you want a thesis statement that leads to analysis, not description or plot summary.
4. Include the title of the novel, the author’s name, and the opinion that you will prove in the paper by
citing concrete details from the novel and published literary criticism.
Notes
These are the notes you will be taking from your sources. Each note contains one idea (either a quote, a
paraphrasing, or a summary), author or title of the source, the topic the source is discussing, and the page
number where the idea originated.
Structure of Paper
1. Paragraphs: 1 intro containing thesis statement, body paragraphs each containing a thesis-supporting
topic sentence, and 1 conclusion
2. Referenced material from at least three sources documented properly
3. 6 Direct quotations from both novel and 1 outside sources and 1 literary criticism cited properly
4. Final iteration will be typed and grammatically superior
5. Your paper must be typed in New Times Roman font, 12 point size, 1” margins, double-spaced.
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Outline
The following includes the necessary information for your outline. Your outline can have more components
than this one, but the outline should not have less. Each entry in your outline must be a complete sentence.
Your paragraph structure should follow the P. E. E. system:
OUTLINE
INTRODUCTION
Thesis statement
I.
POINT
A. EVIDENCE
1. EXPLANATION
2. EXPLANATION
B. EVIDENCE
1. EXPLANATION
2. EXPLANATION
II.
POINT
A. EVIDENCE
1. EXPLANATION
2. EXPLANATION
B. EVIDENCE
1. EXPLANATION
2. EXPLANATION
III.
POINT
A. EVIDENCE
1. EXPLANATION
2. EXPLANATION
B. EVIDENCE
1. EXPLANATION
2. EXPLANATION
CONCLUSION
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The Great Gatsby Critical Analysis Essay
Parenthetical Documentation
Format - “Quote quote” (Surname page#). Notice the period OUTSIDE the parenthesis, NOT inside the
quotation marks.
Example sentence/Straight Quote – “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things
and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept
them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made” (Fitzgerald 179).
Example sentence/Embedded Quote – Nick characterizes Tom and Daisy as “careless people” who “smashed
up things” and “retreated back into their money” rather than facing the consequences of their selfish actions
(Fitzgerald 179).
How to use Ellipsis - replace the part you don't want with ... You do NOT need it before or after the quote.
Quote - "I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life.”
Example sentence - Nick finds himself “within and without…enchanted and repelled” by Tom Buchanan and
Myrtle Wilson’s apartment party (Fitzgerald 35).
How to use Brackets - if you want to alter the words, verb tense, etc. of a quote, put brackets around your
alterations.
Quote – “The green light at the end of Daisy's dock and the spell it casts over Gatsby as he tries to force the
world into his version of the American Dream endures as an iconic symbol of both optimism and failure.”
Example sentence - “The green light at the end of Daisy’s dock…casts [a spell] over Gatsby” (Green 39).
Writing and Editing Tips
1. Use the present tense when referring to a literary work. (Gatsby throws lavish parties.) Keep tense
consistent.
2. Mention incidents in the plot as concrete details only to prove your thesis statement. This essay is NOT
merely plot summary.
3. Make each paragraph prove your thesis.
4. Quote incidents and passages from the novel and use proper MLA documentation.
5. Properly document your critical sources both internally (Parenthetical Documentation) and in a
bibliography (Works Cited Page) in correct MLA format.
6. Write in the third person only. Avoiding I, our, we, us, and you
7. Adopt an authoritative tone, avoiding words such as should, maybe, seems, could, possibly, etc.
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Source Information
Minimum of three (3) sources:
1. Novel The Great Gatsby
2. One from INFOTRAC On-Line Database
http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/sebr13597
password: student
3. One from the Literary Criticism - handouts
These secondary sources must come from academic articles and/or databases. No "Sparknotes",
"Classicnotes", or others like Wikipedia will be accepted.
Works Cited
EXAMPLES of ARTICLES
Dickstein, Morris. "Fitzgerald: The Authority of Failure." Critical Insights: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Oct. 2012: 288305. Literary Reference Center, 28 Mar. 2014.
Sklenar, R. "Anti-Petronian Elements in The Great Gatsby." F. Scott Fitzgerald Review. Sept. 2008: 121-128,
vol. 6. Ebsco, 28 Mar. 2014.
FORMAT
1. all entries are in Alphabetical Order by Author's last name
2. First line is against the margin; all other lines are indented. (A works cited entry is the exact opposite of
a paragraph.)
3. NOT double spaced, but skip a line between entries
4. Entries are NOT numbered
EXAMPLE for the NOVEL
You can copy this entry exactly. You will need this on your works cited, as the novel is one of your sources.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1925.
GRADES
Schedule
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7.
5/7-8 – In Lab 145
5/9-12 – In Lab 145
5/15-16 in class
5/18 at 11:59 pm
5/19-20 – In Lab 145
Secondary sources/1 Article & 1 Literary Criticism - 25 points
Outline with Thesis statement, 3 Topic sentences & 6 quotes - 50 points
PRINTED Rough Draft for Mrs. Barnett 50 points
Rough Draft SUBMIT to Turnitin.com
8 Peer Marks Turnitin.com – 100 points
Revising/Editing
Final Paper SUBMIT to Turnitin.com – 200 points
5/26 at 11:59 pm
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