Analyzing Word Choice in Literature

Analyzing Word Choice in Literature

Read the provided excerpt carefully. Then, answer the questions that follow, paying close attention to the author's specific word choices and their effects.

Excerpt from 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald:

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. 'Whenever you feel like criticizing any one,' he told me, 'just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.' He didn’t say any more, but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. It was an admonition, and it is what I have been turning over in my mind, and indeed, what I am turning over in my mind now.

1. What is the most likely connotation of the word 'vulnerable' as used in the first sentence?

2. The word 'admonition' suggests that the father's advice is a:

3. The phrase 'turning over in my mind' implies a process of deep   and  .

4. By stating they were 'unusually communicative in a reserved way,' the narrator suggests a relationship characterized by both   and unspoken  .

5. Analyze the impact of the father's advice on the narrator's perspective. How does the specific phrasing of the advice shape the narrator's understanding of others?

6. The use of 'advantages' instead of 'money' implies a broader scope of privilege beyond just wealth.

7. Consider the overall tone established by Fitzgerald's word choice in this opening paragraph. How do words like 'vulnerable,' 'admonition,' and 'reserved' contribute to this tone? What kind of narrator do these words suggest?