Analyzing Writer's Effect

Analyzing Writer's Effect

Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. Pay close attention to the writer's deliberate choices in language, structure, and literary devices, and consider their intended impact on the reader.

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

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves on the trees, just as things an grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer. 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. This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the 'creative temperament'—it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again. No—Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it was what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men.”

1. What is the primary effect of the simile “as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away”?

2. The phrase “foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams” primarily creates an effect of:

3. Analyze the effect of Fitzgerald's use of the word “gorgeous” to describe Gatsby in this passage. What connotations does it carry, and how does it contribute to the reader's initial perception of the character?

4. How does the narrator's reflection on “abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men” contribute to the overall melancholic tone established at the end of the passage?

5. The literary device used in “great bursts of leaves on the trees” is  , which creates a sense of rapid growth and vitality.

6. The phrase “romantic readiness” suggests Gatsby's inherent capacity for   and an idealistic view of the future.

7. The opening sentence of the passage uses imagery to evoke a feeling of decay and decline.

8. Discuss how Fitzgerald uses a combination of vivid imagery, specific diction, and narrative tone in the provided passage to establish a complex and somewhat contradictory portrayal of Jay Gatsby. Refer to at least three specific examples from the text to support your analysis.