Rhetorical Strategies

Rhetorical Strategies

·         Asyndeton: “I was a guide, a pathfinder, an original settler” (4).

·         Metaphor: “Twenty miles from the city a pair of enormous eggs, identical in contour and separated only by a courtesy bay…They are not perfect ovals…” (5).

·         Paradox: “…I was conscious of wanting to look squarely at every one, and yet to avoid all eyes” (15).

·         Alliteration: “Amid the welcome confusion of cups and cakes a certain physical decency established itself” (87).

·         Imagery: “His brown, hardening body lived naturally through the half-fierce, half-lazy work of the bracing days” (98).

       Fitzgerald utilizes vivid descriptions as a way to emphasize what takes place in the scenes of his novels. Generally, the literary tools he uses serve as ways to highlight certain parts of his sentences or phrases that allow the author to depict an image in greater detail. For example, when applying the asyndeton, the lack of conjunctions puts emphasis on the nouns in the sentence. Doing so draws focus to the nature of the narrator by removing words that would distract from that goal, and allowing greater insight into the character of the narrator, Nick. Furthermore, in the metaphor stated above, rather than simply describing the shape of the islands, he refers to them literally as “a pair of enormous eggs.” This works to develop a more vivid and clear image of the form of the islands and, along with other descriptions within the passage, allows for a stronger comprehension by emphasizing the landmasses as something other than themselves. Other techniques used by Fitzgerald are also employed for the same purpose. In creating the paradox on page 15, Fitzgerald highlights the thoughts of the narrator, used to allow for a greater understanding of Nick’s character and personality. The alliteration utilized by the author draws emphasis to the repeated consonants within the passage, focusing the reader’s attention to the objects at hand. Doing so allows for a greater and more vivid illustration of the scene, rather than stating that the large quantity objects present at the time. Lastly, the imagery presented utilizes a variety of adjectives to create a detailed depiction of the man described. This use of adjectives and descriptive wording constantly is seen throughout much of the novel, where imagery is the tool most used by Fitzgerald, the others serving as various means of achieving such detailed images.