Read chapter 4 and complete key events and ideas table.
(From now on I will ask one of you to come and present this to the class.)
MILESTONE
“Conduct a close analysis of the language Fitzgerald chooses Nick to use in this extract and comment upon it’s intended effect and purpose.”
(Beginning of Chapter 3 “There was Music…” to “The party has begun.” P.41-42 in your books, I think.)
i.) Read the critical article I gave you.
ii.) Re-read and annotate the passage I read in the lesson. Look for: Word choice, Imagery, Punctuation, Sentence length etc.
CONSIDER THEIR INTENDED EFFECT ON THE READER.
iii) Write your analysis and focus particularly on comparing WHY you think, when Fitzgerald/Nick describes the beginning of the party (“By seven O’ clock – The party has begun”) he changes from the PAST tense (used in the rest of the novel) to the PRESENT tense. Compare the two in terms of the above language choices.
Ideas for this: What is the effect of this change on YOU? – how does it make you feel? Does the second section have a different PURPOSE to the rest of the narrative? Look at this, combined with the sentence lengths and punctuation used in this section, to get an idea of the movement and the moment of this party. Does time move normally in this section? Look at the descriptions. Is this a realistic description? Why do we suddenly get this change describing all parts of what is going on and how it feels to be in the middle of it at this moment – could this be achieved in the same way if it was Nick’s regular narration? WHY has Fitzgerald CHOSEN to disrupt Nick’s narrative style so consciously at this moment?
This is a challenging piece of work, but this is the kind of level of detail that will get you excellent marks, so it is good to practice. If you don’t know where to begin, COME AND SEE ME. I spoke about this to Devon yesterday in her detention and she seemed to get the idea of it, so you can speak to her if you don’t have time to come and see me with questions!
An opening sentence for you to use (if you want):“At the beginning of Chapter Three, Nick immediately launches into a heavily detailed and elaborate description of the social furore that engulfs Gatsby’s house “through the summer nights”. This description only becomes more lyrical and more affected as the passage progresses and the party springs into life. Gatsby’s grandiose parties are a central idea to the novel, both to the motivation of the time and also Gatsby’s personal motivations and as such Fitzgerald choose to have Nick linger, in considerable detail, on their description. ….”
