ipl-logo

The Great Gatsby Research Paper

1718 Words7 Pages

Research Paper In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses literary devices such as foreshadowing and metaphors to examine the American dream and the baggage that comes with it. Each of the characters within the novel has their own vision of the American dream. For some, the dream is everlasting wealth and high social status, while for others the dream is an opportunity to achieve great success with hard work and determination. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald introduces characters who have inherited the dream, and others who are working hard to achieve their dreams and goals. Although the American dream has long driven people to dream big, Fitzgerald illustrates how ability, culture, and social status limits the possibility …show more content…

The Lower class consisted of characters such as Myrtle and George Wilson, who owned a gas and service station. Their gas and service station was located in the Valley of Ashes. The Author uses the Valley of Ashes to help readers grasp an understanding of America’s working class during the 1920s. Fitzgerald described the Valley as, “A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air” (Fitzgerald). Fitzgerald’s description helps readers understand the big picture of the working class during this …show more content…

"Scott Fitzgerald’s Criticism of America." Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, edited by Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 311, Gale, 2015. Literature Criticism Online, http://link.galegroup.com.libproxy.ocean.edu:2048/apps/doc/JCXXWI094725562/GLS?u=toms86543&sid=GLS&xid=b41264ed. Originally published in Sewanee Review, vol. 62, no. 2, 1954, pp. 223-246. Fitzgerald, F. Scott (Francis Scott), 1896-1940. The Great Gatsby. New York. Scribner's sons, 1925. Print. Kraus, Joe. "De-Centering the Canon: Understanding The Great Gatsby as an Ethnic Novel." Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, edited by Lawrence J. Trudeau, vol. 311, Gale, 2015. Literature Criticism Online, http://link.galegroup.com.libproxy.ocean.edu:2048/apps/doc/HGDSZN027184049/GLS?u=toms86543&sid=GLS&xid=558c4631. Accessed 20 Mar. 2018. Originally published in Multiethnic Literature and Canon Debates, edited by Mary J. Bona and Irma Maini, State U of New York P, 2006, pp. 127-144. Roberts, Marilyn. "Scarface, The Great Gatsby and the American Dream." Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, edited by Thomas J. Schoenberg, vol. 210, Gale, 2009. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com.libproxy.ocean.edu:2048/apps/doc/H1420085350/LitRC?u=toms86543&sid=LitRC&xid=be203caf. Accessed 22 Mar. 2018. Originally published in Literature/Film Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 1, 2006, pp.

Show More
Related

How Did F Scott Fitzgerald Use Ethos In The Great Gatsby

1317 Words | 6 Pages

Among Fitzgerald’s works, The Beautiful and Damned encapsulates this culture of success and security in the midst of the 1920s. F. Scott Fitzgerald challenges the validity of the traditional American

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis The Great Gatsby

516 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author uses many differnt retorical devices to add a personal flare to his work. He uses diction, symbolism, and irony to adress many different themes. These themes include Materialism, The American Dream, and includes a sharp and biting ridicule on American society in the 1920’s. The main point of Fitzgerald, arguement is one where he sharply criticizes the Society of the time.

Read More

Analyzing The American Dream In The 1920's

556 Words | 3 Pages

This could have an understanding that the American Dream does not always succeed for everyone; it would seem that Fitzgerald had seen his own share of heartache or failure, or perhaps an interrupted, unfulfilled dream, caused by the war prior to the twenties. This is very much present in other works published during the Roaring Twenties, in that each author had his own take on the American Dream and Experience, in that each author mixed in their own “American Dream” and how they defined it, and we now study that definement as a

Read More

How Did Gatsby Achieve The American Dream

2015 Words | 9 Pages

During the 1920s, the American Dream was something that many Americans gave blood, sweat, and tears in order to achieve, but the majority of the time, multiple factors prohibited them from ever reaching it. In The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he exhibits this by showing both sides of the spectrum. On one side, he shows how Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, has achieved the American Dream by having the ability to spend money on all of these expensive parties, buying classy clothes, in addition to many other lavish items. On the other hand, he shows the failure to achieve the American Dream, which Fitzgerald represents by including a detailed description of his love for Daisy Buchanan and the fact that he never wins her back.

Read More

Comparing The American Dream In The Great Gatsby And Freedom Writers

949 Words | 4 Pages

The simplified definition of the American Dream has been the ability to succeed from the given opportunities that America offers. The Great Gatsby, Middlesex, and Freedom Writers all have characters that struggle in means of financial success but ultimately have to succeed in having satisfaction in their lives. These works support the idea that the American Dream does incorporate money, but is ultimately about the opportunities to make their decision. The Great Gatsby revolves around the concept of the American Dream, and Fitzgerald focuses on Gatsby’s reckless journey to obtain such dreams.

Read More

What Makes The Great Gatsby Successful

1563 Words | 7 Pages

A general consensus throughout history has been that the popularization and acceptance of a certain culture is subject what is popular and viable at the time. The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, during the 1920’s, is a classic American story about a man named Jay Gatsby, who sought out his perception of the American dream. His endeavor to get the girl he loved and to achieve an extravagant lifestyle lead to his demise. Furthermore, the reader is supposed to sympathize with the character because he exemplified the struggle of a normal man who ultimately accomplished nothing. Even though, he was one of very few who had any ambition whatsoever when compared to the other characters.

Read More

The American Dream In Langston Hughes Let America Be America Again

1183 Words | 5 Pages

Every American strives for greatness because of the opportunity this country provides. Individuals chase love, wealth, and happiness, known as the American Dream, but find themselves running on an endless track to nowhere. F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, sheds light on the impracticality of the dream. A dream that looks more like a nightmare. Nevertheless, many individuals pursue the dream realizing too late the fabricated reality that one cannot achieve love, wealth, and happiness.

Read More

The Great Gatsby Research Paper

789 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was written in the twentieth century, during the "Jazz Age" of American literature. The author examines a number of morally and socially significant subjects in the novel, such as love, friendship, class differences, and riches. However, the main theme of the book deals with a less emotive and relatively larger subject. Although The Great Gatsby is set in a restricted geographic area near Long Island, New York, and spans only a few months in the summer of 1922, it is a profoundly symbolic reflection on America in the 1920s, particularly on the fall of the American dream in the midst of an unprecedented age of material excess and prosperity. Scott Fitzgerald's text explores the theme of the quest for the

Read More

Astounding The Great Gatsby Essay

1706 Words | 7 Pages

“The ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud which screens their obscure operations from your sight” (Pg. 26). The gray men, the emotionless men, all dressed the same. This is a colorless place with all the harder-working people, working for slim to no money. A main theme that Fitzgerald brings to this novel is social class, and Wilson, a character that lives in the Valley of Ashes, is cheated on by his wife with Mr. Buchanan. Wilson is very helpful and nice to Tom, yet his loyalty is for nothing.

Read More

The Great Gatsby Death Essay

918 Words | 4 Pages

Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby is a classic of American literature. It is widely read and studied in classrooms, and is considered to be one of the most important works of the twentieth century. Fitzgerald wrote The novel with a specific purpose in mind, To capture the spirit of the Jazz Age, a period of rapid social and economic change in America. He conveys this message through his use of symbolism and his exploration of themes such as the American dream, materialism, and the decline of the American upper class.

Read More

Perversion Of The American Dream In The Great Gatsby

324 Words | 2 Pages

Fitzgerald uses a wide variety of unexpected figures and motifs to show that America’s decaying ethics and morals upheld by those of the era. Like a divine being scrutinizing the actions of the

Read More

Great Gatsby Alliteration

1508 Words | 7 Pages

Furthermore it has a great deal of people who scrutinize it. With this in mind it is puzzling to see the majority of the readers and critics that remain ignorant to the fascinating way that Fitzgerald can distinguish his slightly obscured, but still straightforward, distasteful views towards the American dream. Marius Bewley, “contends that Fitzgerald, through The Great Gatsby, offers up a rather harsh critique of the American Dream and not merely a ‘pastoral documentary of the Jazz Age’ as is often suggested”(“Bewley”). In other words, Fitzgerald does a splendid job making his thoughts on the American dream both obvious and hidden at the same time. But his thoughts are no doubt, not in favor of the rest of his generation..

Read More

American Dream In The Great Gatsby

1481 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, many characters have differing views on the topic of the American Dream, some including Nick Carraway, James Gatsby, Daisy Buchanan, and Tom Buchanan. They range in views of a dream revolved around money and pride, and a life full of love and success. Yet, it is not possible for every single person to achieve what they want in life. The American Dream is achievable if determination and passion is loaded into the efforts, but not everybody can reach it if it lies too far away and the person doesn’t feel like pursuing it. As this novel was set in the 1920s, it was not as normal to run after what you wanted, and to break the social norms.

Read More

Comparing Gatsby And Mailer's Contribution To American Culture

1714 Words | 7 Pages

Because F. Scott Fitzgerald and Norman Mailer are authors who contributed to the shape of their national identity and consciousness, their philosophic roots and American literary, as well as the American cultural currents of their times have been comprehensively explored in their literary art. A point of accord among scholars is that Fitzgerald and Mailer’s contributions to American culture reach far beyond their roles as American literary artists—they are not only considered voluble social critics of twentieth-century America, but eloquent interpreters of their American cultural milieu. Literary works such as The Great Gatsby and An American Dream stand as evidences to these authors’ commitment with and apt understanding of their cultural

Read More

The Great Gatsby Analysis Essay

876 Words | 4 Pages

His other promising works are “Tender Is The Night”(1934), “The Side Of Paradise”(1920) and “The Beautiful and Damned”(1922). I, personally, find F. Scott Fitzgerald’s delivery and his writing style very unusual, to say the least. He regularly uses diction,syntax, and similes to convey his message He utilizes diction quite frequently to

Read More

More about The Great Gatsby Research Paper

Open Document