As we have discussed in class, one of the most difficult ideas to understand about a work of writing is how to describe an author's style. Choose a brief passage - a paragraph or less - from anywhere in the reading thus far and use it to discuss how it reveals Fitzgerald's style in this novel. Focus on how he uses language to express meaning in your chosen passage. What literary devices does he use? What is the effect of his use of those devices? Where possible, you should also comment on your peers' blog entries.
Im so excited to be blogging!!! : )!!!
ReplyDeleteSo....this is something I think really captures Fitzy's writting...
“A reluctant elevator boy went for a box full of straw and some milk, to which he added on his own initiative a tin of large, hard dog-biscuits—one of which decomposed apathetically in the saucer of milk all afternoon. Meanwhile Tom brought out a bottle of whiskey from a locker bureau door.”
For one thing, this is only two sentences and he goes all over the place. He starts off at an elevator boy, then to milk, then to dog-biscuits, then to decomposing in milk, then to whiskey. I think that is very Fitzgerald like, to tie everything together.
In these two sentences, he is very specific in his writing, using word like “apathetically” and “decomposed”. His imagery, for me at least, is very clear and detailed. I can really see and smell the “decomposing dog biscuit in a saucer of milk, all after noon”. That imagine is very clear to me. I think it is distinctively Fitzgerald.
And also his syntax of “to which he added on his own initiative…”. I think is very unique and specific to Fitzgerald. I would probably never phrase a sentence like that. It is also distinctively Fitzgerald.
What do you guys think?
Hello.
ReplyDeleteKudos to Turner for posting the first comment, and it's a good one. Turner, you have found a way to address the language of a brief passage that is specific and creative. Aside from being descriptive, the sentences you chose indeed do cover a great deal of ground and imagery, but do so with great economy of words. In a way, Fitzgerald's ability to convey a great deal of information suggests that while The Great Gatsby is a relatively short novel, it is so rich with meaning that we experience a world that would take another writer twice the number of pages to reproduce.
What do you think of Turner's ideas? What ideas do you have to add to the discussion?
The deadline for adding your responses - which count toward your class participation grade, by the way - is this coming Wednesday, April 28.
The passage I've chosen is the last in chapter 6, page 111:
ReplyDelete"Through all he said, even through his appalling sentimentality, I was reminded of something—an elusive rhythm, a fragment of lost words, that I had heard somewhere a long time ago. For a moment, a phrase tried to take shape in my mouth and my lips parted like a dumb man's, as though there was more struggling upon them than a wisp of startled air. But they made no sound, and what I had almost remembered was uncommunicable for ever."
In this passage, Nick has just listened to Gatsby describe, evidently with a great deal of sentimentality, a date between himself and Daisy, during which time they had kissed. Nick's response is particularly odd to me. Really, why even write it? It is about something that Nick can't even remember! It has nothing to do with the plot of the book, yet it is taking up ink and paper, right there in front of us. I think if any other writer had tried to accomplish something in so seemingly uselessly a passage, it would have been just that—useless. Yet in Fitzgerald's hands, this passage adds depth and beauty to the novel. The imagery is particularly beautiful, extremely vivid and precise. Just as Turner said, I can glimpse acutely the wisp of air dancing upon Nick's motionless lips, extremely important yet indecipherable. I personally can relate to the faltering feeling one experiences on forgetting something important. It occurs to me now that any other writer may have used the cliché: "on the tip of my tongue". Not so with Fitzgerald! The imagery in this passage represents Fitzgerald's perceptive ability to identify and internalize those little details other writer's forget about. (If I may say so, I think D.H. Lawrence does this kind of thing well, too.) I am not quite sure how to relate this passage to the rest of the novel, but it completes chapter 6 masterfully, reinforcing the wistful, irretrievable and frankly sad nature of Gatsby's—or should I say Gatz's—history. Anyone have any other thoughts on that passage?
A passage from Chap.3, p.39
ReplyDelete"Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruiterer in New York - every Monday theses same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves. There was a machine in the kitchen which could extract the juice of two hundred oranges in half an hour if a little button was pressed two hundred times by a butler's thumb."
I think this paragraph shows Fitzgerald's style of writing. Compared to Jane Austen who the style is complicated and lengthy, his style is familiar and sounds like modern English that we use nowadays. Fitzgerald uses words and phrases that are not so hard to understand. I think his style is somewhat colloquial and that is probably why it is familiar to us. His words are also quite humorous. For example, where in the paragraph where it says "There was a machine in the kitchen which could extract the juice of two hundred oranges in half an hour if a little button was pressed two hundred times by a butler's thumb.", could have been said like, "The machine in the kitchen was so great that it seemed possible to extract two hundred oranges in half an hour.". Fitzgerald uses some exaggerations in his words to have humor in the story while it was hard to find humor in the Jane Auisten's serious Pride and Prejudice.
page 40
ReplyDelete"The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside, until the air is alive with chatter and laughter, and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot, and enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other's names."
Agreeing with Turner, I think Fitzgerald uses very detail and descriptive phrases in his sentences. I chose this sentence because he uses just this one sentence to describe the busy bar with people talking to each other.
He uses "floating rounds of cocktails" to show people getting drunk in a way that people are constantly drinking. Adding on, "until the air is alive with chatter and laughter", this shows the personification that Fitzgerald is using to describe how chattering people are making the air more alive. Also the phrase "enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other's names" shows drunk people chattering with each other and talking to each other like as if they are friends even if they don't now each other's names. He uses one sentence to describe all this and in a precise and simple way with out repeating similar words. Does any one else have other thoughts on this?
I've also chosen a passage from chapter 3, p.39
ReplyDelete" In the blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whispering and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot and of his beach while his two motor boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam"
Adding to Jiyoon that he uses very detail and descrpitive phrase, Fitzgeral often use creative imagery languages and similes. In this passage, Fitzgerald used color blue to describe the party night at Gatsby's garden, he used a metaphor and he also used the simile "like moths" to describe the movement of people in the garden. His use of imagery and simile let the reader to imagine the live picture in the written situation. Also, because he does not use cliche to describe the situation, it enlarges the reader's imagination.
Im going to do the quote that we just talked about today on page 92:
ReplyDelete"He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray. While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher- shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange with monograms of Indian blue..."
This quote is very detailed. So detailed that when you read it, it comes to life in your brain, and he is only explaining the different shirts that Gatsby is piling up for Daisy and Nick to see. This quote shows how Fitzgerald writes through out the book. He writes with a lot of detail (even if it is just one gesture) and the people reading the book can imagine easily what they are reading. He uses many different adjectives that makes one simple thing turn into something complex.
I totally agree with Turner, Jiyoon and Eungee!
Pretty much going along with what we said in class today going to the part of chapter 5 when Gatsby and and Daisy have their meeting. Unfortunately the passage is fairly long so I am not going to type the whole thing out.
ReplyDelete"The rain cooled about half-past three to a damp mist, through which occasional thin drops swam like dew. Gatsby looked with vacant eyes through a copy of Clay's Economics, starting at the Finnish tread that shook the kitchen floor... 'What do you think of that? It stopped raining.'"(pages 84-89)
As we discussed in class the question brought up by JCK about the meaning of time in this section triggered a thought in my mind. I wonder what the relationship between Gatsby and Daisy was like before he went off for the 5 years. Thoughts like weather they were really close and shared everything, like they were really compatible people who spent every moment together. Or if when they were together, if the relationship had a bit more of really close friends that could be so much closer.
If the second one were true, then I would wonder if the time represents every moment that goes by that he could spend getting closer to her, time that he wasted while away for the 5 years. Perhaps he is just now realizing that he was actually wasting precious time not being close to her that when he was away it clicked. He then realized how much closer they could have been. So in his return to Long Island he was trying to live life to the "fullest" with all of his intense parties. But there is still that part in him that he wishes he was still with Daisy, leading to the meeting and obsession over time passing and every waking moment.
:P
Gatsby seems to feel like he and Daisy are married in some sense. He is confident that he will be with daisy. Its like he sees the world in a very different way than everybody else. I can't help but think of don quijote. Don Quijote saw the world in a very different way. Gatsby is a character filled with mystery. Maybe, he still thinks he is as close with daisy as he was before he went to war. I look into this matter more closly, that maybe gatsby is living in his dreams. by that I mean he thinks that daisy will always be his lover.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can see most people have commented on the beautiful style of writing and imagery that F. Scott Fitzgerald produced throughout this novel and I agree. I would rather move the discussion to the meaning of his writing. The quote that I found to be the mysterious was said by Daisy Buchanan when she reunites with Nick.
ReplyDelete“All right...I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”
At first I didn’t think much about this quote and thought of it quite literally. It seems as though Daisy is saying that she is “stupid and proud of it”. And this is exactly what the underlying problem of this time period was. Although I would love to argue the sexist meaning of this I must get to the point that elements of Fitzgerald’s writing are very underlying and take time to see what could or could not be the true meaning. Another example is when Nick describes Meyer Wolfsheim as being Jewish, having a large nose, and being a criminal. The fact that Nick must describe these characteristics of him shows either that he is racist, the time that he was brought up in, or the sheer coincidence that Nick happened to describe these characteristics together (which seems very unlikely). In general there are many lines throughout this novel which can be seen either way. It at first is hard to understand these lines, let alone recognize them, and so I see this as one of the great patterns of Fitzgerald’s writing.
Leading off of what everyone has said, I love the imagery that Fitzgerald uses. He seems to use imagery all over and uses it a way that makes you not just see the painting but also the colors. I feel that he paints the colors and emotions of his characters perspectives. I also like the fact that Fitzgerald uses nature comparisons to coincidentally describe the superficial lifestyle of the New Yorkers.
Hope this can spark some discussion or feedback!
My favorite passage which is to say the one that that caught my attention was actually a passage we read in class. I'm not sure if they are off limits. From the opening of chapter three,
ReplyDelete"There was music from my neighbors house thought the summer night. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars"
In the book there is a lot of things Fitzgerald leaves for interpretation. He uses similes which help with imagery. When looking at the discussion in class i see everyones different interpretations of just a small section of the text. There is a ton of description all of what happens in Gatsby house. He makes its very luxurious its kinda of a foreshadowing of how Gastby is, and how he uses his money to his advantage. Like with Daisy later in the novel.
I definitely agree with everything that has been mentioned in the past posts. I really liked the passage that Sang Eun mentioned, which we talked about in class. The alliteration used in it really took my attention. I feel that the imagery that he uses in his phrases, also brings the reader more into the book. This might be because we read Pride and Prejudice before this novel, where Jane Austen used really long phrases and took her time in explaining something, with her unique syntax that is not used now. So in a way, I might just be taken into the sentences by Fitzgerald because it is closer to modern english, as Sang Eun mentioned as well.
ReplyDeleteAnother part of the book so far that I liked was, "It was a photograph of half a dozen young men in blazers loafing in an archway through which were visible a host of spires. There was Gatsby, looking a little, not much, younger- with a cricket bat in his hand." I was interested when Fitzgerald said a little, then said not much. I haven't seen many authors do that before, he says something, takes it back then makes his final statement. A lot of the time, this disappears in the editing process, because we can understand what Fitzgerald is trying to say even if the sentence was, There was Gatsby looking not much younger with a cricket bat in his hand. In a way this shows how Fitzgerald expands his sentences, but keeps them straight to the point so that it is easy for the reader to understand.
Fitzgerald also likes to use commas, and to make a list of adjectives, or list of descriptions to make the imagery even more clearer. Such as "He reached into his pocket, and a piece of metal, slung on a ribbon, fell into his palm. " also "I saw him opening a chest of rubies to ease, with their crimson-lighted depths, the gnawing of his broken heart." In both of these sentences, he adds commas and then an extra description of the item, to make the description clearer in the reader's mind, and to make it easier for the reader to imagine what is going on.
There are certainly a lot of styles that F. Scott Fitzgerald uses. However, there is a use of writing that I'm fairly familiar with. The passage I have chosen I think really exemplifies his style just wonderfully:
ReplyDelete"We walked through a high hallway into a bright rosy colored space, fragilely bound into the house by French windows at either end. THe windows were ajar and glistening white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house. A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding-cake of the ceiling, and then rippled over the wine-colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea."
Fitzgerald has a habit of taking one moment then holding it in place while describing that moment in intimate detail. Following that passage, there are several more lines that keep on describing that single moment of Nick and Tom walking into the room to find Daisy and Jordan 'floating' on the couch. When it comes to this writing style it's essential to go into depth [sometimes more depth is needed then qualified for!].
"The flowers were unnecessary, for at two o'clock a greenhouse arrived from Gatsby's, with innumerable receptacles to contain it. An hour later the front door opened nervously, and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in. He was pale, and there was dark signs of sleeplessness beneath his eyes."(pg. 84)
ReplyDeleteI think this one paragraph says a lot about Fitzgeralds writing style. One thing that stands out most to me is the way he uses commas. In some of his sentences I feel as if he's just throwing them in for fun. The other thing in this paragraph is his description of what Gatsby is wearing, when ever he talks about Gatsby he usually comments on his clothing, possibly pointing out a sign of his wealth.
Some great thoughts, guys, I'm enjoying everything that I'm reading and the discoveries we're all making.
ReplyDeleteThe following is the passage which I'd like to discuss:
pg. 59: "Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people I have ever known."
We have discussed numerous times in class about how full of meaning Fitzgerald's writing is. We have also presented the fact that Nick Carraway is not a trustworthy person. This passage is exemplary of both "stylings" within his writing.
First, we see how Fitzgerald makes generalizations of people, calling to mind the cardinal virtues that he assumes everyone upholds. He further takes as fact that honesty is considered by all as one of those cardinal virtues. Those are large and rather daring assumptions, but he presents them in such a candid way that we easily accept and nearly adopt his facts as our own.
Second, we see how Nick is untrustworthy, even while he's saying he's an honest person. This is given away by his employment of the word "suspects". Suspecting someone of something usually entails that they cannot be trusted, and yet here he is saying he suspects himself of being honest. It can almost be considered an oxymoron, using those two words in the same sentence, since they are so conflicting. It seems that Nick almost subconsciously knows that he is not trustworthy, and yet deliberately says that he is. Fitzgerald gives us clues like this to keep our opinion shifty when it comes to Nick. He employs the technique very well.
Fitzgerald is a brilliant author when it comes to simple, yet hidden literary devices.
Chapter 3, page 40
ReplyDelete"At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby's enormous garden. On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors d'ouvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold."
This is Nick's extremely detailed descriptions of what he sees when he is going to Gatsby's. This passage is one of many that really shows the language of Fitzgerald. In Fitzgerald's writing we have all noticed that there is a lot of imagery. This is somewhat of an obvious observation on his writing but it is also a pattern I have noticed in his writing. The passage that Eungee chose and the one Melanie were both very good passages that in my opinion showed a great amount of imagination.
Chapter 3 pg 44
ReplyDelete"I was walking along from one place to another, half on the sdiewalks and half on the lawns. I was happier on the lawns becuase I had on shoes from England with rubber nobs on the soles that bit into the soft ground. I had on a new plaid skirt also, that blew a little in the wind, and whenever this happened the red, white, and blue banners in fron of all the houses stretched out stiff and said tut-tut-tut-tut, in a disapproving way."
In this passage Jordan is speaking to Nick in what seems a much more formal and detailed than a non-writer person would. She describes the way her shoes sink into the ground and how the houses "talk." I'm aware that people of the 1920s talk differently and more formally but I'm pretty sure this sounds more like a writer describing a scene rather than an average person. This is intersesting because its supposed to be Jordan talking not Fitzgerald/Nick. This is one of the ways the Fitzegrald writes in order to bring the reader into the story.
From page 92
ReplyDelete"After the house, we were to see the ground and then the swimming-pool, and the hydroplane and the mid-summer flowers - but outside Gatsby's window it began to rain again, so we stood in a row looking at the corrugated surface of the Sound."
As Turner and a few others have pointed out, Fitzgerald coerces us into imagining lots at once. I have found that similar to in Life of Pi, certain passages begin with one mood and move into another relatively drastically. In the passage I chose Fitzgerald brings the reader to a high, exciting, florid (if you will) place when he talks about the swimming-pool, the hydroplane and the mid-summer flowers, but quickly drags us from those images and places us looking out of Gatsby's window, looking at the rain.
"A pair of stage twins, who turned out to be the girls in yellow, did a baby act in costume, and champagne was served in glasses bigger than finger-bowls. The moon had risen higher, and floating in the Sound was a triangle of silver scales, trembling a little to the stiff, tinny drip of the banjoes on the lawn."
ReplyDeleteOne thing that has become very obvious about Fitzgerald's writing is his amazing ability to go into great detail, sometimes about things that aren't exactly relevant or important. He certainly always evokes a strong image inside the reader. He has a very unique touch, both to the writing and his creative ability and approach to the words he used to describe things. He doesn't leave anything for you to make up, no details left out, yet as a result has us thinking and picturing very vivid images and scenes.
Through out class the topic of racism in both Fitzgerald and Nick has come up a lot. Although the things that are said aren't always politically correct or morally encouraged, I think its just Fitzgerald taking the same approach to the characters as is is with objects or feelings in the book. He's really just attempting to give us as many details as he can, and really provoke a strong image in our minds. I also think that as a writer he probably knows that although incorrect, stereotypes are much easier for people to picture than just simple facts, it brings features together in an image easier. For him, I think those were his motivations, and maybe his oblivion, but I don't think it should speak for all of his writing.
One thing I noticed about Fitzgerald was his ability to use time and manifest it in different lengths. The first time he sees Gatsby it takes up most of page 48:(not the full text)
ReplyDelete"He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced-or seemed to face- the whole external world for an instant, and the concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey..."
Fitzgerald takes paragraphs to discuss just one moment in time, which shows me that he is very specific. Not only does he use incredibly expressive imagery, his writing is so eloquent and makes every second seem important. His precise writing also depicts a clear image in the readers head and makes us pay more attention to the text. I think one of the many reasons this book is thought of as to be the ideal "American Dream" book is because we have so much imagery that helps us recognize and understand the setting and the characters. Whereas if we were reading a book that did not use as much imagery, personification and similes, we may not feel as connected to The Great Gatsby as I know my class-mates and I do.
The passage I have chosen is part of the sentence Austin chose.
ReplyDelete"In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars"
This passage has a lot of imagery, time, and "color" to it. When i read it I see something resembling the, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but covered in a blue mist. Then he says the bit about "men and girls" instead of "men and women." I take his says this purposely because tend to girls have a more pure and vulnerable look to them. Which to some me may be more attractive. Apposed to women, who can be more unattractive to men because they have lived longer and have more mature thoughts, will talk back to men. Then the rest of the sentence to me puts the image of the ocean waves flowing up and down the beach. The waves are "whispering" when the foam makes that fizzing noise, which reminds me of champagne. The moths are how the ocean is never ending. The "color" i see is purely personal, for I see words and hear music in color.
Sorry I'm a little late!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with what everyone has said. I feel like Fitzgerald is writing as if he is inside Nick's head. This is because he describes everything in suh detail, as I he is actually there and knows what's happening. Time is key in this novel, and it is definitely apparent in this book. Especially when he takes two pages to describe a very short period of time in grave detail.
Hey guys, I'm a little late as well. Never blogged before, so this is a first. Everything that has previously been said I agree with, and everyone's ideas are great! A passage I wanted to focus on was on Page. 40 Chapter 3, when he describes, at Gatsby's party, the buffet table/party scene.
ReplyDelete"On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hor d'oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowed against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold."
Here Fitzgerald uses phrases such as "spiced", "harlequin designs" "pastry pigs", "bewitched to a dark gold". You'd never think to use these words in describing a buffet table, but yet, they all make an image in your mind. They almost make your mouth water. It's almost as if they're in eyesight. Fitzgerald's descriptions tap into the 5 senses [smell, sight, touch, hearing, and taste]. He draws you in with his "syntax" and the words he chooses. All together it triggers the 5 senses, which is what every author tries to do for their readers. The description throughout the book is great and keeps me interested!
Hello, I would like to focus on a passage near the beginning of the book on Page 20 chapter 2. It occurs after Nick meets Tom for the first time and it happens to be my favorite sentence.
ReplyDelete"Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart." By the power of this statement, Nick seems quick to judge other people. While this is a true statement, Nick also calls himself to be one of the honest men in the world, or is he really just vastly affected by first impressions? Is F. Scott Fitzgerald satirizing upper class new york by including such a 'hulking idiot'?
When I first read this sentence I noticed it for its beauty and how well it sums up almost an entire person. But I have lately thought that Tom is becoming more of a round character. Maybe this sentence is foreshadowing much that happens later in the book. This sentence states that his own physical egotism can no longer sustain his heart, so now what is sustaining his heart? The threat of losing Daisy seems to bring out something new in Tom, and in turn showing a stale affection through false efforts and money on Gatsby's part. How will Gatsby 'turn out all right' in the end?
Hi sorry...I'm late... :(
ReplyDeleteThe passage that I chose was on page 39, which is the first paragraph in the chapter 3.
"Taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound."
I can see Fitzgerald's style with this quote. He has great description or uses great metaphors to describe the scene. When I read this, I can really imagine the picture about that. I also agree with the other people who used the passage on chapter 3, "There was music from my neighbors house thought the summer night. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars" this was also a beautiful description. He has amazing writing skill.
Hi, sorry for the late response,,I will try to be on time from now on..
ReplyDeleteThe passages that represents Fitzgerald's writing style were
"The bar is in the full swing, floating rounds of cocktails permete the garden outside, until the air is alive with chatter and laughter,...."
"The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher".
I think Fitzgerald's writing style include of very descriptive details and usage of very unique expression. The second passage stood out to me because he used the expression " yellow cocktail music". It is interesting how somebody can describe a music or a thing compared to a color. Also, when he describes air as chatter and laughter, he uses lots of imagery. Although it is not shown within these two passages I chose as example, he contradicts himself a lot through out the novel. I don't know about everyone else, but sometimes I get confused whether which one to believe. These details leave readers to think more densely about each sentences.
Hi, sorry im really late, i wrote it but i had forgotten to post it.
ReplyDeleteFor my passage I would like to return to chapter one to a paragraph we had already discussed in class. The paragraph is on page 20, beginning with the words “already it was deep summer” This is already such a strong opening. In just this quote you can find great diction, imagery, setting, tone. The word deep can be interpreted in any way. It could be interpreted as late, or still, or something of another sort. Fitzgerald manages to use imagery in other places as well in the paragraph in places such as “Where new red gas pumps sat out in pools of light,” and “The wind had blown off, leaving a loud, bright night, with wings beating in trees and a persistent organ sound as the full bellows of earth blew the frogs of life.” In quotes like these, there is a lot of imagery and setting and interesting syntax and diction. This paragraph I had loved before we talked of it in class. His use of imagery used to create setting is one thing that captures me greatly about his work. His use of diction and syntax and imagery all create this image that makes the reader think and start to create observation, inference and analysis in their head. If a reader looked at the term, “deep summer”, or “a loud, bright night,” or “Blew the frogs of life,” one starts to think about what those are meant to mean. I think one main goal of fitzgeralds writing style is to keep the reader actively reading and thinking.