Great Gatsby Rhetorical Analysis

Words: 799
Pages: 4
Open Document
The Great Gatsby was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s way of communicating to us what his deliberation of the American dream was; he implied that the American dream was illusory and nonexistent, however the American dream is undeniably present. One of the first major examples of the American dream is Benjamin Franklin; he went from “rags to riches” [1]. After Benjamin Franklin set the trendy goal in the financial field, it all went uphill, everyone was trying to get rich. Fitzgerald’s suggestion that the American dream was unreal is incorrect because, human nature makes us jealous, which makes us want to work hard enough to get what other people have or more, and when somebody’s dream is meaningful enough to them, they will do almost anything to make …show more content…
Humans compete for everything; for example, the kid with the highest grade in the class will brag to their friends, and the person with the second highest score will work harder in hopes to get a higher grade than the other person. When a person yearns for something because they saw it with someone else they are most likely to be covetous and think about only that thing until they get it, in most cases people are yearning for money. However, in The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby’s jealousy isn’t money, it is a girl, he wanted the results of the American dream to make him look good enough for Daisy. “The most obvious indicator of the relentless competition to declare one’s status . . . came to the size and amenities of their homes” or the way to prove yourself to everyone else you should have the biggest house to make everyone jealous and show you have money [2]. Jealousy is one of the main motivations to competition within the human race, so it is no wonder it caused people to sacrifice what they little the people of the 1920s had to make it …show more content…
If the dream is not meaningful to its dreamer, it will not become a goal with motivation behind it; which disappointingly would mean that it does not actually become what you want. One example of a meaningful dream that became a goal is Martin Luther King’s dream, he had to share his dream. When he shared his dream it became meaningful to not just him, but, a group of people. For this dream, it is what it needed to become a goal; then it was not just a dream, but a goal with the motivation to actually be achieved. Martin Luther King “yearned for what he perceived as perfection”, since then students have “recognized widely varying conceptions of these quests for American excellence” [3]. Fitzgerald’s perception of the American dream is that it was just a dream without the meaningfulness to become a goal; however, the American dream is a shared dream, and for many people in the 1920s it was a meaningful dream that became a
Show More

Related Documents: Great Gatsby Rhetorical Analysis

The Great Gatsby Rhetorical Analysis

United States. In My Opinion, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the American Dream connect in multiple significant ways; they each influence and reflect upon one another in showing the characters' pursuit of wealth and love. This is a symbol of hope and resilience, challenging us readers to confront the complexities of wanting to live the “American Dream.” Jay Gatsby is a perfect example of someone who is seeking to live out this ideal lifestyle. Gatsby was born to a lower-class family…

Words 597 - Pages 3

Rhetorical Analysis The Great Gatsby

Wojciech J. Osetkowski Reading American Writing The Great Gatsby (p. 48): “On a chance, we tried an important looking door, and walked into a high Gothic library, paneled with carved English oak, and probably transported complete from some ruin overseas (…) He snatched the book from me and replaced it hastily on its shelf, muttering that if one brick was removed the whole library was liable to collapse.” The passage begins with a brief description of Gatsby’s library, which was accessed by “an important-looking…

Words 1016 - Pages 5

The Great Gatsby Rhetorical Analysis

Lamar Burton Mr. V English Prep 11 April 15, 2024 Gatsby Prompt Writing Money has the power to persuade people's choices by influencing them to base their lives around jobs they don't love in exchange for a high salary. Money also influences people to cut off others whom they have shared relationships with just because they don't have much money. This inevitably leads to social divides between people with and without money being formed, which gradually gives way to them becoming nothing but tools…

Words 979 - Pages 4

Rhetorical Analysis Of The Great Gatsby

Nick Carraway. F.Scott Fitzgerald uses the rhetorical device of irony, imagery, and metaphor in the form of Nick’s thoughts to convey and build Nick’s sense of lost towards Gatsby and the American Dream.…

Words 273 - Pages 2

Essay on AP English Vocab 1 20

Anadiplosis Ex: "When I give I give myself" 11a A rhetorical term for the repetition of the last word of one line or clause to begin the next. 11b Anagnorisis Ex: 12a A moment of recognition or discovery; primarily used in reference to Greek tragedy. 12b Analogy Ex: Life is like a race. The one who keeps running wins the race and the one who stops to catch a breath loses. 13a A comparison of two different things that are alike in some way 13b Analysis/ analytic/ analytical Ex: 14a separating…

Words 570 - Pages 3

Essay about Formalism: First-person Narrative and Old Man

Intro- What is Formalism? So, as it mentions within the word itself, Formalsim focuses primarily on the “form” of literary work. Formalism focuses on analysing the structure and organization of ONLY the work. In other words, formalist views treat literary work as a closed unit, exempt from any other interpretation but the work itself. The text’s formal elements are also analysed (which are the, figurative language, language structures and literary techniques in the work). Formal elements basically…

Words 4198 - Pages 17

Department of English Spring 2014 Course Descriptions Essays

Department of English Spring 2014 Course Descriptions 89S. Imagining War. Instructor M. Maiwald. WF 8:30-9:45 In this course, we will consider how the experience of war has been represented in American fiction, non-fiction, and film. We will investigate how attitudes toward war have evolved throughout American history: our timeline begins with the Civil War—the traumatic event that birthed the modern American state—and ends with the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In particular…

Words 9501 - Pages 39