The main techniques Fitzgerald used to introduce our main character Gatsby

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Nahedeh IB1 English HL 2005-10-04

        Fitzgerald is a very diverse and interesting author to analyze. The techniques he uses for each character or theme that he wants to present is different from page to page, thus making him a multifaceted.

        When speaking of the title character of the book, Jay Gatsby, there are a few specific techniques used in the layout of his features. Gatsby doesn’t appear in the book in flesh and blood until the third chapter of the book however by that time Nick Carraway has received enough second hand information about him. However there is of course a reason as to why Fitzgerald waited with the introduction of this man; the more we waited for the Great Gatsby the larger his reputation grew in order for us to build a predetermined view about him.

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The main techniques Fitzgerald used to introduce our main character Gatsby was reputations and postponed introduction thus creating a lot of mystery around this man. At first when Nick enters one of Gatsby’s parties he doesn’t see the host indulging himself in the luxuries of the crowd, food and music though instead he is nowhere to be seen. This is a very surprising enigma for Nick since generally you would presume that whoever has this much wealth would thrive in showing it off to his guests. On top of this, you have a lot of rumors circulating every one of ...

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The Quality of Written Communication is fair. It is by no means void of error, but at no point do the point made get clouded by foolish handling of language. The candidates, and all further candidates will do well to make sure they write the title of the novel correctly - "Great Gatsby" is not acceptable.

The candidate correctly identifies a number of emotions felt by the readers during the party in Chapter III, where Carraway attends a party and cannot see the host (Gatsby) such as anticipation, suspense, mystery - they might have done well to mention confusion too. This references Carraway earlier comment "Life is much more successfully looked at through a single window, after all" and hearing all this hear-say and rumour-spreading makes it hard for Carraway to draw a conclusive opinion on him, and thus he withholds from doing so, so saying that "by [the time he meets Gatsby,] Nick Carraway has received enough second hand information about him [Gatsby]" is erroneous, as Carraway also says he is the only honest person he has ever known later in the novel, and so would not make brash assumptions on petty rumours. The importance of this rumour-spreading though, is yes it is one of the main methods by which Fitzgerald introduces Gatsby, but it fittingly slots into the culture of the time - mysterious, shifty, careless - hence the rumours. The candidates must show and extensive awareness of not just the extract the question appear to point them towards, but the novel in it's entirety, and this means appreciating all the information Carraway gives about himself throughout the novel, so as not to interpret him wrongly as this will lose marks.

This essay asks about the techniques which F. Scott Fitzgerald uses to introduce the character Jay Gatsby. Though there is no recognition of the actual terminology of the techniques used, this answer is reasonably well focused and speaks of at least one instance where we, as readers, are effected by the techniques Fitzgerald uses to introduce Gatsby. A further recognition of why the methods the author uses are so relevant to the novel may have improved the answer, though. There is little real exploration and insight given - only what it directly written onto the page is transferred in this essay and quite often in suffers for not showing the expected level of analysis.