Rhetorical Strategies

Rhetorical Strategies

Polysyndeton: “The orchestra has arrived… of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums” (40).

Oxymoron: “Mr. Wolfshiem…began to eat with ferocious delicacy” (71).

Personification: “Only wind in the trees, which blew the wires and made the lights go off and on again as if the house had winked into the darkness” (81).

Symbolism: “[Gatsby] was a son of God…and he must be about His Father’s business” (98).

Chiasmus: “When curiosity about Gatsby was at its highest that the lights in his house failed to go on one Saturday night” (113).

Foreshadowing: “We drove on toward death through the cooling twilight” (136).

Simile: “[Gatsby] turned back eagerly to his scrutiny of the house, as though my presence marred the sacredness of the vigil” (145).

Conceit: “A bad driver is only safe until she met another bad driver” (177).

In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to enhance is already vivid style and to also evoke imagery. Throughout the entire novel, Fitzgerald is very articulate in the way he uses language; his rhetorical strategies add a new dimension to his eloquence. The polysyndeton the author employs, “The orchestra has arrived…of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums” (Fitzgerald 71), shows the gaudiness of one of Gatsby’s parties. Whenever describing Gatsby’s parties, Fitzgerald’s style is very descriptive in stating even the smallest details. Fitzgerald’s depiction of Gatsby’s complex orchestra makes the reader feel like they are at that party, which is portrayed from his style. “Only wind in the trees, which blew the wires and made the light go off and on again as if the house had winked into the darkness” (81), is a personification used by Fitzgerald to paint a clear picture in the reader’s mind. The way Fitzgerald is able to manipulate language to form such a vivid picture in the reader’s mind is a testament to his descriptive style. Out of all of his stylistic choices, his conceit, “A bad driver is only safe until she met another bad driver” (77), is the wittiest. Fitzgerald’s style is intended to make the reader think; this conceit is the quintessential example of making the reader think. By a variety of rhetorical strategies, Fitzgerald demonstrates his colorful style and evocation of imagery.