Gatsby, the Green Light, and Elements of Style

9/24/2018

Please read the excerpt from The Great Gatsby on page 26-26 of your text. At the end of the novel, Nick Carroway, remembers Jay Gatsby as a person with a great "capacity for wonder." After reading this passage carefully, analyze how the style of the writing conveys this sense of Gatsby.

Primary Blog Expectations (respond to the prompt above): 300-350 words, minimal errors in grammar and usage, thoughtful and thorough writing. Please use the name you were assigned in class as your nom de plume and be sure to add word count. Due by 11:59pm Monday night 9-24-2018!

Champ forever

9/24/2018 05:54:18 pm

This last passage in F. Scott Fitzgerald is all about the jay gatsby and his potential to get anything he wanted. Nick carroway say's that jay gatsby has a "capacity for wonder'' by that he means that gatsby knows that what he wants he can get it because he believes in himself and has harnessed his will that he will get their no matter what the cost. The narrator refer's empty shores with those type of places which are considered inhabitat or a place which you think isn't giving you what you want or need. The narrator has explained the above "qoute" like a sailor on a journey. When a sailor used to ship his job was to find a new land where he could settle do great things and at the same time achieving what he thinks was missing from his life so same was the case with gatsby he passed through many great lands which had a rich history and it was as he could feel that this is what
I want but no he was wrong so he had to continue for the search of a better land. Atlast the lad had finaly reached the island where he could do whatever he wants as he could almost feel the sucess from his hardwork. Gatsby always believed that the sucess was always behined him but the thing is he never noticed. He always believed that his future was green which receeded before him year by year. Gatsby never gave up he believed that if doesn't find what he wants it's fine he can find it tomorrow cause there is going to come a day where he will get sucess but it won't come to him if he stops looking for it which he never did and that's what led him what he always wanted. W.C 306

Name

9/24/2018 09:38:02 pm

At the end of the novel The Great Gatsby Nick Carraway remembers Jay Gatsby as a person with a great “capacity for wonder”. By this I believe he means that Nick felt Gatsby clutched to the wonder of possibility, the possibility of life with Daisy. He picked out the green light of Daisy's mansion across the water and used it as his muse. Gatsby would take all this wonderment and incorporate it into the myth of his own life.I think that this hammers home the novel's dominant message that people,such as Gatsby, constantly strive for dreams that no longer exist.
In the last few paragraphs of the novel it speaks of a green light on Daisy’s dock. This light at the end of Daisy's East Egg dock represents Gatsby's hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, and he reaches toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal. The overall imagery and tone of the piece conveys that hindsight is 20/20, and many people try to recapture the past because the past is nostalgic and holds sentimental value. Time always moves forward and we are like “boats against the current” when we look at the past and try to recapture it.

Pen

9/24/2018 10:01:33 pm

In the excerpt from the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway reflects the recent events that has occurred in his life and reminiscences of a friend who had just passed. The author’s descriptive style and word choices provide Gatsby with almost a childlike sense of wonder and hope that would inevitably end him. Words such as “flowered”, “pandered”, and “compelled” show how Gatsby had been entranced by a fictional reality and goal, represented by the green light, so much that his life had revolved around it. Gatsby’s “capacity for wonder” is addressed in the second paragraph where Nick tries stepping into Gatsby’s shoes and seeing through his eyes. “He had come a long way” shows that Gatsby had been so determined and put much effort into his dream of being with Daisy and being enough for her and the others around him. Nick acknowledges that this capacity overshadowed Gatsby’s ability to be reasonable and realistic because he had been so in love with a version of Daisy that didn’t seem to exist. Gatsby had his heart set on the green light, or the future he had planned and desired for so long, that he had become oblivious to the fact that the opportunity had already passed. Gatsby’s desire to live in the past prevents him from striving in the present. Up until his death, Gatsby had strived and chased after a dream that no longer existed and could have only occurred in his head. In the last section of this passage, Fitzgerald calls the Gatsby’s green light “the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us”. In Gatsby’s case, his goal was unattainable, and yet he still tried achieving it. The thrill and curiosity from getting so close to accomplishment, but never actually getting there could perhaps be enough for some people.
Word Count: 305

V.Steele

9/24/2018 10:48:37 pm

In the closing passage from the Great Gatsby, F.Scott Fitzgerald leaves us with last words that explain an overall truth about hope and the American dream in this time period. Fitzgerald states that Gatsby spent so much time looking forward, so close to what he had always wanted, that it was dangerous. “He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.” This is later followed by the idea of moving on and hope when Fitzgerald states “tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms further.” When speaking on the fallacy of the American dream fitzgerald states “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” This means that although these standards are put in place we must continue to push forward to get what we desire. Just like Gatsby lived his life desiring Daisy from afar just to get close to her, we must have dedication. His child like obsession hurt him in the end but he was still described as being close. Fitzgerald uses a metaphor about rowing against this stream to emphasize the difficulty in going against the economic system to make something of yourself. Myrtle was killed by Daisy and George Wilson kills Gatsby. Both Myrtle and Gatsby were made from new money and were building themselves up - both unsuccessful in the end. However although Fitzgerald creates this consistency he states we are “borne back ceaselessly.” The meaning of borne in this sentence can have two meanings. Gatsby had to bear the weight of losing everything and never being able to accomplish the one thing he dedicated his life to. Our lives have a constant anchor on us. However when thinking about this in the context of continuing to row against the current, we can see this as being physically born. Being able to overcome the past and break down the systems put in place that are meant to keep us back.

Word count: 343

tucker

9/24/2018 11:39:51 pm

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby, the protagonist, Jay Gatsby, is remembered as someone with a “capacity for wonder.” Through the physical actions of Gatsby and the diction and stylistic choices of the author, it can be understood that he was conveyed as a man who both had and created many thoughts.
A seemingly magical tone is set in this passage in that words like “vanished,” “pandered,” “dreams,” “enchanted,” and “unknown” are used to describe Gatsby and his surroundings. Jay Gatsby was a very hopeful person. He never gave up on his love for Daisy Buchanan, although she married another man while she was supposed to be waiting for him and was extremely cold-hearted toward everyone. Much like a fairytale, Gatsby did everything in his power to please Daisy. He knew that she loved men with money so he made himself rich and built an extravagant mansion. Jay Gatsby had his mansion built directly across from Daisy, the love of his life. He would through amazing, lavish parties with hundreds of important people filling his home to merely gain Daisy’s attention. In every movement he made and thought that he had, she was on his mind. His “capacity for wonder” was most definitely full of Daisy and his theoretical future with her. To say the least, Gatsby was obsessed with her. Throughout the novel, Fitzgerald includes a green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He uses this green light to resemble the strength of Gatsby’s hope of being with Daisy. The narrator, Nick Carraway, explains that Gatsby was a man who was full of unrequited hope. He made so many promises to himself throughout his life -- to be rich, to be famous, to win Daisy’s heart -- without much support from anyone. His capacity for wonder made him who he was.

tucker

9/24/2018 11:40:47 pm

word count - 303

Phantom

9/24/2018 11:59:05 pm

The last passage in The Great Gatsby is Carraway's reflection on time and the impact it has with people's relationship. By showing how hard it is to pull away from the tides of time, Gatsby is shown as person with a strong perseverance as he tried so hard to get to where he wanted.
The scenery isn't just for filler; it is an ever changing moment in time. Carraway notices the “shadowy, moving glow” and the houses that “began to melt away” which are smaller parts to the changing light of the setting sun. These are just some of the changes to this large moment of time in a sense ending for the day, and a sense of renewal. The ending of the day is a large connection to how time continues even if someone refuses the idea. Gatsby had held onto the light in this sense and kept it burning strong. He had the imagination and talent to hold onto the dreams he held long ago while time kept moving.
The last few paragraphs are intensely focused on Gatsby and his ability to hold on to his dreams. Carraway identifies that Gatsby could not grasp his dream and make it reality, but understood it as a miracle to be holding onto it for so long. “Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us” The orgastic future was a possible future Gatsby could have had in the past, but Carraway notes that it is distant as “year by year recedes before us”. Gatsby held such strong perseverance. He aimed for a dream that he could never reach. And as he continued, it was becoming even harder to grasp, but in the end he got a grasp of it by being able to interact with Daisy before his death.
.
Word Count: 306.

blues clues

9/25/2018 03:38:01 am

I “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, by the end of the novel Nick Carraway remembers the deceased Jay Gatsby as a person with a great “capacity for wonder”. Gatsby was obsessed with the the idea of Daisy not her personality. Daisy was a beautiful lady but a liar and gold digger that would do anything for her reputation.Proof of this is how towards the end of the book when Gatsby is waiting for Daisy to give him a call, she never calls him and is actually leaving town with Tom. Gatsby was so obsessed with Daisy that he did anything to get and impress her, he became rich by bootlegging ( selling illegal alcohol). Gatsby also went as far by having a library full of books that he never read (not even a single book), nice expensive woman clothes,and threw big parties to see if he could ever find Daisy at one of them. He also did these things to impress her. He did all this because he knew Daisy wanted a rich husband like Tom. Gatsby was so in love with Daisy that he even took the blame for killing Myrtle, when it was in fact Daisy’s fault when she panicked and leaves in a sudden rush. A symbol in the book that also shows the hope Gatsby had for Daisy was the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. The green light was a symbol of hope of having Daisy and being together with her. “Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock” (Fitzgerald). Nick is thinks about the green light (Daisy) and how she was so far from being with Gatsby and that Gatsby wanted something that he could nearly impossibly have. In total Gatsby has all this hope and ambition to be with Daisy, who in fact was never his to begin with.
Word count 321

E.Dickinson

9/25/2018 08:18:17 pm

F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby," follows the lives of Nick Carraway and his band of friends as they reside in prosperous East Egg and West Egg during the summer of 1922. It turns out that Jay Gatsby, the elusive mystery man of the novel, has a history with Daisy (Nick's cousin), and is so in love with her that he throws a plethora of elaborate parties in hopes that she will come to one. Alas, just when he thinks he finally has Daisy's heart once more, he is killed by George B. Wilson. In the final passage, Nick speaks of Gatsby's hopeless dream by saying "[h]e did not know that it was already behind him." From the moment he found out about Gatsby's desire, Nick could foresee a great tragedy that would come about, but Gatsby's will was so strong, he couldn't stop him. A reference to Gatsby's will is also made in this passage. "It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther...And one fine morning--" This quote explained how Gatsby loved Daisy once and didn't care how long it took- he wanted to get her back and he became bolder and more tenacious in his quest which was ultimately his downfall. This explanation of Gatsby's character also continues as Fitzgerald writes "so we beat n, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." Daisy had moved on from Gatsby, but he was so caught up in her that he couldn't accept it, so he became a boat beating against the current, trying to bring back something that was already lost. Because Gatsby couldn't move on, he kept repeating the past, being "borne back ceaselessly." He would woo Daisy, then lose her and later come up with a plan more elaborate than the last in a bid to get her back.

Word Count: 315

Edgar Wright

9/28/2018 08:57:33 pm

The last passage from F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, depicts a great conclusion and introspection to the mind of Nick Caraway and how he will remember Jay Gatsby. Parallel to the beginning of the novel, where Jay is found staring off into the green light by the shore, Nick sits by the water; He observes the beautiful environment around him. Saying, “man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent.” showing us how awed and full of wonder Nick is in this land. The same wonder that jay had as he pursued daisy his whole life and thought so high off. Daisy is to Jay what West Egg is to Nick. Both are beautiful, jaw-dropping sights that leave these men wondering how such beauty could exist. Nick always knew that Gatsby was like this, He did everything he cool to reach for that green light across the bay. What he was not aware off, that Nick was, is how out-of-reach Daisy was for Jay. However, even in the most inevitable circumstances, Jay pushed on. As Nick puts it, “Gatsby Believed in the green light… tomorrow we will run faster… boats against the current.” Nick was inspired by Jays tenacity and perseverance to go for daisy even when he knew there was no chance. Most people would go as far as they can if it was something they loved. As he stared out into the bay, on the final moments of the novel, Nick Caraway empathized and understood Jays pursuit of Daisy.

Word Count: 305

Septmeber

9/30/2018 04:07:44 pm

Fitzgerald’s use of imagery helps to portray the sense of Gatsby’s great ”capacity for wonder”. He begins this passage describing Long Island, before its establishment and urbanization, back when Dutch sailors first discovered this plot of land. The new word described in the first paragraph represents Gatsby, new and undeveloped, full of great wonder in what it was and what it would become. Gatsby started out as a farmer. Farmers, back then, normally stayed farmers, however, Gatsby was full of wonder. He did not want to stay a farmer and so he went out into the world and made something of himself. He became “New Money”. Through becoming New Money, Gatsby was, again, filled with wonder as he was new to the world of riches. People had no idea who he was or what he was doing; he made people curious, wonder who he was and what he had come to do.
Gatsby’s great capacity for wonder, again, is revealed through the imagery of him reaching out for the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. Gatsby is filled with wonder, wonder of what could have been and what could become. He wondered what would have happened if he had fought for Daisy, or if he had had enough money to marry her before the war. He also wonders what would happen if he won back Daisy. Gatsby is living in the what ifs. He is stuck in the past, wondering about the future. He is living in regret. Regretting what happened and wondering “what if?”.
Through the imagery of the boats beating ceaselessly against the current, it is revealed that Gatsby is stuck in the past, fighting for the future, but held back by the past and filled with the wonder of the future. He is consumed by the what ifs that he is stuck in the past, not living in the moment. He also wonders about the future at the same time, fighting for the future as he wonders what would happen if he could just win back daisy. Nevertheless, he is held back by the past and the regret that has consumed him. He is the boat and his wonder is the current that is holding him back from living in the moment.
Word Count: 379

Comments are closed.

AP Literature and Composition Blog

Gatsby, the Green Light, and Elements of Style

Blog Post Rubric

Archives

Categories