Blog Topic #1: Rhetorical Strategies

·       Asyndeton: “already there are wanderers, confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable, become for a sharp, joyous moment the center of a group” (40-41).

·       Personification: “the air is alive with chatter and laughter” (40).

·       Imagery: “On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs, and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold” (40).

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby utilizes multiple examples of asyndeton, personification, and imagery as Gatsby’s house party is described in chapter three. Fitzgerald illustrates the events at Gatsby’s large get-together by using an asyndeton to draw out and exaggerate the characteristics of the crowd. By exaggerating and lengthening his sentences with an asyndeton, Fitzgerald causes the reader to imagine the size of the party and how chaotic it must have been. In order to fully emphasize the liveliness at the party, Fitzgerald also personifies the air as being alive and uses imagery to describe how the dinner looked. A feeling of vivacity is obtained by the reader as the air is told to be filled with chatter and laughter. By describing the air this way, Fitzgerald maintains the idea that Gatsby’s party is lively and hectic. Fitzgerald’s use of vivid imagery further illustrates the scene and adds to the description of the party as a massive event. By incorporating many rhetorical strategies into his writing, Fitzgerald makes the story much easier for his audience to visualize.