The excerpts provided from "The Great Gatsby" showcase various literary devices used by F. Scott Fitzgerald to enhance the narrative. The use of personification and polysyndeton contributes to the vivid description of characters and settings, providing a more immersive reading experience.
“The day agreed upon was pouring rain… [Gatsby] was pale, and there were dark signs of sleeplessness beneath his eyes…The rain cooled about half-past three to a damp mist, through which occasional thin drops swam like dew. Gatsby looked with vacant eyes through a copy of Clay’s Economics, staring…and peering toward the bleared windows… [then,] there was a
change in Gatsby that was simply confounding. He literally glowed…and there were twinkle-bells of sunshine in the room”
Foreshadowing
“…the clear voices of little girls, already gathered like crickets on the grass, rose through the hot twilight: I’m the Sheik of Araby. Your love belongs to me. At night when you’re asleep Into your tent I’ll creep—”
Imagery
“The interior was unprosperous and bare; the only car visible was the dust-covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in a dim corner”
Polysyndeton
“This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air”
Personifcation
“Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward”
Metaphor
“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer” (pg4)
