Paper 1: Great Gatsby & Pre-1900 Poetry

Question 1

How to structure this question

Love has changed through the ages as a consequence to the adaptation of social structures- politics, economy and the environment

Critic- EM Forster (1927) Love is ‘selfish and altruistic at the same time’

Answer 1

Introduction- what is relevant about this topic

Conclusion- Evaluate the extent to which prose and poetry contrasting forms affect the way the concept is presented and the way meanings are understood by the reader

Prose- natural flow of speech most reflective of conversation speech
Poetry- lots more feelings and emotions

Question 2

4 possible themes

Answer 2

1) Passion (love as obsession) (love as a struggle for survival)
2) Barriers to love (courtly love) (proximity and distance)
3) Love and loss (unattainable love)
4) True and deception (pragmatic view)

Question 3

Sir Thomas Wyatt (English lyrical poet)- Whoso List to Hunt- Elizabethan 16th and 17th Century
and the Great Gatsby F.Scott Fitzgerald 20th Century

Answer 3

1) Delineation and presentation of the character

Gatsby obsessed with Daisy-
‘Gatsby bought that house so Daisy would be just across the bay’ verb in past tense Gatsby is in the past and cannot move on
No recognition of social barrier running away from being ‘James Gatz’
Daisy wouldn’t have been able to be with who she wanted leading her to feel ‘p-p-paralysed with happiness’- represents the American Dream Daisy was living that lifestyle but sacrificed her freedom to get this so she is trapped and cannot move out of society Gatsby’s devotion means nothing as it is not enough to break Daisy away from the marriage

WSLTH- Speaker obsessed with the hind
‘Hind’ ‘hunt’ symbolic of pursuit of courtly love
A metaphor for the pursuit of women
Sense of recognition through the octave and the sestet-Petrarchan sonnet
octave (8) presents problem
Sestet (6) solution to problem- Noli me tangere , for Caesar’s I am’ Latin for ‘do not touch’ Caesar refers to Henry VIII
Wyatt was a poet at the court of Henry VIII and knew and admired Anne Boleyn
Iambic pentameter- lines 2-6 5 beats per line

2) Description of setting
West Egg, East Egg, Valley of ashes
Criticism of excessive wealth, importance and class which produces superficial relationships wasteful tendencies of American society
‘Valley of ashes’- wasteful product of fire- once a useful town (flourishing) no longer available
Also prolepsis for Gatsby’s death spending his life chasing his love by materialistic means
19th Amendment- gave women the vote in 1920 step forward to equality and progression
However patriarchy and misogyny was still alive
Gatsby’s desires for Daisy is enhanced by the fact that she is the object of desire by many men-No emotional relation between Gatsby and Daisy only seen as a goal proximity and distance enhances this
Symbols- Money and status- cars and parties

WSLTH- Lexical choice- distance ‘hunt’ ‘travails’

Question 4

Christina Rossetti- Remember- Victorian Era 19th Century

and the Great Gatsby F.Scott Fitzgerald

Answer 4

2) Idealistic then pragmatic narrative voice
Nick- third person omniscient narrator reflecting- jaundiced view of life
Narration at first is quite pragmatic as he recognises the position and reminds us that he has aspirations as a writer and a social climber however the thematic concern of magic and wonder- links with Nike infatuation with Gatsby through language ‘A romantic readiness I have never found in any other person’ description suggests that Nick looks up to Gatsby (idol) this makes the reader question where he is being blinded by his love for Gatsby

Remember- versus speakers narration asking her lover to reflect
similar Petrarchan sonnet- octave then sestet
Iambic pentameter throughout
In contrast to WSLTH as there is a shift from remembrance to forgetfulness from ‘remember me’ to ‘forget me’
Englands Victorian period was characterised by dramatic changes Industrial Revolution advances in science was a time of peace prosperity- Victorian Poetry reflected this through its interest in visual descriptions m, chivalry and nobility, genteel manner ms and social norms and practices

Silent land, darkness, corruption- abstract nouns sense of place

Future, remember, day- links to time
Rhyme structure abba