The Great Gatsby - Authorial Techniques

Question 1

Chapter 2

Answer 1

1. Voice
   - Rumour as narrative device. (Establishes fable/mystery.)
   - Intradiagetic narrator (Drunkenness, moral judgement.)
2. Presentation of Place
   - Colour imagery (men blend into surroundings)
   - Nick can’t handle the reality of poverty.
   - New York is a place to break rules.
3. Time
   - Time stretched by alcohol.
   - Lot of action in small time frame.
   - The hit is fast. (Easy, impulsive, more violent.)
   - Pop culture references date the writing.

Question 2

Chapter 3

Answer 2

1. Sensual detail and imagery.
   - Nick’s romantic perception.
   - Gatsby’s wealth.
2. Multiple voices/use of rumour.
   - Builds curiosity/anticipation
   - Gatsby = enigmatic/hard to define
   - Sinister?
   - Guests have no loyalty to him.
3. Anti climax
   - Unattributed speech
   - Nick begins romanticising when he knows it is Gatsby.
   - Nick CAN see the ordinary in Gatsby. Prices his “greatness” is Nick’s choice.

Question 3

Chapter 4

Answer 3

1. Listing
   - Reveals Nick’s obsessive nature.
   - Endless list of names.
   - Smug name drops. (Gatsby attracts celebrity.)
2. Allusion to historical events
   - Wolfsheim is Arnold Rothstein
   - Rosy Rosenthal is real.
   - Recognisable to 1925 readers
   - Foreshadows Gatsby’s death
3. Multiple Narrative Voices
   - Conflicting information.
   - Nick moves from scepticism to belief.
   - Doesn’t say the information is false.
   - Nick ignores Gatsby’s slip ups.
   - Gatsby is cool about Wolfsheim’s crimes
   - Moral ambiguity.

Question 4

Chapter 5

Answer 4

1. Romantic narration.
   - Nick’s romantic sensibilities shape the reader’s perception
   - The immoral affair becomes romantic.
   - Daisy is romantic, angelic.
   - Reader is forced to reserve judgment.
2. Tension
   - More human, likeable Gatsby.
   - Appearance.
   - Verbs.
3. Sense of Place
   - Stage setting.
   - Connects love and materialism.
   - Pathetic fallacy.

Question 5

Chapter 6

Answer 5

1. First person narration.
   - Clear bias. How has Nick shaped our perception of Gatsby?
   - Nick dispels the rumours. Honest only to push his own agenda.
   - Tragic, rags-to-riches.
   - “drank so little” High moral standards.
   - Speculation over the smile. Idealising.
2. Sequencing
   - Gatsby’s backstory fills a lull in Nick’s own life.
   - Gatsby is “great” and will always take priority.
   - Putting the meeting before the party sets Tom and Gatsby up as rivals. Leads the reader to expect confrontation.
   - First kiss at end of chapter.
   - Gatsby stuck in the past. Memory of Daisy is better than reality.
   - Nick won’t show the affair.
3. Romantic Conventions
   - Gatsby as a fairytale hero.
   - Exaggerated significance. Universe seems to be in anticipation.
   - The kiss is life-changing
   - In reality Gatsby took Daisy “unscrupulously and ravenously.”

Question 6

Chapter 7

Answer 6

1. Nick’s narration.
   - Intradiagetic not omniscient.
   - Narrative gap: we don’t ever witness the affair until this point.
   - Retains some mystery.
   - Recount of Michaelis’s testament.
   - Fitzgerald working around his narrator’s limitations.
   - Nick still embellishing.
2. Time
   - Constant references to the past.
   - Gatsby aims to re-write history.
   - Tom uses nostalgia to manipulate.
   - Nick suddenly realises it’s his birthday.
   - Myrtle is killed instantly. (Fast = contrast.)
3. Presentation of Place
   - Daisy keeps trying to move location to avoid confrontation.
   - Gatsby will not challenge Tom in his own home.
   - New York has no moral code. Reads is wary.
   - Heat = rising tension.
   - Crash is watched by Eckleberg’s eyes.

Question 7

Chapter 8

Answer 7

1. Time and Sequence
   - Chronology altered for dramatic effect.
   - Gatsby and Wilson’s narratives running separately.
   - Allows for foreshadowing.
   - Time references (countdown)
   - Narrative gaps (speeds up the action)
2. First Person Narration
   - Foreshadowing/ominous references.
   - How much is added for effect?
   - Trying to give himself a bigger role?
   - Reader shares his anxiety.
   - Romanticisation of the pursuit of Daisy.
3. Presentation of Place (Gatsby’s house)
   - Contrast with previous descriptions.
   - Without Daisy everything loses value.

Question 8

Chapter 9

Answer 8

1. First Person Narration.
   - Less sensational than previous chapters.
   - Ironic criticism of the “untrue” reporters.
   - Nick has matured/become more cynical?
   - Stronger moral voice makes readers like him more.
2. Voice
   - Daisy is without a voice.
   - Avoiding consequences.
   - The privileged are careless.
   - Wolfsheim is filtered through a letter.
   - Detached, distant, disrespectful.
   - Slagle confirms Gatsby’s criminality.
3. Presentation of Place
   - Contrasts East and Midwest.
   - Nick accepts his Western identity.
   - Midwest is nostalgic, East is haunted.
   - East is brittle, barren, unfriendly.
   - Midwest is genuine (glitters with “real snow”)
   - Reaffirms traditional morals.

Question 9

Chapter 1

Answer 9

1. First person narrative
   - Self-conscious storyteller (may embellish)
   - Intradiagetic not omniscient.
   - Retrospective (can alter sequencing)
   - Romantic.
   - Hypocritical/contradictory. (Judgemental, not totally honest.)
2. Sense of Place
   - Introduces theme of social divide.
   - “Egg” connotations (fragility)
   - Newness and exploration of West
   - Connotations of house descriptions.
3. Symbolism - Green Light
   - Reaching, striving.
   - Daisy or East?
   - Establishes Daisy as the goal.
   - Connects love and wealth.