The Party at Jay Gatsby’s House Chapter 3 The Party at Jay Gatsby’s House

There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars (Fitzgerald 39).

On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight . . . . 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. In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from another (40).

Entertainment Full orchestra p. 40

Gilda Gray p. 41 An American actress and dancer who popularizing a dance called the “shimmy” which became fashionable in 1920s films and theater productions.

Gilda Gray’s Follies a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931.

What does Nick mean? Nick says that people “conducted themselves according to the rules of behavior associated with an amusement park” (41). (Hint: What are the rules of an amusement park?)

What are some examples of bad behavior at this party? Continue to next page…

Drunk…singing and crying at the same time causing mascara to run p. 51

Owl Eyes Angry wives and husbands Drunk in the library p. 45 Drunk when he leaves: He doesn’t know his car wheel was torn off p. 55 The driver of the car doesn’t even know the car stopped or that the wheel is missing p. 55 Angry wives who don’t want to leave p. 51 Angry wife whose husband flirts with an actress p. 51

Gossip: What do the people know about Gatsby? People gossip about Gatsby What is the gossip? P. 43-44

More gossip about Gatsby Nick and Jordan speak to Owl Eyes in the library p. 45 The books are real… Gatsby is a “regular Belasco” (45).

More Gossip about Gatsby Nick and Gatsby finally meet and converse. What fact do we learn about Gatsby? p. 47

What is Nick’s impression of Gatsby. P What is Nick’s impression of Gatsby? P. 48 (read this slide with the next slide) Nick said that Gatsby “smiled understandingly--much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it . . . [it] concentrated on YOU with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you . . . believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey” (48).

Con’t Nick further noted that “precisely at that point it vanished--and I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd. Some time before he introduced himself I'd got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care” (48).

So what did Nick realize about Gatsby? Synecdoche: a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part, the special for the general or the general for the special. It is very common to refer to a thing by the name of its parts. For example: The phrase “gray beard” refers to an old man. The word “sails” refers to a whole ship. The word “suits” refers to businessmen. Is Gatsby’s smile an example of Synecdoche? What is so special about Gatsby’s smile?

Owl Eyes says Gatsby is a “regular Belasco” (?). What does he mean? **Belasco: David Belasco (1853-1931), American theatrical producer, famous for realistic sets. Do you think Gatsby is trying to put on a giant "show" for Daisy. Do you think Gatsby's entire life is nothing more than a lavish theatrical production to impress someone? Do you think things in Gatsby's house, such as his library books, are props in his theatrical production? (“Didn’t cut the pages”: The books in Gatsby’s library are rare first editions, in which the sheets are folded into pages but not yet cut apart). Do you think even his simile is part of his theatrical production?

Jordan’s impression of Gatsby p. 49 This is a picture of Oxford University in England. Its stature is similar to that of Harvard, Princeton and Yale.

Nick can not understand who his neighbor Jay Gatsby is… Is it possible to truly just “drift coolly out of nowhere and buy a palace on Long Island Sound” (49)? Can people just appear out of thin air”? The 6 degrees of separation…

What else do we know about Gatsby? Wealthy and owns a mansion on West Egg Doesn’t drink Throws a lot of very expensive and large parties Gets phone calls very late at night from Chicago and Philadelphia (48, 53). Seems to be alone at his own parties Gatsby has a private discussion with Jordan p. 50, 52. What do you think it is?

Color Connotation What color is Gatsby’s chauffeur’s suit? What color is Nick’s suit at the party What color is Gatsby’s garden? What color is the music at the party? What color dresses do the 2 women wear? P. 42, 43(the ones who speak with Nick and Jordan).