The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

I. Setting The novel is set in the 1920’s in three main places: 1. two wealthy fictional suburbs on the eastern tip of Long Island 2. in an “industrial wasteland” between those two suburbs and New York City 3. in Manhattan

The character Gatsby is said to live in a house that looks like Hotel de Ville in Normandy, France –a mansion

II. Point of View 1. Point of view of the novel is 1st person limited. It is narrated by one of the characters- Nick Carraway

2. The novel starts with Nick recounting the events of two years before. He does not reveal all he learned to us at once, in chronological order… he flashes backward and forward in time as he tells the tale.

III. Literary Elements to look for Symbolism Places, things, people that stand for something other than the literal –Make sure to note color and flower symbolism

2. juxtaposition- the technique of placing similar or different scenes next to each other for effect

Flashbacks-most of the novel is a flashback – goes backward in time Foil- a character who through contrast underscores the distinctive characteristics of another character

5. synaesthesia – the description of one kind of sensation in terms of another; appealing simultaneously to multiple senses. Fitzgerald uses this technique to emphasize the idea of excess, one of his criticisms of his own social class. EX. –”yellow cocktail music”

6. motif – recurrent images, words objects, phrases or actions that unify a work thematically Fitzgerald uses motifs to develop his arguments. Look for these motifs as you read and color- code your novel accordingly. Pay attention to the characters he associates with each motif.

7. characterization- Annotate or create a chart to keep track of the the characters from the novel. Note how Fitzgerald’s language is used to develop character.