Blog #3: Syntax
- “the idea staggered me”(73)
- “By the next autumn she was gay again, gay as ever.”(75)
- “There were the same people, or at least the same sort of people, the
same profusion of champagne, the same many-colored, many-keyed
commotion”(104)
Syntax is almost like the structure of a sentence, if you change the structure you
change the sentence completely, sometimes even the meaning. So when Fitzgerald
structured his sentences he brought different meanings to the words. The first example is
a short choppy sentence which can demonstrate a short, quick thought or even a bit of
rudeness due to it’s lack of elaboration. The second example is an example of tautology,
a rhetorical device. The extra two words at the end of the sentence, “gay as ever”, serve
to amplify the importance of this sentence. Without those last words it wouldn’t be as
bold and would lack a sense of importance. The last example is an example of repetition.
Fitzgerald uses the words “same people” and “many” a multiple of times into his
sentence. The use of the same words over again also makes known to the reader just how
important those words actually are that are describing the parties.
In your example, “There were the same people, or at least the same sort of people, the
ReplyDeletesame profusion of champagne, the same many-colored, many-keyed commotion”(104), the tautology of the word "same" serves to emphasize the monotony of Gatsby's parties. Although they may be extravagant, the reality is that the people that attend these parties and the parties themselves are extremely shallow and merely amplify the superficial nature of the characters described in the novel who are motivated by the promise of wealth.