Response to Poem: 'Miss Gee'

How is the story told in Miss Gee?

Auden is known for his story-like poems and ‘Miss Gee’ is no exception to this observable reoccurrence.

This comes across with its wording: ‘let me tell you a little story’ at the beginning of the poem; giving the reader the impression that the poem will be a very imaginative one, and narrative based.

There is also a use of narrative elements: setting- ‘she lived at Cleveden Terrace At Number 83’, describing Miss Gee’s house; followed by characterisation- ‘Doctor Thomas looked her over’, ‘his wife was waiting to ring’, ‘her lips were thin and small, she had narrow sloping shoulders’ to emphasise the differences between characters.

It is evident that the writer brings out a controversial class or superiority theme, clear from the reactions of the doctor: ‘why didn’t you come before?’; creating a superior status over Miss Gee due to her choices, as it comes across like being said to a child or someone who is incapable of making their own decisions from the start: ‘why didn’t you…?’. Miss Gee questions this difference by saying: ‘does anyone care that I live in Clevedon Terrace on one hundred pounds a year?’, emphasising the class and social status differences between ‘neighbours’.

This poem is written from the perspective of an observer with insight into Miss Gee’s life and routine. This is reflected in an eponymous title- reflecting the perspective of an onlooker; in the third person. This is clear from description of events that take place, and background information given on her: ‘she’d a purple mac for wet days, a green umbrella to take’. The way in which the writer clearly knows her quite suspiciously shows that Miss Gee is a very well known face around the area, and everyone is used to her routine- or the writer has gone to some lengths in finding out the information. However, from the descriptions, it seems as if the former is more of an accurate judgement; due to the tone of the poem coming across as a lot more like common knowledge on Miss Gee, rather than an intimate knowledge of her. This impression comes across with phrases such as; ‘she’d a bicycle with a shopping basket and a harsh back-pedal brake,’ making it seem as if she is local, almost as if it were custom to gossip and get updates about her. This is contradicted by the phrase: ‘she dreamed a dream one evening that she was the Queen of France’, as if the writer has inside knowledge to Miss Gee’s life, but also could be a reflection of the gossip that has travelled around about her.

Auden uses an ABAB quatrains rhyming pattern, giving the impression that the poem is quite child-like, reflected by the use of very basic punctuation- rarely seeing any caesura or enjambment, unless concerning dialogue- and could come across as being written in the style of a nursery rhyme- often not used for a poem that has a very sombre context. Saying this, nursery rhymes regularly have a melancholic or cruel underlining meaning; so Auden may have used these regularly thought of as child-like poetry characteristics intentionally. This cross between nursery style rhymes through punctuation, repetitive patterns, and ulterior meanings can be found in the stanza: ‘His wife she rang for the servant, Said, ‘Don’t be so morbid. dear’; He said: ‘I saw Miss Gee this evening and she’s a goner, I fear’.

The whole poem may well be a reflection on society. This is drawn from line 86; ‘the students began to laugh’- making Miss Gee the characteristics of a victim; unable to retaliate to anyone who has a higher status than her. This use of status is found throughout the poem, reflected by the lack of defence for herself by Miss Gee, as she knows that her words will fall on deaf ears. This can be interpreted by the reader as a reflection of society, as people increasingly find others’ pain amusing, and do nothing to change it; until they are in that circumstance. This is often perceived as an immature approach, hence ‘the students’; but is actually quite an accurate account of society as a whole, as a lot of people would not care, or not act in a different way to how ‘the students’ did.

Response to Poem: 'O What is that Sound'

 

O What Is That Sound- Response to poem:

 

W H Auden is known for his story-like poetry, with a set of characters and often involving dialogue. ‘O What Is That Sound’ is no exception; he uses the characters of a wife and husband in a question and response pattern to come to the conclusion by the husband to ‘be leaving’ by the last stanza.

The poem can be seen as a development from an observing stage in Stanzas 1&2: ‘the soldiers are coming’ ‘they step lightly’, into a questioning and searching for ulterior motives of the ‘soldiers’ in stanzas 3&4: ‘perhaps a warning’ ‘why are they suddenly wheeling, wheeling?’. This turns into a denial and not wanting to accept the truth stage in the stanzas 5,6,7: ‘haven’t they stopped for the doctor’s care’, ‘is it the parson they want’ ‘it must be the farmer that lives so near’...and this repeats until stanzas 6&7; where he says: ‘I promised to love you, dear, but I must be leaving.’ ‘it’s the gate where they’re turning, turning’.

The use of the word ‘dear’ up until the last line in the penultimate stanza could be a reflection of how the wife may be the only thing in his way before he left. Throughout the poem, he is the one being asked the questions and giving reasonably knowledgeable responses; creating the impression that he knew all along what the soldiers wanted, but put it off until the last minute so as not to hurt the person he cared the most about until he had to.

I also think that the wife knows from the point she is on her knees: ‘why are you kneeling?’, maybe in a position of grief, praying or begging what will happen- or potentially before; but wants to keep her husband as long as she can, and keeps asking questions to delay his ‘leaving’ and give her the maximum amount of time with her she can get.

The poem runs in an ABAB quatrains rhyming pattern, adding to the simplicity and repetitiveness of the dialogue; and potentially with an underlying meaning of how simple it could have been to change the outcome of the poem. Another rhyme at the start of the line is in stanza 6; still in the ABA pattern- saying ‘O’ and ‘no’ at the beginning from wife to husband, which is almost a summary of the whole poem in two starting words.

The use of repetition is evident throughout the poem- each stanza starting with ‘O’, and every question from the wife’s last words is repeated- ‘were the vows you swore deceiving, deceiving?’ This could be like the gossip and repetition of what people are saying in every house, in literal terms, or purely as the husband tries to reminisce and remember every last word his wife said to him before he inevitably had to leave.

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Nine

Final chapter of ‘The Great Gatsby’: Nick’s acceptance, the funeral, seeing key characters once more: Jordan Baker, Tom, Daisy...

Narrative perspectives/ voices:
This chapter goes through the stages of grief over Gatsby, resulting in acceptance or potentially stubbornness at the end of the chapter, quite misleading from the use of the phrase: ‘as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world’- which could be taken as either a willing or unwillingness to accept the truth from different perspectives.
Time Period:
Stages of grief are reflected also in different timings; starting with quite a reminiscent stage: ‘after two years, I remember the rest of that day, and that night and the next day’

It then becomes rather vague, with basic out-of-character time periods used; like ‘that afternoon’, becoming more unclear as different stories of Gatsby’s death enter Nick’s mind, also evident in phrases where Nick puts things off; these unclear, unorganised behaviours are unlike Nick, so must be interpreted as grief or the process of acceptance: ‘set the key for the newspaper reports next morning...’

Once this process gradually comes to a close, Nick becomes more like himself again; using formalities concerning the funeral: ‘five o’clock procession’. However, this draws to a close as it sinks in that Nick does not have much of the ability he did to carry on without Gatsby, so decides to re-visit places that are reminders of Gatsby, and changes his character accordingly- becoming a lot more vague and dismissive: ‘Gatsby’s house was still empty when I left’ ‘I spent my Saturday nights in New York because those gleaming, dazzling parties of his were with me so vividly...’

Setting:
The first setting is at Gatsby’s house – Nick is told to be here, preparing for the funeral: it ‘was still empty’ and Nick seems very distant from his usual over-caring self: ‘noone knows the woman’s name, and noone cares.’ ‘but I didn’t investigate’

The next setting is at the funeral, which takes place in the cemetery, where the only antendees are Mr Gatsz, Nick, ‘four or five’ servants, the postman ‘from West Egg’ and the owl-eyed man.

Finally, Nick states: ‘I decided to come back home’, and chooses to leave the past behind him, after conversing with Jordan Baker. The last place he visits before leaving is Gatsby’s house; ‘on the last night, with my trunk packed and my car sold to the grocer, I went over and looked at that huge incoherent failure of a house once more. On the white steps an obscene word, scrawled by some boy with a piece of brick, stood out clearly in the moonlight, and I erased it, drawing my shoe raspingly along the stone, Then I wandered down to the beach and sprawled out on the sand.’

Narrative Techniques, Elements and Themes:
Poetic prose; ‘borne back ceaselessly into the past’ ‘Gatsby’s house was still empty (when I left)’

Descriptive detail; ‘I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes- a fresh, green breast of the new world.’

Sensual description; ‘the hair in his nostrils quivered slightly, and as he shook his head his eyes filled with tears’

Use of dramatic dialogue; ‘‘Nevertheless you did throw me over,’ said Jordan suddenly.’

Surreal description; ‘and as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in the vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us, It eluded us then, but that’s no matter- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further...And one fine morning –

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.’

Time references; ‘after two years, I remember the rest of that day, and that night and the next day’ ‘that afternoon’ ‘set the key for the newspaper reports next morning...’ ‘five o’clock procession’ ‘I spent my Saturday nights in New York...’

Use of names; ‘noone knows the woman’s name, and no one cares.’ ‘the owl-eyed man’ ‘the old man’ ‘Slage’ ‘Mr Gatz’ ‘Jimmy’ ‘James J Hill’ ‘Tom and Daisy’

Language of altercation; ‘‘Nevertheless you did throw me over,’ said Jordan suddenly.’...’I’m thirty,’ I said. ‘I’m too old to lie to myself and call it honour.’ Angry, and half in love with her, and tremendously sorry, I turned away.’’ ‘we’re getting sickantired of it’

Use of ellipses; ‘tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms out further... and one fine morning--’ ‘and let other people clean up the mess they had made....’ [Tom and Daisy: ‘careless people’]

Colours; ‘yellow cars on the Chicago’ ‘he had come a long way to this blue lawn’ ‘first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock’ ‘Gatsby believed in the green light’ ‘where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night’ ‘blue smoke of brittle leaves’

Themes; living in the past, reference to it:’ So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.’ Lack of names: ‘noone knows the woman’s name, and no one cares.’ Motif- yellopw cars: ‘yellow cars of the Chicago’ Setting of Gatsby’s house: ‘I went over and looked at that incoherent failure of a house once more’

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Eight

...You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together...

Narrative perspectives/ voices:
Chapter when Nick and Gatsby share last few moments together prior to Gatsby’s death. Nick notably states: ‘you’re worth the whole damn bunch put together’; hinting along with the eponymous that Nick is very praising of Gatsby, looking past his faults.  

Time Period:
There is a large reference to timings in this chapter, starting at the beginning, when Nick re-tells: ‘it was nine o’clock when we finished breakfast and went out on the porch.’ ‘twelve minutes to my train’ ‘I’ll call you about noon’ ‘three fifty train’..’it was just noon. From these references, it gives the impression that Gatsby is very distant from his usual self, and is quite unconcerned about his friend. This is also evident from the rash decision to fire all of his servants and hire new ones as Daisy regularly ‘visits’ in the ‘afternoons’, to prevent ‘talk’. However, as Gatsby is so well-known and particularly popular due to his generosity, he has prying eyes from different sources than servants- ‘until long after midnight a changing crowd lapped up against the front garage’.

There are a lot of time periods used to track Wilson and Gatsby’s whereabouts and movements over the course of the day leading to Gatsby’s death, shown in the extract below;

‘By six o’clock Michaelis was worn out, and grateful for the sound of a car stopping outside. It was one of the watchers of the night before who had promised to come back, so he cooked breakfast for three, which he and the other man ate together. Wilson was quieter now, and Michaelis went home to sleep; when he awoke four hours later and hurried back to the garage, Wilson was gone.

His movements — he was on foot all the time — were afterward traced to Port Roosevelt and then to Gad’s Hill, where he bought a sandwich that he didn’t eat, and a cup of coffee. He must have been tired and walking slowly, for he didn’t reach Gad’s Hill until noon. Thus far there was no difficulty in accounting for his time — there were boys who had seen a man “acting sort of crazy,” and motorists at whom he stared oddly from the side of the road. Then for three hours he disappeared from view. The police, on the strength of what he said to Michaelis, that he “had a way of finding out,”supposed that he spent that time going from garage to garage thereabout, inquiring for a yellow car. On the other hand, no garage man who had seen him ever came forward, and perhaps he had an easier, surer way of finding out what he wanted to know. By half-past two he was in West Egg, where he asked someone the way to Gatsby’s house. So by that time he knew Gatsby’s name.

At two o’clock Gatsby put on his bathing-suit and left word with the butler that if any one phoned word was to be brought to him at the pool. He stopped at the garage for a pneumatic mattress that had amused his guests during the summer, and the chauffeur helped him pump it up. Then he gave instructions that the open car wasn’t to be taken out under any circumstances — and this was strange, because the front right fender needed repair.’

From this, we learn quite a lot about Nick as a narrator. He is evidently quite controlling and adopts an organised manner to deal with the loss of Gatsby, clear from the relation back to Gatsby throughout the extract- ‘so by that time he knew Gatsby’s name’, and does not hold back his opinions on Gatsby, although he evidently does not think they were wise ones: ‘...and this was strange...’, and yet still holds Gatsby in very high regard.

Setting:
The first setting mentioned in this chapter is with reference to what Nick thinks Gatsby should do; ‘Go away to Atlantic City for a week, or up to Montreal’ This is forcibly refused by Gatsby, and it is unclear from Nick’s reaction whether he expected this or not, but the use of short sentences: ‘he wouldn’t consider it. He couldn’t possibly leave...’ gives the impression that he disproves of Gatsby’s choice.
Wilson’s garage is the next setting, where Michaelis is trying to gain knowledge on Wilson, and trying to grasp at a way of finding help for him. Unfortunately, this does not succeed and Wilson has left, towards Gatsby’s pool before Michaelis’ return after he was ‘worn out’. This soon turns into a tragic series of events, resulting in the death of Gatsby.
Narrative Techniques, Elements and Themes:
Poetic prose; ‘I tumbled with a sort of splash upon the keys of a ghostly piano’

Sensual description; ‘there was a wholesome bulkiness about his person and his position’

Use of sound; ‘fog horn was groaning incessantly’

Use of dramatic dialogue; ‘I can’t describe to you how surprised I was to find out I loved her, old sport. I even hoped for a while that she’d throw me over, but she didn’t, because she was in love with me too.’

Surreal description; ‘Wilson’s glazed eyes turned out the ashheaps, where grey clouds took on fantastic shapes and scurried here and there in the faint dawn wind’

 References to; ‘Gatsby’s house’- Nick refers to this setting considerably: also to his ‘garage’

Time references; ‘it was nine o’clock when we finished breakfast and went out on the porch.’ twelve minutes to my train’ ‘I’ll call you about noon’ ‘three fifty train’ ‘until long after midnight a changing crowd lapped up against the front garage’ ‘by six o’clock Michaelis was worn out’ ‘about five o’clock it was blue enough outside to snap off the light.’

Use of names; Michaelis, George Wilson- first time finding out his name: ‘maybe you got some friend that I could telephone for, George?’, Gatsby, Nick, Meyer Wolfshiem: letter regarding not attending the funeral to ‘Mr Carraway’

Colours; ‘golden and silver slippers’ ‘at the grey tea hour’ ‘white car’ ‘about five o’clock it was blue enough outside to snap off the light.’

Themes; time, Gatsby (and his choices, repetitive evaluation of him by Nick)

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Seven

Chapter where a large amount of action takes place, drastically changing the course of the narrative...

Narrative perspectives/ voices:
Narrated by Nick- quite laid back approach; largely concentrates on others- evidence shown by the fact he only finds out at end of chapter that it was his ‘birthday’.

Time Period:
Some of the timings mentioned in this chapter, include: ‘the lights on his house failed to go on one night’ ‘Daisy comes over quite often – in the afternoons’ ‘only the hot whistles of the National Biscuit Company broke the simmering hush at noon.’  ‘it was in nineteen-nineteen, I only stayed five months.’
Setting:
The first setting of this chapter is in ‘Gatsby’s house’- Nick calls by but only gets a rude butler in response: ‘who? He demanded rudely’. They then take a trip to Tom and Daisy’s house in the ‘salon’, get shown in and meet them there. Here is the first time Gatsby meets Daisy’s child, putting a melancholic tone in the air, probably because Gatsby has a very innocent and past view of Daisy, which is far from the reality both of them now live in. After a tense conversation involving Tom, Daisy and Gatsby, they all drive to ‘town’ and stay at the apartment. Controversially, Daisy chooses to drive with Gatsby rather than Tom, and this is the first time when it sinks in for Tom that Daisy loves Gatsby, and takes this out on Nick and Miss Baker: ‘you think I’m pretty dumb, don’t you? Whilst they drove back, an accident on the road took place. Daisy ran Myrtle over, without the knowledge to the reader whether Daisy knew what she was doing; this is never revealed, so leaves doubts in the mind of the reader as to whether Daisy is genuine or ‘full of money’. Mr Wilson’s garage: here, Tom finds out that he has lost Myrtle and ‘sobs’ as he is back in the car. Eventually, they come home from a day each one of them wished had not happened. Gatsby watches the house to check that Daisy is safe, and Nick leaves. Almost like an end of an era for Nick, because he knows what each character is now truly capable of.

Narrative Techniques, Elements and Themes:

Poetic prose (style); ‘they were gone, without a word, snapped out, made accidental, isolated, like ghosts, even from our pity.’ ‘so we drove on toward death in through the cooling twilight’

Descriptive detail; ‘Then I turned back to Gatsby – and was startled at his expression. He looked – and this is said in all contempt for the babbled slander of his garden – as if he ‘killed a man’. For a moment the set on his face could be described in just that fantastic way.’

Sensual (physical) description; ‘flung open the door, blocked out its space for the moment with his thick body’

Use of dramatic dialogue; repetition of ‘Oh, ma ga-od’ at Myrtle’s death [Wilson] ‘’Did you see any trouble on the road?...’ ‘Yes’’ He hesitated. ‘Was she killed?’ ‘Yes.’’

 Descriptive writing; ‘his hand, trembling with his effort at self-control, bore to his lips the last of his glass of ale’ ‘picking up Wilson like a doll, Tom carried him into the office, set him down at a chair, and came back.’ ‘so I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight-watching over nothing.’

 Surreal description; ‘the automobiles which turned expectantly into his drive stayed for just a minute and then drove sulkily away’ ‘her voice is full of money’ ‘watching over nothing’ ‘picking up Wilson like a doll…’

Colloquial (slang, informal) language; ‘Self-control!’ Repeated Tom incredulously. ‘I suppose the latest thing is to sit back and let Mr Nobody from Nowhere make love to your wife. Well if that’s the idea you can count me out....’ ‘‘Nope.’ After a pause he added ‘sir’.’ ‘I’ve got something to tell you old sport,’

Use of sounds; ‘only the hot whistles of the National Biscuit Company broke the simmering hush at noon.’ ‘against the singing breeze of the fan’ ‘as Tom took up the receiver the compressed heat exploded into sound and we were listening to the portentous chords f Mendelssohn’s Wedding March from the ballroom below’

Time references; ‘the lights on his house failed to go on one night’ ‘Daisy comes over quite often – in the afternoons’ ‘only the hot whistles of the National Biscuit Company broke the simmering hush at noon.’ ‘it was in nineteen-nineteen, I only stayed five months.’

Use of names; talking about Myrtyle as being Mr Wilson’s property: ‘’My wife and I want to go West’ ‘your wife does,’ exclaimed Tom startled’

Language of altercation; “Did you see that?” demanded Tom. “See what?” He looked at me keenly, realizing that Jordan and I must have known all along. “You think I’m pretty dumb, don’t you?” he suggested. “Perhaps I am, but I have a — almost a second sight, sometimes, that tells me what to do. Maybe you don’t believe that, but science —” He paused. The immediate contingency overtook him, pulled him back from the edge of the theoretical abyss. “I’ve made a small investigation of this fellow,” he continued. “I could have gone deeper if I’d known ——” “Do you mean you’ve been to a medium?” inquired Jordan humorously. “What?” Confused, he stared at us as we laughed. “A medium?” “About Gatsby.” “About Gatsby! No, I haven’t. I said I’d been making a small investigation of his past.” “And you found he was an Oxford man,” said Jordan helpfully. “An Oxford man!” He was incredulous. “Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit.” “Nevertheless he’s an Oxford man.” “Oxford, New Mexico,” snorted Tom contemptuously, “or something like that.” “Listen, Tom. If you’re such a snob, why did you invite him to lunch?” demanded Jordan crossly. “Daisy invited him; she knew him before we were married — God knows where!” We were all irritable now with the fading ale, and aware of it we drove for a while in silence.

Colours; ‘white shirtwaist’ ‘silver idols’ ‘white dresses’ ‘on the green sound’ ‘slowly, the white wings of the boat moved against the blue cool limit of the sky’ ‘silver curve of the moon’ ‘high in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl’

Themes; fear – ‘I think he was afraid they would dart down some side street and out of his life forever’ ‘I heard a low husky sob’

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Six

Told about James Gatz; who changed his name at the age of seventeen; and reader gets to meet Dan Cody- being able to observe how the riches of Gatsby’s current lifestyle were fathomed and completed.

Narrative perspectives/ voices:
In this chapter, Nick takes a very critical view on characters; particularly Gatsby at the beginning- using phrases such as: ‘Just why these inventions were a source of satisfaction to James Gatz of North Dakota, isn’t easy to say.’ This portrays a more mysterious side to Gatsby, giving the impression to the reader that he may be a stereotypical bad person. He says: ‘I suppose he’d had the name ready for a long time, even then’, which emphasises the fact that Nick does not currently trust Gatsby very much at all- he presumes that he was planning his wealth from a very young age and seized the opportunity whilst he could. Nick makes a swooping statement amongst no real mention of his family: ‘His imagination had never really accepted them as his parents at all’, which highlights the possibility that Nick has had a tough past also. ‘His heart was in constant, turbulent riot’- saying this could also be an accurate description of Nick himself, and expresses this with judgemental ‘honest’ insight into everyone else’s feelings. Another judgemental statement portrays Gatsby in a dull light, as someone who would do anything for money: ‘an instinct toward his future glory had led him’ Nick goes on to re-tell, ‘it was from Cody that he inherited the money- a legacy of twenty-five thousand dollars. He didn’t get it.’ The reader has to assume that the source is accurate for this information that they are being fed; as the true reason for why Gatsby did things is only on his own heart. Nick becomes quite self-centred towards the middle of the chapter, saying to the reader-‘As though they cared!’ when he is told that Gatsby was ‘delighted to see [Nick]’. One other person he criticises and puts in a bad light due to his judgemental character, is Daisy; saying that ‘she saw something awful in the very simplicity she failed to understand’; creating the impression that she is to selfish to think about others and have a wider perspective on different aspects.

Time Period:

Times used to separate the chapter include:‘an ambitious young reporter from New York arrived one morning’, emphasising the popularity of Gatsby, and potentially Nick’s source for finding out the information he suddenly receives. Ella Kaye is described as: ‘common property of the turgid journalism in 1902’.
Gatsby is said to have been ‘coasting along all too hospitable shores for five years when he turned up’ he, being Dan Cody- emphasising ‘he’ rather than Gatsby being the centre of the sentence, makes Dan seem like a great character in Gatsby and the readers’ eyes.

Nick tells the reader that ‘for several weeks I didn’t see him or hear his voice on the phone’, as he had been in New York with Jordan mainly, ‘but finally [Nick] went round to his house one Sunday afternoon’

As Gatsby reflects, he remembers‘...one autumn night, five years before’, reminiscing about the easier days when it was just himself and Daisy.

 Setting:

The first setting is when the reporter visits:‘...one morning at Gatsby’s door’. ‘...when he turned up as James Gatz’s destiny in Little Girl Bay’ portrays Gatsby in a more cynical and selfish light due to the planning of his own ‘destiny.’

‘...I didn’t see him or hear his voice on the phone- mostly I was in New York, trotting around with Jordan...finally I went over to his house one Sunday afternoon.’ (setting: Gatsby’s house)

Nick, quite judgingly, describes Daisy as being ‘appalled by West Egg...this unprecedented place’ and makes her seem less worthy of nice character traits from the readers’ perspective.

Narrative Techniques, Elements and Themes:

Poetic prose; ‘the most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed at night’

Use of ellipses; ‘he could find out what that thing was... ...One autumn night, five years before, they had been walking down the street when the leaves were falling’

Descriptive detail; ‘that yacht represented all the beauty and glamour in the world’ ‘for a moment, a phrase tried to take shape in my mouth and my lips parted like a dumb man’s, as though there was more struggling upon them than a wisp of startled air. But there was no sound, and what I had almost remembered was uncommunicable forever.’

Use of dramatic dialogue; ‘‘I’d like to know who he is and what he does,’ insisted Tom, ‘And I think I’ll make a point of finding out’

 Descriptive writing; ‘each night he added to the pattern of his fancies until drowsiness closed down upon some vivid scene with an oblivious embrace. For a while these reveries provided an outlet for his imagination; they were a satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy’s wing.’

 Surreal description; ‘moved by an irresistible impluse’ ‘husky rhythmic whisper’

 Colloquial language; ‘I know your wife’...’That so?’

Time references; ‘an ambitious young reporter from New York arrived one morning’ ‘common property of the turgid journalism in 1902’  ‘he had been coasting along all too hospitable shores for five years when he turned up’ ‘for several weeks I didn’t see him or hear his voice on the phone’ ‘one Sunday afternoon’

Language of altercation; ’’she didn’t like it,’ he said immediately ‘of course she did’ ‘she didn’t like it,’ he insisted, ‘she didn’t have a good time.’ He was silent’’

Use of names; introduction to Dan Cody

Colours; ‘torn green jersey’ ’pair of canvas pants’ ‘white plum tree’

Themes; past: ‘‘You can’t repeat the past.’ ‘Can’t repeat the past?’ He cried incredulously. ‘Why of course you can!’’

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Five

Narrative perspectives/ voices:
At first, the dialogue is initiated by Gatsby; ‘At least-‘ he fumbled with a series of beginnings. ‘Why, I thougt- why, look here old sport, you don’t make very much money, do you?’...he continued more confidently...he waited a moment longer, hoping I’d begin a conversation, but I was too absorbed to be responsive, so he went unwillingly home.’

Further in, the narration slips back to Nick when Gatsby is preparing for the visit he has been waiting for, and judgemental observations start to come back in: ‘I don’t believe he saw a thing’

Time Period:

‘Two o’clock and the whole corner of the peninsula was blazing with light’- At the start of the chapter, Gatsby’s mansion is told to be ‘blazing with light’, but Gatsby is seemingly unaware of this, or at least unconcerned, as the only measures of precautions he has taken in stopping the potential fire spreading, is ‘glancing in a few rooms,’ showing that even Gatsby is not ultimately about his possessions, it is merely displayed for show and to attract Daisy. Nick uses a vague time period to describe his good mood: ‘the evening had made me light-hearted and happy’.
Whilst discussing when Gatsby’s plan can be fulfilled, they discuss times: ‘What day would suit you?’ ‘What day would suit you?’ He corrected me quickly. This portrays quite a meek and timid side to Gatsby’s often outwardly boisterous-looking lifestyle. Any judgements of him can be perceived entirely wrong until gaining knowledge of his continual love and commitment towards Daisy Fay (Buchannan).
There are multiple timely preparations that take place before Daisy’s arrival: ‘At eleven o’clock a man in a raincoat, dragging a lawn-mower, tapped at my front door and said Mr Gatsby had sent him over’ ‘for at two o’clock, a greenhouse arrived from Gatsby’s’ ‘an hour later the front door opened nervously’. This large build-up is a juxtaposition to how ‘nervous’ he is really feeling. He uses his wealth to escape from this, by making sure that both his house and Nick’s, are perfect.

In the meeting with Daisy, Gatsby remembers exactly that it was ‘Five years next November,’ since him and Daisy had been together.

Setting:

The chapter starts after Nick explains the goings-on at Gatsby’s ‘when [Nick] came home to West Egg’, continuing to a conversation concerning Daisy between Gatsby and Nick, taking place in Nick’s garden: ‘We both looked down at the grass...I suspected that he meant my grass.’ The next setting is Nick’s house; Daisy is invited to Nick’s, where Gatsby has arranged to visit, without Daisy’s knowledge, so that they can ‘meet’ and reconnect consequently. As things go to plan for Gatsby, Nick and Daisy visit Gatsby’s house: ‘I want you and Daisy to come over to my house,’ he said, I’d like to show her around.’ This visit is more directed at Daisy, and by the end of the chapter, Nick concludes that Gatsby and Daisy have ‘forgotten’ him.

Narrative Techniques, Elements and Themes:

Poetic prose; ‘Gatsby got himself into a shadow’

Descriptive detail; ‘he stalked by me into the hall, turned sharply as if he were on a wire, and disappeared into the living room.’

Sensual description; ‘pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes.’

Use of dramatic dialogue; ‘‘Don’t bring Tom’ I warned her. ‘What?’ ‘Don’t bring Tom.’ ‘Whose Tom?’ she asked innocently’

Descriptive writing; ‘Her throat, full of aching, grieving beauty, told only of her unexpected joy.’ Feudal silhouette against the sky’

Surreal description; personification of the front door: ‘the front door opened nervously’

Use of sounds: lack of/ minimal sounds: ‘but there wasn’t a sound. Only wind in the trees.’ ‘as my taxi groaned’ ‘for half a minute there wasn’t a sound’ ‘Daisy’s voice on a clear artificial note’ ‘under orders to be breathlessly silent until we had passed through’

References to; rooms: ‘I have been glancing into some of the rooms’, ‘I don’t know.. how many hours he ‘glanced into rooms’’. Papers: ‘The Journal’

Colloquial language; ‘Oh, I’ve been in several things’ he corrected himself...

Time references; ‘the evening had made me light-hearted and happy’ ‘an hour later’

Language of altercation; ‘’You’re acting like a little boy’ I broke impatiently. ‘Not only that, but you’re rude. Daisy’s sitting in there all alone.’’

Use of smell: ‘the sparkling odour of jonquils’ ‘the frothy odour of hawthorns’ ‘the pale gold odour of kiss-me-at-the-gate’

Colours; ‘my ragged lawn ended and the darker, well-kept expanse of his began’ ‘in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-coloured tie’ ‘pale gold’ ‘plum blossoms’ ‘you always have a green light that burns at the end of your dock’...’now it was again a green light on a dock’

Themes; seasons- ‘he sends over a selection of things at the beginning of each season, spring and fall’...

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Four

Nick and Gatsby go for lunch; Jordan tells Nick of a plan Gatsby has devised to meet Daisy over tea...

Narrative perspectives/ voices:
Narrated by Nick Carraway; who is more of an observing character who feels less ‘in the know’ as secrets are held from him throughout this chapter- giving the reader less of an understanding of how Gatsby is actually feeling; because he leaves the narration to Miss Baker when Nick finds out about Gatsby’s love for Daisy.
This chapter iconicaly has a unique style of passing the narrative perspective from different characters. A large focus is on Gatsby. At the beginning of the chapter, Nick’s opinion on Gatsby has changed quite drastically:

·         ‘So, my first impression, that he was a of some undefined consequence, had gradually faded and he had become simply the proprietor of an elaborate road-house next door.’

Later, Gatsby wishes to ‘tell something about [his] life’ with an ‘interruption’ to Nick’s previous response for his question: ‘what’s your opinion of me, anyhow?’- These blunt, but seemingly planned questions take Nick by surprise; ‘a little overwhelmed’. This abrupt transferring information speech from Gatsby, in sufficient detail, gives Nick the impression that he could be hiding something- ‘I knew why Jordan Baker had believed he was lying...as though it had bothered him before...and with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces, and I wondered whether there wasn’t something a little sinister about him after all.’ But this could have merely all been to try and persuade Nick further, resulting in some sympathy, and willingness to help him and Daisy meet; with quite innocent intentions. Interestingly, his current trade is not mentioned, and where he gets his current consistent source of wealth. Also, Nick’s later impression of Gatsby is not mentioned, rather the chapter ends with Nick and Jordan getting close in the car: ‘and so I drew her up closer, this time to my face.’
Time Period:
‘Sunday morning whilst the church bells rang’ gives a light tone to the rather more sombre and informative chapter that awaits. The only date that is mentioned is July 15^th 1922 – and Nick finds this on a ‘schedule’ that ‘is in effect’ from then. It is described as ‘grey’, hinting that this was from the past, but ‘Gatsby’s’ handwriting is still legible on it.  
Nick remembers clearly the time period in which he has interactions with Gatsby; ‘at nine o’clock, one morning late in July’...giving the impression that he is very interested in Gatsby, and he is borderline peculiar when it comes to remembering details about him. The use of punctuation: comma mid-sentence adds to this factor.
A vague date used is describing Mr Wolfshiem: who ‘fixed the world series back in 1919’. The ‘cool’ way in which Gatsby is described to say it, shows that he

Setting:
The first setting if the chapter isn’t mentioned, but as Nick is talking as if viewing Gatsby’s house: ‘the world and its mistress returned to Gatsby’s house and twinkled hilariously on his lawn’; I assume that Nick is at his own house.
Lunch with Gatsby; meeting Mr Wolfshiem and running into Tom Buchannan; across from the ‘The old Metropole’
Later in the chapter, Nick has lunch and drives away with Miss Baker; finding out about Gatsby and Daisy’s past fling.

Narrative Techniques, Elements and Themes:
Poetic prose; ‘second cousin to the devil’
Sensual description; ‘two fine growths of hair which luxuriated in either nostril..tiny eyes..expressive nose’
se of dramatic dialogue; ‘how did he happen to do that?’...’he just saw the opportunity’ ‘why isn’t he in jail?’ ‘they can’t get him, old sport, he’s a smart man.’
Surreal description; ‘covered Gatsby with his expressive nose’

References to; ‘restaurants’: ‘Highballs’ ‘The old Metropole’ ‘head waiter’ ‘nice restaurant here’

Colloquial language; ‘the young Quinns..divorced now..killed himself’ ‘Oggsford College in England. You know Oggsford College?’
Time references; ‘this schedule is in effect from July 15^th 1922’, ‘world series back in 1919’, ‘nine o’clock, one morning late in July’ ’One October day in ninteen-seventeen- ‘That was nineteen-seventeen.’

Use of names; meet lots new characters in a rant that Nick has in the beginning; personally meeting Mr Wolfshiem, who tells tales involving ‘Rosy’ and his death, Katspaugh and ‘money’; and several other minor characters in-between, like Daisy Fay’s maid.

Language of altercation; ‘I hadn’t the faintest idea what ‘this matter’ was, but I was more annoyed than interested.’ ‘I’m afraid I made you a little angry this morning in the car’...’I don’t like mysteries,’ I answered’ ‘Daisy’s furious because you haven’t called up’

Colours; ‘cotton-white’ ‘white knickerbockers’ ‘she dressed in white’

Themes; seasons- ‘Gatsby’s house that summer’ ‘drowned summer’

 

 

The Great Gatsby: Chapter Three

Chapter three is when Nick first meets Gatsby, gets to know Jordan Baker and himself better...

Narrative perspectives/voices:  
Written from Nick’s perspective- quite a specifically judgemental chapter; as he gets to know Jordan and Gatsby; he also observes other party-goers and notes traits and flaws from people present at the party.

First impressions on Gatsby:

  ·         ‘...he smiled understandingly- much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life...’

Second impressions on Jordan:

·         At first I was flattered to go places with her, because she was a golf champion...and then it was something more. I wasn’t actually in love, but I sort of felt a tender curiosity....I found what it was...she was incurably dishonest...dishonesty in a woman is thing you never blame deeply.’

Perceptions and conclusions about himself:

·         ‘I am one of the few honest that I have ever known.’

Time Period:

‘Through the summer nights’- retelling of the music heard from the parties at Gatsby’s house
‘Between nine in the morning and long past midnight’; Gatsby’s Rolls became an ‘omnibus’ for parties to and from the city
‘Every Friday’- shows timeliness of Gatsby and his deliveries (in this case, crates of oranges and lemons- signifying his wealth for such exotic fruits)
....’And every Monday...’
‘At least once a fortnight...’
‘By seven o’clock the orchestra had arrived’
....All of these time periods before Nick is invited to Gatsby’s, shows his interest in Gatsby and what goes on in his life- verging on disbelieving with all of the ever-so accurate timings and mental records he must have of Gatsby and his mansion.
Once Nick is at the party, and able to get an inside opinion on Gatsby and his wildly dreamt of parties, the repetitive times and observations seem to halter slightly, as no more time periods are shown.

Setting:

Not told at first; assumed to be Nick’s house
One setting is Gatsby’s mansion- Nick is invited to ‘his first party’ and narrates from the inside perspective for the first time since visiting Tom and Daisy
In search of Gatsby, Jordan and Nick visited a number of places around Gatsby’s mansion-‘bar’ ‘veranda’ ‘high Gothic Library’ ’outside’
Jordan and Nick re-meet at ‘a house party up in Warwick’...they proceed to drive off together, and it ends with Nick talking about himself again- being ‘honest’.

 Narrative Techniques, Elements and Themes:

Poetic prose; ‘at high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam.’
Descriptive detail, ‘the lights grows brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun’ ‘while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains’
Use of dramatic dialogue; ‘I’ll bet he killed a man.’
Descriptive writing; ‘no thin five piece affair, but a whole pitful of oboes and trombones and saxophones and viols and cornets and piccolos, and low and high drums.’
Surreal description; ‘a chauffeur in a uniform of robin’s-egg blue’
References; to books- in library, ‘they’re absolutely real’
Colloquial language; ‘‘Hello!’ I roared’’ ‘this is much too polite for me’
Time references; ‘by seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived...’ ‘at any time that suits you best’
Use of names; ‘signed Jay Gatsby in majestic hand’
Colours; ‘blue gardens’ ‘brisk yellow bug’ ‘oranges and lemons’ ‘dark gold’ ‘robin’s-egg blue’ ‘dressed in white flannels’ ‘slender golden arm’ ‘gas blue with lavender beads’ ‘grey sun-strained eyes’
Themes; mysterious Gatsby- ‘’I’m Gatsby,’ he said suddenly’’, love, increasingly deception, living in the past...