Sarah Schmitt
Miss Stress
AP Language and Composition
9 January 2012
The Great Syntax
The phony diction and manner of the superficial 1920’s wealthy class is obvious to the reader of The Great Gatsby; the concise syntax of the narrator, Nick Carraway, makes it clear that he sees through them as well. The brief, telegraphic sentences Nick supplies in reaction to Daisy’s outwardly charming conduct suggest that Daisy fails to influence Nick in the same way she affects Gatsby or Tom Buchanan. When he sees Daisy for the first time since his youth, he describes Daisy as, “Looking up into [his] face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see” (Fitzgerald 9). It almost seems as though Nick has fallen for Daisy’s act, however he follows his dreamy reflection abruptly—“ That was a way she had”(Fitzgerald 9). Nick’s nonchalant, telegraphically stated observation implies that Daisy’s flirtatious personality has little effect on him—he casually tosses aside all of her actions in one curt sentence. Later that night, Daisy compliments Nick, calling him, “an absolute rose.” After receiving this artificial compliment, Nick narrates, “This was untrue. I was not even faintly like a rose”(Fitzgerald 15). These two terse sentences could have easily been one—conjoined by a comma, the two sentences could have flowed nicely—as though Nick was aware that he was unlike a rose, but flattered nonetheless. Instead, the two choppy, repetitive sentences insinuate that Nick is sick of hearing Daisy’s false flattery and irritated by her lack of honesty, a trait which Nick prides himself in possessing. Nick is accurate in his idea that, “the whole evening had been a trick of some sort to exact a contributory emotion from [him]”(Fitzgerald 17).
I truly enjoyed reading all of your blogs and could not decide which one to comment on as they all sounded so sophisticated! In my syntax blog I also included how Fitzgerald employs a lot of telegraphic sentences to get his point straight across as to not confuse the reader. Your observations of Nick's concise statements are very well explained and I completely agree as to why the author uses this type of sentence rather than elongated, detailed ones. His use of the brief statements leave a more dramatic effect on the reader and helps them better understand the current situation at hand instead of overwhelming them with an overabundance of detail. Overall, your blog was by far the most interesting to read!
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