Stylistic devices

Simile - an indirect relationship where one thing or idea is described as being similar to another. Similes usually contain the words “like” or “as,” but not always.

“Jay Gatsby had broken up like glass against Tom’s hard malice…” 

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Oxymoron - A contradiction in terms.

two old friends whom I scarcely knew at all.” 

“definitely unfamiliar” 

“ferocious indifference”

 

Personification - where inanimate objects or abstract concepts are seemingly endowed with human self-awareness; where human thoughts, actions, perceptions and emotions are directly attributed to inanimate objects or abstract ideas.

“The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens…”

Anaphora - the repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences, commonly in conjunction with climax and with parallelism:

“Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth.” 

Asyndeton – the omission of conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses. In a list of items, asyndeton gives the effect of inadvertent multiplicity, of an extemporaneous rather than a labored account.

“There were the same people, the same profusion of champagne, the same many-colored, many-keyed commotion” 

 

Alliteration - The repetition of consonant sounds within close proximity, usually in consecutive words within the same sentence or line. 

“fantastic farm” 

“grotesque gardens”

“obscure operations”

Polysyndeton - the use of a conjunction between each word, phrase, or clause, and is thus structurally the opposite of asyndeton. Gives the effect of a labored account, however can also create a feeling of multiplicity or building up.

"By seven o’clock the orchestra has arrived, 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." 

 

Synaesthesia - description of one kind of sensation in terms of another.

"yellow cocktail music" 

 

 

Symbol - The use of specific objects or images to represent abstract ideas.

The eyes of Dr. T.J. Echleburg can be symbolic of God’s all-seeing eyes.

Wolfshiem’s cufflinks made of human teeth are a symbol of his connection to the underworld.

 

Metaphor - an direct relationship where one thing or idea substitutes for another.

"Her voice is full of money." 

 

Hyperbole - the counterpart of understatement deliberately exaggerates conditions for emphasis or effect.

“I’m p-paralyzed with happiness.” 

"The whole town is desolate. All the cars have the left wheel painted black as a mourning wreath, and there’s a persistant wail all night along the north shore." – Nick on the subject of people in Chicago missing Daisy.

 

Protagonist - The main character in a story, the one with whom the reader is meant to identify. The person is not necessarily “good” by any conventional moral standard, but he/she is the person in whose plight the reader is most invested.

The protagonist in The Great Gatsby can be argued to either be Gatsby or Nick depending on whose plight the reader identifies with and invests in.

 

Allusion - a reference to a well-known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art.

"He was a son of God…and he must be about HisFather’s business"

Wolfsheim’s characterization as “the man who fixed the World Series” serves as an allusion to the Black Sox scandal of 1919.

Motif - a recurring important idea or image. A motif differs from a theme in that it can be expressed as a single word or fragmentary phrase, while a theme usually must be expressed as a complete sentence.

Geography serves as an important motif in The Great Gatsby as location helps to shape the novel’s themes and characters. (East Egg as odd upper-class traditions, West Egg as new money, celebrities, and wild lifestyles, and The valley of ashes as desperate and desolate)

 

Foreshadow – where future events in a story, or perhaps the outcome, are suggested by the author before they happen.

“So we drove on toward death through the cooling twilight.” – This statement foreshadows Myrtle’s death and the death of Gatsby’s dream.  

 

Irony – where an event occurs which is unexpected, in the sense that it is somehow in absurd or mocking opposition to what would be expected or appropriate.

Wolfsheim’s characterization as Jewish, yet the title of his office being “The Swastika Holding Company”.