1. RHETORIC IN THE GREAT GATSBY

2. TONE VS. MOOD
MOOD is not intellectual; it is emotional. It is the emotional feeling you, the reader, gets when reading a passage.
What mood does Poe’s work usually, if not always, convey within his first paragraphs?
TONE is more intellectual and author-centered. It is the author’s attitude toward the subject. Discussing tone means determining now the author uses language to show that attitude.
You may know how to describe mood, but you need to discuss diction, syntax, and other elements to discuss tone.

3. TONE STUDY – Page 12
“We walked through a high hallway into a bright rose-colored space, fragilely bound into the house by French windows at either end. The windows were ajar and gleaming white against the fresh grass outside that seemed to grow a little way into the house. A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding cake of the ceiling—and then rippled over the wine-colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea.
The only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on which two young women were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon. They were both in white and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house. I must have stood for a few moments listening to the whip and snap of the curtains and the groan of a picture on the wall. Then there was a boom as Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died out about the room and the curtains and rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor.”

4. Tone + Syntax How does syntax contribute to tone in this?
Note the polysyndeton in the last sentence. The repeated “and’s” simulate the wind dying down, as objects slowly settle in the room. This device creates the sense that the time it took for everything to settle back down and deflate after Tom shut the window was drawn out and long.
Fitz Gerald also uses loose/cumulative sentences.
A loose sentence is a type of sentence in which the main idea (independent clause) is elaborated by the successive addition of modifying clauses or phrases. Example: I found a large hall, obviously a former garage, dimly lit, and packed with cots.
The number of ideas in loose sentences is easily increased by adding phrases and clauses.

5. This passage contains no periodic sentences, which develop a sense of tension as the reader waits for the main idea, the independent clause, by the period, at the end of the sentence.
So, a periodic sentence is a long and frequently involved sentence, marked by suspended syntax, in which the main idea is not completed until the final word--usually with an emphatic climax. Example: To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius.

6. Every sentence in this passage is loose/cumulative, except for the last sentence which is a series of balanced independent clauses.
What is the effect of Fitzgerald’s use of these loose/cumulative sentences?

7. Tone study
Step 1 – List the colors in the passage. Determine how the colors create a certain effect. Note the repetition of “white” and the idea of “white,” and consider its connotative meaning.
Step 2 – Choose two images which appeal to you and help you to imagine the scene. Explain how Fitzgerald creates a certain mood AND tone with these images.
Step 3 – List examples of sound devices (especially onomatopoeia) and explain how this connects with the tone.

8. You may work with a partner to discuss your answers
You may work with a partner to discuss your answers. One person should record the answers.
We will discuss your interpretations as a class. Be prepared to contribute.
You have 15 minutes!

9. Rhetoric homework
Based on what we discussed today, revise your homework (briefly) if you need to.
We will discuss the answers.
To consider the impact of Tom’s characterization, you had to know the terms given to you and be able to identify them.

10. Tom buchanan
Simple – 1 clause (subj. + verb + completed thought). Ex – Joe waited for the train.
Compound – 2 complete sentences joined by a conjunction.
Complex – 1 complete sentence with 1 or more dependent clause (fragment) connected to it. Ex: Because Mary and Samantha arrived at the bus station before noon, I did not see them at the station.
Compound-complex – 2 or more complete sentences and 1 or more dependent clauses. Ex: Although I like to go camping, I haven't had the time to go lately, and I haven't found anyone to go with.
Appositive – A noun or noun phrase that renames another noun right beside it. Ex: The insect, a large cockroach, is crawling across the table.
Supercilious (adj.) - Having or showing the proud and unpleasant attitude of people who think that they are better or more important than other people
Fractiousness (noun) – from the adj. fractious - tending to be troublesome, unruly, quarrelsome/irritable