A Separate Peace: Personal Review

Blog Entry #5 Personal Response

After reading this book I thought it was, in general, a good read. For being so short it still was stuffed with lots of themes, motifs, symbols, and complex character development. This book was relatable being that the boys in the story are about my age and face the similar balance of schoolwork, sports, and socialization. I understood the struggle they had to stay young and innocent with the pressures of the world, pushing them towards growing up and becoming an adult.  It was interesting to read especially because I appreciated the historical connections thanks to my history class. It was fascinating to see the fictional, emotional side, the story of the everyday citizen during WWII, opposed to just all the names and dates I’ve been reading about in my history book.  The characters were extraordinarily complex making them very realistic-- the novel’s strongest point in my opinion. I was always contemplating who “the bad guy” was and whether I liked Gene or if he was even reliable narrator. In the end, I admit that Finny’s death really did make me sad because the author described him so well and as readers we learned so much about him that I felt like I might have known him.  The writing from a technical standpoint was done well and rich in figurative language and rhetorical strategies.  The downside to this book is that all in all A Separate Peace lacked some of the excitement that I normally enjoy in a book .The plot was just a little too slow for my taste. Also, some of the moral truths that the novel attempted to unveil were very similar to the themes in books I have read previously. (All Quiet of the Western Front, Lord of the Flies…).Perhaps I held too high of expectations. Perhaps this is the way of a lot of the books on “College Board’s Recommended Reading List”.

A Separate Peace: Text-Connections

Blog Entry #4 Text Connections

In A Separate Peace the author frequently makes connections to what was going on in the world during the time of the novel. For example he references Pearl Harbor, Mussolini, Stalin, the boys refer to the Germans as Krauts, and they even name their invented summertime game Blitzball after the Blitzkrieg war tactic developed by Hitler during WWII.

I, personally, connected this novel to All Quiet on the Western Front because, although it follows the life of young German soldiers during WWI, I felt that many aspects were remarkably similar. For one, in both novels, the boys are encouraged to sign up to fight by their teachers, by their peers, by the government, and by almost every adult they encounter. Also, present in both novels is the theme of detachment dehumanization and overall negative effects of war. This is seen in A Separate Peace by the character Leper, the first to join the army who loses a bit of his sanity before even being deported, and by self- disappointment Finny faces by being deprived of the chance to fight in the war. This book also reminded me of Lord of the Flies because the characters are also private school boys separated from an ongoing war (expect in Lord of the Flies the boys are stranded on an island). Both books also address that competition among peers can bring out an innate evil present in human nature.

A Separate Peace: Syntax

Blog Entry #3 Syntax

·         “Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even death by violence” (14).

This quote, as said by Gene at the beginning of the novel as he is looking at Devon from a flash forward fifteen years, expresses one of the central themes of the novel, rather, that time heals all wounds. The syntax in this sentence mirrors Gene’s calm acceptance of time as it is structurally simple and balanced. Also, the anaphora used by the repetition of “not” puts emphasis on each clause. This repetition Knowles uses makes this sentence stand out amidst the paragraph, drawing attention to its important theme and foreshadowing.

·         “Nylon, meat, gasoline, and steel are rare. There are too many jobs and not enough workers. Money is very easy to earn, but rather hard to spend because there isn’t very much to buy.  Trains are always late and always crowded with “servicemen.” The war will always be fought very far from America and it will never end” (41).

This quote begins with listing syntax which emphasizes the attention to detail as Knowles begins to convey the struggles of living on the home front during WWII. It continues using antithesis and the symmetrical sentence structure to highlight very clearly the issues Americans are facing. Putting “servicemen” in quotations lends to Gene’s, the narrator, disapproving tone toward the war and the hyperbolic sentence saying the war “will never end”  and the overall balanced sentence structure of the quote as a whole illustrates the detachment and hopeless war can cast on its citizens.

·         I found it. I found a single sustaining thought. The thought was, You and Phineas are even already. You are even in enmity. You are both coldly driving ahead for yourselves alone. . . . I felt better. Yes, I sensed it like the sweat of relief when nausea passes away; I felt better. We were even after all, even in enmity. The deadly rivalry was on both sides after all.

The syntax of this reflects the panicked thought process Gene is having at the moment. He begins with a telegraphic sentence declaring that he is in understanding of the situation. He proceeds to comfort himself in the second person using an anaphora by repeating the word “You”. Then he repeats the phrase “I felt better” as if he is reassuring himself. The whole train of thought is brought to life by the syntax because it mirrors the sporadic way his thoughts are flying across his conscience.

A Separate Peace:Diction

Blog Entry #2 Diction

Throughout A Separate Peace, the main character Gene tells the entire story. Therefore the diction changes depending on Gene’s perception of the situation- the diction is completely dependent of Gene’s tone. For instance, when Gene is describing what Devon School looked like after returning 15 years later his word choice reflects his impersonal and detached tone. He describes the school as “perpendicular”, “sedate”, “straight-laced”, and “stale.” It is evident that throughout the novel when the scene is serious Gene depicts it using higher level vocabulary. For example when Gene is being accused of purposely knocking Finny from a tree out of spite, he says that his voice, “releasing hush galvanized them all” (89).  When Gene is angry, in one occasion, he looks up at the night sky and describes the stars as “sharp stars” that “pierced singly through the blackness”(101). The diction can clearly be seen as dependent on the tone of the narrator. The highly connotative diction also reflects Gene’s tone toward certain characters. When he is describing Quackenbush, a character Gene later ends up punching in the face, he says that he had “trembling, goaded egotism” (78). The word “goaded” is especially connotative and brings to mind primitive fury, like a charging animal. In less formal every-day situations the author gives Gene and the other characters dialogue that reflects their age as well as the time they live in. In many cases the writing is full of colloquialisms, which seems realistic for teenage boys. By using common language in ordinary encounters between the boys, it makes the characters seem more realistic to the readers. In the end, the diction helps us to see the story through Gene’s eyes because the connotative choice of words conveys his varying emotions as he encounters different situations, characters, and feelings.

A Separate Peace: Rhetorical Strategies

Blog Entry #1 Rhetorical Strategies

Imagery/ Personification: “His voice soaring and plunging in its vibrant sound box, his eyes now and then widening to fire a flash of green across the room” (21-22).

Assonance: “turning a look of mock shock on me” (29).

Verbal irony: “we spent that summer in complete selfishness, I’m happy to say” (30).

Implicit metaphor: “the world, through its unleashed emotions, imprinted itself upon him, and he carries the stamp of that passing moment forever” (40).

Simile: “like sunshine seen through rough burlap” (49).

Dramatic irony: “and that was the most false thing, the biggest lie of all” (71).

Explicit metaphor: “every bulletin board was a forest of notices” (74).

Personification/alliteration: the river “threw itself with little spectacle over a small waterfall beside the diving dam” (76).

Allusion: “I detected no Sherlock Holmes among them, nor even a Dr. Watson” (91).

Euphemism: “he might have to move his bowels until at last we came” (131).

Antithesis: “the wind knifed at face, but this sun caressed my back” (141).

Throughout the novel, Knowles enriches his writing by using a variety of rhetorical strategies.  In some cases, for instance when he uses eloquent imagery, it adds to the mood of the scene he is describing. In other cases, for example, when he uses and alliteration, assonance, or antithesis, it draws attention to the strategy by emphasizing similar sounds, spelling, or sentence structure.  By using metaphors and allusion the author provides a tangible comparison for the reader, something they can relate to, in order to make his descriptions realistic and increase the audience’s appreciation of his writing.  Overall using rhetorical strategies make the novel more interesting to read and progresses the plot by assisting in character development, illustrating the scene, and by adding to the sophistication of the book in general.

Personal Response

I really enjoyed F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. First, it was an interesting point in history and an interesting storyline and plot. I also liked that Frederick’s writing style was sophisticated, but not to the point that it was difficult to read. I also especially appreciated that his characters were so complex—rather than some books students tend to encounter in school where there are “good” and “bad” characters, these were multidimensional characters. Gatsby specifically had so made sides to his character! Between the stories of his past, his love for Daisy, and the rumors that surrounded him, it took me a while to solidify my opinion about Gatsby. Another strong point of the novel was Fitzgerald’s creative symbolism. The use of the green light that turned on and off throughout that novel representing the “American Dream” really added a new dimension to the novel by contrasting the life story of these characters against the stereotypical “American Dream” story. My favorite symbol, however, was Doctor T.J. Eckleburg. The concept of his eyes watching over the corruption of society from his faded billboard like some omnipresent being was so creative and gave the novel greater meaning. Overall, I thought that Fitzgerald’s’ novel, small as it may be, was full of such unique style, complex characters, meaningful themes, and interesting symbols that I really enjoyed every page of it! It is books like these that provide readers with more than a quaint little story or a simple moral lesson, The Great Gatsby allows us to learn about a period of history filled with the romanization of jazz, romance, and the “American Dream” and see it in a whole new light.

Text Connections

Many aspects of The Great Gatsby are relatable to oneself or other works of literature. For example, the character Daisy is very similar to the character Lucy in Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. They are both from upper class families and have angelic, innocent traits to them, they are both described as beautiful, and they are both loved by men who cannot have them. Another connection I made was that the death of Gatsby reminded me of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet—it was a giant misunderstanding. Just as Romeo and Juliet reach untimely deaths based on a communication error, Gatsby is mistaken to be a murderer and therefore revengefully killed. I also thought that Gatsby’s home reminded me of the enchanted castle in “Beauty and The Beast”, especially when Fitzgerald writes that after a night of entertaining  “ his count of enchanted objects had diminished one by one”(93).

Syntax

Overall, Fitzgerald’s syntax tends to have loose paragraph structure, often beginning with a telegraphic sentence and then elaborating. For example he says that, “This was untrue. I am not even faintly like a rose” with which he follows with more explanation to his thought-process. This syntax mirrors the thinking of the narrator in that his logic gradually reaches a point. In another instance Fitzgerald uses rhetorical questions. “What was it up there in the song that seemed to be calling her back inside? What would happen now in the dim, incalculable hours” (108). They give the author a serious foretelling tone and the repetition intensives his tone. It creates suspense and emphasizes and foreshadows that something monumental will soon occur. Fitzgerald employs fragmented syntax on another occasion when he describes a nervous Gatsby. For example he says that “He had been full of the idea so long, dreamed it right through to the end, waited with his teeth set, so to speak, at an inconceivable pitch of intensity. In this case, Fitzgerald’s purpose is to show how much Gatsby’s love for Daisy affects him and this purpose is amplified by this use of listing syntax. My separating phrases with excess commas it reflects what the anxious thoughts of Gatsby might be—as if he is taking a mental checklist. The author utilizes his syntax similarly to create tone by his use of ellipsis. For instance when he talks about how appalled he is at Tom and Daisy he says that they “let other people clean up the mess they had made….” (179). By leaving the sentence open ended it gives of a hopeless and depressed tone—as if Tom and Daisy are a lost cause. This also aids Fitzgerald’s overall message that overindulgent upper class people can be reckless and unappreciative of the normal everyday struggles of common life. 

Diction

Fitzgerald most definitely uses diction to establish a clear tone for himself in different instances. For example when he first describes Tom Buchanan he says that “not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body” (7).  Fitzgerald employs sophisticated and connotative diction to reflect his negative tone about Tom.  “Effeminate” is especially connotative and brings to mind femininity based on overindulgence, yet it is an intelligent sounding word. Therefore it demonstrates the author’s clear disapproval of Tom, without direct informal insults.

He also utilizes connotative, formal diction to voice his negative opinion of the corruption of society when he depicts the valley of ashes. He writes, “the ash-gray men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud, which screens their obscure operations from your sight” (23). Not only does Fitzgerald use alliteration for emphasis, but also his picturesque word choice describes the valley of ashes as a gloomy wasteland. Also, it is the connotation of words like “impenetrable” that really reflect his disapproving tone. By saying “impenetrable” its makes the valley of ashes, the decay of society, seem like something unbearable that must be conquered. 

In another occasion, Fitzgerald reduces the formality of his diction to demonstrate his raw emotion and his disgusted tone towards careless wealthy people. For example he writes that, “they smashed up things” and “let other people clean up the mess they had made” (179). Rather than litter his words with high-level vocabulary, Fitzgerald takes a more simple approach, perhaps, to make his emotion and suffering more realistic.

Rhetorical Strategies

Personification: “I had just left a country of wide lawns and friendly trees” (Fitzgerald 3)

Hyperbole: “I’ve been everywhere and seen everything and done everything” (17).

Oxymoron: “Mr Wolfsiem… began to eat with ferocious delicacy” (71).

Polysyndeton/ Simile: “In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars” (39).

Alliteration: “Gatsby’s gorgeous car” (63).

Antithesis: I had reached the point of believing everything and nothing about him” (101).

Simile/personification/Alliteration/Allusions: “Like new money from the mint, promising to unfold the shining secret that only Midas and Morgan and Maecenas knew” (4)

The Great Gatsby is characterized by a large amount of rhetorical strategies. In fact, Fitzgerald’s writing is often supplemented by multiple rhetorical strategies in one single sentence. Often times he is elaborating on his descriptions using excessive imagery, or he cleverly uses comparisons, exaggerations, alliterations, or witty sentence structure. Not only does this make his writing more sophisticated and more interesting to read, but also his rhetorical strategies often emphasize important points or greater meaning behind his words. For instance Fitzgerald uses a great deal of negative imagery to depict the valley of ashes. He says it is a “fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens”(23). By intricately describing every feature of the valley of ashes, Fitzgerald emphasizes his message that society is corruptive and how this “valley of ashes” is symbolic of the decay societal progress can bring. Similarly the author uses many rhetorical strategies when illustrating his characters, for example Miss Baker is introduced as being “completely motionless, and with her chin raised a little, as if she were balancing something on which was quite likely to fall” (8). His metaphor allows the readers to visualize her and with that her character is more believable.  It is Fitzgerald’s attention to detail that gives the people in his book life like characteristic. Rather than just list characteristics, he paints pictures of these complex characters through his rich rhetoric.