2009. A symbol is an object, action, or event that represents something or that creates a range of associations beyond itself. In literary works a symbol can express an idea, clarify meaning, or enlarge literal meaning. Select a novel or play and, focusing on one symbol, write an essay analyzing how that symbol functions in the work and what it reveals about the characters or themes of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot.
One of the most significant symbol is geography. The society is broken up into two places: the East Egg and the West Egg. The East Egg is where the "old rich" live. It represents a classy, fashionable, and elegant society. The West Egg is where the "new rich" live. It represents an extravagant, lavish, and unfashionable society.
Although the characters of the East Egg are considered better than the characters of the West Egg, they are not as satisfied nor happy. For example, Daisy was from the East Egg and even though she loved Gatsby (from the West Egg), she chose to marry her second choice, Tom Buchanan, because Gatsby was at war and Tom was extremely wealthy. Also, Gatsby orginally thought Daisy was the definition of perfection: beautiful, graceful, charming, and wealthy. This was partially because she lived in the East Egg, but was also primarily because Gatsby put her on a pedastle (since he was in love with her). However, Daisy's personality was far from perfection. She was cynicle, uncaring, and shallow. Although Jay Gatsby was from the West Egg, he was a much better person: loyal, kind, and persistant.
The differences in the characters of the two Eggs are extreme. It is evident that Gatsby lives a better and happier life, although he is of the West Egg. Fitzgerald uses these symbols to show that no matter where you are from and what social class you are, you can still live a great life.
I think you have a great idea, but could use more details and support. You identified the symbol, but really only have one example as support (Daisy v Gatsby). Make sure you can come up with enough examples to make your argument valid. This is a great start and if you had expanded a little more, it would be a great essay!
ReplyDeleteI think is a good start and is heading in the right direction, but your 3rd paragraph is mostly summary. It is critical to show AND tell, to explain why you are talking about the different points. You don't really do this until the last sentence in the last paragraph which has a very good point you made. If you can incorporate this into when you actually give an example then your response will be really good. You also only gave one example that supports the symbol you talked about which Brianna mentioned, so I think if you expanded your ideas a bit more this can turn into a great essay!
ReplyDeleteJulie,
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this book, but I felt like you could have gone into a lot more details about how the symbols affect the meaning and theme of the work. In the second and third paragraphs you do a little too much summery rather than explaining why the symbols are important. Even though i haven't read it, just from Ms. Holmes talkinking about it during class it seems like symbols play a really important role in the novel. For example you could have talked about how the symbol of the being from east or west egg reveals about Tom and Daisy and how that effects the story.