Essay Prompt: Analyzing the American Dream in 'The Great Gatsby'
Question 1
For this assignment, you will be working with the following 600-800 word excerpt from F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby'. The theme you will be analyzing is 'The American Dream.' Consider how Fitzgerald uses this excerpt to convey his ideas about the American Dream. How does he use literary devices such as symbolism, imagery, and characterization to express his views on this theme? What is the significance of the American Dream in the context of the novel as a whole? Your analysis should be detailed, thoughtful, and supported by evidence from the text. Be sure to include direct quotes from the excerpt to substantiate your points. Your essay should be well-structured, with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. Be sure to proofread your work for clarity, coherence, and grammatical accuracy. This assignment is designed to enhance your close reading skills and your ability to interpret and analyze literary texts. It will also give you a deeper understanding of Fitzgerald's views on the American Dream as portrayed in 'The Great Gatsby.'
Over the great bridge, with the sunlight through the girders making a constant flicker upon the moving cars, with the city rising up across the river in white heaps and sugar lumps all built with a wish out of non-olfactory money. The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world. A dead man passed us in a hearse heaped with blooms, followed by two carriages with drawn blinds and by more cheerful carriages for friends. The friends looked out at us with the tragic eyes and short upper lips of southeastern Europe, and I was glad that the sight of Gatsby's splendid car was included in their somber holiday. As we crossed Blackwell's Island a limousine passed us, driven by a white chauffeur, in which sat three modish negroes, two bucks and a girl. I laughed aloud as the yolks of their eyeballs rolled toward us in haughty rivalry. 'Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge,' I thought; 'anything at all. . . . ' Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder.
F. Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby'
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