3.05 Syntax: Name: Date: School: Facilitator

Name: Facilitator:
Date:
School:
3.05 Syntax
Read the lines below from The Great Gatsby. Look for ways that Fitzgerald uses syntax for
effect. In your responses, note:
● specific patterns of phrases and sentences,

● parallel structure,
● different sentence types, and/or
● specific kinds of punctuation.
1. “Most of the confidences were unsought—frequently I have feigned sleep,

preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an
intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon—for the intimate revelations of young
men or at least the terms in which they express them are usually plagiaristic and marred
by obvious suppressions.” Chapter 1 he uses the Hyphens for the phrases
2. “This is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and
hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and
rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already
crumbling through the powdery air.” Chapter 2 there is a pause at the beginning

3. “As soon as I arrived I made an attempt to find my host but the two or three people of
whom I asked his whereabouts stared at me in such an amazed way and denied so
vehemently any knowledge of his movements that I slunk off in the direction of the
cocktail table—the only place in the garden where a single man could linger without
looking purposeless and alone.” Chapter 3
first person
4. “After that I lived like a young rajah in all the capitals of Europe—Paris, Venice,
Rome—collecting jewels, chiefly rubies, hunting big game, painting a little, things for
myself only, and trying to forget something very sad that had happened to me long
ago.” Chapter 4
he is telling about a flashback
5. “Under the dripping bare lilac trees a large open car was coming up the drive. It
stopped. Daisy’s face, tipped sideways beneath a three-cornered lavender hat, looked
out at me with a bright ecstatic smile.” Chapter 5
no pause
Read the sentences below from Chapter 5. Rewrite the sentences, breaking into several
sentences that maintain the meaning of the original passage. Then, answer the questions that
follow.
6. “He raised his hand to stop my words, looked at me with unforgettable reproach and
opening the door cautiously went back into the other room.
● New Sentence: He raised his hand to stop me from what I was saying,looked
angrily at me and opened the door slowly
● Why do you think Fitzgerald chose this particular sentence structure? He wanted
a more sophisticated term
7. “I walked out the back way—just as Gatsby had when he had made his nervous circuit of
the house half an hour before—and ran for a huge black knotted tree whose massed
leaves made a fabric against the rain.”
● New Sentence: I went out the back door just as Gatsby had when he had made
his nervous circuit of the house half an hour before—and ran for a huge black
knotted tree whose massed leaves made a fabric against the rain.
● Why do you think Fitzgerald chose this particular sentence structure? He is
doing a check of his house
8. “After half an hour the sun shone again and the grocer’s automobile rounded Gatsby’s
drive with the raw material for his servants’ dinner—I felt sure he wouldn’t eat a
spoonful.”
9. New Sentence: after 30 minutes the sun came back and the grocers car showed at
Gatsby’s driveway with the raw material for his servants’ dinner—I felt sure he wouldn’t
eat a spoonful.
● Why do you think Fitzgerald chose this particular sentence structure? He used it
to show a regular day in jay gatsby’s life
10. “With enchanting murmurs Daisy admired this aspect or that of the feudal silhouette
against the sky, admired the gardens, the sparkling odor of jonquils and the frothy odor
of hawthorn and plum blossoms and the pale gold odor of kiss-me-at-the-gate.”
● New Sentence: With enchanting whispers Daisy admired this idea or that of
the feudal shadow against the sky, admired the gardens, the sparkling odor of
jonquils and the strong odor of hawthorn and plum blossoms and the pale gold
odor of kiss-me-at-the-gate.”
●
● Why do you think Fitzgerald chose this particular sentence structure? He is
going to show that Gatsby is still in love w/Daisy.
Read the paragraph below from Chapter 5. Rewrite the sentences in any manner you decide.
You may use short, choppy sentences or long, elaborate ones. You may also use a
combination of both, but maintain the meaning of the original passage.
11. “He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one before us, shirts of
sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel which lost their folds as they fell and covered
the table in many-colored disarray. While we admired he brought more and the soft rich
heap mounted higher—shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green
and lavender and faint orange with monograms of Indian blue. Suddenly with a strained
sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily.”
● New Sentence: “He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by
one before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel which lost their
folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored mess. While we rejoiced
he brought more and the smooth fine heap mounted higher—shirts with lines
and letters and paids in orange and blue and purple and yellow with monograms
of Indian blue. Suddenly with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the
shirts and began to cry loudly.”
●
● Why do you think Fitzgerald chose this particular sentence structure? to
differentiate the way of modern and original text

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● specific patterns of phrases and sentences,

1. “Most of the confidences were unsought—frequently I have feigned sleep,

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3.05 Syntax: Name: Date: School: Facilitator

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3.05 Syntax: Name: Date: School: Facilitator

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3.05 Syntax: Name: Date: School: Facilitator

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● specific patterns of phrases and sentences,

1. “Most of the confidences were unsought—frequently I have feigned sleep,

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Name: Facilitator: