The Great Gatsby
How does Fitzgerald’s word choice (“rare,” “eternal reassurance”) shape the tone?
“He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it…”
Creates a warm, admiring tone toward Gatsby.
Scout narrates: “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.”
Creates an innocent, sincere tone.
“Big Brother is Watching You.”
How does the capitalized, direct word choice shape tone?
Creates a menacing, authoritarian tone.
How does the contrast in this sentence’s structure shape tone?
“I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled…”
The parallel syntax mirrors Nick’s conflicted, ambivalent tone.
“Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music… That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”
How does this symbol shape tone?
Creates a moral, serious tone.
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.”
How does this metaphor shape tone?
Creates a brutal, hopeless tone.
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
How does this metaphor shape tone?
Creates a nostalgic tone.
“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it.”
How does Harper Lee’s word choice shape tone?
Creates a weary tone.
“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
How does the repetitive, paradoxical syntax shape tone?
Creates an ironic, oppressive tone.
Nick says of Tom and Daisy: “They were careless people… retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness…”
How does Nick’s perspective shape tone here?
His judgmental POV creates a bitter, condemning tone.
“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.”
How does the parallel syntax shape tone?
Creates a wise tone.
“Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.”
How does the close third-person POV shape tone?
Creates an intimate, vulnerable tone.