Saturday, December 7, 2013

Rhetorical Precis and Personal Thoughts

F. Scott Fitzgerald in the great American novel The Great Gatsby suggests that the affluence and wealth that the American man aspired to were not true sources of happiness. Fitzgerald supports his suggestion by illustrating an affluent man, Gatsby, disillusioned by his own wealth and unable to find real happiness despite his enormous riches. The author's purpose is to portray and ridicule the disillusionment of those chasing riches in order to truly highlight the foolishness of the Modernist American mindset during the Roaring 20's. The author writes in a colloquial tone for the American public. 

In addition to the rhetorical précis I would also like to post about my personal thoughts (which is the point of a blog, but I feel as though my blog posts have become increasingly more about grades and acceptance from a teacher's viewpoint). I will not lie or sugar-coat it; there have been times in the recent past where I am just completely miserable, for reasons which will not be disclosed. When reading The Great Gatsby, it came to a shocking similarity in which the men in the novel were portrayed and with what I was dealing it. Like Gatsby, I have extreme wealth, although not in the same sense. He has the wealth to throw lavish parties; I have the wealth of a loving family, a steady income, an amazing academic institution that is Troy High, and accomplishments which I would have never though possible before my high school career. And yet I am still miserable, and I cannot fully explain nor justify why. Perhaps I am not much different Gatsby, perhaps there is a green light in which I see and so desperately want to grab, but cannot obtain. And so the green light will continue to haunt me, because I let it haunt me, just as how Gatsby allowed his desire for Daisy to haunt his life. I am selfish, I am stubborn, and thus I will never truly be able to give up my desire for the green light. We'll see where it takes me. 

3 comments:

  1. Your précis was very well written Jason. You really seemed to connect with the themes of the Great Gatsby. And in reference to your green light, I hope you get everything you thought you wanted and I hope it is everything you thought it would be.

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  2. You're a strong guy and I like how you are very ambitious. I hope that you will not see the green light as something that haunts you, but rather something that pushes to succeed beyond anything you have imagined.

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