Point of View

"Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."
Sometimes it's hard not to judge people. I chose this quote because it relates to my personal struggle with being judgmental of others. Always think about what it's like in someone else's shoes before you accuse them.

Fiesta

"The bar is in full swing, and floating rounds of cocktails permeate the garden outside, until the air is alive with chatter and laughter, and casual innuendo and introductions forgotten on the spot, and enthusiastic meetings between women who never knew each other's names."

I chose this line because I believe it really captures the essence of the party. We learn what the atmosphere is like especially with the description of the guests interacting even though they dont care about each other.

"The fiesta is full of life, and capri-suns are passed around the kitchen of the birthday boy's house, as the boys discuss loudly their opinions on this and that, hardly acknowledging each other, much less their opinions, as each though is cast into the conversation and disregarded."

Mr. Mumble and the Mysterious Floating Cocktails

I chose the sentence,"A tray of cocktails floated at us through the twilight, and we sat down at a table with two girls in yellow and three men, each one introduced to us as Mr. Mumble." This sentence includes the strange imagery of the cocktails but also tells us a lot about the characters of the two girls in yellow by simply showing how they introduced the three men. They introduced the men in order to get that portion of the conversation out of the way so that they could start talking about themselves.

The stack of poker chips drifted between those of us sitting around the table, and I finally stood up with empty pockets and multiple messages on my phone, each message telling me to remember my appointment at mumble AM.

Pizzazz and Class

"I lived at West Egg, the—well, the less fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. [...] Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water, and the history of the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there to have dinner with the Tom Buchanans."

Nick is talking about the two "types" of civilizations... The hard-working West Egg and the ever so glamorous East Egg.

I lived with less pizzazz and class in West Egg, even though this is a snobby way to differentiate them. Across the water, I can see the sparkling buildings of the beautiful East Egg. The city and water dividing us seemed to glow as the sun hit it just right. The rest of the story unwinds as I visit the elegant city for dinner with the Buchanans. 

Ceilings made of Cake?!... Yes please!

"A breeze blew through the room, blew curtains in at one end and out the other like pale flags, twisting them up toward the frosted wedding-cake of the ceiling, and then rippled over the wine-colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea. (8)"

This may in fact be one of the most beautiful sentences I've ever read in my entire life, and here Fitzgerald is describing mere curtains blowing in a breeze. However, upon reading this colorful and poetic sentence, I am immediately intrigued to see what type of majestic creature I am about to be introduced to in the story. Only the most gorgeous and captivating of characters could own curtains that blow in the breeze, that twist up to the "wedding-cake" ceiling and the "wine" rug.

 Another sentence:
His eyes gleamed with the brilliant blue of a spring morning sky, that had finally awoken from the frosted dreams of winter.

Gatsby's smile

"Gatsby's smile had a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life....It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself." (48)

This quote shows how Gatsby had a way with people. He was charming and people were amazed by him. It also gives the reader a little more insight into society in the 20's. It shows that people were more superficial and that even in a time when they were all focused on parties and drinking that they would take time to notice something as simple as Gatsby's smile. Gatsby wasn't like others. He has a real human quality about him that was something to be noticed.

My version:
The view of the beautiful mountains and hills and a peaceful feel to it, it had a way of making you forget all of your problems and see what is really important. It made you see a new side of yourself and it changed you.

Summertime

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer” (4).

Fitzgerald has done a rare thing, to combine beauty of language and depth of thought so skillfully.  It's a magnificent descriptive sentence about how exciting the summer is going to be and it references the variety of life and hope that Nick Carraway is about to experience. He compares sunshine and growth to a new chapter in his life. It is also showing how this book is going to be different and mysterious, which makes the readers want to keep reading. The Great Gatsby is really one of those pieces where every single line is gorgeous.

My version:

And so as the wind grew colder, the nights were longer and the leaves fell down, I figured that life was going to change as the wrath of winter approached.