Fitzgerald Notes

Fitzgerald Writing Style:

• Very descriptive (for example: Myrtle’s physical description, Gatsby’s parties)
• Flashbacks – he goes back and forth from the past to present to provide more info
• Page breaks that show a change in scene
• Tone is usually calm, never overly dramatic or extreme, very observant
• Dialogue (intermixed with Nick’s observations)
• Indirect, suggestive, sugarcoated, and implied scenes
• Language must match the time period of the 1920s (no slang or use of current language in dialogue)
• Foreshadowing
• Uses weather as symbols and indicators of tone in the scene (for example: rain on the funeral day)
• As you write, ask yourself, WWFD? Meaning, what would Fitzgerald do? When in doubt, write the way Fitzgerald would.

Internal & external conflict:

• Internal conflict: a struggle a character has within himself/herself
  • o Wrestling with a decision or issue in their heart/mind
• External conflict: Character versus Character – a conflict going on between two people in the novel
• Internal conflict can be invisible to the eye while external conflict is observable
• The internal conflict sometimes affects what happens externally