Great Gastby: Rhetorical Precis

F. Scott Fitzgerald in the novel, The Great Gastby, proves that holding onto the past is not efficacious and causes the person to lose sight of the future. Fitzgerald supports his claim by contrasting the glamour of Gastby’s ostentatious life with the internal struggle he endures daily: his love for Daisy. The author’s purose is to use Gatsby’s life story to allow the audience to see the fallacies in Gatsby’s thoughts in order to convey, in Fitzgerald’s social commentary, that displays of oppulence masked the difficult times that people faced. The author writes in an informative melancholy tone for an international audience, who have an interest in the truth of the ‘20’s.

The Great Gatsby is a complex novel with much symbolism. A rhetorical precis is a useful tool to “ensure the reader {you} will be involved in the text”. A precis is a four sentcnce rhetorical summary that answers the questions how, why, what, and who. This specialized summary is used to summarize the piece in the most clear and concise way. For the Great Gatby the precis helps the reader understand Fitzgerald’s true motives. A first, prefunctory read may lead the reader the reader to believe that this is a tale of true love and the beauty of excessive wealth. Rather Fitzgerald uses irony, aphorisms and flashbacks to show that he does not approve of surplus wealth and Gatsby and Daisy’s love is far from “true”.