Millie's Online Journal

The costume

When James Gatz was seventeen, he reinvented himself into what he considered a better person – Jay Gatsby. He wanted to prove his wealth to everyone, but most of all Daisy. When you first meet someone, you tend to judge them on what they are wearing. This is why when Gatsby had his first encounter with Daisy he wanted her to get the right impression, that he now had a lot of money and had changed into a different person. Gatsby was wearing a white flannel suit with a silver shirt and a sparkly gold tie. This outfit is very bold and extravagant with two precious metals incorporated into it. Gold and silver are expensive and these colours show his wealth that Daisy has missed out on. He wants her to know that he is very rich but doesn’t want to say it. This is why his outfit and house is so important to him. His suit was white which also symbolises Daisy’s character. Throughout the book, she is often compared to the colour white, which means purity and innocence. These are things that Daisy likes people to think she is but I think she truly is neither innocent nor pure.

The props

Throughout the text, we are shown some props that lead us to think that Gatbsy lies and doesn’t show his true self. Gatsby has a yellow car and in the book yellow is compared to fake gold. This is because he wants people to believe that he is rich like Daisy and Tom but he was a bootlegger so his wealth is illegal or ‘fake’. Another thing in Gatsby’s life that is a lie or dishonest is the white card that he has to keep him out of getting in trouble with the law. The quote ” ‘All right, old sport,’ called Gatsby. We slowed down. Taking a white card from his wallet, he waved it before the man’s eyes. ‘Right you are,’ agreed the policeman, tipping his cap” shows us that he is not a truthful man. Gatsby and Nick got stopped by the police and Gasby told Nick that he did a favour for the commissioner so he gave him this card. Firstly how can we possibly believe that is true and even if it was that is very corrupt, the colour white also symbolises this. Corrupt is the perfect way to describe Gatsby’s life.

The setting of the ‘Stage’

Gatsby’s house is all apart of his illusion, making everyone believe in this perfect life he shows. Even though we know Gatsby has planned his life out to the smallest detail just to catch Daisy’s attention. Gatsby was compared to Belasco, who was a famous stage show producer. He went to extreme measures to make his audience believe the set was real, and if you think about it that is exactly what Gatsby has done. He purposely bought a house right across the bay from Daisy, right next to Nick and threw ginormous parties just so Daisy may happen to walk in on one. Gatsby’s house is the setting for his act. If he didn’t have the extravagant parties or the huge house his plan with Daisy would never work. After Nick brought Daisy and Gatsby together they all went over to Gatsby’s house where Daisy suddenly realised what she had missed out on. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such — such beautiful shirts before.” They were in Gatsby’s room and he was throwing her all of his shirts from his closet. There were so many and his closet was so large and over the top – much like the rest of the house. Once again his house was a stage. A stage that made Daisy realised she had missed out on true love and his wealth.

The Speech and Dialogue

Gatsby often uses the phrase ‘old sport’ when he speaks. It seems very unnatural and forced like he has trained himself to talk like that. Just like the rest of his life, everything is always planned and created to make Daisy realise what she has missed. He wants her to know that in fact he is wealthy and she missed out because five years ago she married Tom. The term ‘old sport’ makes him seem well trained and wealthy in a way. Stereotypically rich people do speak with proper english and he was determined to make people believe he had a great upbringing. Gatsby has had this dream his whole life and he was determined to make it happen no matter what. We know that because his father said at his funeral that he had a time table where it said he practised poise and allocation and this quote illustrates that he believe in it and was going to make it happen “He knew he had a big future in front of him.”

The Backstory

There are many rumours that people have of Gatsby’s background. Gatsby moved to West Egg and bought a large house. Everyone then assumed he was rich, but didn’t know what from. He then had the opportunity to make them believe anything. Although there were a lot of stories and suggestions made of his past he tried his absolute hardest to make Daisy and Nick believe that his version was true. He went into so much effort it kind of made his story sound a little too good to be true. Like when he just seemed to have a picture in his jacket to show Nick his oxford days or his time at the war. He told Nick that “I was raised in America but educated in Oxford. That’s a family tradition.” He had to prove to them that his fabricated story was accurate just to get Daisy.

Explain how Shakespeare explores the idea of fate in Romeo and Juliet through his use of language and/or literary devices.

In Elizabethan England time it was believed that peoples lives were set out long before they were even born. William Shakespeare uses language features throughout his writing of Romeo and Juliet to explore this. Romeo and Juliet is a play about two lovers that are destined to die no matter what. Throughout the journey of the script, Shakespeare communicates to us that the characters in his text believe they do not control their life path, but it is left in the hands of God. He does this with the use of the prologue, metaphors and coincidences.

Metaphors are one of the most commonly used literary devices. They are often used by authors to understand a concept. Shakespeare has used them throughout his play to help us to understand that the characters believe they are following a path set out by God and everything happens because of fate. When Romeo states “He that hath the steerage of my course direct my sail.” This metaphor, allows us to understand that Romeo compares himself to a ship sailing on the sea with no control of its direction or path. This same concept of a ship on the sea is also used by Romeo just before he takes his life, he says “Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on the dashing rocks thy seasick, weary bark.” This is similar to the first quote, but in this metaphor, the ship is about to crash on the rocks. This links to fate because Romeo believes his life has been planned out from the start and like the ship it is about to come to an unexpected end.

Shakespeare has used the prologue to create the concept of fate and dramatic irony. Often a prologue sets the scene of a book or gives you a back story. In Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare decided to tell the readers the outcome of the play before we have even started reading. Doing this creates dramatic irony because we are known to information the characters don’t, this keeps us on the edge of our seats waiting for things to happen. A sense of fate is also created from learning the result before the start. It emphasizes that the characters have no control of their outcome instead God had planned their lives and endings out from the beginning. In the prologue, it says “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of star-crossed lovers take their life;” This shows that even before Romeo and Juliet were born they were destined to fall in love and die despite their families feuds. Normally in text you wouldn’t be told the ending first but in Romeo and Juliet, we read to discover the journey fate takes them on.

Im struggling on how to close the paragraphs and the coincidence paragraph

Romeo is an impulse character who lets his emotions dictate his actions.

We can see the impulsive side of Romeo’s character after the fight between Mercutio and Tybalt when Romeo says “And fire-ey’d fury be my conduct now! It has become clear to us that Romeo is about to take his anger of Mercutio’s death out on Tybalt. Romeo has not taken the time to

A metaphor is a hidden, implicit or implied comparison between two seemingly unrelated things. It is a figure of speech in which two strikingly different concepts or things are compared to one another based off a single common characteristic.

Example: ” He that hath the steerage of my course, direct my sail!” Romeo speaks these words just as he begins to make his way to the Capulet ball. In this metaphor, Romeo compares his fate to a ship. the common characteristic that binds them and brings us meaning is the fact that the ship can not control the path it takes, its captain does this. Romeos fate is similar here as he believes that someone/something is in control of it for him. This links to the larger notion of fate that is communicated in the play as it shows the acknowledgement from one of the main characters that a greater power rules their actions. this was a common belief of the people in Elizabeth England, who believed their life path was pre-determined by God.

Find your own example of a metaphor in Romeo and Juliet. Write your own analysis paragraph exploring the significance of your chosen metaphor.

“thou desperate pilot, now at once run on the dashing rocks thy seasick weary bark!” Romeo says these words just before he consumes the poisonous potion that kills him. In this metaphor, Romeo compares himself to a boat. The common characteristic that connects these two ideas is that the ship can not make its own path, instead the sailor decides where to go. It links to Romeo because he believes he has no control of his fate that it is left in the hands of God. When it says “run on the dashing rocks” this means that the sailor is steering his ship on to the rocks meaning Romeo is about to die. This was a common belief of the people in Elizabethan England, they believed their path was pre determind by god.