Blog #3 Syntax

·         “’It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before” (92).

The interruption of the phrase with a dash along with the repetition of the word “such” serves to emphasize the beauty of the shirts by isolating the phrase and repeating the word that describes the extent. This also reveals more of Daisy’s emotion and obsession with money. The accent on the second half of the sentence illuminates the author’s purpose to disclose Daisy’s shallow personality and obsession with money as well as to convey her astonishment at Gatsby’s achievements in such a small amount of time.

·         “The lawn stared at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walls and burning dials—finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run” (6).

The polysyndeton before the dash highlights the vast extent of area that the lawn covered, continuing the phrase by adding another conjunction in a place where the phrase seems like it should end. To further this emphasis on the length of the lawn, Fitzgerald places a dash followed by the word finally when describing the end of the expanse of lawn outside the Buchanan’s house. The dash furthers the author’s purpose of portraying the Buchanan’s wealth by isolating the second half of the sentence, accenting its contents and meaning. In addition, the word “finally” implies a sense of relief about seeing the end of the vast expanse of grass after watching the lawn continue for so long. In general, the author is providing the reader with a depiction of the wealth of Tom an Daisy by describing such a seemingly common and simple object as an example.