1991. Many plays
and novels use contrasting places (for example, two countries, two cities or
towns, two houses, or the land and the sea) to represent opposed forces or
ideas that are central to the meaning of the work. Choose a novel or play that
contrasts two such places. Write an essay explaining how the places differ,
what each place represents, and how their contrast contributes to the meaning
of the work.
One novel that comes to mind when thinking about contrasting places is The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald. As those who have read this novel know, Fitzgerald put two contrasting cities in this story: the West Egg, and the East Egg. There are some key differences between these two cities, which you find out through reading and interpreting the text. Fiztgerald shows the differences in these two contrasting cities in many ways, the main one being that the East Egg represents old aristocracy and the West Egg represents the newly rich.
The fact that the West Egg represents the newly rich is very important to the novel. In the novel, people from the West Egg are portrayed as loud, and lacking social graces. For example, Gatsby throws many parties with hundreds of people, who by the end of the night, aren't acting very polite. His house is also very flashy and everything about him seems to shout out that he has a lot of money. Those are two of the ways that Fitzgerald shows that the people from the West Egg haven't had their money for too long and they don't really know how to use it. Aside from the money aspect of it though, the only reason Gatsby is living this lifestyle is for Daisy Buchanan, the one he loves. The fact that he would do all of that for Daisy shows how loyal he is to her. This ties into another characteristic of the people who live on the West Egg; they are more loyal, and care more about people than money, unlike the East Egg.
The East Egg is portrayed much differently. Daisy and Tom Buchanan live on the East Egg, and they represent old aristocracy, or "old money". It seems as though the people who come from the East Egg are much more put together, and possess some social graces. But although the people from East Egg seem polite, they are also shallow and fake. As the novel goes on, you continue to see how Daisy and Tom only really care about their money, and not about hurting the people who care about them the most. For example, at the end of the novel, after Gatsby died, Daisy and Tom just move away without even attending his funeral. That just shows how heartless they can be.
The West and the East Egg are completely different when it comes to social graces, but there is also a deeper meaning that is very important to the novel as a whole. The East Egg is associated with people who care more about money than loyalty to their family and friends, and the West Egg is associated with kind-hearted people who care more about the people in their life, instead of the money. The two main characters are perfect examples of this also. Gatsby waited his whole life for Daisy, and he would have done anything for her, but Daisy betrayed him by marrying Tom and shutting him out of her life. So, although the West and East Egg are contrasting cities because of the money, they're also different when it comes to the characters who live there.
Mehar--I really enjoyed how you explained how the cities of East Egg and White Egg not only differ in their class but also by how their characters behave. I feel that your ideas and thoughts are excellent, however I also think that the structure of this essay could use some work. Since this is a practice for the real AP Exam, and not just an informal post, try not to start the essay so casually. Maybe start broad with the topic, then introduce The Great Gatsby, and end with your thesis statement of how The Great Gatsby and the prompt relate. Pertaining to the structure of the essay again, I like how you talk about one city and then the next, and then further analyze how they differ with relation to their characters. Because of your excellent ideas, all you need is to reword some phrases and this will be an excellent essay!
ReplyDeleteMehar—What are the odds that we would choose the same prompt? Kind of crazy, huh? Anyway, I really like the subject you’ve chosen: it shows a clear understanding of the prompt and what it’s looking for. You hit on some good points when you talked about the exuberance of Gatsby’s parties and the put-together nature of the “old-money” elite. However, while I feel you characterized the people from East and West Egg really well, I’d have liked to see you go into the meaning of the geological relationship between the two areas. If you look at the natural resemblance between the two areas and consider their complete separation, I think you could find some extra representative meaning there. How do the areas metaphorically represent the people who live there, and the interactions of the people who live there?
ReplyDeleteYour first paragraph should be more specific about what you're going to talk about. All you told us is that one place represents aristocracy and the other represents the newly rich. You need to tell us what exactly this means. Even though you explain this very well in the body paragraphs, the reader should be able to understand more about your thesis just by reading the introduction.
ReplyDeleteIt also doesn't help to use redundant phrases like "As those who have read this novel know..." and "...which you find out through reading and interpreting the text." These don't give the reader anything. As I said, the introduction needs to more specific.