Gatsby Test

a short saying or remark expressing an idea in a clever or amusing way

a clever phrase, a witty remark

workers or working-class people. Often menial or manual laborers tied to their weekly earnings. Literal and figurative “wage-slaves.”

the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes; referring to people with certain cultural and financial capital.

those families who have been wealthy for many generations. These families often hold vast sums of inherited wealth, possess large tracks of land, and live in lavish estates.

people who have recently acquired wealth, typically those perceived as ostentatious or lacking in good taste. A good synonym is a “parvenu.”

a literary device that contains several layers of meaning, often concealed at first sight; symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. (usually tangible)

an object or idea that repeats itself throughout a literary work. Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, and literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes. (hint: usually intangible)

the belief that literary texts have structure and that these structures are “real things” that lie beneath “the surface” or the appearance of meaning

the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation

the physical existence (sound, word, image)

ex: read/leaf/round/apple

the mental concept

ex: freshness/healthy/temptation/teacher’s pet

the object/thing

ex: an apple

a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different

commonly recurring literary and rhetorical devices, motifs or cliches in creative works

whether in literature, film, or theater, a narrator whose credibility has been seriously compromised

a characterizing word or phrase firmly associated with a person or thing and often used in place of an actual name, title, or the like, as “man’s best friend” for “dog.” Essentially, it’s just a nickname.

the author literally tells the audience what a character is like. This may be done via the narrator or by the character him or herself.

the audience must infer for themselves what the character is like through the character’s thoughts, actions, speech (choice of words, way of talking), looks and interaction with other characters, including other characters’ reactions to that person.

the attribution of human feelings and responses to inanimate things or animals, especially in art and literature