湖北师范学院文理学院外语系学士学位论文（设计）
Rhetorical Devices in The Great Gatsby
1. Introduction
What is the theme of The Great Gatsby? The majority of scholars have discussed it, but little of them discussed it through discuss the rhetorical devices in the novel. We will discuss The Great Gatsby through rhetorical devices in it. We know that what rhetorical perused is good verbal expressive effect. People use speaking, writing and communication to express their feeling and ideas. They do this to complete certain speech acts. It is not purely to be pleased to see or the simply the pursuit of beauty enjoy. The general good rhetorical effect refers to accurate, concise, clear, vivid and moving speaking and it makes people easy to accept. （胡习之，2010，2） All we talked above are positive effect of rhetoric. This paper will talk about the positive effect of rhetoric，mainly on how Fitzgerald uses the rhetoric to depict the characters of people and analyze their life experience and their essence. It will also explain the tragedy of Gatsby, the tragedy of the whole United States during 1920th and what
causes the tragedy.
2. Cultural Backgrounds
2.1 The Life Experience of Fitzgerald and the Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the popular novelists among the 1920’s to 1930’s in the United States of America. He is the typical novelist and detached observer, the leading participant who is struggle all his life for money at that period. He becomes rich through success in literary creation, but his completion is not popular in the depression period, he died before American participation in the World War Ⅱ. His works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age. (Malcolm Co