Chapter 1:

Summary

Common Objects with Deep Meanings: Sometimes objects can be more than just simply objects, not necessarily but they can be. A good reader will look closely at objects and explore their potential meanings. Clark uses the ferryboat in The Great Gatsby as an example, exploring the cultural connections behind the object. A good writer is able to take their reading of objects and insert the cultural connections and deep meanings within.

Symbolic Geography: Similar to common objects, physical locations can also have symbolism embedded within them. In the scope of The Great Gatsby, Clark identifies the two main locations, East Egg and West Egg, and the conflict of old-money versus new-money. Gatsby does not stop here, as Clark points out the Valley of Ashes that divides the two Eggs and New York City which is symbolic of a travel through the underworld and destruction. A location is more than a location, there is often reasoning behind its name or physical location inciting symbolism.

Recurring Image: There is power behind a writer bringing up an image several times, but it's tricky as to how often. Clark points out Fitzgerald's use of the word "breast" severl times throughout the novel. The word is used in different meanings, but the word stands out. Fitzgerald spaces out the use of the word so that it is not too repetitive, but when it comes up again it will spark a memory in the reader, marking it as significant.

Example to Meaning: Meanings in text should move from concrete examples to abstract. With concrete, typically all readers will come to the same interpretation (Clark identifies Gatsby's yellow car and Daisy's green light as two examples). With abstract, many different readers can come up with many different interpretations (Clark points out that Gatsby's grass is not green but blue, and why is it blue instead of green?). Following this transition helps ground the reader before exploring obscure topics.

Right Word: Word choice is key. Clark discusses the debate between whether or not Fitzgerald meant to write "orgastic" or if he meant "orgiastic" and why that mattered so much. The former fits the overall feel of the story, the time period, and the setting, whereas the latter works but not as well. Writers choose words with specific goals in mind.

Rules to Tools: Punctuation experimentation can drastically alter a text and add in more layers than words can solely convey. Clark points to this with a specific passage filled with ellipses and an extended dash and describes the feelings conveyed simply by the punctuation: "The dream unfulfilled. The poison of regret. Ecstasy interrupted" (22).

Story Architecture: The physical structure of a text can contain as much power as the words of the story themselves. Instances of foreshadowing should be strategically placed so that on a first reading it is not blatantly obvious but leaves hints. An example of the physical structure that Clark points out in Gatsby is that the central scene of the text literally takes place at the halfway point of the book (in his copy, page 92 out of 180 pages).

Writing Lessons

1. Common objects--the sea, the ferryboat, the forest, the moon, a steeple--can resonate subtly in stories and lend texture to your meaning even though they may derive from classic symbols or archetypes.
2. Stories have settings, of course (such as the north shore of Long Island in the Jazz Age). But the internal geography of a narrative can convey its own associations and influences, from the insularity of an island to the wasteland of an industrial heap to the golden metropolis to an artifical paradise. Let the landscape--in all its variety--tell its version of the story.
3. If you have a key word or phrase in a work of any significant length, remember that its repetition will magnify its significance and help readers connect various parts of a story.
4. When you want readers to see with their sense, use specific concrete details, images, and examples. When you want them to reflect, climb up the ladder for language that conveys ideas.
5. When you want readers to see with their senses, use specific concrete details, images, and examples. When you want them to reflect, climb up the ladder for language that conveys ideas.
6. Your writing should move, move, move. From concrete to abstract. From specific to general. From idea to example. From information to anecdote. From explosion to dialogue. A good book is a perpetual motion machine that drives a story and lets the reader feel the energy.
7. Words have denotations--their literal meanings--but also connotations, which are their associative meanings. There is no better way to illustrate this than through colors. Green is green, a visual perception. Daisy's light is green. But think of all the associations that come with that color: the natural order; full speed ahead; money, money, money; but also inexperience, nausea, envy, and greed. The lawn is blue--a color we usually associate in a positive sense with sky. Here it conjures warped values and a closed society.
8. Mark Twain was right: the difference between just the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and lightning bug. Be adventurous with words--even invent new ones. But beware of misunderstanding or overinterpretation, either by readers or editors.
9. Take command of the conventions of typography and punctuation, but realize they can function as rhetorical tools and not just rules. Some ancient examples of punctuation come from scripts for actors in which the writer or director helps the actor figure out the points of emphasis and the dramatic pauses. Used purposefully, punctuation can help you build elements of suspense, surprise, delight, confusion, delay, and much more.
10. The big writing lesson is this: if you have some very powerful idea or image--something of great interest and importance--introduce it early in the work, bring it back into view in the middle, and reveals its great power at the end.

Critique

Considering The Great Gatsby is a common text taught in high schools, meaning that this chapter could very easily be incorporated into a high school classroom in several different ways. During the reading of the text, students can be given writing assignments based on several of the ideas discussed in the chapter. After the reading of the text, a lesson or several lessons could be dedicated to teaching these concepts and have students incorporate these concepts into a piece of writing.

This chapter is a key example of the creativity habit of mind as presented in the "Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing." The chapter encourages writers to play around with word usage and punctuation. Readers should break out from typical forms and experiment with their writing. It also leans mainly toward fiction writing, which itself is primarily creative. It also brings to mind the "knowledge of conventions" (1) experience that is detailed in the framework as the chapter discusses the importance of knowing how conventions work and how to use them in different ways.

Its main flaw lies in the fact that it leans heavily into creative pieces and not as much into other forms of writing. Certain aspects can be used in other forms, but most of the advice given is geared towards creative writing.