Question 33·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- The Great Gatsby (1925) by F. Scott Fitzgerald is set on Long Island and in New York City during the prosperous Jazz Age of the 1920s.
- The story is narrated in the first person by Nick Carraway, who observes the actions of Jay Gatsby and others.
- Major themes include the illusion of the American Dream and rigid social class divisions.
- Invisible Man (1952) by Ralph Ellison follows an unnamed Black narrator whose journey takes him from a Southern college to Harlem in the 1930s and 1940s.
- The novel explores themes of racial identity, social invisibility, and political disillusionment.
The student wants to emphasize a key difference in how each novel presents its narrator. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions, underline the specific goal (here, “difference in how each novel presents its narrator”). Then highlight only the notes that address that goal (named vs. unnamed; observer vs. protagonist). Before choosing, state the contrast in your own words, and eliminate any option that swaps the traits, overgeneralizes, or brings in details not supported by the notes.
Hints
Focus on the task words
Underline the phrase “key difference in how each novel presents its narrator.” Pick an option that talks about the narrators, not just about plot, setting, or themes.
Locate the relevant notes
Find the bullets that describe who narrates each novel and how that narrator is described (named/unnamed, observer/protagonist).
Compare the two narrators
Ask: Which narrator is identified by name? Which narrator is unnamed? Is each narrator mainly observing someone else’s story or telling their own?
Step-by-step Explanation
Restate what the question is asking
The question asks for a sentence that emphasizes a key difference in how each novel presents its narrator.
So the correct choice must:
- Focus on the narrators.
- State a clear difference between the two novels.
- Use only information from the notes.
Pull the narrator details from the notes
From the notes:
- The Great Gatsby is narrated in the first person by Nick Carraway, who observes Gatsby and others.
- Invisible Man follows an unnamed Black narrator (first person) whose story centers on his own journey.
So a key difference is named observer vs. unnamed protagonist.
Check each option against the notes
Eliminate any choice that:
- Claims both narrators are unnamed (contradicts Nick Carraway being named),
- Switches who is an observer vs. who is the protagonist, or
- Adds incorrect context (like both being in the Jazz Age in New York City).
Select the choice that matches the exact contrast
The only choice that accurately states the difference supported by the notes (Nick Carraway as a named observer vs. an unnamed narrator telling his own journey) is:
“In The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway is a named observer telling Gatsby’s story, while in Invisible Man the unnamed narrator tells his own story.”