It is really good practice for you to write your opening
paragraph yourself. This is an important part of writing because the first paragraph
makes the first impression. You must have a dynamite opening sentence and state your
thesis clearly.
So, I will give you some ideas about wealth
and poverty in this novel, and then see if you can do the paragraph
yourself.
This entire novel is about wealth and poverty.
The two main characters, Gatsby and Daisy, each represent one; Daisy represents wealth
and Gatsby represents poverty. Oh, I know that when we meet Gatsby, he is not
poverty-stricken, but that is the whole point of the novel. Gatsby WAS a
poverty-stricken youth - he came from nothing, and all he had was a fancy officer's
uniform and his good looks. Daisy fell in love with him, but they could not marry. She
was far above him because of money. Both of them knew this, so in a sense, their love
was doomed because, as the novel points out, just because one accumulates money does not
necessarily change one's social status. This is what happens to
Gatsby.
He makes it a point in life to achieve money. We
never know what his business is, but it is shady -- bootlegging no doubt. He becomes
incredibly wealthy, but if you'll notice, he only lives on WEST EGG. All the really rich
people, the ones whose families have money, live on EAST EGG. Gatsby tries to overcome
his poverty by accumulating wealth, but he does not change his social status, so he is
doomed. The people that attend his parties do not even know him. Most have never met
him.
Look for some examples of the money theme in the novel
-- there are tons. For example, at one point, Gatsby tells Nick that Daisy's voice
sounds like "money." Another example you can use is the chapter where Tom, Daisy, Nick,
Jordan and Gatsby are hanging around one afternoon bored and with nothing to do. It is
hot, so they decide to go into the city to have an adventure. They don't even have a
plan. Who but the very idly rich can do something like this? Just hang out, go rent an
expensive room in a hotel in NYC, and smoke cigarettes and
drink.
Another example -- at one point, Tom brags that he
is the only man he knows that has turned a garage into a stable. Most people turn
stables into garages on East Egg. In contrast, Gatsby has done just the opposite and has
his gaudy car stored in his garage, which he thinks is pretty cool, but a car is an
example of money, not class. Tom's polo ponies are examples of family wealth. Gatsby is
"nouveau riche" - newly rich.
Maybe you could open your
paragraph with a cool quote from the novel about money - like the one about Daisy's
voice sounding like money.
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