1)Give the Background - Who Is Speaking? What Is Going On? Where Are They?

Passage Exposition

Directions: Read the following passage. Write an exposition using specific quotes from the passage to show how it relates to the novel as a whole. Be specific!! Think of where they are and of who is being described. What are the opinions expressed in the passage? Why did Fitzgerald use the words he did? What is he trying to show the reader? Make sure to look at the whole passage.

1)Give the background - Who is speaking? What is going on? Where are they?

2)Pick the passage apart – Use quotes and SPECIFIC analysis to show the deeper underlying meanings that you see.

3)Conclusion – How does this relate to and/or fit in with the rest of the story?

“The interior was unprosperous and bare; the only car visible was the dust-covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in a dim corner. It had occurred to me that this shadow of a garage must be a blind and that sumptuous and romantic apartments were concealed overhead when the proprietor himself appeared in the door of an office, wiping his hands on a piece of waste. He was a blonde, spiritless man, anaemic and faintly handsome. When he saw us a damp gleam of hope sprang into his eyes.”

Examples:

The old car shows that things are dull and dead in the area. – BORING!!!!!!!!

Be descriptive and specific when picking the passage apart.

Fitzgerald’s vision of “the dust-covered wreck of a Ford crouched in a dim corner” leaves the impression of lost vitality. The once energized car is now cringing away from the rest of world much like the people living in the Valley of Ashes do. Just as the car is a piece of waste from the fantastic surrounding environment, the people living there are castaways with little of life’s juice pumping through their veins.

Passage Exposition

You also need to use one sentence with a semicolon, one with a comma plus ‘fanboy’, and one with a dependent clause in the beginning. Underline each of these sentences in your writing! This is due tomorrow.

“Then I heard footsteps on a stairs and in a moment the thickish figure of a woman blocked out the light from the office door. She was in the middle thirties, and faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some women can. Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chine, contained no facet or gleam of beauty but there was in immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smoldering. She smiled slowly and walking through her husband as if he were a ghost shook hands with Tom, looking him flush in the eye. Then she wet her lips and without turning around spoke to her husband in a soft, coarse voice…”

Commenting on Passages

When asked to comment on a passage from a piece, first read the passage twice. Think about what’s going on in the passage, what are the author’s intentions, and how does he convey them, what is the author’s tone or attitude, is setting or description important here, and how does that particular passage fit in with the larger themes or ideas from the work you are reading.

Below is an example of a commentary on a passage from A Tale of Two Cities.

The Marquis is speaking to his nephew Charles Darnay regarding how times have changed for the aristocracy. Right away by his use of the phrase “many such dogs” and his reference to the father who attempted to defend his daughter’s honor, the Marquis reveals his total contempt for the lower classes. The Marquis indicates the nobles’ loss of privileges, i.e., power of life and death over the “vulgar” is much to be lamented. Dickens wishes to expose the Marquis for what he is: a cruel, insulted man who is hanging on to a way of life that will soon come to a violent end with the Revolution. There is even a certain irony in the fact that in the same bedroom where the father of the girl was poniardwill also be the place of the Marquis’ murder by another irate peasant. We come away from the passage with a clear understanding of the Marquis’ philosophy—a philosophy shared by a large enough percentage of the aristocracy to bring about radical social change.

When you write your own expositions you should follow a similar formula to this one”

1) Give the context of the passage – who is speaking to whom? Where are they? What is the action happening?

2) Write a sentence or two about what the passage as a whole is about.

3) Use quotes to support yourself, in your commenting about the important themes.

4) End with a sentence or two about how the passage relates to the rest of the work.