Sentence Outline Guide With Example for Gatsby Essay
INTRODUCTION
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First sentence:
Love has never been easy, and it seems to be getting harder every with every passing generation.
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Note how the opening begins broadly and introduces the thesis topic in the broadest of possible terms.
Definitions of Key Thesis Terms:
Romantic Love/ Idealism:
1. Love for love’s sake: Pure love is for the person, not the person’s ranking, wealth, etc. (“Love
is blind.”)
2. Love is mutual: Love has to be between two people
3. Love is timeless: True love does not diminish over time and even increases
4. Love is selfless: (as opposed to selfish); must define as “not selfish rather than “selfless,
though stated as “selfless”
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Note how the above “conditions” for “ideal of romantic love” can form the basis for topic sentences in the
body of the essay.
Each paragraph will demonstrate how each ideal is broken in The Great Gatsby.
Thesis:
In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the modern world has killed the ideal of romantic love, a
modern world whereby romantic idealism is a dangerous illusion that gets people killed.
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Note that this thesis is debatable and is an extension of the first sentence, yet is very specific.
Note also that the author and the title appear in the thesis statement.
Note the strong action verb in the thesis sentence, and that the sentence is grammatical.
BODY PARAGRAPHS
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Topic Sentence 1:
Idealized romantic love is poisoned by class divisions, and ideal love can only be expressed in materialistic terms.
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Textual evidence/Analysis in bulleted key words and phrases
 Myrtle & Tom; the dog; Town Tattle; Daisy runs her over; Tom’s violence
 Gatsby & Daisy; Daisy’s various rejections; the shirts; the green light; Gatsby’s lies
o Citations for quotations rather than the whole thing
Note that there are no textual references here, but you are expected to include them.
Concluding Sentence 1:
Whether one is of the highest or the lowest class, love falters when it is reduced to materialism.
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Note that this concluding sentence is more general and connects the topic of this paragraph back to the thesis
statement.
Topic Sentence 2:
Idealized romantic love is further poisoned by each individual’s inability to see beyond him or herself, to see his or
her partner truly. (Cases where the love isn’t mutual- Gatsby & Daisy; Myrtle & Tom)
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Textual evidence/Analysis in bulleted key words and phrases
 Gatsby & Daisy: green light; sidewalk staircase; Platonic conception of self; Mind of God;
Gatsby thinks Daisy will lie; will leave Tom; waits outside for her
Citations for quotations rather than the whole quotation
Concluding Sentence 2:
The “blindness: associated with love in the traditional romantic sense, is ironically its opposite in the modern sense
that one who is in love is blind and cannot see the other.
Topic Sentence 3:
In addition to the ironic reversal of love’s “blindness”, love’s “timelessness” is made ironic in The Great Gatsby.
o Textual evidence/Analysis
 Death as final act/expression of love (Myrtle and Gatsby)
 Gatsby’s “redoing the past” as a tragic flaw
 Daisy’s second rejection, a second “time”
o Citations for quotations rather than the whole quotation
Concluding Sentence 3:
Perhaps even the very definition of the word “love” is not as timeless as love itself, and the modern condition of a
world accelerating out of control applies also to romantic expressions of love.
Topic Sentence 4:
o Please note that the essay will continue to be outlined as needed. There is no formula for how many
paragraphs there should be (no 5 paragraph essay formula).
o You should break your essay into as many paragraphs as your essay’s topic requires.
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Textual evidence/Analysis
Citations for quotations rather than the whole quotation
Concluding Sentence 4:
CONCLUSION
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First sentence: Generally, rephrase your thesis statement, do not simply cut and paste. If you essay has taken you
someplace new, address that idea.
Then ask these questions:
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Why did Fitzgerald care enough about this issue to write the novel? What message is he sending
humanity/his audience?
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What is the larger significance of the thesis that you proved, beyond and outside of the text alone?
Do not summarize the content of the entire essay! There’s no need!
The last line of your essay should suggest what would be the next thesis for the next paper based upon this
one.