Circular structure
A structural pattern in which a text ends by returning to or echoing its opening image, theme, or situation, creating closure through cyclical return rather than linear progression. Circular structures suggest themes of repetition, fate, or eternal return.
Real World
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, the novel's closing image of the green light echoes its first appearance, suggesting that Gatsby's dream — and the American Dream itself — is an endlessly repeated, never-fulfilled cycle.
Exam Focus
Compare the opening and closing passages directly, showing how repetition with variation reveals the text's central meaning.
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