Journal 20

Read the novel’s last passage (beginning with, “Gatsby’s house was still empty when I left”) and discuss the use of imagery and symbolism that is being employed by Fitzgerald.  In your response, specifically address what Nick is saying about the green light and the connection that he is making between Gatsby and the Dutch sailors who “discovered” Long Island.

            The author uses a lot of visual imagery. He sums up the whole book using the visual imagery. He is using the green light and comparing it to his life with the grass, and the trees. Just as the sailors discovered Long Island, Gatsby discovered a way to try to go back to the days when he and Daisy were in love, and Nick discovered what he wanted in his life and that the city was not for him. He believes it was no coincidence seeing that green light. Nick is reflecting back on everything that has happened to him and how these experiences have changed his life.

Journal 21

Journal 21 - Some Like It Hot and The Great Gatsby Comparison/Contrast

Although Some Like It Hot is a comedy and The Great Gatsby is a tragedy, both works use popular culture to portray life in 1920s America.  Focusing on the following elements (characterization, conflict, and theme), discuss how the two works are similar and different and what each is saying about American life.

These two movies are similar because they both have love triangles. In Some Like It hot the love triangle is between the two personas of Joe and Sugar. She wants to marry someone rich and powerful so Joe invents the persona Junior. This is very similar to Daisy wanting to marry someone rich so Gatsby becomes rich and powerful to get the girl. Other similarities can be found between Jerry and Nick. They both play the sidekick to the real hero of the story like what Nick did for Gatsby and Jerry did for Joe.  Osgood and Tom share similarities because they both play the rich man who does whatever they want to. Both of these movies also contain a gangster, in “Gatsby” there was Wolfshien and in Some Like It hot there was Spats. The two movies also have similarities in their conflicts with the love triangles and they share the themes of love, romance, crime, money, and morality.

The movies are different though because of how the characters act in these situation and how the American 1920s. In The Great Gatsby, the love triangles are extramarital affairs and they go wrong with Myrtle and Gatsby both end up dead. Osgood is not exactly a bad guy, but Tom is the villain in Gatsby. Gatsby, who is the hero in his story, has similarities in his bootlegging and crime involvement to Spats, who is the villain in Some Like It Hot. The comedy of Some Like it Hot, ends on a positive note with the couples being together, but in The Great Gatsby, it ends in death and on a much more negative note. One theme in The Great Gatsby that is much more prominent is the theme of the differences and conflicts caused by social classes. Some like it Hot shows a much brighter, funnier, and easy going look at the 1920s, where The Great Gatsby shows a negative, violent, and judgmental take on society that is not present in the other movie. 

Journal 19

                                                                        Name:

Journal 19 - Characterization in Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby

Write a description for each of the following characters based on his/her first appearance in Chapter 1.  Your description should include:

-the character’s physical appearance;

-the character’s actions/words;

-an adjective that best describes the character based on his/her initial    

 appearance

Nick Carraway:       Adjective: reserved

Nick is an unassuming man who people seem to trust. He is New to New York from out West.

Tom Buchanan:       Adjective: arrogant

Tom is a former football star who is married to Daisy. He is a large and strong man who considers himself better than everyone else. He is arrogant and aggressive.

Daisy Buchanan     Adjective: superficial

Daisy is Nick’s sister who is all about appearances. She is very pretty and has a very high and carefree sound to it. She is about what is on the outside and she just drifts around with people.

Jordan Baker           Adjective: independent

 Jordan is an independent woman who is Daisy’s friend. She was very pretty and well dressed. Although she is such good friends with Daisy she is very different than her. She has a darker and more mysterious manner.

Jay Gatsby               Adjective: mysterious

Gatsby is Nick’s very wealthy neighbor. He is a very mysterious character who Nick sees on his pier looking across the river at a green light on the other side. 

Journal 18

It is significant because for one they are in a different country, but they are also alone and isolated in a new place because they are all wounded. Also, the people in the town isolate them because they are officers and the locals don’t like them.

2. Which character do you think best represents the “Hemingway hero”? Why?

I feel like the “Hemingway hero” in the story would be the major because he has endured a lot, from his wounded hand and his wife who recently died, but he handles these tragedies very well and he suffers through all this with dignity.

3. What can you infer about the photographs the doctor hangs up?  What is the significance of the major’s reaction? 

The photograph’s that the doctor hangs up are meant to give the men who are wounded hope that these machines have had past success, but it is easy to infer that those are all fake because they were the first men to use these machines. The major’s reaction is significant because he realizes this as well and his indifference shows to the pictures shows his role as the “Hemingway hero” because of how he accepts what has happened with dignity.

Journal 17

1. What is the significance of the poem’s epigraph?  How does it relate to Prufrock?

 The epigraph relates because in the epigraph from Dante’s Inferno, it talks about someone discussing their confession was to someone in hell so he knew that it would never make it to the world and this relates to the story because the poem is also meant to be private.

2. Make a list of questions that Prufrock asks.  Do you see a pattern/theme to these questions or are they random?

“Shall I part my hair behind?”, “Do I dare to eat a peach.  

All his questions involve him asking “Do I?” “Dare I?” or “Shall I?” this forms the pattern of how he feels unsure and has anxiety over what he should do with himself. This is because everyone has a different view on what they believe is he correct way.

3. What do you think is Prufrock’s main flaw/problem?

His main flaw is that he feels like he is a background chacater in his own life because he feels like he is ridiculous and dull. This is shown in his wirting and it shows that his main flaw is that he has very low self asteem and has a very low opinion of himself.

4. Why do you think this is called a love song?  In what way is it a love song?

This is called a love song because of the irony involved in the poem in that it is called a love song but he is in fact alone so the title of the poem is meant to be ironic.

Journal 16

“Determinisim governs everything … The writer must study the inherited traits of individual character and the social condition of the time.  Together, these elements determine the course of any action, the outcome of any life.  Free will or self-determination is mostly an illusion, although chance is granted a role in human affairs.  Still, even the effects of chance are obliterated in the inevitable course determined by the interaction of inherited character traits and the social environment.“  

In “The Blue Hotel,” the Swede’s demise was caused by personality. He was very awkward and he needed alcohol to overcome this. Unfortunately, this caused him to be very violent and the members of the hotel turned on him. In the end his personality and the social environment he was thrown in determined his fate.

 However, in “To Build A Fire,” the man’s social environment had nothing to do with his death. The man went out alone because he was greedy and wanted to get the fortune that came with gold even after he was warned not to go out alone. The weather conditions turned against him and the man wasn’t fit to survive the actual environment in the area so his stubborn and greedy personality is what caused him to be put in a bad situation but in the end the physical environment was too much for him which is was determined his fate.

            

Journal 15

1.  Write a sentence that summarizes the story’s overall message, and provide  three direct quotes from the story that best illustrate this message.

To follow your own path and not be influenced by others when you know better

"Yes, that letter of yours, that came back with his

other things, left him free."

"It was not to be read before--unless--until-- I told

him so,"

“I don't believe he was glad to die. He was

always a timid boy, that way; he was afraid of a good

many things; but if he was afraid he did what he h

made up his mind to. I suppose he made up his mind

to go, but I knew what it cost him by what it cost me 8

when I heard of it. I had been through one war before.

When you sent him you didn't expect he would get

killed."

2.  What tactics does Editha use to make George believe as she does about the war?

She references all the great things people have done when they go to war and how they are remembered as great, but the most effective way she convinces him to go to war is because she gives him an ultimatum. She says she will only marry him if he goes and fights in the war. He loves Editha so he chooses to go to still keep her love after she manipulated him.

3.   Is there ever a time in which Editha truly understands what she has done?  Does she ever experience an epiphany?

Editha never truly understands the gravity of what she has done. She feels no remorse for what she has done and feels as if she has been wronged. This epiphany occurs at the end when she is talking to another woman and she feels innocent.

Journal 14

“Richard Cory“ (497)

Richard Corey represents both the ideal and the real views because in one way people consider his life to be perfect because of all his money and he was well liked. His reality though is very different because he ends up killing himself due to his depression which no one could see.

“Miniver Cheevy” (497)

This poem also represents both the real and ideal views. Miniver’s ideal world would be if he was alive in and older age and wishes to be a knight rather than what his reality is in which he is a daydreamer and miserable because of how the real world is. Because of this he just drinks and wishes to live in a different world rather than trying to change his own.

         

“Mr. Flood’s Party” (498)

Mr. Flood imagines him talking to other people when in reality he is alone. He lives in this past instead of living in the present reality. This could be because he is very old and all of his old friends have died and now he imagines still being in the company of other while in reality he is alone and all by himself. 

Journal 13

Journal #13 – Edgar Lee Masters Epitaphs (p. 502) 

Read “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” and answer the following questions.  

1.    What object symbolizes George Gray’s life?  How is this object representative of him?

George Gray’s life is described by the boat with a furled sail in the harbor. This represents his life because in his life he never attempted anything when he had opportunity so he never went out and tried everything, like the boat that never went out to sea.

2.    . How was Lucinda Matlock’s life different than George Gray’s?  How do you interepret the last line of the poem?     

Lucinda Matlock went out and lived life and did the things that George Gray was too afraid to do. The last line of the poem means that you need to have ambition and energy to enjoy life and you cant live life without these things. 

         

3.    How are “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” examples of realism? 

These two poems are examples of realism because they are both very plain styles of writing and nothing special happens to these people, they are just common people living normal lives. 

Journal 12

Journal #12 - “Young Goodman Brown”

1. “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory (symbolic narrative).  What do the following represent?

            Young Goodman Brown – An average man trying to live a good life

            Faith – represents Goodman Brown’s belief in God and people

           

            The Elderly Traveller/Fellow-Traveller – The devil

           

Goody Cloyse – represents corruption or hypocrisy 

The Ceremony – a symbolic religious ceremony and having the people initiated into the evil

The Pink Ribbon – losing Goodman’s faith

 

Young Goodman Brown’s Journey – It represents the journey of life when you realize the knowledge that comes from learning that not everyone is as innocent as they seem.                    

2. Identify the following for “Young Goodman Brown”: 

Theme                       Message of Theme                 Element Used to Establish  

Life.  The longer you live, the more you learn and the less innocent you become. As you learn more about the people in your life, you may find that you have lost your faith. The element used to establish this theme is the symbolism. 

In addition, provide three direct quotes from the story that address your theme.

``That old woman taught me my catechism,'' said the young man; and there was a world of meaning in this simple comment.

``My Faith is gone!'' cried he, after one stupefied moment. ``There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for to thee is this world given.''

When the minister spoke from the pulpit with power and fervid eloquence, and, with his hand on the open Bible, of the sacred truths of our religion, and of saint-like lives and triumphant deaths, and of future bliss or misery unutterable, then did Goodman Brown turn pale, dreading lest the roof should thunder down upon the gray blasphemer and his hearers.

Journal 11

Walden

“Where I Lived and What I Lived For” (232)

            You learn more about yourself and have a deeper meaning in your existence when you live away from all the excess in society and alone in nature. 

Quote: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover I had not lived.”

“Sounds” (234)

This describes a day in his life where he would just sit around and listen to the nature around him and let every pass through him. 

Quote: “Instead of singing like the birds, I smiled at my good fortune.”

“Brute Neighbors” (235)

In this Walden is comparing the black and red ants fighting for wood chips to humans fighting for terriorty and he does this to show the pettiness of humans wars over things that he considers to be trivial.  

            Quote: “I was myself excited somewhat even as if they had been men.”

“The Pond in Winter” (237)

Nature is a neverending giver even when we can’t see its bounty. 

Quote: “Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” 

“Spring” (238)

The winter is cold and rough but in the spring everything comes back and is renewed in the new season. There is a rush of new life every spring and he compares this to the creation of the universe.

Quote: “Walden is dead and is alive again.”

Journal 10

Othello’s Insight

Write a one paragraph response to the following question:  

Often at the end of a play, Shakespeare’s tragic heroes often have a moment of insight.  What is Othello’s insight?  Look closely at Othello’s last speech before answering this question.

            In Othello’s speech at the end of the play, he comes to the conclusion that it is the destiny of those who are great to fall from their high position. He talks about how what happened was as unavoidable as death. He sees what had happened to him as an act of God and that he was always destined to fall from his high position just like what had happened to many great leaders before him. He also realizes how wrong he was to do what he had done and how he wishes everyone to remember him as the man he was instead of what he had just done. He wishes that although he had fallen from his renowned position to the jealous man who murdered his wife that he is remembered as the great military leader and man they knew before the last few days.

Journal 9

Free Will - The power of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances or by an agency such as fate or divine will.  

Iago: “'tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our 

           gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners” (1.3 361-3).

Determinism - The philosophical doctrine that every event, act, and decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedents, such as genetic and environmental influences, that are independent of the human will.

Othello: “Yet ‘tis the plague of great ones … ‘tis destiny unshunnable, like        death” (3.3 313-16).

Using the above definitions, write a paragraph that argues in support of each of the terms.  In your paragraphs, use specific examples from Othello to support your ideas.

The argument about free will that could be used is that we are the only ones who can decide what we do which can completely change our destiny. Many times throughout the play, the free will of other shown by the choices they make determines there outcome and if a different decision had been made on their part everyone’s destiny could completely change. For example, if Cassio had used his will and not got drunk when he should have been patrolling, he never would have fallen from Othello’s good graces. This event in the play lead to many changes because Iago used this against Cassio and it also is what led further suspicion to the idea that Cassio and Desdemona were having and affair. The free will of the character in the play directly influenced the outcome of the play because it was their choices that they made based on the information they had that led them to make them and change the story instead of some kind of divine inspiration or influence and Iago’s quote describes this very well.  

The argument for determinism could be made based on certain events in the play that would lead the reader to believe that everything that was happening is based on outside forces and past events and the choices of others was irrelevant. Evidence of this can be found in part of the play including the destruction of Othello and Desdemona’s love because of all the environmental influences instead of the will of either of them. The argument can be made that the environmental influences caused all of the problems in the play instead of the human will because of the times and past events that had occurred which shaped each character and led to all the events in the story.

           

Journal 8

           The first aphorism, “We all boil at different degrees,” talks about Emerson’s feeling that everyone can tolerate different amounts before they show it. Some people can take lots of pressure or prejudice before they show signs of their anger and lash out where everyone else can handle all different levels and it can discuss knowing that just because you can handle something then someone else may not be able to.


            The second aphorism, “There are always two parties; the establishment and the movement,” this means that on every debate there are people who talk about doing things, and then there are those people who will act on what they feel and are willing to do something about this. I believe very strongly in this because it can be seen throughout our society in people who are thinkers and those who are doers.


            The last aphorism is “All of life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” This means that in life, anything you do has a risk and you can learn something from all of it. The more things you try and learn from, the better off you are because you have more wisdom for the future so it is always better to try instead of not trying.