Gatsby Essay.

4. Describe and analyze a lesson that Nick tells or teaches the reader in his retelling of the events in The Great Gatsby.

Analyze: to examine critically, so as to bring out the essential elements or give the essence of.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a a novel that has many lessons that are obvious, and many that are underlying in the text. The story is a surface love story, but has many ironic parts, and many hidden meanings. A couple of lessons that are slightly buried are what goes around comes around, which is a pretty common one, and the other is lessons about materialism.

F. Scott Fitzgerald heavily relies on the use of materialism for the Great Gatsby. Gatsby is a materialistic man, and it's not even for himself, it's for Nick Carraways cousin, Daisy Buchanan. Daisy wouldn't date Gatsby because he had no money, so he came up with an alternate identity and became that identity. All the lavish parties and the expensive cars and the trips to New York only show how much money was a necessity to even have fun, or so it is portrayed that way. The main characters in The Great Gatsby essentially all have money, except for Nick, who is along for the ride and to retell the story. Not including the Wilson's of course, who live in the Valley of Ashes. The main reoccurring themes in this book are alcohol, materialism and the upper class. Swankiness is key in The Great Gatsby, and would not be the same without it.

One of the biggest, and most differently interpreted part of the book is in the Valley of Ashes, right by Myrtle and George Wilson's house. The billboard poster of the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg. It can be interpreted in many different ways, however in the end of the book, George Wilson directly points at the faded blue eyes of the doctor and says, "'I told her she might fool me, but she couldn't fool God. I took her to the window-' with an effort he got up and walked to the rear window and leaned with his face pressed against it- 'and I said "God knows what you've been doing, everything you've been doing. You may fool me but you can't fool God!''" (159) The most common interpretation of the hidden meaning is God, or Big Brother in the common phrase, "Big Brother is always watching" from George Orwell's classic, 1984. It's a theory that even if you are in the most desolate area with only people who are completely foreign to you, God always knows, or someone higher than you always knows what you are doing, someone is always watching.

What goes around comes around is like Big Brother is always watching in a sense that it is a common phrase that people use in the modern day. Gatsby is a good example of what goes around comes around, if you pretend to be something that you are not, it will be found out. You can only remain mysterious for so long. "What's done in the dark will be brought to the light" is a lyric from Johnny Cash's song, 'God's Gonna Cut You Down' and is true and ties in with the theory that Big Brother is always watching. Jay Gatsby in the beginning of the novel is a mysterious man that people know little about, and as the novel continues, more and more of his past is revealed, which is not necessarily what he wants. As the text deepens, people begin to question where his riches accumulated, and where he came from, and if he really is related to the Kaiser, why is he in West Egg, where it's new money? All of these questions come rushing up to the surface faster than ever and Gatsby is faced with many questions of his past, only fitting what goes around comes around, and proving that if you lie about your past to enough people, the truth will shine through.

Nick Carraway is a classic storyteller, who is immensely descriptive and includes every detail, no matter how little about every person. He includes many lessons from chapter to chapter and remains unbiased although it is a recollection of the past. Although The Great Gatsby is a fiction story, it's lessons and scenarios could be completely true. The Great Gatsby is just a reminder that what you do behind the curtains will be found out, and in Gatsby's case, can result to be the death of you.

Environmental Current Events

A colony of harbor seals that took over a beach in La Jolla that had been willed to children will be allowed to stay, a judge ruled Friday, possibly bringing an end to the prolonged legal tug-of-war over the cove.

The so-called Children’s Pool was established in 1931 as a swimming area for children by the owner of the property, philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, who died the next year at age 95. The seals moved in some years ago and turned the cove into a nesting area, to the delight of many children as well as environmentalists.

But others felt the growing colony had become a nuisance and wanted the seals removed. In 2004, swimmer Valerie O’Sullivan — who now lives in New Zealand — filed a lawsuit seeking to restore the area for human use, and the next year, Judge William Pate ordered the city of San Diego to dredge Children’s Pool, at the city’s expense, and disperse the seals.

Earlier this year, Judge Yuri Hofmann told city officials to comply with Pate’s order. But in July, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation amending the trust that established the beach as a children’s swimming pool, giving the San Diego City Council the discretion to designate area as a seal sanctuary.

Well, now that my question has kind of already been answered, I'm going to have to modify my essential question a little, since the seals can stay. Yay!

The La Jolla Seals have been granted access to stay at the Children's Pool at Casa Beach. Some information that is missing would be how did people react to this? Which could be a good question to go off of for my project. Also, I would like to know how O'Sullivan and Pate reacted to this recent turn of events. The information here kind of biases my original question for Media Saves the Beach. I am definitely going to have to do some changing, or adding to my topic, because How does San Diego Media effect the publics opinion on the Seals at Casa Beach seems a little less workable. Although, it could potentially work, some people could be really upset by this news. I'm going to have to do some exploring about it.

Honors Essay #3

The 1920's was a significant time in American History, the government and people were experimenting with many different things and the citizens were partying without a care in the world. The 20's of course led to the Great Depression and some gray times. Wall Street is the home of the New York Stock Exchange and has become known throughout the world for it's popular stocks and the area surrounding the Stock Exchange. One of the worst stock crashes of all time was the Stock Market Crash of 1929.

The first sign of the crash was on a Thursday that was named shortly after, Black Thursday. The stock market fell 9%. Brokers thought that the decline could remedy itself since Friday the stock went up slightly. By Monday evening, the stock had fallen an additional 13%. The ticker tape machines that documented where every stock was at, was running behind by nearly 3 hours. By Tuesday, the stock had fallen an additional 12%, resulting in a 34% fall during 5 days. Although the market hadn't fully crashed in 1929, the decline was still happening, it wasn't until 1932 where the Dow had decreased 90% since Black Thursday in 1929. The Stock Market Crash was the first effect of the Great Depression, which lasted from 1929 to the late 1930's and early 40's.

Americans in the 20's as mentioned earlier were experimenting with many things including alcohol. The Prohibition was the government banning alcohol, the consumption and the sale of alcohol. Some people made their money on stocks, and some people made their money on the sale of alcohol, which was illegal as said in the Constitution. The people who sold alcohol were called 'bootleggers' and 'rum-runners'. These types of people were very popular in the 1920's to the 1930's, and were pretty widely known of in this period. The bootleggers made millions quickly, and it was all together a very risky occupation. American Literature has widely used the Prohibition in popular novels, including the Great Gatsby. The Great Gatsby's main character Jay Gatsby is believed to be a bootlegger since he came into new money very quickly in his short life.

The Prohibition and the Stock Market Crash were two of the most influential events that happened within the 1920's. They didn't just last for a month or a year, they lasted for over a decade each. The 1920's was an influential era that saw a few highs, but mostly lows. American History has been widely changed since the Roaring Twenties and has had different effects on many things such as literature, fashion and most importantly, our history books. The 20's has been remembered for the outcome of great cinema and art of that decade. We can look back upon that era and take it as a learning experience, the great 20's will always be remembered.

Resources:
http://www.money-zine.com/Investing/Stocks/Stock-Market-Crash-of-1929/

Gatsby #21

I feel like Gatsby and Nick have some similarities in how they live. Gatsby seems really sporadic and spur of the moment, more so than Nick. While Nick still has some implied spontaneity, he doesn't throw extravagant parties and then if someone rips their dress, gets their address and sends them a new one. Gatsby and Nick seem to both like company, hence neither really have been alone when they are mentioned in the book. Although, Gatsby does like the finer things in life, and seems to always have something to say, whereas Nick lives a somewhat simple life, and tends to be quieter.

Blog 20

Now that you have finished Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby, respond to the following questions:

1. Who is the narrator? Describe his perspective, biases, character traits, etc.

The narrator is Nick Carraway and his perspective on richer people is kind of not so great, although he does wish to come into money. Nick seems more like he likes simpler things, and doesn't like the way he's living now. He's a veteran and lives in West Egg.

2. What do you think F. Scott Fiitzgerald accomplishes by chooses this specific narrator versus another choice, such as a different character or 3rd person?

I think it shows a more personal look into the book, it's easier to read something when you feel like your narrator actually knows what they're talking about. Usually a narrator that has the experiences can help connect better.

Blog #19

I think the most successful element of this video is the people in it. They're passionate, the draw emotion from the audience and it's all concentrated on them. Nothing fancy.

The message is to vote, it's simple, it's effective and you CAN make a difference, I know this because it's clearly stated in the video.

The intended audience is 18+ since that is the legal voting age in the United States.

The rule of thirds helps out the whole video because it's easy to look at, and the continuity is good, but it gets switched up still, the actors are always on different sides of the screen.

The rule of thirds is one specific thing that the producer did well with because it does like I said above and keeps it interesting.

I chose this because we saw the 5 Friends Unedited version and then I watched the second one 5 More Friends and thought it was interesting as well. It does a really good job of getting the message out of what the want you to do. Which would be Vote.

Honors Literature #2

Hallie Chavis

Honors Lit #2

10/28/09

In the Heart of the Sea

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex is a nonfiction novel written by Nathaniel Philbrick and is a National Book Award winner. It tells the story of not only the whaling ship the Essex, but it tells the story of Nantucket, Massachusetts and how whaling came to be. Back in the 19th century, whaling was done in lifeboats by shooting arrow shaped projectiles into the whales that were loaded with explosives. The idea was to shoot them with the arrow and wait for it to explode in the whale so that the whale couldn't escape or fight back. In the Heart of the Sea is a true story about when a whale fought back.

Personally, the most interesting parts of the novel are as follows, Henderson Island and the Essex crewmen on the island, the deaths and cannibalism, and finally, the rescue. Henderson Island is described as a small remote island that is completely uninhabited. The men don't know how to ration the materials and end up using all of the resources on the island, the men decide to leave the island in hopes of finding somewhere else to land. Although most of the crew left, three of the crewmen stayed behind, which seems like nonsense because as described previously, all the food and fresh water had been exhausted. The men were later rescued which is a feat in itself since they survived on the island for over 90+ days after the Essex had sunk.

Cannibalism takes up a huge portion of the story of the Essex. From the 8 people rescued, 7 seamen had been eaten for food by the other sailors. By this time, the men were suffering from tobacco withdrawals, edema and malnutrition amongst many others. They had random outbursts of anger and violence due to the lack of vital needs of their diet and an unhealthy amount of sodium in their systems. 95 days went by with the men on the lifeboats waiting for one another to die, when the Dauphin sailed up to them, they were so mentally unstable at that point they didn't even notice. In the book there was also a sacrifice that took place. One man had to shoot another man on the crew in order to eat him and provide at least a couple days nourishment. The irony is apparent as well, the man who was sacrificed was Owen Coffin, who sadly never got a proper burial.

The rescue was probably the most amazing part of the book. "On the morning of February 23, the crew of the Dauphin made a similar discovery. Looking down from a restless forest of spars and sails, they saw two men in a whaleboat filled with bones." (p. 188) The men were too weak to stand by themselves and were sucking on the dried out bones of their cannibalized crew. It was a traumatizing event, and everyone was shocked to find out that they had even survived 3 months with the conditions they were in. Although, Nantucketers had a quite large delay, the mail they would send would not reach them until a couple, if not a few months after it was written. The locals were oblivious to what had happened. Nonetheless, the rescue of all the lifeboats has made an immensely powerful story and was the inspiration for the great novel, Moby Dick by Herman Melville.