"The Great Gatsby" Book Review

December 10, 2013

The Uncontrollable Desire 

By Julia Seck

The Great Gatsby

By  F. Scott Fitzgerald 

180 page

     Fitzgerald classic fiction novel "The Great Gatsby", is a plot twisting, romantic drama taken place in Long Island, New York. Fitzgerald captures America in the roaring 1920's  and does and excellent job of portraying the setting, where business is booming and everything is larger than life it self.  However, he  focusing on the negative aspects of this time period such as corruption, greed, and vanity with in, portraying these idea through the character Jay Gatsby.

     The story is told by the character, Nick Carraway,  a young Yale graduate who moves to New York in search of business. Shortly after renting a house in Long Island, he realizes his neighbor to  be a wealthy, but mysterious man by the name of Jay Gatsby, a man whom no one has ever laid eyes on. Invited to one of the man's grand parties, Nick is determined to find the mysterious host and is quick to learn of the many rumors about Gatsby.  As the night progresses, Nick discovers Gatsbys  and learns of his love for, Daisy, Nick's cousin. Agreeing shortly after to help rekindle the old flame between the two, Nick  uncovers Gatsby's true identity and his many hidden  secrets. As the story develops, Nick becomes unsure with whom to trust realizing not everyone is as charming on the outside as they appear. The novel captures the ugly truth  that everyone has a price in which they can be bought as Nick struggles with his own morality and those around him due to desire  of wealth and power through greed, corruption and vanity. 

     The fact that the theme, everyone can be bought nor anything is perfect is understood even in today's society making the novel a classic. People struggle with their own morality, constantly pushing their own boundaries, wondering  how far they are willing to go to get something they desire. The question "does the end justify with the means" is portrayed through out the novel allowing the reader to reflect on their own self and morality. This question is still replicated in every day, today.  The book its self is even filled with motifs such as desire, vanity, and corruption which are presented also  within our own society today. The fact that Fitzgerald wrote the book 88 years ago in 1925 and the themes are still relevant concludes this book is timeless and therefore a classic, as this book is relevant for any given audience in a modern period.

     Personally I enjoyed the book as the plot was unpredictable and thicken as the book developed. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy dramatic and romantic books but also enjoy a mystery element as well. Personally I found the book to be a bit challenging to read. The book is narrated in first person by Nick Carraway and is structured so his thoughts jump around the page as well as the vocabulary being slightly sophisticated. For this reason I would not recommend this book to a younger audience. However, I believe the author has done a wonderful job in capturing the setting and his characters. The book is interesting and exciting, and overall very enjoyable. I highly recommend it and worth reading. 

Greek Mask Research

Research


     Today in class we were asked to research the use of masks in Greek Theater, and to replicate our own. In order to get a better understanding of our task, I did some online research to help understand the concept and ideas more so than before. In Greek theater, actors would need to play multiple roles. To save time and costumes, masks were created to help aide the actors by allowing them to change their roles and characters much more easily (Vovolis and Zamboulakis).There were typically three actors and all were men (Karayannakos). The masks were claimed to have let the audience focus on the actors actions, rather than on their physical features (Karayannakos). The masks however, would not have been distorted but realistic and proportional to a civilian's face. The mask would have three openings, two for the eyes and one for the mouth. The mask was then worn with a wig made out of animal or human hair (Karayannakos). All the masks were made out of a light weight linen, leather, or wood material (McManus). A stone face was used for a mold to make the masks (Karayannakos). However, one detail that struck me was that each mask portrayed similar characteristics having certain features replicated. A better way of explaining it is there would be no random masks. Characters classified within the same age division or gender all had the same aspects included within the masks (McManus). Therefore, one could not just design any mask of their choice as it would have to include multiple traits. For instance, male masks had yellow or brown skin color, while female masks had white skin color. Women would have long haired wigs typically, however half length represent women in mourning and very short wigs represented a woman being a slave (McManus). Facial hair was also very important within masks, as it indicated certain personalities of characters for the audience. All men had short hair, the length of their beard represented how old they were (Vovolis and Zamboulakis). Young men were left beardless, men in their prime were fully bearded and had yellow or brown hair. Old men had grey bearded and were left bald (McManus). Overall, masks played a huge part in Greek theater. As time went on, masks would spark the development of theater for generations to come, transforming into costumes and props.Without masks, Greek theater or even today's modern arts and drama would not been as they are. Masks have helped develop and transformed theater into a revolutionary art and tradition.




Work Sited




Karayannakos, Elias. "Masks in Ancient Greek Theatre" ["Masks in Ancient Greek
Theatrel"]. Greek Theater. N.p., 2007. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. <http://www.greektheatre.gr/greek_theater_masks.html>.


McManus, Barbara F. "Staging, Actors, Masks" ["Staging, Actors, Masks"].
Staging, Actors, Masks. CLS 267 Topics Page, Sept. 1999. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. <http://www2.cnr.edu/home/bmcmanus/tragedy_staging.html>


Vovolis, Thanos, and Giorgos Zamboulakis. "The Acoustical Mask of Greek Tragedy" ["The Acoustical Mask of Greek Tragedy"]. Didaskalia. Randolph Collage, 1994. Web. 31 Jan. 2014. <http://www.didaskalia.net/issues/vol7no1/
vovolis_zamboulakis.html>.

Diction and Mood In The Catcher In The Rye

         In chapter 25 in The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger creates an emotional piece for the reader, as Holden describes his actions when he walks down Fifth Avenue. As he approaches the street and crosses the block, he is encountered with a fear that he would never make it to the other side, and rather fall away or disappear all together. Every time he got this feeling, Holden would ask his brother Allie not to let him slip away. When Holden made it to the other side of the block, he would thank his brother, reliving the fear again each time he tried to cross the street. Due to the diction and connotation within the passage, a disparaging and negative mood is created. Furthermore, such a bleak and harsh mood and tone is created when Holden uses harsh language such as "goddamn" and "bastard" (197). These words show that Holden no longer cares about his overall image and is defeated and angry. These words also could mean his is exasperated, overall creating an negative and hopeless atmosphere. Similarly, Salinger  uses words like "spooky", "scared", and "afraid" within the text (198) which are again associated with a dark or unfortunate  tone which, overall, creates tension and senescence for the reader, as they wonder what will become of Holden. With in the scene Holden appears to have hit rock bottom. This is due to the use of syntax and repetition of the words "down" and "disappearing" (198) which concludes Holden is feeling about as alone and isolated as he has ever was. This idea with the use  of words associated with dark or negative images create a depressing and bleak atmosphere for the reader. Over all, the mood of the sense is disparaging, suspenseful, and scaring, as Holden feels as tough is he slipping away and being forgotten.

Descriptive Item

        I have a lot of fond childhood memories, most of them in Canada hanging out with my cousins in our cottage. I am not really the person to hold onto or cherish objects which hold memories of the past, or even one of those people who like to post picture of friends and family around their room. I think that stuff is sort of depressing in a way. It's like a moment frozen in time, eventually forgot and something you can never relive. Anyway that's not the point. The point is, despite my opinions on the matter, I do have one object that I have kept over those years to remind myself of those happy memories. When I was younger about seven years ago, my cousin Jess and I, were pretty creative at the time got really bored. I don't remember why, but we started looking through my parents closet, probably playing dungeons and dragons or something like that. Anyway, we started going through my dad's clothes and found this old pair of odd socks that my mum probably forgot to throw away. We thought it was a shame to waste still perfectly usable socks so, we grabbed some thread and needles and stitched our own sock monkeys.

        To others, my monkey probably looked like something out of a horror movie, but to my cousin and I, our sock monkeys were our prized possessions. My monkey is disproportional, its head being way to large for its body and its arms twice the size of its legs, making it look like a bobble head. His eyes are made out of these two black buttons, but we could never find a pair that matched so one eye is  the size of a penny the other twice the size, giving him a goofy appearance that makes me laugh. Although seven years old, the eyes are still polished shiny raven black, that make it appear as those his eyes are twinkling. My dad has huge feet, so the sock monkey is about the size of my arm but the cotton has thinned over time and no longer a pure white, but a grey worn out body. Because of this, I have had to constantly stitch and patch its fur together, making it resemble a rainbow. It might seem tacky, but I think it brings life and character to him. Despite the fact that the monkey looks worn out, the smile is still intact. A huge bright cherry red arch stitched on, as if someone decided to freeze time the exact moment someone told a really funny joke.

      It is probably the most odd thing in the world and very childish, but the monkey represents my youth and childhood memories. When ever I have one of those bad days where everything goes wrong, I like to hug my monkey and remember the good times I had playing with it and creating it with my cousin. Those moments are probably the happiest memories of my life so far. All the things people might find weird about my stuff toy is why I treasure it so much, it reminds me all the happy memory and good things in life, and most importantly makes me smile.

Diction Within The Cather In The Rye

          In the first three chapters of The Catcher In The Rye diction is used frequently to help characterize several of the characters. For example the repetition of the words "dame" ( Salinger 12) "hell" ( Salinger 12) and "crap" (Salinger 1) characterizes Holden as a bitter, angry or disdainful person as all three words are associated with negative connotation.These words are also considered "slang" and could characterize Holden as having a lousy vocabulary or unintelligent. Another example of diction is presented when Ackley presents words such as "willya" (Salinger 23) and "lemme" (Salinger 23) with in his dialog. These words are also considered slang and could characterize Ackely and unintelligent, but lazy in the sense he does not wish to represent him self as proper or educated. The connotation that comes with this slang words suggest he he put little effort into his physical image allowing him to seem ignorant and unintelligent and overall having a negative image. This idea is also presented through the physical description that Holden provides as Ackley is an unhygienic and dirty looking kid. This further enhances the idea that Ackley is portrayed as a lazy and unintelligent character. However, this is the opposite case for Mr. Spencer. Holden referrers to his teacher as "sir" (Salinger 11). The word sir is often associated with the idea of respect. This characterizes Spencer as wise and a respectable teacher who's vocabulary is much richer than that of Holden's or Ackley suggesting he is intelligent creating a positive image. However,the physical description of Mr. Spencer is the opposite of what he acts like as his is old and shabby. This suggests that although educated, Mr. Spencer like Holden and Ackley is lazy and antagonistic. Lastly, Stradlater could be characterized similarly to Spencer as intelligent and positive. Spencer within his dialog does not use slang suggesting he is educated more so than Holden or Ackley however toward the end of the chapter he does use the word "crap" (Salinger 25) which shows that he uses similar vocabulary to boys of his age (Holdan and Ackley) This could also characterize him as flippant. However, although associated with a negative image form the use of the word he is still to be considered more educated rather than Holden and Ackley as he does not use slang word but proper phrases. Over all, the use of diction and connotation allows the reader to help characterize these four characters. Without them we would struggle to see the characters personalities.

"Now You Take 'Bambi' or 'Snow White' --- That's Scary" Discussion

            In the essay, Now You Take 'Bambi' or 'Snow White' --- That's Scary, Stephen King presents the argument that the origin of children stories or fairy tales such as Bambi, Snow White, or Hansel and Gretel are actually very violent, grim and inappropriate for young children to watch or be exposed too despite mentioning that what you expose your children to is the responsibility of the parents and them alone to decide. For the most part, this argument is persuasive. In his essay, King creates valid points to support his argument. Although most of the fairy tales have be recreated by Disney and taken on a cartoon like aspect, the true context of the stories are still there, being grim, dark, twisted, and frighting for children. Although the modern versions of the fairy tales are more child like, the origins of fairy tales created by the Brothers Grimm are very dark and twisted. Today those aspects are included in Disney movies which clearly can frighten children. Such examples include Bambi, where the mother is shot, or Hansel and Gretel, where there is a cannibalistic women who tries the consume two children. Many parents never realize the true context of these stories and how grim they are. I believe that Stephan King does have a point, that children stories are perhaps not suitable for young children. I also agree with his argument that parents take responsibility for what their children can and cannot watch as this action is entirely up to them to decide as the children are their own. Hurst also brings up a good point when he says "not that it's possible to keep kids away from everything on TV that will freak them out' (Hurst 3).I agree with this point because children's own curiosity will drive them to discover and watch such frightening movies. However, I believe his idea of a high shelf and later showing is a suitable idea for TV networks and a good solution. Therefore, children can still watch TV and movies, but their intake of scary movies and show are limited as this is controlled by the parents. Overall, I believe his evidence on Disney and scary show or movies is credible by supporting reasonable evidence such as giving his own personal stories and experience.

How Does Hurst Use Characterization to Portray the Brotherly Relationship in the Scarlet Ibis?

        In the short story the Scarlet Iris, Hurst uses indirect characterization to illustrate to the reader that Doodle is overly dependent with regrades to his brother: "'I'm going to teach you to walk Doodle' I said 'Why?' 'So I won't have to haul you around all the time'" (Hurst 1). Due to Doodles physical condition of being disabled, he relies heavily on his brother to provide, support, and care for him. Although Hurst does not directly reveal to the audience that Doodle is immensely  dependent on others, Hurst through the use of the narrator actions and speech, expresses to the reader that Doodle is a great burden and must be provided for all the time. Further more, the narrator describes his brother as "different from everybody else" (Hurst 3) and a disappointment or failure" (Hurst 1). Doodle is constantly portrayed with negative words which allows the author to convey the idea that Doodle is more of a burden and a great hardship than most. In conclusion, the Hurst allows the reader, with the use of indirect characterization, to feel sympathetic toward the narrator and empathize the hardship and strain that has been placed with him. This leads to the idea that despite the difficulties, the narrator is a caring and loving brother with regrades to providing for Doodle, despite the extra burden.

Questions On August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains

What do you think the theme of this story is?


     I believe that the theme of the story August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury, is  that humanity should not become dependent on technology, but use it as minimally as possibly. If not, our dependency and obsession with technology will become our destruction. Where humanity has the ability to create great things, these things can also destroy humanity with overuse.


How do specific elements in the story help you come to this conclusion?


     One element that captures the idea that technology can lead to humanity's destruction is the allusion and description of the five spots of paint on the wall on the house outside: "The entire west face of the house was black, save for five places. Here the silhouette of a man..a women... a small boy.. the image of a thrown ball.. a girl" (Bradbury 1).On August 6, 1945 a nuclear bomb was dropped at Hiroshima and exploded. The radiation was so strong civilians shadows or outlines burned and melted into the walls. The silhouette of the family burned into the house illustrates this.  We also have the quote "at night the ruined city gave off a radioactive glow which could be seen for miles" (Bradbury 1).These quotes illustrate allusion in the sense that the author is relating the story to events from Hiroshima. Although technology is helpful and useful , it suggests that if the power of technology is abused it could destroy and overtake humanity. The over use of technology and man's heavy dependence on it, becomes their obsession. They believe that there are no limits to this power. Humanity's curiosity, greed, and desire leads to their downfall. Humanity constantly pushes the boundaries of technology an example being  the destructive nuclear bomb, killing thousands of innocent civilians. This event in history is allows us to conclude if technology is over used it can lead to the destruction of civilizations. This event in the story and history effects the reader by illustrating the theme. It also allows the reader to feel antagonistic toward the over use of technology. Another element that allows the reader to conclude this theme is the use of similes. "Fire, fire, run, run like a tragic nursery rhyme a dozen voices high and low like children dying in a forest" (Bradbury 4)."Deep freeze, armchair, film tapes, circuits, beds, and all like skeletons thrown in a cluttered mound deep under" (Bradbury 4). These similes are very effective when it comes to illustrating the theme that technology is destructive. Both these quotes create a haunting, evil, terrifying, and tragic mood for the reader. This effect of emotion allows the reader to capture the idea that the house is perishing due to the negative side-effects of technology. Technology can be a negative thing in a sense and can cause tragedy. Thus we can draw the conclusion that where humanity has the ability to create great things, these things can also destroy humanity with overuse.

My Conclusion/Ending and Reasoning To The Bet

 My Ending to The Bet

The banker winced in pain as he shifted his weight in his bed. Ever since the bet, guilt had eaten him alive and the memories swirled in his head as he tried to remember exactly what happened. He gasped trying to collect enough breath to call his son’s name. “John” he cried. “Father,” the young boy said, “father you must rest, please father”. “No, listen.....you must listen carefully to me" he cried. "Many years ago I made a terrible decision to ruin a man’s life and ever since I have regretted my decisions, please as my last request, right my wrongs and correct the past. I have never told a soul and regret this, but the truth is in the safe, please I beg of you so I may go in peace. Please fix my doings”. The old man’s eyes then rolled into his head and he drew his last breath. Many months after the sons grieving, John ventured into his father’s study and received the letter. As he read the letter his curiosity grew as he wished to understand the lawyer and his decisions. Hoping to then apologize for his fathers mistakes,  he set off  to find the lawyer. He searched high and low for many years but the lawyer was never to be found. Rumors and stories spread about the strange man and the outrageous bet but that answers to whatever happened to the lawyer or why the he ran away were lost along with him.

My Reasoning for My Conclusion to The Bet

In the short story The Bet we are introduced to the character the banker who has the characteristics of a hard, greedy, and competitive man. Throughout the story the reader can only see these traits in the banker.  However, toward the end of the story we see a completely different side to him. When the banker reads the lawyers letter in which he renounces the two million, the banker began to cry and kissed the lawyer on the head. In this moment we can see the banker’s true emotion and his relief about keeping his money. The banker is grateful to the lawyer for giving him his wealth back. However, because of his pride he refuses to admit he lost the bet and locks the letter up in his safe. I believe that eventually he would tell someone about the bet and his greed, hence locking the money up in a safe, as at the end of the story the reader gets to see this characters true personality such as his shame or broken qualities.  I then feel, whoever he told his great secret to would have a moral obligation and enough curiosity to find the lawyer  to understand why the lawyer did what he did and apologies to him. However, the lawyer, as we see throughout the story, despises and hates the world. I believe the lawyer would run away and refuse to be found  as he has such a strong hatred toward the world and society. That hatred would continue to fuel him and make him stay in hiding for the rest of his life.