Sunday, November 29, 2009

Robert Frost - "Nothing Gold Can Stay"

"Nothing Gold Can Stay"

I believe that Robert Frost was trying to say that beautiful things can even turn ugly with time. In Spring, Nature starts as green but with time (in the Fall) everything dies and changes color. He talks of how 'Eden sank to grief' and that shows that happiness turns to sadness with time. I see symbolism in the line 'Her early leaf's a flower', he talks as if Nature is a person and how everything starts beautiful.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The Great Gatsby - Chapter 9

Characterization:

I relate best with Daisy. Daisy is the innocent girl who gets twisted into a world of corruption. Daisy once loved Gatsby with all her heart, but he left her and she had nothing to hold on to anymore. Then she choose to move on and find love somewhere else. She found this love in Tom. After first, I didn't believe at all that she loved Tom truely. I believed she settled for Tom, but later in the novel I finally figured that she must have truely loved him to stay with him even after Gatsby was returned to her life. I was disappointed in Daisy when I found out that her and Tom skipped town. But then I realized I do the same thing; when I get scared I run away.

I related to her because I have had a similar experience. I had a high school sweetheart and we were great, but when times became hard I choose to let him go and move on. To this day I regret it every second, but I know thats what I had to do. I have moved on. And of course, at first I didn't really believe that I loved him, I just believed that he was my back up. To this day I am with this man and I love him more everyday.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

The Great Gatsby - Chapter 8

Favorite Quotes:

Page 165:

"You ought to have a church, George, for times like this. You must have gone to church once. Didn't you get married in a church? Listen, George, listen to me. Didn't you get married in a church?"

- This quote is when Michaelis is trying to help Wilson through this hard time. I choose this quote because it has meaning to me. Everytime I am going through a hard time I turn to God. I am in no means a very religious person, but I do turn to God. I don't attend church very often, but when I do I feel so much better about bad events that have taken place. It makes me think that some times my problems are very trivial and I need to be thankful for what I do have.

Page 167:

"God sees everything," Wilson repeated.

- I choose this quote because it is very true. Mrytle was cheating on George and even though he never caught her doing it or knew who the man was, God still saw everything.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The Great Gatsby - Chapter 6 & 7

I believe a reoccuring theme for this novel is the battle of social classes. It is constantly comparing which "egg" is better. Plus, I believe it has something to do with how Daisy and Gatsby were in love back during the war and she wouldn't really be with him because he was from a lower social class. I hate it when people judge someone because of their social class. I mean honestly the best way to describe this is to just think you were dirt poor, would you want someone to blow you off just because you didn't have the money they were born into. I try to stay as farrrrr away from these types of people as I can.

I believe I am going to write my literary analysis over this book and have the topic be about social classes and the damages it can do.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The Great Gatsby - Chapter 4 & 5

Summarize-

Chapter 4 & 5:

In this chapter, it reviewed all the individuals that lived on West Egg and East Egg. West Egg was more of the "new money" and contained cultures such as the German, Jewish, Italian, Irish and British. The East Egg was inherited money or "old money" and that contained the "blue blood" or royalty. Then Gatsby arrived at Nick's house and asked him to lunch. They went to lunch, all the way across the Queensboro Bridge. They met Gatsby's friend Mr. Wolfshiem and Mr. Woldshiem was talking about eating across the street and told a tramatizing story of how a friend of their's had been shot across the street. After awhile, Mr. Wolfshiem left and Gatsby brought up that Nick would be having tea with Miss Jordan Baker that afternoon. Later, Nick had tea with Jordan and she told him of how Gatsby and Daisy use to be in love and then he left and she wasn't able to say goodbye. Then she met mean Tom and married him instead. The day before their wedding Daisy received a letter from Gatsby and a never break down before the rehearsal and pulled herself together and married Tom anyways.

Needless to say, Nick accepted and invited Daisy over for tea and also instructed her not to bring Tom. When she arrived Nick and Gatsby were there, but Gatsby became nervous and hid around the corner. Gatsby finally appeared and they were reunited. Gatsby wanted to show Daisy his house, so they went over to his house and she was amazed how big the house was and how nice it was. Daisy and Gatsby slowly, but surely, became close again. I do believe she was even holding Gatsby's arm at the end of the chapter.

Reponse:

FINALLY THE STORY BECOMES INTERESTING! I really enjoyed these chapters. The beginning of Chapter 4 dragged a little because I honestly didn't care if they went to lunch but when they finally got down to why Gatsby invited him it all made since. I am glad Nick invited her over and I am darn glad that she didn't bring Tom. I am really enjoying this love story already. I didn't think it would turn out to be a good book but so far it really is!!!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Great Gatsby - Chapter 2 & 3

Analzying:

The protaginst is Nick. He is a trustworthy and good man.... so far. He seems to just "go with the flow". His cousin Daisy is a confidant. He seems to be able to vent to her and she vents to him also. Tom is the antagonist in my eyes because he isn't a good person at all. He cheats on his wife with Mrytle and even hit Mrytle. He even had his wife's husband (Nick) go to New York and then when they were pulling up at the station he said "I want you to meet my girl". I mean how big of a dirt bag do you have to be to introduce your mistress to your wife's cousin. Jordan Baker is an interesting character. From the sounds of it, she doesn't seem like a very trustworthy person because of all the shady things she has done (example: her golf ball being moved during a tournament). Mrytle is extremely two faced. Infront of her husband she is quiet and is kind to him, when she is with Tom she is flabouent and showy. She likes to pretend she has money. Tom just inables her to act this way because all she has to do is say that she wants something and he instantly gives it to her (example: the dog).

Relating it to my life:

In everybody's life, there is a two-faced person. I have had several of these "wonderful" people grace my life and I can say that they are no longer a part of my life anymore. Tom is the typical "studly" man. He thinks that nobody can do anything to him; he thinks he is indestructable. I am really hoping later in the story this comes back to bite him in the butt. Daisy is one character that I can relate to. I knew I was being cheated on but I just put a front on like nothing was wrong. I faked a smile and I should not have. Daisy and I are different because if the mistress would be calling while a family function, I would not be as "calm and collected" as she was. Plus I wouldn't stay with the cheater much longer. It is hard though to leave someone that you care about even though they are doing that to you. Tom does seem to care about Daisy still because when Mrytle was saying something about Daisy, Tom became mad and said not to say her name and Mrytle antagonized him and he ended up breaking Myrtle's nose over it. I do not agree with a man hitting a woman in the least bit, but he obviously did it becasue he cares about Daisy or maybe because he was feeling quilty for doing this to her.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Great Gatsby - Chapter 1

Setting and Characters:

The setting is primarly at the West Egg. It is an island off of New York. I interpreted it as Long Island, maybe. The characters are Nick, Tom, Daisy, Miss Baker and talks of Mr. Gatsby. Nick seems to be a strangler, he floats from place to place. He ended up at West Egg because him and a friend were going to buy a house and then rent it out and his friend ended up backing out, so he decided to move in by himself. From the description his house is very nice, almost mansion like. He went to visit Tom and Daisy. Tom seems very stuck up and almost snobs Nick when he arrived. Tom also seems very secretive because he has a lady elsewhere that is not Dasiy. Daisy seems more relaxed but still seems to be very stuckup because she has to be because of her husband Tom. She also seems to know that Tom is having an affair but did not appreciate that Tom accepted a phone from her in the middle of dinner. Miss Baker is a friend of Tom and Daisy. Miss Baker seems sweet and easily excited. I have a feeling that Nick and Miss Baker will start a relationship. Mr. Gatsby seems like a powerful man. Just from the way Tom, Daisy, and Nick speak of him, he doesn't seem like a person you would want to gross.

My Reaction:

I enjoyed this chapter, but it started off to slow. At parts, it seemed to drag. I want to learn more about Mr. Gatsby. I have the feeling he is being protrayed as such a powerful man and then he is going to end up being a lonely man with no friends. I do not care for Tom, he seems like he has his own agenda in his life. He doesn't seem to care about Daisy or her needs. I feel bad for Daisy because she seems to have a good heart and she wants to be happy but probably feels down on herself when Tom accepts phone calls from his mistress in the middle of dinner AND infront of her cousin (Nick). I do not really know what to think about Nick yet. It seems like an individual with a good story behind them.