Journal 21 - Some Like it Hot vs. Gatsby

Some Like it Hot and The Great Gatsby are similar in many ways. They both deal with people in the upper class. Also, they share similar themes. They both deal with wealth and greed. Also, both deal with people who like to live a luxurious lifestyle. In both works, the women are attracted to the high class and wealthy men. Sugar fell in love with Joe because she thought that he was wealthy, and Daisy fell in love with Tom because of his money. Both works also dealt with the conflict of the illegal consumption of alcohol during the prohibition. Through all the conflicts of both books, love is still found between the characters. However, the biggest difference between the two works is that in Some Like it Hot the characters successfully find love, while in Gatsby love is lost by death or tragedy. 

Journal 20 - Gatsby Conclusion

Journal 20 – The Great Gatsby Conclusion

By using imagery to describe the parties that Gatsby would host, Nick explains that positive energy and happiness will never be in that house again. Gatsby’s days of hosting parties had come to an end and Nick retreats to his place on the shore to think about his changing surroundings. The green light that Nick describes symbolizes the hope for Gatsby and his dreams. Gatsby always hoped that he would be with Daisy. Nick connects Gatsby with the sailors by explaining that they both had an obsession with that green light. In both cases, their hopes and dreams ended up hurting them in the end. Gatsby died and the sailors were overwhelmed with many hardships. The dreams of both Gatsby and the sailors gave them false hope that they would reach their goals.

Journal 19 -- Characterization

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: _____Tolerant_______

Nick is a very understanding and tolerant of others’ problems. Nick tells the reader that people often come to him with their problems because he is a good listener. He doesn’t necessarily like this about himself. He is soft spoken and always kind to others. He seems to genuinely care about his friends, and often focuses on others before himself. Nick’s physical appearance is not discussed in the novel.

Tom Buchanan        Adjective ___Arrogant_________

Tom is described as having an aggressive appearance. Nick describes Tom as having shiny and arrogant eyes. Tom was a successful football player, and still has his aggressive edge as he appears to always be leaning forward. Nick sees Tom as an arrogant and somewhat snobby character. He comments that Tom is wealthy and isn’t afraid to show it. Nick makes it very clear that Tom is overly confident and stuck up.

Daisy Buchanan     Adjective ____Superficial_________

Daisy is Tom’s wife. She is Nick’s second cousin once removed. She is described in this way: “her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget.” She is blonde haired, dainty, and fair skinned.

Jordan Baker           Adjective ____Independent___________

Jordan is essentially Daisy’s opposite. “She was extended full length at her end of the divan, completely motionless, and with her chin raised a little, as if she were balancing something on it which was quite likely to fall.” She is very poised and elegant. She is described as being slender, small-chested, and having an erect carriage. Her face appeared to be discontented, but polite and welcoming.

Jay Gatsby               Adjective _____Mysterious_____________

Jay Gatsby is a mysterious character. He is close friends with Nick and confides in him in times of need. Jay appears to have a lot of secrets that he is hiding, and Nick describes him as: “If personality was an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if her were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes then thousand miles away.” Jay is first described when Nick sees him peering into the distance at the green light across the water. This further adds to Gatsby’s mysterious character. 

Journal 18 - Hemingway

1. What is the significance of the story’s title?

The story title is significant because they are in Italy. Also, it shows isolation and the fact that the men are outsiders. They are all considered outsiders because of their injuries. They are set apart from the rest of the soldiers. The narrator specifically is isolated because he is not familiar with the language and he is foreign, but their injuries tie them together.

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

The fencer best represents the “Hemingway hero” because he suffers with grace and dignity, but is fighting hard until his bitter ending. He is dealing with the most suffering because of the loss of his wife. He is suffering not only because of his injury, but also because of his life. He knows that his hand isn’t going to get better, and the loss of his wife isn’t going to be something that is easy to overcome.

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

The photographs are used as encouragement to the soldiers, even though they are most likely fake. They are supposed to be used as motivation even though the machines might not actually work. The major doesn’t say anything about the photographs; he simply looks out the window. He isn’t very focused on what the doctors want him to do. He is distracted and not very hopeful that his hand will get better, so he doesn’t show any interest. He is isolating himself and pondering his thoughts and losses.

Journal 17 - Prufrock

Journal 17 - “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” – T.S. Eliot (p.775)

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

The poem’s epigraph is six lines of a quotation from Canto of the Inferno by Dante Alighieri. Eliot does not translate it out of Italian, which makes people think that Eliot is ignorant and flashy. However, Eliot’s real purpose is that he wanted people to truly be interested enough to translate the quotation themselves.

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

Prufrock asks very random questions. Should I eat a peach? Should I part my hair from behind? Do I dare? All of the questions are asking “should I” or “should I not?” He is unsure of himself, with low self esteem.

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

Profrock’s main flaw/problem is an internal conflict. In the poem, he is speaking to a lover and he wishes to tell her how he feels about her. He doesn’t believe that anyone will read this poem, because he is not bold enough to express his feelings in that way. He is self conscious and said that he would feel disgraced and embarrassed if people knew about his feelings.

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

This is a love song in an ironic way. The title is used loosely as the poem centers itself around Prufrock’s feelings. He is actually expressing his lonliness, isolation, and unhappiness which is the complete opposite of love. The poem is very much about his physical and mental wandering and displeasure with his own life. He is very alone and not bold enough to express his feelings for his desired woman, and the title is therefore ironic.

Journal 16 - Crane/London

Journal 16 – Crane’s “The Blue Hotel” and London’s “To Build A Fire”

Read the following quote and discuss how it applies to the main characters in both stories. In the course of this discussion, address how each of the characters is both similar and different:

“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 stranger’s ultimate downfall was his personality traits. He was very awkward and bad at socializing. Unfortunately, his situation requires him to be social which is the ultimate cause of his downfall. If the stranger would have been put into a situation that didn’t require social activity, he probably wouldn’t have been killed. His awkwardness and lack of social skills caused his death in the longrun. However, in “To Build A Fire,” the man’s social surrioundings had nothing to do with his death. There was no way that the man would have beaten nature in his situation. The weather conditions were simply too harsh for any human being to survive. The man’s personality and inherited traits didn’t have anything to do with his death. The uncontrollable weath conditions caused his ultimate downfall.

Journal 15 - Editha

Journal 15 – William Dean Howell’s “Editha”

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

The story’s overall message was to not give into peer pressure, and to follow your own desires.

· “All the while, in her duplex emotioning, she was

aware that now at the very beginning she must put a

guard upon herself against urging him, by any word

or act, to take the part that her whole soul willed him

to take, for the completion of her ideal of him.”

· “He was very nearly perfect as he was, and he must be

allowed to perfect himself. But he was peculiar, and

he might very well be reasoned out of his peculiarit.”

· “He took half the lemonade at a gulp, and he

answered as he set the glass down: "I know you

always have the highest ideal. When I differ from

you I ought to doubt myself."

A generous sob rose in Editha's throat for the

humility of a man, so very nearly perfect, who was

willing to put himself below her.”

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

Editha makes herself seem pathetic and upset about the ideas of war in oder to convince George about her ideas. She tells him how great he is and how much he could help our country, right or wrong. She tricks him into beliving that the war is what is best for him. She twists his mind and almost brainwashes him.

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

Yes, Editha truly understans what she has done. George is killed in the war and she feels as if it is her fault. She is full of self-pitty and sorrow throughout her life, until the end of the reading when she talks to the lady that is painting her. She then realizes that she needs to move on with her life and continue to live the way she used to, in the ideal.