Character Symbolism- The Great Gatsby

Jay Gatsby is sort of like an onion. He is a rich man. He throws parties all the time and has lots of fun. That's his outer layer. Somewhere in the middle of his character, he is a very loving man: you don't see this at his parties, but you certainly see this in the way he looks and acts around Daisy. His final innermost layer is afraid. He is afraid to lose Daisy and very afraid of swimming pools. I haven't read enough to know why though. A prediction I have for this is that his fear of swimming pools root back to his childhood. Here is a picture of how Jay (portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio) looks at Daisy (portrayed by Mira Sorvino) like how I said in his middle layer.

Do you know anyone with an "onion" personality? When do you see their "innermost layer"?

Book Choice- The Great Gatsby

Why did I choose The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald? The movie was coming out when I got the book. But when I bought the book, I bought The Fault in our Stars and Looking for Alaska along with it, and read them both first. I originally started on Gatsby but then read The Fault in our Stars instead. I now wanted to read Gatsby because I've refused to see the movie first. I barely knew what the book was about going into it, and that's what I think kept me from reading it to start with. Now that I've started reading I love how the story is told. The narrator being part of the story makes me excited to read the book.

Setting- Fahrenheit 451

The setting in 451 is a future American society. It's the kind of future written about, in fear that we might come to it. All of the citizens are essentially brainwashed by the government, and have no knowledge outside of what they've been told. The society revolves around censorship, and that's the only way of life they know. "They walked in the warm-cool blowing night on the silvered pavement and there was the faintest breath of the fresh apricots and strawberries in the air, and he looked around and realized this was quite impossible, so late in the year," (Bradbury 4) I actually love this line. It gives you idea of the time and place. Time: autumn, Place: southern. You know because he talks of how late in the year it is, yet there is fresh fruit. It's south because I know that apricots grow down south. This provides great imagery of what it would be like to walk around in this place. What does that line remind you of? It reminds me of walking my dog at night in the summer, where it's just kind of cold at night, but hot all day.

Final Blogger Reflection

Click here to go to my best blog post

My theme and summary post was my best post. The student determines a theme or central idea of a text. I said the theme of 13 Reasons Why was "It is better to cherish what you have while you have it, or you might lose it." Analyzes in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details. I said "You do not quite see this in the beginning because you think that Clay is guilty, but then when his tape comes up and the first thing Hannah points out is that he shouldn't quite be on the list, you see that Clay should have realized that Hannah was within his reach." The student provides an objective summary of a chapter or part of the text. I summarized the chapter, "In this chapter, Clay pops the tape in. It's his tape. Hannah starts off by telling him explicitly that he should not be on this list for the same reasons as the others. Then Hannah tells why he is on there. Clay and Hannah went to a party and ended up getting in some sort of relationship, but it's different for both of them. They just hide away and kiss. Hannah describes it as, "different than any other experience," she's had. Clay feels just about the same. Hannah suddenly gets flashbacks of her past relationships and forces Clay up and out. Clay is deeply confused, did he do something? He doesn't have a clue. but Hannah puts him on the list for the better. She says that he needed to be on it, and that she is sorry."

The goals I need to make for next trimester consist of fitting reading into my tight schedule when it opens up, and working on writing. I hope to read at least two new books, of a decent length, without having to force myself. I want to work on my comprehension while reading, and picking more up from the text. I need to work on analysis writing, because although it is not poor, it is not to the standard I'd like it to be. 

Encouragement

In Thirteen Reasons Why, Asher includes a lot of little secret encouragements so here is a little encouragement!

Analysis

In Thirteen Reasons Why, the majority of the book is very straight forward. Asher does force you into inferring. How does he do this? Simple! He knows we are curious and puts off the plot! It's so simple yet so engaging. (Clay in normal, Hannah in italics) "You'll do that, right? All of you? You'll fill in the gaps? Because every story I'm telling leaves so many unanswered questions. Unanswered? I would have answered any question, Hannah but you never asked," (Asher 78). You can see how Asher uses Hannah's voice right here to do so. She wants you to guess and put your imagination to fill the holes, yet that's what drives her to her death.

Theme & Summary

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

Theme: It is better to cherish what you have while you have it, or you might lose it

You do not quite see this in the beginning because you think that Clay is guilty, but then when his tape comes up and the first thing Hannah points out is that he shouldn't quite be on the list, you see that Clay should have realized that Hannah was within his reach.

 In this chapter, Clay pops the tape in. It's his tape. Hannah starts off by telling him explicitly that he should not be on this list for the same reasons as the others. Then Hannah tells why he is on there. Clay and Hannah went to a party and ended up getting in some sort of relationship, but it's different for both of them. They just hide away and kiss. Hannah describes it as, "different than any other experience," she's had. Clay feels just about the same. Hannah suddenly gets flashbacks of her past relationships and forces Clay up and out. Clay is deeply confused, did he do something? He doesn't have a clue. but Hannah puts him on the list for the better. She says that he needed to be on it, and that she is sorry.

Tone and Mood

The tone of 13 Reasons Why is usually sarcastic (when Hannah is speaking) and confused (when Clay or the speaker is speaking). Here is a passage which very clearly shows this. Hannah's words are in italics.

"Hello, boys and girls. Hannah Baker here. Live and in stereo.
I don't believe it.
 No return engagements. No encore. And this time, absolutely no requests.
No, I cant believe it. Hannah Baker killed herself." (Asher 7)

Hannah sways Clay's beliefs with the tapes from Clay believing he was innocent and had nothing to do with it, and makes him think  otherwise. Hannah is very harshly sarcastic and it makes him realize exactly what happened.

13 Reasons Why Trailer

I did this with The Fault in our Stars as well but I found a really cool trailer for 13 Reasons as well. Enjoy!

13 Things about 13 Reasons Why

I'm literally just going to write down 13 things that come to mind about this book. If this list of random things interest you, go out and grab this book!

1.) Reality of a teenage world

2.) Realistic emotional thoughts

3.) The feeling as if you are emotionally into the book

4.) Engagement in a story

5.) Knowing the latest gossip

6.) Compassion

7.) Characters that feel real to you

8.) The need to keep reading because you're so engaged

9.) Thinking, "Wow, this could really happen to a lot of people I know?"

10.) Big concepts of emotions

11.) Learning from a book and actually taking away with it

12.) Sadness that there's no more to the story

13.) A BOOK THAT SPEAKS TO YOU


These are all qualities that 13 Reasons has and I highly recommend it to teens.

Note about Thirteen Reasons Why

I just want to answer a question I've been getting in comments. Thirteen Reasons Why is not so much sad, because what's done is done and Hannah is dead. Nothing can change that. The book is mostly eye-opening to how actions no matter how little, can certainly affect someone in a very alarming way. I know people like Hannah and you need to watch how you react to people, because everyone is hurtful in some ways, but you must control yourself. This book gives you a very close look into a very sad story and if you are interested from this post alone, I recommend that you read it.

Reading Skills

I am currently reading Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and so far, so good. I'm about a fourth of the way done (I'd be farther but I'm extremely busy), and it's good so far! I don't think Clay was on Hannah's list for doing something really bad, if anything it was an accident because Clay really has no clue what he did to get the tapes.If he did do something, I want to know, why did it affect Hannah so badly? What could Clay have done that he would have forgotten? This book is very relevant to the world, because the story is very realistic. Like I know people who have committed suicide, and the story portrays reactions in a real way. This book is kind of similar to The Fault in our Stars in the way that the main character has a large, permanent internal conflict to deal with, with no solution. This book is also relatable to me because Hannah tells stories, that I have been in very similar situations as. So far, this book is very engaging and realistic, and I like it.

Recommendation

I recommend Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher to young adults who like to read REAL stories. Not nonfiction, but real in the fact that it is a good portrayal to the actual world we live in, bad and good. The set up of the book is interesting. Switching between two speakers, the story is about a boy named Clay who's crush and classmate, Hannah, killed herself rather unexpectedly the week before. He finds a set of tapes on his doorstep containing 7 tapes, with 7 A sides, and 6 B side (13 total) recordings of each of the reasons why Hannah committed suicide. Each reason is a person. Clay is one of these people. You'll have to read to find out how he made the list, and he has to listen to them because he doesn't quite know either. This book is good for anyone who likes detailed thoughts of characters, because that is the whole book, and a long, but quick read. So far, I am really enjoying this book and I think you might too.

John Green Video

This is the author of both The Fault in our Stars and Looking For Alaska, John Green. I love this video because it shows his personality, and it's fantastic

The Fault in our Stars Song

Theme

The theme in The Fault in our Stars is love will push through hardship. Both Augustus and Hazel know that they're dying, but they have gotten over it. They do not focus on it, if anything they fight it for each other. "“’I’ll fight it, I’ll fight it for you. Don’t you worry about me Hazel Grace. I’m okay. I’ll find away to hang around and annoy you for a long time.’ I was crying. But even then he was strong, holding me tight so that I could see the sinewy muscles of his arms wrapped around me as he said, ‘I’m sorry. You’ll be okay. It’ll be okay. I promise,’ and smiled his crooked smile.” (Green, 215)

The Fault in our Stars Article

Click Here

This article is off of the author's official website. It provides reviews, letters to Green, and a little other information.