The Worst Thing about The Great Gatsby

Although The Great Gatsby is a pretty good story, let's talk about the typical boring "book" qualities. Everyone says they hate reading. Everyone's said it, even if you're the type to read 6 books a week. But no one hates reading when there's a good story. That's what Gatsby's like. The story sucks you in and makes you do the pathetic "read 150 pages in one sitting oops" type thing. So the worst thing about The Great Gatsby? There is none. Read the book, see the movie, and google pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby. It's cool, I get you.

Excuse the short post, I just really wanted to say this. Any suggestions for my next book, that you could say the same about?

Suspense; The Great Gatsby

Does The Great Gatsby have effective suspense? Some might say yes, but I would say no. There's not much action to the book (for me, at least) as there is just sharing a lifestyle love story of Jay and Daisy. But instead of suspense, I think curiousity is what keeps you reading, not suspense. You get invested into this book and the tale of Jay Gatsby, but it's not really a cliffhanging, must-read-on type book. Fitzgerald uses one of the most basic human characteristics; curiousity. You feel you need to know what's next. So no, The Great Gatsby doesn't have "suspense", but using the human, curiousity-driven mind is just as effective, and twice as genius.

For those of you who have read this, do you feel the same way? And those of you who have not, do you think a cliffhanger and using curiousity are essentially the same technique?

The best thing about The Great Gatsby

The best thing about The Great Gatsby is the realism in the characters. Jay, for example isn't just a polished rich guy in New York. Jay has a very shady past and human fears. His emotions for Daisy are very human, not just typical love story, happily ever after. He gets jealous, he makes mistakes. It happens and he accepts this and moves on. Daisy also isn't just a polished, beautiful girl either. She has her fears and anxieties just like Jay, and it gives you a deep connection in the book. Empathy draws the characters to you in this book. You feel their emotions, and that is the best thing about this American Classic.

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.