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.