Journal 21

Some Like It Hot and The Great Gatsby both focused on the culture of prosperity. The underlying theme of the works is money and indulgence. Both have character that drink, smoke, and are fun-loving. Characters are also having affairs, getting married, and divorcing multiple times in Some Like It Hot and The Great Gatsby. In Some Like It Hot, girls are shallow gold diggers. Sugar fell in love with Joe because she thought he was a wealthy oil industrialist. In Gatsby, Daisy fell for Tom because of his wealth as well. Both works also bring up conflict with the law during prohibition. Gatsby was selling alcohol in his drug store with gangsters going around selling it illegally as well. Both works include woman that are drinkers and flappers. Gatsby has lavish parties and Joe and Jerry are musicians in speak easies. The characters are shallow and only after the monetary things in life. The characters are also struggling to find love in both of the works. Both works basically imply that the American life is shallow with very few deep thinkers. The people just want a good time and easy money. 

Journal 20

Nick uses the imagery of Gatsby’s parties and talks about how they will never again fill his house. The party is over for Gatsby and no one has stayed around to help clean up. Nick headed into a new world with the shore left behind him. The green light was a visual symbol of hope for Gatsby and is to him what the green land was to the Dutch sailors when they first came across. In the end, the beacon’s green light was as elusive as Gatsby's dream to live with Daisy for the rest of his life. The green light was as bright and enchanting as Long Island was when the Dutch sailors found it so very long ago. The continent captivated the Dutch explorers and was filled with their hearts with hopes and dreams just like the green light captured Gatsby. Gatsby reached as far for the stars as he possibly could, but like the sailors, his dream of living with Daisy escaped him and left him with bullets in his back. We should all strive to be like Gatsby and go as far as we possibly can to reach our goals, but stop when we know they are too out of reach to even fathom achieving. 

Journal 19

Nick Carraway        Adjective _______introverted____________

Small and skinny, not very intimidating

Didn’t say much, just listened a lot

He was a good friend to Gatsby and asked for nothing in return

Tom Buchanan        Adjective ___________juxtaposed____________

Big and intimidating, but just really forceful

Talked way too much to be a good character

He was always trying to put himself higher above everyone else.

Daisy Buchanan     Adjective _____________ditsy_____________

Tiny and confused

Very talkative, liked to joke around and be

She was always unsure on what to do, especially when it came to following her heart

Jordan Baker           Adjective __________reserved__________

Mysteriously attractive and illusive

Wasn’t very talkative, but knew almost everything about the people she met up with

Jay Gatsby               Adjective ________smart___________

Attractive and kind hearted

He was always making other people happy. 

Journal 18

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

The story actually takes place in another country. The story is set in Milan, Italy.

The group of men were all injured and this created a bond between the few men, and made them different from everyone else.

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

Signore Maggiore is the best representation of the “Hemingway hero”. He suffers with grace and dignity, and works at it every day. He also suffers on an emotional level too. Losing one’s spouse must be the hardest thing for one to go to. However, he also lost his ability to fence completely because of his hand being messed up. He fights and works at what he has to do throughout everything.

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

I would think that most of the photographs are just up for advertisement and fake. However, there must have been at least a few that benefited from the physical therapy, so those who had a great outcome have their final products up on the wall as well.

Journal 17

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

Because he is filled with anxiety, and is self conscious, he thinks that no one will ever hear his story and so he is comfortable with it. The epigraph is about a person who is saying that he is a background person who is too self conscious to talk about themselves, but will agree to saying it because he doesn’t think that anyone will ever read/hear of it.

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

Do I dare?
Shall I?

How should I presume?

How should I begin?

All of his questions are about what he should do or his life. He is uncertain about everything he is. The little mundane things about life and himself he questions. There is no decisiveness in even the smallest of things.

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

Prufrock’s main problem was being too self conscious, too filled with anxiety, undecisive, and he’s afraid to take action.

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

Because it is ironic. It is not a love song, it was more about pity for not having a loving life. It is ironic because it is all about him being alone with no one to love. Instead of it being about love and happiness, it is about his quiet desperation and loveless life.

Journal 15

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 message is that trying to live in an optimal world instead of reality is a really bad thing, especially for Editha.

“It isn’t this war alone; though this seems peculiarly wanton and needless; but it’s every war –so stupid; it makes me sick. Why shouldn’t this thing have been settled reasonably?”

“He told me he had asked you to come if he got killed. You didn’t expect that, I suppose, when you sent him.”

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

Editha tries to reason with George by telling him he has to, just like every other man out there. She says that it needs to happen because that's what life is about, fighting in a war and coming home with a victory. She also threatened that if he didn't go, she wouldn't get married to him. That was the reason he actually went.

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

Editha has a slight understanding of what she was done after she finds out that George has died. She mourns his loss and visits George’s mother like he asked. George's mom yells at Editha and blames her for his death, which she has the right to do. Editha doesn’t truly understand her actions though. She has an epiphany at the end that brings her back into her ideal world when the lady Editha was telling her story to, agreed that Mrs. Gearson was vulgar for saying those things. Editha rose out of self-pity and began to live in the ideal again.

Journal 14

Journal #14 - E. A. Robinson Poems

Realism – The theory or practice in art and literature of fidelity to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization of the most typical views, details, and surroundings of the subject.

Read the following poems and write a detailed description for each of the title characters and explain how each is an example of the “real” instead of the “ideal.”

“Richard Cory“ (497)

It is about a man who everyone thinks has it all. He was looked at by everyone when he went in to town. He had the “ideal” life. He appreaed to have the “perfect life”. But really on the inside, he had all kinds of problems. Then, he ironically killed himself. A theme would be “don’t judge a book by its cover”. What’s on the surface isn’t always a reflection of what’s beneath the surface.

“Miniver Cheevy” (497)

He wishes he was born in a different time. Cheevy wanted to be born in medieval times. He likes romance stories with knights in shining armour and pretty ladies. He wishes to have been able to see the Medici clan. Because he couldn’t have a life like in the stories, he drank to be able to fantasize about it. He confused what was real with what was fiction. Minimal Acchiever.

“Mr. Flood’s Party” (498)

Eben is an alcoholic and drunk throughout the whole monologue. He was a pathetic mess off alone by himself. Eben was talking to himself like there was another there. He’s an old man and all of his friends have either died or left him. So now he drinks to think there are others there to keep him company. Most of his used to be friends, they are now considered strangers to him. Because of how he acts, he lost all of his frineds.

Journal 13

Journal #13 – Edgar Lee Masters Epitaphs (p. 502)

Read “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” and answer the following questions.

1. What object symbolizes George Gray’s life? How is this object representative of him?

The object that symbolizes him is the furled sail. It symbolizes him because he is the kind of person that shys away from others and doesn’t adventure towards love. He is a furled sail because he is closed and reserved, and he isn’t open to the world.

2. How was Lucinda Matlock’s life different than George Gray’s? How do you interepret the last line of the poem?

Lucinda’s life was different because she went out and did things with others. She didn’t stay on the sidelines in the shadows. Instead, she played games, danced, and got married, as well as raised 12 children. She did and became what every woman at that time strived to be.

3. How are “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” examples of realism?

They’re standard in many ways. They may not be very similar, but they are average lives. Some may live to be old with a big family, while others may live out their lives without anyone to love.

Journal 12

1. “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory (symbolic narrative). What do the following represent?

Young Goodman Brown – symbolizes the fall of man. He is a good young man, but he is an average person who can fall under temptation just like anyone else.

Faith – she represents faith in others, and in society.

The Elderly Traveller/Fellow-Traveller – the devil, temptation, evil, man’s true nature

Goody Cloyse – hypocrisy, projecting an image, and being different on the inside

The Ceremony – acceptance of your internal flaws

The Pink Ribbon – purity, faith, good in the world, and when the ribbon dropped you realize that that is just a delusion.

Young Goodman Brown’s Journey – the journey of life, going from inexperienced and naïve, to the better understanding of everything.

2. Identify the following for “Young Goodman Brown”:

Theme Message of Theme Element Used to Establish

Faith and Sin You start out faithful, symbols

but then you realize that

the world has become

a much darker place as

you've gotten older

In addition, provide three direct quotes from the story that address your theme.

But, irreverently consorting with these grave, reputable, and pious people, these elders of the church, these chaste dames and dewy virgins, there were men of dissolute lives and women of spotted fame, wretches given over to all mean and filthy vice, and suspected even of horrid crimes. It was strange to see that the good shrank not from the wicked, nor were the sinners abashed by the saints. (Hawthorne)

By the sympathy of your human hearts for sin ye shall scent out all the places—whether in church, bedchamber, street, field, or forest—where crime has been committed, and shall exult to behold the whole earth one stain of guilt, one mighty blood spot. (Hawthorne)

Come, devil: for to thee is this world given. (Hawthorne)

Journal 11

Journal 11 - Selections from Walden

Write a summary of the following selections and identify a direct quote that you feel best expresses its main idea.

“Where I Lived and What I Lived For” (232)

You think that technology results in connection, when it actually results in disconnection. You lose who you really are and stop thinking about what’s really essential. Writes about his time in the forest and what he sees. “To front only the essential facts of life.”

Quote: “We do not ride on the railroad, the railroad rides on us”

“Sounds” (234)

This passage is about the unique way of nature and how everyday is full of different sounds and images. The narrator is stating that as he watches each day pass from morning to night, he realizes that he is not wasting his time because he is admiring the way nature can chance in just moments. He is living in the present as he experiences the sounds of nature. He notices that live is beautiful and it is important that you should not miss it.

Quote: “I had this advantage, at least, in my mode of life, over those who were obliged to look abroad for amusement, to society and the theatre, that my life itself was become my amusement and ceased to be a novel.”

“Brute Neighbors” (235)

People fight over petty things. The black and red ants are meant to satirize war and fighting over unimportant things in life. He talks about the brutality of war and he thinks it’s funny that he can sit back and watch the ants fight. But then he begins to realize how similar they are to humans with the way they fight.

Quote: “And the results of this battle will be as important and memorable to those whom it comcerns as those of the battle of Bunker Hill”

“The Pond in Winter” (237)

Nature in which creatures live and flourish, there is no question, it just shows how beautiful it is. A pond in winter shows its own new beauty, but underneath that the original beauty is still there. Nature looks at rest, but life is thriving beneath the surface.

Quote: “Heaven is under our feet as well as over our head”

“Spring” (238)

Spring is when everything really flourishes. You are beginning to become overwhelmed with all the sights, sounds, and smells that come from plants beginning to blossom. The renewal of spring represents his own renewal coming out from the woods and being ready to take on the world again.

Quote: “The coming in of sring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.”

Journal 10

Othello’s Insight

Write a one paragraph response to the following question:

Often at the end of a play, Shakespeare’s tragic heroes often have a moment of insight. What is Othello’s insight? Look closely at Othello’s last speech before answering this question.

Othello realizes many things when he makes his last speech. His major realization is that he had everything he wanted threw it away by believing the wrong person. He hated himself for what he had done to the ones he loved. He also really regretted not trusting his wife who loved him more than anything, but instead trusting a “friend” who only wanted what would benefit himself only. Othello was full of remorse for what he had done to his wife and his friend, Cassio, but he wanted to still be recognized as a respected soldier and leader like he was before he had fallen under Iago’s tricks and deception.

Journal 9

9Free Will - The power of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances or by an agency such as fate or divine will.

Iago: “'tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are our
gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners” (1.3 361-3).

Determinism - The philosophical doctrine that every event, act, and decision is the inevitable consequence of antecedents, such as genetic and environmental influences, that are independent of the human will.

Othello: “Yet ‘tis the plague of great ones … ‘tis destiny unshunnable, like
death” (3.3 313-16).

Using the above definitions, write a paragraph that argues in support of each of the terms. In your paragraphs, use specific examples from Othello to support your ideas.

The free will statement is true. Free will means that one can make decisions on their own. It is not destined by fate or divine will, and it is not forced by outside sources. Othello chose to believe Iago and listen to what he had to say about both Desdemona, the woman he loved, as well as Cassio, his right hand man. He was not forced to do so, he believed on his own accord. However, this all was considered to be predetermined, even Othello says his life is, along with the surrounding influences. This predetermined act is not based on what he has done or thought, though.