Put yourself into the shoes of the Younger family. What do you think it would be like to live in a tiny, three-room apartment with three generations of your family, without the choice or resources to move elsewhere?

If I were to put myself in the shoes of the Younger family, and I had to live in a tiny, three-room apartment with three generations of my family, I would be very grateful for the meals on my table. I would be grateful because I would know that I my family works very hard for the things I have. I think it would be very difficult to have a small house with many people because I would not have a lot of privacy to do school assignments. I would also have to share my stuff with everyone including cloth, food and etc. I feel as though I it would be very hard to enjoy school or have education due to the reason that I may have to work for money to support my family. Also, I think it would be very frustrating as the family grows or more obstacles come into living. I would feel hopeless because I wouldn't be able to get out of that situation. In short words, I believe this would be very hard. 

"Love is Blindness" by Jack White

Since I am a huge lover of this book and music, I decided for my free blog post that I would write about how in the death scene of Myrtle they use the song known as "Love is Blindness" by Jack White.

Personally, I found it very interesting how the whole scene played out, but the thing that I focused on the most was the song, and it's lyrics. I noticed how the song can connect to how Myrtle ran towards the car. The fact that Myrtle is under the impression that its Tom she thinks that he will stop at that speed. I know it wasn't Tom, and most people would think that if it were Tom that he would stop because they are in love. However, I strongly disagree because at that speed it is very hard and difficult to stop your car. Just because they are in love doesn't mean that it will magically make them be together and stop the car. Somehow, I believe that this is how everyone is blinded when it comes to love. 

Also, how Gatsby believed he could repeat the past simply because he was in love with Daisy. It shows how Gatsby is so blinded by the thought of his love for Daisy that he misses the fact that he can't really repeat those moments in his life. 

The song strongly related to the scene and even though it's not jazz music, or music from the 20s, they use the appropriate type of music for this scene.   

Choose any topic of interest that we have discussed in class (or not discussed, if you have a new one) in relation to The Great Gatsby and explore it further. Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

An idea/discussion that really interests me is the idea of whether if someone can repeat the past. In page 85, it says "I wouldn’t ask too much of her,” I ventured. “You can’t re-peat the past.” “Can’t repeat the past?” he cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!” Gatsby believes that you can repeat the past, and I agree with him. I just disagree with that situation; I think that he couldn't repeat that part of his past. I think that if an event is very vague and without a lot of detail, it is possible to repeat that event. In the book towards the end, it states something similar which is the last sentence of the book, "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back cease-lessly into the past." It states that we will always be reminded about our past.

Describe what happens when Myrtle is killed in chapter 7. How did it happen? Who was to blame? Use textual evidence.

Describe what happens when Myrtle is killed in chapter 7. How did it happen? Who was to blame? Use textual evidence.

In chapter 7, Myrtle is killed by the yellow car that is Tom's. She ran out to the car because she wanted to see Tom. Wilson, her husband, was beating her and telling her that they were going to move out of The Valley of Ashes. However, Tom does not kill Myrtle; Daisy kills Myrtle. Her death was instant as they say on page 139, "Auto hit her. Ins'antly killed." Also, it was very violent. On page 137, it describes her death, "...they saw that her left breast was swinging loose like a flap...The mouth was wide open and ripped at the corners." Their is confusion over who hit her. Tom believes it was Gatsby (page 141, "He didn't even stop his car."), while Nick find outs that is was Daisy on page     143, when he asks Gatsby. Towards the end of the chapter, Gatsby stays at Daisy's house and looks over her by seeing if anything goes wrong. Nick goes home even though he is invited by Jordan. 

On Thursday, we took a field trip to two very different neighborhoods to look for food. Examine how this experience might influence your understanding of the social stratification in The Great Gatsby (thing the Eggs vs. the Valley of Ashes). Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

Monday Blog Post:

On Thursday, we took a field trip to two very different neighborhoods to look for food. Examine how this experience might influence your understanding of the social stratification in The Great Gatsby (thing the Eggs vs. the Valley of Ashes). Use textual evidence to support your ideas.

I believe that the two trips help us see the huge difference when it comes to how the money within the neighborhoods affect the quality and quantity of food. It helped me understand the visual of how the Valley of Ashes would look. It was hard to image how it was described on page 23, "...A fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air." Also, it was hard to compare it with how it might look today in this generation. Then, we saw the differences with the neighborhoods, and it helped me see the huge differences within the two. It helped me understand how the poor class where put to belong and stay in the poor class while the rich where meant to stay and belong in the rich class. The way the system was set up made it hard for the poor class to get out of the poor class. It truly makes me question the American Dream, and I think this is what Nick questions too. He questions it when he visits the Valley of Ashes. This trip truly made me understand social stratification in the story. 

"So far, Nick Carraway has made two statements about his principles. At the beginning of the book, on page 1, he states, "I'm inclined to reserve all judgements..." Then, a the end of chapter 3, on page 59, he claims, "I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." Comment on whether you believe these statements to be true about Nick. Include evidence from the text."

"So far, Nick Carraway has made two statements about his principles. At the beginning of the book, on page 1, he states, "I'm inclined to reserve all judgements..." Then, a the end of chapter 3, on page 59, he claims, "I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known." Comment on whether you believe these statements to be true about Nick. Include evidence from the text."

I believe that the statements that Nick said about himself are false. The first statement he makes, " I'm inclined to reserve all judgments..." In my opinion, they are false due to the text in Chapter 1, on page 2, he states that "Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope." He says that it is not possible to save your judgements because it is human nature. Also, there is several examples where he judges people. An example would be in Chapter 3, on page 48, "I had expected that Mr.Gatsby would be a florid and corpulent person in his middle years."  Also, I believe that Nick is not honest as honest as he says he is. First of all, we see the whole story through his perspective, so we would never really see if he lies. In Chapter 2, on page 24, "Though I was curious to see her, I had no desire to meet her - but I did." He should be honest and certain about wanting to meeting her, so it wasn't honest. The statements were not true about his principles, and I wonder what other principles he will mention throughout the story. 

What information about income inequality surprised or disturbed you the most? Explore some reasons why you think this information surprised or disturbed you.

What information about income inequality surprised or disturbed you the most? Explore some reasons why you think this information surprised or disturbed you.

A piece of information about income inequality surprised me was the fact that 1% owned the United States' wealth. It did not only surprise me, but it disturbed me due to the reason that the lower class had a little money or no money. It disturbs me is because the hard working poor class do not receive the money they work for. The American Dream is false when it comes to the income equality. It is one of the reasons as to why this surprises/disturbs me a lot.