...In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald presents his view that the American Dream is nothing more than an unachievable illusion, forever just barely out of our grasp. This is represented in the book by a variety of elements and plot points, most notoriously the green light. However, the symbol of the American Dream most central to the plot of The Great Gatsby is actually Daisy, with many of the other symbols flowing from their association with her. The vast riches and lands that Gatsby accrues, which in many other stories would represent that he, the son of dirt poor farmers who has managed to claw his way up to the top through whatever it took, has achieved the American Dream as it is commonly depicted, going from a pauper to a prince, are not his end goal but instead a means to the end, that of a happy life with Daisy as his wife, a life which he has thus far only been able to imagine whilst gazing at the light at the end of her dock which is as green as his envy that Tom is living the life Gatsby...
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...Conley Howard The Great Gatsby Literary Analysis Notebook Mrs. Marlar/English III Period 6 Howard 1 Literary Element- Symbolism Chapter 1, page 21 Original Quote: “But I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and, far as I was from him, I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far way, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unique darkness.”(Fitzgerald 21) Paraphrase with Analysis: Gatsby is being spotted by Nick, the narrator, while he is reaching out across his dock to the green light. (Fitzgerald 21) The green light symbolizes Daisy. Green is also an archetype and the negative associations are death and decay. Green can also foreshadow Gatsby death in the end since he never achieved the “green light” being Daisy who she chose Tom Buchanan in the end. Embedded Quotes in Paraphrase with Analysis: David F. Trask in his book, A Note on Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, states that “Gatsby believed in the green light, the future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further ... And one fine morning Alas, all of us! The novel ends on a desperately somber note: So we beat on, boats...
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...The Great Gatsby Essay On the outside, The Great Gatsby seems to be a story about a twisted love affair. Fitzgerald is showing the many changes happening during the 1920’s society, and how it affected the idea of the American dream. Fitzgerald shows the strive for the wealth, which defined the American dream in the 1920’s and which continues to defines as a desire for wealth and success today. In the book, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is showing the corruption of the American dream by throwing parties, making love and having money. After WWII, there was an economic boom which left people suddenly rich, and they were referred to as the “new money.” There quickly became a difference between the “new money” and the people who were previously wealthy. What used to “pursuit of happiness” is now the pursuit of money and greed. The “new money” people don’t like the “old money” people. Jay Gatsby throws parties throughout the summer to show of how much money he has. “There was music from my neighbor’s house through the summer night.” ( ) This quote shows that Gatsby has a lot of money because he can afford to throw parties throughout the summer. Money is everything in the world today and it was a huge part in the world back in the 1920’s economy too. The Great Gatsby also symbolizes love throughout the story. There were love affairs between married couples and single people. The biggest affair out of all the characters was definitely Daisy and Gatsby. Jay Gatsby has the biggest...
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...novel The Great Gatsby. It outlines the theme and develops the characters as the story progresses. In this essay I will show how certain symbolism connects to the characters and then I will explain the theme of the book in my eyes. Symbolism is used in one of major ways in this book either a color or a object representing something. The first piece of symbolism that is very important and widely used in the book is the color white. In the novel we are constantly hearing about white this and that but you ever stopped thought about how it is different for each character? Tom for example it is the fact that he is cheating on his wife and the constant covering up of that fact. For Gatsby it is the covering up of his past and how he truly came into his money. For Daisy it is the growing hatred for her husband which is unconventional at the time that is why Daisy says “it is best for a girl to be a pretty fool”. How it connects to the theme is that people are constantly scanning and finding a way to feign and con people out of what they want but maintaining the image of innocence....
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...show the demise of the “American Dream” by Demonstrating that the American class system determines your manner, Lifestyle and character 1. Introduction: Fitzgerald believed the American dream was false and distorted. 2. Stories showed the decadence of the Jazz Age but with a jaded view 3. 1920s a. About the time period b. “The Jazz Age” c. Wealth d. Social values e. Fashion 4. Works by Fitzgerald a. This Side of Paradise b. The Great Gatsby c. The love of the last tycoon 5. Symbolism a. Great Gatsby i. Green light ii. Valley of ashes (poor’s lack of values, unfaithful’s lack of morals) iii. Beat up car b. This Side of Paradise i. Speed and cars ii. Alcohol as means to forget c. The Love of the Last Tycoon i. Car ii. Sheep /people iii. Light/darkness as reality/fantasy 6. Theme a. American dream b. Class system c. Relationships 7. Conclusion The death of the “American Dream” was a notable part of the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald. His use of symbolism and extensive writings on the large gap between the social classes demonstrated why he felt this way. According to his writings, Fitzgerald was of the opinion that where a person fell in the class system would play a huge role in how the American dream played out for them. Social class in America would determine the lifestyle...
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...writers of the 20th century and the time called the „Jazz Age”. His most famous works are „The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and „The Great Gatsby” which have been adapted into films. The Great Gatsby has been the basis for many movie adaptations of the same name in 1926, 1949, 1974, 2000, and the latest in 2013. 2. Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony "Baz" Luhrmann (1962 - ) is an Australian film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known for directing Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge, Australia and the newest version of The Great Gatsby released in 2013. 3. „The Great Gatsby” – the plot of the novel The Great Gatsby is an American novel written in 1925 that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story primarily concerns the young, handsome and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his unrealistic illusion and passion for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. Major characters Nick Carraway – a Yale graduate originating from the Midwest, a World War I veteran, and, at the start of the plot, a newly arrived resident of West Egg, who is about 30 years old. He serves as the first-person narrator of the novel. He is Gatsby's next-door neighbour and a bond salesman. He is an easy-going, occasionally sarcastic, and quite optimistic person. Jay Gatsby (originally James "Jimmy" Gatz) – a young, handsome and mysterious millionaire with shady business connections, originally from North...
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...The Great Gatsby essay Mrs. Loughran The Green Light Nick Carraway is a man around 30 years old living in West Egg, an island separated from New York City by a small bay, in 1922 in The Great Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald. Nick was born in the Mid-West and has since gone to Yale; he moves to New York in the summer of 1922 to learn and eventually practice the bond business. While living in West Egg, Nick observes that he has a mysterious neighbor who owns a very large mansion: The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard – it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden (11). Massive parties are thrown in this mansion almost every weekend, and all types of people show up. Nick eventually learns that the man living in this mansion is named Gatsby, and they become friends over the course of the summer. There are many rumors about him but nobody actually knows where he comes from or how he becomes so wealthy. As Nick becomes better friends with Gatsby, he learns that Gatsby is deeply in love with Nick’s cousin, Daisy. This love, however, has taken over Gatsby’s life ever since he meets Daisy before he leaves to fight in the Great War. After he comes back from the war, he finds that Daisy has moved on with her life, and is now married to Tom Buchannan and is living in New York. Gatsby moves...
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...obtaining better lives. The character of Jay Gatsby is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is one of these people. Throughout the novel, Gatsby represents the American Dream through both his wealth and his lavish lifestyle to once again win the love of Daisy Buchanan. Besides the fictional Gatsby, millions of others throughout history have also found the American Dream to be quite attainable. The idea of the Dream is and always has been...
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...Conclusion reinforces and summarized the essay. 4. Less than five grammatical errors. Jay Gatsby vs. Tom Buchanan The Great Gatsby, exhibits several person vs. person conflicts; this novel shows one character, Gatsby, who has a problem with one of the other characters, Tom. Throughout the story, Jay Gatsby’s love for Tom’s wife, Daisy, is a reoccurring conflict. The resolution of this problem is concluded with the exposure of Tom and Gatsby, and finally the confrontation in a parlor at a hotel. The exposure of Tom was a critical element to the on-going conflict between Tom and Jay within the novel. Tom Buchanan’s affair with Myrtle Wilson was intentionally revealed to Nick, and later was discovered by Daisy Buchanan. Regardless of what ethics Tom may lack, his loyalty to his wife was no longer a priority in his life. His prolonged affair with Mrs. Wilson had more value to him then his marriage with Daisy. Furthermore, Tom, long before he met Mrs. Wilson, had several other affairs with various women. Even as a young couple who traveled the world, Tom’s dishonesty increased towards Daisy, through his numerous affairs. His desperation for love from random women consumed his life. These acts of adultery were horrendous and sickening as Tom blandly denied any involvement in them to Daisy. Thus, the conflict between Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Gatsby began to broil throughout the novel, The Great Gatsby. Along with Tom’s horrific past, Jay Gatsby withheld quite a complex past of his...
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...Assessment Secondary Methods June 27, 2011 Rachel Wurmlinger, Facilitator Instructional Unit Plan 1. Overview of Unit A. Title – 20th Century Socialite: The Great Gatsby B. Focus – English/Language Arts; 11th grade (Honors): The focus of this unit is to introduce students to the characteristics and elements of contemporary American literature and to allow students to relate the themes of the novel, The Great Gatsby, in a meaningful way to increase understanding. C. Length – 1.25 instructional weeks (six 50-minute sessions) D. Goals – Students will understand that American literature contains unique and specific elements by reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Also, students will recognize themes in Fitzgerald’s work by examining modern pop cultural products (multimedia samples, newspaper articles, music videos, etc.). 2. Lesson Plans 1-5 Lesson Plan #1 Title: The American Novel Time: 50-minute session Standards: Georgia Performance Standards: ELA11LSV1 (indicators a-h)—Actively participates in whole group verbal interactions. ELA11LSV2 (b)—Analyzes techniques used in media messages for a particular audience and evaluates effectiveness. Objectives: 1. After watching an introductory presentation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (TGG), students will be able to identify the characteristics of the American novel with 100% accuracy. 2. After viewing You Tube video and working in small groups to...
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...critical theory today critical theory today A Us e r - F r i e n d l y G u i d e S E C O N D E D I T I O N L O I S T Y S O N New York London Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 270 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 Routledge Taylor & Francis Group 2 Park Square Milton Park, Abingdon Oxon OX14 4RN © 2006 by Lois Tyson Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business Printed in the United States of America on acid‑free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number‑10: 0‑415‑97410‑0 (Softcover) 0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) International Standard Book Number‑13: 978‑0‑415‑97410‑3 (Softcover) 978‑0‑415‑97409‑7 (Hardcover) No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data Tyson, Lois, 1950‑ Critical theory today : a user‑friendly guide / Lois Tyson.‑‑ 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0‑415‑97409‑7 (hb) ‑‑ ISBN 0‑415‑97410‑0 (pb) 1. Criticism...
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...Senior English Curriculum Map: 2010-2011 School Year English IV * Note: “Sacred Book List” Addendum is at the end of this document Quarter #1 August 23 to October 22 Essential Questions: 1. How do writers and artists organize or construct text to convey meaning? 2. What does it mean to be a stranger in the village? Unit Goals 1. To understand the relationship between perspective and critical theory. 2. To apply critical theories to various texts studied and created. 3. To control and manipulate textual elements in writing to clearly and effectively convey a controlling idea or thesis. Student Published Portfolios: For each of the first three quarters, students are required to complete three to four published writing portfolio products. Quarter 4 is devoted to completion of the Laureate Research Project. . Pacing: This map is one suggestion for pacing. Springboard pacing guides precede each unit in the “About the Unit” sections and offers pacing on a 45-minute class period length. Prentice Hall Literature – Use selections from Prentice Hall throughout the quarter to reinforce the standards being taught as well as the embedded assessments within the SpringBoard curriculum. QUARTER #1 SpringBoard Curriculum Pacing Guide August 23 – October 22 Standards and Benchmarks | Unit Pacing Guide | SpringBoard Unit/Activities | Assessments | SpringBoard Unit 1Literature * The students will analyze and compare significant works of...
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...in itself and which pieces of writing we can include within this label. It is believed that when a piece is written in North America, more precisely in the USA, it would automatically be given this epithet. But it should be taken into account that this idea is quite broad and doesn’t reflect the real essence of the term. However, there is also another definition that gathers this essence: American Literature is the one that represents the Americanism, the singularity of the USA philosophy and culture. This way, instead of focusing on who the author is, it is focused on the content of the writing. In that which concerns Fiction, the following documents are the ones considered as narrative: Speeches Letters Short Stories Essays Political Documents Sermons Novels Diaries 1 FIRST LITERARY EXPRESSIONS The first documents in which the idea of Americanism is very present are the Sermons. They respond to the strict Protestantism settled in the New Continent after the arrival of the Pilgrim Fathers and Puritans in the Mayflower (1620) and the Arabella (1630). They established a theocratic community whose main and only point of reference was the Bible. That is why the idea of the ‘city upon a hill’ is still very present in American mentality. As we all know, their community was also governed by the concept of Predestination. This belief was based in the idea that we are saved or condemned since the...
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...http://www.historytoday.com/jerome-de-groot/signposts-historical-fiction These were some of the questions raised at a recent conference at the Institute of Historical Research at which History Today Editor, Paul Lay, hosted a discussion between Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall, and the Tudor historian David Loades. Historians often describe themselves as detectives, seeking out a kind of truth among the conflicting evidence of the past. There is, furthermore, a large and growing subgenre of historical crime fiction. From C.J. Sansom to Philip Pullman, from Orhan Pamuk to Walter Mosley, from Ellis Peters to Boris Akunin, novelists have been keen to use the past as a backdrop for their stories of detection and mystery. The most famous historical detective might be Brother William of Baskerville in Umberto Eco’s peerless The Name of the Rose (Il nome della rosa, 1980). Recently we have seen a flowering of historical crime fiction as the subgenre attains maturity and becomes increasingly popular and innovative. Jason Goodwin, Philip Kerr and Susan Hill were all shortlisted for the prestigious Crime Writers Association Dagger this year (recent historical winners include Arianna Franklin, Jake Arnott and Craig Russell). Clearly the combination of thriller, crime and historical detail is compelling. Anne Perry’s new Inspector Pitt novel, Betrayal at Lisson Grove (out in paperback from Headline this year) is a pacy, twisting thriller. It is 1895 and Pitt is up against a conspiracy...
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...Rhetorical Terms/Devices Figurative language is the generic term for any artful deviation from the ordinary mode of speaking or writing. It is what makes up a writer’s style – how he or she uses language. The general thinking is that we are more likely to be persuaded by rhetoric that is interesting, even artful, rather than mundane. When John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country” (an example of anastrophe), it was more interesting – and more persuasive – than the simpler, “Don’t be selfish.” Indeed, politicians and pundits use these devices to achieve their desired effect on the reader or listener nearly every time they speak. The stylistic elements in a piece of writing work to produce a desired effect related to the text’s (and author’s) purpose, and thus reveals the rhetorical situation. In classical rhetoric, figures of speech are divided into two main groups: Schemes — Deviation from the ordinary pattern or arrangement of words (transference of order). Tropes — Deviation from the ordinary and principal meaning of a word (transference of meaning). *Important Note: Words marked with an asterisk* are words for which it would be impossible for you to write 3 examples for your weekly vocabulary assignment. In those cases, please write only the definition, in your own words, and the rhetorical uses/effect of that device, or do what you are instructed to do under those words. Please mark these words that deviate...
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