...English 12 Great Gatsby Assignment ASSIGNMENT The questions below are all very open-ended, allowing you a permissive opportunity to reflect on and draw personalized meaning from the text. The key will not be right answers but how you position and support your reply to each question. As a result, responses should not appear as a question answered, but as an insight revealed. There will need to be an investigative quality to how you use the question to interpret the novel and its possible applications to your own personal and cultural realities. Responses will normally require a paragraph or two (200-300 words; more or less is fine so long as responses are complete). Question #1 Identify three scenarios (specific events or experiences) from The Great Gatsby which portray how some imagine and live out the Dream. Then, comment on what the experience suggests about the character’s underlying belief and motivation about “getting ahead” or having “a better life,” in connection with the greater insight of the novel. Finally, depict three expressions/experiences in cultural life today that bear striking similarity to the novel and comment freely on any relationships they have with its larger theme(s). In The Great Gatsby novel Daisy imagined the Dream as a life of popularity, status, and class. She married Tom who she does not love to achieve her idea of the Dream. Gatsby imagined the Dream when he started working for the rich man who took him under his...
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...aspect of the book Fences. Troy Maxson, our protagonist in this play, was a baseball player. It is Troy’s belief that the only reason he never made the major leagues was because he has the wrong color skin. Throughout the play, it is noticeable that Troy is still bitter over this and continuously makes references to current players and how he is much better than them. Troy’s life is a difficult one, and the connection between baseball and Troy’s trying life leads me to my point. The use of baseball in Fences is to symbolize the American dream and it being unattainable to Troy Maxson. First, how is it that our American pastime can be directly related to and represented as the American dream? There are several connections between the sport and the American dream that lead me to my thesis. The article Baseball as History and Myth in August Wilson’s Fences does a great job of connecting these two seemingly unrelated subjects. This article starts with a great quote by John Thorn saying, baseball has become “the great repository of national ideals, the symbol of all that [is] good in American life: fair play; the rule of law; equal opportunity; the brotherhood of man; and more.” Fair play shown through sportsmanship between the two teams, rule of law in “objective arbitration of disputes,” equal opportunity as each team is given a chance on both offensive and defensive sides each inning, and brotherhood as fans share the stands as they root on their team. The article goes...
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...“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” –Anonymous. You can do anything with education. This quote ties with the theme because education is great fun and not boring. In this book Norton Juster does a marvelous job of making the Phantom Tollbooth an amazing work of art and creativity. In the Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster brings you to a foreign land where words are sold and bought, sounds are collected and evil demons are stalking in the distance. In the tale Milo has to save to two princesses from the Castle in the Air to bring back Rhyme and Reason to the kingdom. Milo, Tock and the Humbug have to overcome many challenges to reach the kingdom of Digitopolis to ask for the location of the Castle in the...
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...years as Prime Minster of Great (1940-45, 1951-55), his fame, something many view as a crucial aspect of his life he thrived off of and live for, spanned well beyond the years he held various positions in political office. Churchill was born and raised in the Victorian Era, a time in which the British Empire was at its peak as the world’s strongest power. When studying almost any aspect of Churchill’s life, his romantic vision of Britain as a thriving empire and world power holds a strong precedence. Many historians study Churchill through his political career, aiming to validate claims both for and against Churchill as hero of his time. There is expansive research and volumes of evaluations on Churchill’s decision making and the associated success and failures that ensued. While the never ending debate on the quality of his leadership goes on, Churchill’s career as a writer and his extensive published works are commonly overlooked. This paper analyzes Churchill the writer and how his works not only paint a vivid picture of his life and times, but are also a self-reflection of the man he was and the man he wanted to be. Churchill once stated, “Writing a book is an adventure. To begin with it is a toy then an amusement. Then it becomes a mistress, and then it becomes a master, and then it becomes a tyrant and, in the last stage, just as you are about to be reconciled to your servitude, you kill the monster and fling him to the public”. Churchill’s life can be very closely compared...
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...Throughout the years, there have been many great speeches that have touched the hearts of many people. It is either from emotional experiences or tragic events that has shaped people into what they are today. They repeat their stories so that others can learn from their mistakes or they can be motivated to become better. Also good and bad decisions are a factor in a person’s success. Bumps in the road, poor decisions, regrets, something bad happening, road’s you take to success all align with how people in poverty relate to the world. When a situation is seemingly hopeless one minute and within the next that poor decision may have set someone on the correct path to success. Believe it or not, one of the most recognized speeches, that has touched...
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...and oppressive government or rule. An example of this would be king George. He was not giving the colonists their unalienable rights. The Constitution guarded against tyranny in many ways. These include federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and The Great Compromise. The Constitution guarded against tyranny through federalism. Federalism is the federal principle or system of government. James Madison wrote about federalism. He wrote about it because he wanted to get people to ratify the constitution. Doc A is an excerpt from Madison’s Federalist Paper 51. Federalism guarded against tyranny because as Madison put it “Liberty requires that the three great departments should be separate and distinct” (Madison, Federalist Paper #47). The evidence says it all. We MUST have the three departments...
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...INTRODUCTION: Chanakya was an Indian teacher, philosopher and royal advisor. Originally a professor of economics and political science at the ancient Takshashila University, Chanakya managed the first Maurya Emperor Chandragupta's rise to power at a young age. He is widely credited for having played an important role in the establishment of the Maurya Empire, which was the first empire in archaeologically recorded history to rule most of the Indian subcontinent. Chanakya served as the chief advisor to both Chandragupta and his son Bindusara. Chanakya is traditionally identified as Kautilya or Vishnu Gupta, who authored the ancient Indian political treatise called Arthasastra. As such, he is considered as the pioneer of the field of economics and political science in India, and his work is thought of as an important precursor to Classical Economics. Chanakya is often called the "Indian Machiavelli", although his works predate Machiavelli's by about 1,800 years. His works were lost near the end of the Gupta dynasty and not rediscovered until 1915. Chanakya’s Education Rishi Canak named his son as “Chanakya”. Being a teacher himself, he knew the importance of education. Taxila was one of the world centres for education. At a very early age little Chanakya started studying Vedas. The Vedas; considered to be the toughest scriptures to study were completely studied and memorized by Chanakya in his infancy. He was attracted to studies in politics. In politics Chanakya’s acumen and...
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...Jane Addams devoted her life to activism and social services. Her address to chicago’s union league club expresses her admiration for the integrity filled, first president George washington. Addams constructs her speech using classification to to description most notably attribute. As addams continues to flow with great oration she uses ethos and exemplification to construct her idea of washington's influential legacy having an uplifting and patriotic tone. To begin, Addams immediately asks a question, to allow her audience to formulate their image of washington.”what is a great man who has made his mark upon history?” this begins her own interpretation. She uses metaphors to help illustrate his character.” he is a man who has refused...
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...Abraham Lincoln once said, “Character is like a tree and reputation is like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” Many people could take this quotation different ways, but it means a lot more to me than words a deceased man said in his lifetime. This quote inspires me daily, and has a great significance in my life, along with many others. In the comparison of a tree to its shadow, one could think that the shadow is merely what follows the tree. If this was true according to Abraham Lincoln, the reputation of what others think of us is just something that follows our character- who we really are. As I see it, the tree and the shadow are two independent things. One person could have the reputation of being a liar, a cheater, or even not worthy of respect; just because of a mistake made in the past. He/she could have the most respectable, noteworthy character; but nobody would know because of the shadow of reputation that follows. Personally, I have experienced a lot of people looking at my shadow, and not the tree in front. I moved to Madison Comprehensive High School in the fall of 2012, and at the time it seemed like a great idea. I had family in the school, and all my friends from church went to the school, so it couldn’t be too bad. My cousin was the captain of the cheerleading team, so I spent most of my time with her and her senior friends from the football and cheerleading teams. I met one of her friends named Allen, and...
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...Panel 1 Miguel March 17, 2016 Declaration of Independence panel 2 Declaration of Independence Colonists wanted to get freedom from Great Britain’s King George III because the colonists had enough of the heavy taxes and restrictive government persecuted by Great Britain. July 4th 1774, the Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence. The purpose of the Declaration of Independence was to formally be independent from Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence in three parts; 1. Introduction and beliefs – provides reasons to why the colonists are breaking away from Great Britain and describes colonists’ beliefs about government. 2. List of grievance - listing the 29 complaints against King George III. 3. Formal Declaration – the colonies declared themselves free, and independent states, and would govern themselves. Panel 3 Popular Sovereignty In the Declaration of Independence popular sovereignty was reflected in the quotes below: “He Has refused for long time, after such dissolutions to cause others to be elected.” "In free governments, the rulers are the servants and the people their superiors and sovereigns." The first principle Popular Sovereignty is reflected within the Declaration of Independence. Popular sovereignty means that the people power the government by electing government leaders to represent the people of this nation and making government decisions. Once the people elect a leader they do not have...
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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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...paragraph, Dillard says “ I would like to learn, or remember, how to live. I come to hollins pond not so much to learn how to live as, frankly, to forget about.”Both of these quotes shows how even she is still pondering on how to live her life. She explains how sometimes it's not about learning how to live it's about forgetting how to live in general so we can learn from our instinct and create the purest form of living. This quote proves the tone because...
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...Bible; a careful analysis of the patterning of these allusions shows their function of adding subtle depth to the ideas of the novel. Fahrenheit 451 is set five centuries from now in an anti-intellectual world where firemen serve the reverse role of setting fires, in this case to books that people have been illegally hoarding and reading. Literature is banned because it might potentially incite people to think or to question the status quo of happiness and freedom from worry through the elimination of controversy. "Intellectual" entertainment is provided by tapioca-bland television that broadcasts sentimental mush on all four walls. The novel, first written in a shorter version for a science-fiction magazine in 1950 and published as a novel three years later, concerns itself with one fireman, Guy Montag, who commits the heresy of questioning his role and seeks to learn why books are considered dangerous. If we take this imaginary world of the twenty-fourth century as a commentary of our contemporary society, we can interpret the novel on one level as the often-heard...
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...prince born in Nepal. Siddhartha Gautama is also known as the Buddha or in other words “the awakened one”. The Buddha was believed to be enlightened teacher who believed it was best to live in the moment. As said by the Buddha “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.” Buddhists who would follow his teachings did so to escape their suffering. To escape their suffering they would have to achieve the state of nirvana. To achieve nirvana the Buddhists must first understand The Four Noble Truths and then practice the Eightfold Path. Buddhism believes in three main ideas when it comes to life and the rest of the world: Samsara, Karma, and Rebirth. Samsara is when a person continually goes through birth, life and death while cycling through the six realms of existence while doing so. Samsara causes suffering and unhappiness, which is the purpose of it because in Buddhism the reason for Samsara is because they believe that people are very self centered. Karma is the belief that “In this world nothing happens to a person that he does not for some reason or other deserve” (Sayadaw). Why should anyone be more privileged than the other? For example if one person is born into extreme wealth and the other is born into absolute poverty the theory of...
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...As the great author Richard Connell once said “sometimes I think evil is a tangible thing--with wavelengths, just as sound and light have. An evil place can, so to speak, broadcast vibrations of evil. Connell and Browning use characterization and imagery to show mankind can become so attached to something or someone that they could become psychotic. General Zaroff shows imagery by talking about his house on his island and saying that nobody shall leave. Connell uses the characterization of Zaroff in “The Most Dangerous Game” to show how hunting turned him into who he is now, very psychotic.”if anyone should try to get into my house-or out of it-something extremely regrettable would occur to him. He hummed a snatch of song from the folies bergere.”(Connell P#36) This quote proves how absolutely psychotic General Zaroff really was especially with killing/hunting.Zaroff has a lot of characterization that is used on him by Connell such as him being a hunter and how “his whole life is hunting.” In this quote Zaroff shows kind of what hunting is to him. “My whole life has been one prolonged...
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