Journal #21

Journal 21 - Some Like It Hot and The Great Gatsby Comparison/Contrast Although Some Like It Hot is a comedy and The Great Gatsby is a tragedy, both works use popular culture to portray life in 1920s America. Focusing on the following elements (characterization, conflict, and theme), discuss how the two works are similar and different and what each is saying about American life. In Some Like It Hot, the main characters are more free and fun-loving, since it is a comedy. Unlike The Great Gatsby, they have more carefree traits. Although, the characters aren’t as different as they may seem. Gatsby characters are known to be ostentatious and have a romantic outlook on life. Like Daisy, Sugar is influenced by money and material possessions. She ultimately falls in love with Joe because he has money. She is also like Daisy because she is very idealistic and acts on emotions. Joe lies in order to impress Sugar, like Gatsby had done with Daisy. In The Great Gatsby, the main conflict is that Gatsby is in love with Daisy, but has to get her away from Tom. The conflict of Some Like It Hot, is that Joe has to lie to Sugar in order for her to have the same feelings for him that he has for her. Both have confusing love triangles. In Gatsby, Gatsby is in love with Daisy, who is married to Tom, but in the end loves Gatsby as well. The same goes for Tom and Myrtle’s relationship. In Some Like It Hot, Joe, dressed as “Josephine”, loves Sugar, who doesn’t know that “Josephine” is really Joe. Meanwhile, Jerry, who is dressed as a woman, also loves Sugar. The Great Gatsby and Some Like it Hot differ in that Gatsby doesn’t end up with his true love, whereas Sugar and Joe get married. The Great Gatsby and Some Like It Hot both illustrate that American life is very ostentatious and that Americans are influenced by money. Gatsby tries to woo Daisy with his parties and lies. Joe tries to impress Sugar with his fake life and fake money. Gatsby shows that, in the end, money and lies don’t always help obtain a happy ending. Some Like It Hot shows that money and lying will make everything go swimmingly in the end.

Journal #20

Journal 20 – The Great Gatsby Conclusion Read the novel’s last passage (beginning with, “Gatsby’s house was still empty when I left”) and discuss the use of imagery and symbolism that is being employed by Fitzgerald. In your response, specifically address what Nick is saying about the green light and the connection that he is making between Gatsby and the Dutch sailors who “discovered” Long Island. Fitzgerald uses a great amount of symbolism in the last passage. He describes the last visitor to Gatsby’s house, not knowing that the “party” was over. This was similar to Gatsby’s life. Gatsby, like the guest, did not know that the past, or party, had ended. Nick reminisces about Gatsby’s old parties. He continues to look over at Gatsby’s house, remembering everything he knew about his time in West Egg. He began to realize that there was less commotion than there had been before. Like Gatsby, Nick, started to picture the past as some grandiose dream from long ago. Unlike Gatsby, Nick looked at not the past, nor the future, but at the present. This is a contrast from how Gatsby thought about life. He was never in the moment. Gatsby was like the Dutch sailors that sought the fertile green land, much like how he sought the green light of Daisy’s dock. The sailors were always thinking about the future, and they came close to achieving their goal. Both of their goals were memories of the past. In the end, their dreamer-like ambition both influenced their actions and desire to achieve their final goal.

Journal #19

Journal 19 - Characterization in Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby Write a description for each of the following characters based on his/her first appearance in Chapter 1. Your description should include: -the character’s physical appearance; -the character’s actions/words; -an adjective that best describes the character based on his/her initial appearance Nick Carraway Adjective: Reserved Nick Carraway is a handsome 30-year-old man. He is very educated. He tends to keep to himself and doesn’t judge people harshly. People are drawn to him and confide secrets in him. This leads us to believe that he is also seen as very trustworthy. Tom Buchanan Adjective: Brutish Tom is the typical macho, tough guy. He is very bigoted and has strong opinions on everything. He acts like a chauvinistic pig throughout the entire book. He is described as being carless and cowardly. Daisy Buchanan Adjective: Naïve Daisy is a pretty young woman. She has a sing-song like voice. Daisy is very foolish in her rash decisions. She acts as if her money can shield her from everything. She has a dreamer-like personality. She is a romantic that only acts on her emotions. Jordan Baker Adjective: Independent Jordan is a beautiful and determined young woman. She seems to be a neutral character when it comes to Daisy’s relationships. She’s more of a source of information. She can also be described as being a bit stuck-up, because she wouldn’t have a long term relationship with Nick because he wasn’t high-class. Jay Gatsby Adjective: Idealistic Gatsby is a handsome man who dresses in fine clothes, mainly his pink suit. He, like Daisy, acts on emotions. He is deceptive with his past life. He is a dreamer that constantly searches for what he wants next.

Jourmal #18 - Hemingway

“In Another Country”



1. What is the significance of the story’s title?
Everyone is dealing with suffering, which makes it seems like foreign territory. They feel isolated and different, which makes them feel like outsiders.




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

The major represents the Hemingway hero. He has stoicism and is indifferent to his suffering. Even though he has suffered, he gets back up with integrity.





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

The photographs are supposed to represent the healing of wounds through the machines. The major’s reaction shows that not all wounds can be healed through machines and technology.

Journal #17 - Prufrock

Journal 17 - “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” – T.S. Eliot (p.775)

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

It is significant and relates to Prufrock because it describes how his story would never be told and he tells his tale without fearing it because no one would ever hear it, like Prufrock’s tale. He would never reveal his deeper thoughts.






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

1. What is it?
2. Do I dare?
3. Do I dare disturb the universe?
4. So how should I presume?
5. To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?
6. Is it perfume from a dress that makes me so digress?
7. And how should I begin?
8. Shall I say, I have gone through narrow streets and watched the smoke that rises from the pipes of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?
9. Should I, after teas and cakes and ices, have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
10. Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?

They all start with “shall I” or “do I” or “should I.”









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

Prufrock’s main flaw is that he doubts himself and is indecisive. He worries about everything and won’t reveal his true feelings. He is very self conscience and insecure.






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


It’s called a love song because it’s ironic. It’s not about love at all, it’s about loneliness. He is left out of love.

Journal #16 - Crane and London

Read the following quote and discuss how it applies to the main characters in both stories. In the course of this discussion, address how each of the characters is both similar and different:

“Determinisim governs everything … The writer must study the inherited traits of individual character and the social condition of the time. Together, these elements determine the course of any action, the outcome of any life. Free will or self-determination is mostly an illusion, although chance is granted a role in human affairs. Still, even the effects of chance are obliterated in the inevitable course determined by the interaction of inherited character traits and the social environment.“


The Swede in “The Blue Hotel” is affected by his genetics. He was given alcohol to drink, which he couldn’t handle, and ultimately got drunk. In his drunken state, he annoyed everyone, had angry outbursts, and started fights. He was not in control of himself – his genetics were. Because his body wasn’t used to the effects of alcohol, he was affected even more. The environment around him also affected his outcome. He was new to the west and believed that everyone ran around shooting everything in sight. This ideal of the Old West caused him to be fearful and instinctive in his actions. In an attempt to calm him, the hotel owner was the one who unknowingly got him drunk. He picked a fight with Johnny because he believed that he was cheating at cards. The other men in the hotel egged on Johnny to kill the Swede, which lead the Swede to feel alienated and even more agitated. In the end, since he felt unwanted and untrusted, the Swede decided to leave. Instead, he picked another fight while not being in control of his actions and was killed. Mr. Blanc even said that everyone played a part in the Swede’s death. He said that he saw Johnny cheat, and if he said something, the Swede would still be alive. The cowboy told Johnny to kill the Swede, which lead to his alienation. If his environment hadn’t been the way that it was, the Swede might still be alive.

The man in “To Build a Fire” is greatly affected by determinism. Mainly, his environment plays the largest part of his demise. He is out in the Alaskan wilderness trying to get back to the camp. The below freezing temperature caused his face, hands, and feet to become completely numb. In order to heat and dry his wet and frozen legs, he needed to build a fire. The problem is that his hands are too numb to even light the fire. He can barely grasp a match or find wood to burn. He decides that he should run to the camp as quickly as he can. He runs, but the bone-chilling temperature causes him to give up and die in the snow. His death was inevitable because he wouldn’t listen to what people were telling him and wasn’t prepared to face that extreme environment.

The Swede and the man are both quite similar, but also different. The Swede met his demise because of the environmental factors. He was alienated and drunk. Those two factors can determine someone’s rate of survival. The man in Alaska dies because of the extreme environmental factors, as well. The difference between the two men is that the Swede knew what was going to happen to him, but he was involuntarily relieved of his prophecy. The man is Alaska was told that he wouldn’t survive, but went out voluntarily, and didn’t listen to what he was being told.

Journal #15 - Editha

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 overall message of the story is that war isn’t noble— it’s just mindless killing.

"But war! Is it
glorious to break the peace of the world?"

"You just expected him to kill
some one else, some of those foreigners, that weren't
there because they had any say about it, but because
they had to be there, poor wretches--conscripts, or
whatever they call 'em. You thought it would be all
right for my George, your George, to kill the sons of
those miserable mothers and the husbands of those
girls that you would never see the faces of."

"I thank my God he didn't live to do it! I thank my
God they killed him first, and that he ain't livin' with
their blood on his hands!"



2. What tactics does Editha use to make George believe as she does about the war?
She used her love to make him believe in the war. Editha knew that he would do anything for her, so she exploited his affection. She basically told him in the letter that if he didn’t have faith in war, she wouldn’t marry him.





3. Is there ever a time in which Editha truly understands what she has done? Does she ever experience an epiphany?
During the end, when she has the conversation with George’s mother, she understands what she had done. The last paragraph states that, “The mystery that had bewildered her was solved by the word; and from that moment she rose from grovelling in shame and self-pity, and
began to live again in the ideal.” This was when she had her epiphany and finally understood her actions and the truth about war.

Journal #14 - E. A. Robinson Poems

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)

His name suggests that he was rich, but at the core, he was miserable. Everyone though he was rich and happy. Sadly, they didn’t look past the surface and didn’t see how miserable he was on the inside. He was troubled and depressed.

The thing that makes his life real was that his true life wasn’t what everyone saw. People didn’t look past his appearance. They idealized, just like in real life.








“Miniver Cheevy” (497)
Minimer’s name is a reflection of who he is because is sounds similar to “minimum achiever”. He felt like he was born in the wrong time period, which made him depressed. He related to the olden times and the Medieval Era. He loved the idea of knights and swords, and the romance of the Renaissance Era.

His life is real and not idealized because he wasn’t a great figure that achieved great things. Minimer wasn’t a knight—he was an average person. He is relatable because he just daydreams about knighthood, but isn’t one. Just like an average person, he yearns to become great, but never achieves greatness. He also tried to escape the real world by drinking, which is a real world problem.










“Mr. Flood’s Party” (498)
His name seems like he is drowning himself with his drinking. He has outlived all of his friends and probably isn’t going to live much longer.

The name is connected that he’s lonely and drowing from drinking so much. He’s receding into the past. Also, Flood has outlived all of his friends, which means he is probably not going to live much longer. He’s in an era of change, but is too old to keep up with that change. What Flood’s life is focused on is in the past, which leaves him to be sad, lonely, and drunk.

Journal #13 - Masters

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 George Gray’s life is the boat at rest in the harbor. It represents him because he didn’t pursue his desires. He is like the boat that didn’t fulfill its purpose of sailing. He hungered for meaning, and feared going out and achieving his ambitions, like the boat that yearned for the sea. The boat must lift its sail and sail or its purpose would have no meaning. We, too, must fulfill our purpose and put meaning into our life.










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 and George’s life were different because Lucinda took the risk to change her life. She didn’t mope around longing for destiny, like George. She was anything but the boat longing for the sea. Lucinda did everything she could to make life worth living. She lived her life without regret and took every opportunity she was offered. The last line of the poem means that in order to love life itself, one must take every opportunity and live life to its fullest extent. You can’t love something that you don’t know or haven’t experienced.











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

They are both examples of realism because they show how a lot of human beings feel. They stay true to human thought and emotion. They are examples of the average lives of average people. “Lucinda Matlock” describes Lucinda’s everyday activities. Many people don’t achieve their ambitions, like George. The description of their everyday lives, activities, and thoughts stay true to realism in literature.

Journal #12 - Young Goodman Brown

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

Young Goodman Brown – A good man, human beings in general


Faith – Religious faith


The Elderly Traveller/Fellow-Traveller – Satan, temptation, evil


Goody Cloyse – Religious hypocrites


The Ceremony – Humans giving in to sin


The Pink Ribbon – the loss of faith


Young Goodman Brown’s Journey – The knowledge of good and evil



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

Theme Message of Theme Element Used to Establish

Sin Sinning is inevitable. Allegory








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

“The deacons of many a church have drunk the communion wine
with me; the selectmen of divers towns make me their chairman; and a majority of the Great and
General Court are firm supporters of my interest. The governor and I, too -- But these are state
secrets.''

“What if a wretched old woman do choose to go to the devil when I thought she was going to
heaven: is that any reason why I should quit my dear Faith and go after her?''

``There,'' resumed the sable form, ``are all whom ye have reverenced from youth. Ye deemed
them holier than yourselves, and shrank from your own sin, contrasting it with their lives of
righteousness and prayerful aspirations heavenward. Yet here are they all in my worshipping
assembly. This night it shall be granted you to know their secret deeds: how hoary-bearded elders of
the church have whispered wanton words to the young maids of their households; how many a
woman, eager for widows' weeds, has given her husband a drink at bedtime and let him sleep his last
sleep in her bosom; how beardless youths have made haste to inherit their fathers' wealth; and how
fair damsels -- blush not, sweet ones -- have dug little graves in the garden, and bidden me, the sole
guest to an infant's funeral. 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. Far more than this.
It shall be yours to penetrate, in every bosom, the deep mystery of sin, the fountain of all wicked arts,
and which inexhaustibly supplies more evil impulses than human power -- than my power at its
utmost -- can make manifest in deeds. And now, my children, look upon each other.''

Journal #11 - 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)
Live life only dealing with the essentials.




Quote:





“Sounds” (234)
People need to interact with people to be entertained, but he entertains himself by walking through nature. He would take in the sounds of nature.





Quote: “I had this advantage, at least, in my mode of life, over those who were obliged to look abroad





“Brute Neighbors” (235)
The ant’s life is as hard as a human. There are comparisons between the war between ants and the war between humans. We share the same brutality as the ants at war.





Quote: “I was surprised to find that the chips were covered with such combants, that it was not a duellum, but a bellum, a war between two races of ants, the red always pitted against the black, and frequently two red ones to one black.





“The Pond in Winter” (237)
In the beginning, the narrator describes how we can either contemplate nature and not find the answers, or we could go out, experience nature, and have our questions answered. The narrator respects the men with fishing reels because they don’t care what authority has to say and they experience nature first-hand. At the end, it describes how nature is carried out through man. Beauty and life is on the surface, but also under the surface.



Quote: “But there was dawning Nature, in whom all creatures live, looking in at my broad windows with serene and satisfied face, and no question on her lips.”




“Spring” (238)
During Spring, nature renews itself.






Quote: “As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.

Journal #10 - 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.

At the end of the play, Othello gives his last speech where he instructs Lodivico to record his life story honorably. He says to remember him as someone who was a great general that loved and was simply manipulated into something that wasn’t his true self. He states that he realizes that Desdemona was always faithful and that he was a fool for being manipulated by Iago. His insight was that he was altered from an honorable and proud general into a jealous murderer. He compared himself to a Turk that lacked judgment and morals. He finally understands that he has become a murderer and a racial outcast.

Journal #9 - Free Will

Free 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.

Free will is the power that is given to us to make our own decisions without external circumstances influencing our choices. We are the only person who can influence our actions. No one forces us to choose our actions. In Othello, Iago states that he is not the villain of the play because he simply plants the ideas and doesn’t force the characters to make their decisions. Cassio could have chosen not to drink and start a fight. Emilia wasn’t forced to steal the handkerchief from Desdemona. Othello had the choice not to believe Iago’s lies. He also wasn’t obligated to kill Desdemona. All of these actions were the product of their own free will. It wasn’t their fate or divine will that caused these events to transpire. It would be completely possible for all of these events to never happen if the characters chose a different way to go about their actions.

On the other hand, determinism states that every event, act, and decision is the effect of destiny or outside influences that are incapable to be changed by human interception. In a way, Othello’s events could have been the characters’ divine fate. Perhaps, Desdemona and Othello’s failing marriage was destined to happen. It had already been written that Othello would fall into jealousy, Roderigo, Emilia, and Desdemona would be killed, Iago’s plan wouldn’t completely prevail, and Othello would shorten his life. Their fates were all set in stone. Iago also influenced the outcome of the incidents. He changed the environments, planned ahead, planted evidence, and lied.