Easter Holidays Revision

Tony Tanner's introduction to The Great Gatsby (found in Penguin editions and from page 166 onwards in this link) is a must read for A03:

http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0521783747&id=mBaNNWhWkHQC&pg=RA1-PA166&lpg=RA1-PA166&ots=654Y0PUHGL&dq=tony+tanner+gatsby&sig=XOvZ2lahRUslqf3f98e87jG09ic#v=onepage&q=tony%20tanner%20gatsby&f=false

Easter Holidays Revision

to kick things off - Jamila and Ashleigh have been banging on about this video - to be fair it's vaguely informative but very amusing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiu1bC0eD0I&feature=related

In what ways is fragility explored in 'The Great Gatsby'?

Chapter 7: Tension in New York

Gatsby and Fitzgerald

After a discussion with Ashleigh I think it is worth opening up a debate about where Fitzgerlad fits in, and who the characters represent: is Gatsby America and it's dream? Who is Nick?

Chapter 6: The creation of Gatsby

Gatsby and Dreams: chapter 5

Maryam said...

Chapter 5 What about Gatsby could you associate with the American Dream?

The class said that:

-     He is wealthy.

-     He is independent (he is not considered to be living with anyone permanently).

-     He represents hope and has hope himself (even his smile is hopeful to Nick, “It faced the whole eternal world for an instant.”)

-     His desire for Daisy could imply his longing to start a proper life, including a relationship and maybe a family.

-     His Rolls Royce car is a symbol of the American Dream, wealth and ownership.

-     He has his own space around his home, which indicates his dream to own some land.

-     Gatsby’s business is illegal (he is associated with Mr Wolfsheim’s gangster work) which means that he would do anything to go forward.

-     His parties are popular; however, they turn quite sour towards the end, suggesting that people’s dreams didn’t always go smoothly and how they wanted things to turn out.

We turn to page 88, where Chapter 5 begins and we read and analyse within our groups. Nick has just come home after spending the whole day with Jordan Baker (we learn about Daisy and Gatsby’s past together in what seems to be Jordan’s words just before Nick and her get very close to one another..) and he meets Gatsby there, who is suppressing his eagerness. They agree over a day to have Daisy over which is very awkward for both Gatsby and Nick, however, we see the almost-sadistic personality of Nick as he does not bother to make Gatsby feel better about himself and does not make conversation with him, “hoping I’d begin conversation with him”. It seems as if he secretly enjoys the fact that Gatsby is uncomfortable and that his high status his being reduced. This side of Nick could relate back to him fighting in the army – he enjoys killing people. Here, we also see that Gatsby is very image-conscious, since he starts to talk about making everything perfect before Daisy’s arrival and subtly mentions that Nick needs to do this too by starting with cutting his grass, “I suspected that he meant my grass.” Image consciousness returns later on when Gatsby asks Nick whether or not his house looks nice just for reassurance.

On the day of Daisy’s arrival, Gatsby was, “in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-coloured tie”, the colours represent wealth and purity, he can ‘afford to get white dry-cleaned’, although it makes him seem flashy and as if he is trying too hard for the sake of Daisy. It is also raining, which could seem foreboding toward the storyline (pathetic fallacy). At Nick’s house, Gatsby leans against the clock and nearly drops it, but the fuss they made over it seems as if it actually fell over, to Nick. This implies how nervous Gatsby was. Nick stares out of the window towards Gatsby’s house relates to Kant, who was an 18th century philosopher who stared at a church steeple to steady his thoughts and help him think. This could be Nick’s situation, but also that he looks up to Gatsby and gives him a reason for carrying on with this whole evening. Gatsby’s house also used to be owned by a brewer who failed to have the American Dream, which could be foreboding for Gatsby since he’s living in his house. They take the “long way” to Gatsby’s house later just to show her his wealth. Lists of material possessions are seen here to emphasise conspicuous consumption – this also relates to when Gatsby is throwing his impressive and expensive shirts on the bed, showing Daisy his new found wealth. Here, Daisy starts to cry, which could imply that she feels as if Gatsby was her destiny, not Tom whom she does not love. The green light’s symbolism is emphasised here, this time, the amount it represented once is not there anymore – he has reached his dream (Daisy) and the dream isn’t there anymore and becomes unimportant.

Exam: 23/05/2011 at 8:30AM.

How does Gatsby's relationship with Meyer Wolfshiem contribute to our understanding of Gatsby's character?

F.Scott Fitzgerald

Please post your findings on our author. Don't forget to add a link to an article you have found interesting.

An Awkward Social Gathering in Ch.2

What did we find really interesting about the party in New York? Have any new symbols been introduced? To what effect? And what more have we learnt about our characters / narrator?

'The Wasteland' T.S.Eliot: http://www.bartleby.com/201/1.html

The links that Cecilia, Maya, Hannah, Maeve and more of you made between this poem and the description the valley of ashes are fantastic. Maya took it to another level by suggesting that these wastelands could be a metaphrical representation of the relationships at work in the novel/poem and therefore in this era.

The Symbolism of Colour

Tom and Daisy Buchanan: 'a luxurious but frivolous and trivialising way of life'

Exam Admin

With mocks on the 28th February, and the real deal towards the end of May/early June it's not too early to have a look over some past exam questions on The Great Gatsby:

Tom Buchanan describes Gatsby as 'A common swindler...I picked him for a bootlegger the first time I saw him.'

How far and in what ways does your reading of the novel support Tom's view of Gatsby?(January 09)

'In his settings, Fitzgerald contrasts light with dark, luxury with ashes.'

In the light of this comment, discuss ways in which Fitzgerald uses settings in The Great Gatsby. (January 09) 

‘In the novel, everything comes down to money.’

How far and in what ways do you think money is the central issue in The Great Gatsby?

(May 09)

Nick Carraway says, ‘Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply.’

In the light of this comment, discuss ways in which Fitzgerald presents female characters in The Great Gatsby. (May 09)

East vs West

Nick Carraway - unreliable narrator?

Contextual lowdown: the 1920s

New term, new novel - 'The Great Gatsby'

Any contextual information that you would like to share with the class: links, videos, pictures you name it just post it below...