Chapter 9

Nick felt Gatsby would not want to go through the funeral alone so he tried to invite many people, but not many showed up. Some of the friends disappeared- like Tom and Daisy. Tom and Daisy moved and did not tell anyone where they were going. Other people did not want to show up- like Meyer Wolfshiem. Nick's plan failed. He wanted lots of people, but the only ones to show up were Nick, Owl Eyes, a few servants, and Gatsby's father. Nick became very sick of New York and decided to move back to the midwest and he ends his relationship with Jordan. A couple days before he left he saw Tom back in New York. Tom explains he was to one who told Wilson to kill Gatsby.He says that Gatsby deserved to die. Nick decides Tom and Daisy are careless and uncaring people. They destroy things and believe thier money will save them from and consequences. The night before Nick leaves West Egg, he goes to Gatsby's empty mansion and lays on the beach behind the house. He looks up at the sky and thinks about what America would have looked like before all the houses and streets were there.

This chapter is really sad. Its all about the memories Nick had with Gatsby and Tom and Daisy.

Chapter 8

Gatsby talks to Nick the next morning. He says he stayed outside the house until 4AM, but Tom did not try to hurt Daisy in any way. He talks about when they were in love. Daisy said she would wait for him to return from war, but she married Tom, who had her parents' approval. Gatsby's gardener interrupts the story by saying he is going to drain the pool, but Gatsby says no because he wants go for a swim. Nick is very late for work at this point. He says goodbye to Gatsby and leaves. At the office Nick is too distracted to work. He goes back to West Egg, but before he arrives Wilson finds Gatsby and shoots him. Wilson thought that Gatsby was the one who killed Myrtle. After he shoots Gatsby he shoots himself. When Nick arrives at Gatsby's house he finds Gatsby's dead body floating in the pool.

This is a sad chapter. Why would Wilson jump to Gatsby being the one who killed Myrtle?

Chapter 7

Tom is certain about the love between Daisy and Gatsby. They go to a hotel in town to freshen up and Tom and Gastby begin to argue who is in love. They argue for a long time. When they start to drive back they discover a dead body on the road. It turns out to be Myrtle, Tom's girlfriend. When they get back to Daisy's, Nick finds Gatsby spying outside the house. He says Daisy was the one who hit Myrtle.

Will Daisy fess up? Will she tell everyone that she was to one who hit Myrtle?

Chapter 6

A reporter comes to ask Gatsby if the rumors going around New York are true. He says he was born James Gatz. James went to colloege, but only for two weeks before dropping out. He then went to work on lake superior. One day, Gatsby went to warn somebody on a yacht about the big storm that was coming. Dan Cody, a very wealthy man, took Gatsby aboard his yacht as his assisstant. Gatsby was to take care of Cody when he was drunk. When Cody died he left 25,000 dollars to Gatsby, but Cody's wife did not let that go. Nick went weeks without seeing Daisy or Gatsby, so one afternoon Nick stops by Gatsby's house, surprised to see Tom and Mr. and Mrs. Sloane. Tom is suspicious, but he hasn't figured out about Daisy and Gatsby. Gatsby invites Tom and the Sloanes to a party that Saturday night. On Saturday night, Daisy had a bad time and the only reason Tom went was to spy on Daisy and Gatsby. Gatsby was upset about this and he started to wish things were like they used to be. He wanted Daisy to divorce Tom and love him again.

I have a feeling Tom is going to do something to Gatsby becasue he will become jealous. I'm also curious about Daisy. Will she leave Tom for Gatsby?

Chapter 5

Nick comes home from a date with Jordan and Gatsby's mansion is lit up. Every light in the house was on. When Nick started heading towards his house, Gatsby appeared and invited him over for a swim in the pool. This was an act to get Nick to agree to have to tea party for him and Daisy. A couple days days go by and during those days Gatsby sent someone to cut Nick's grass and offers Nick a job for a day or two to make some extra money. On the day of the get-together, it rains. Gatsby shows up at Nick's extremely nervous. When Daisy arrives, Nick goes out to help her in the door, but when he gets Daisy to the living room, Gatsby is gone. A moment later, there is a knock on the door and Gatsby enters. The meeting is strange at first, but after a half hour Daisy and Gatsby are laughing and having a good time. Gatsby invites Daisy and Nick over to his house where he shows Daisy all of his possessions. Daisy and Gstsby forget Nick is in the room. Nick decides that is a good time to leave them alone.

It seems as if Gatsby has high expectations for Daisy. What would happen if she isn't everything he expects? Would he move on after all this time?

Chapter 4

Gatsby invites Nick for lunch the next day. During lunch, Gatsby says he has done all these amazing things during his life. Nick later finds out that all the stories are not true. Tom tell Nick that Gatsby was lying. Later in the day, when Jordan is talking to Nick, she tells him about the night of the party. Gatsby had taken her aside and asked her to convince Daisy to go to Nick's house for tea, but as a surprise, Gatsby would be there for tea too. Daisy and Gatsby were in love when he was stationed during the war. When he left, Daisy met Tom. Daisy has never cheated on Tom, but Tom has cheated one too many times on Daisy.

Does Daisy know about Myrtle? If she does, why wouldn't she do anything about all the cheating? I dont think its fair. She is very honest... unlike Tom.

Chapter 3

While Nick is at his house, a guy from Gatsy's mansion comes over to deliver an invitation. The invitation is for a party which was being held that night. When Nick arrives at the party he meets up with Jordan, who is the only person he knows there. Nick and Jordan watch all the people at the party, but then decide to go outside where the entertainment is tiaking place. Nick sits down on the bench by a guy who is already sitting there. The guy says Nick looks very familiar. This guy just happens to be Mr. Gatsby. Gatsby invites Nick over for breakfast, but their conversation was interrupted by a phone call. In the end of the chapter Nick starts talking about Jordan. She is a very dishonest person, but Nick is still attracked to her, even though he is the opposite.

I think Nick and Jordan will end up together, but they will have some problems because he is honest and she isn't. That probably wont a stable relationship.

Chapter 2

Tom wanted Nick to meet is girlfriend. So they hop on a train and ride it to Ashland, where they find Myrtle Wilson, Tom's girlfriend. Myrtle tells her husband she needs to go to town, but its all a lie. When the three of them get to Myrtle's apartment they have a little party and start drinking. Nick says this party was the second time he had been drunk in his whole life. Everything seemed to be going ok, that is until Myrtle starts talking about Tom's wife Daisy. Tom warns her not to talk about this his wife, but Myrtle doesn't listen and keeps chanting Daisy over and over again. This upsets Tom and he punches Myrtle and ends up breaking her nose.

I wonder why Tom got so upset. Why would it bother him so much? If Tom doesn't want this kind of stuff to happen he shouldn't be cheating...

Chapter 1

Nick Carraway is the main character. He is also telling the story. This story is in West Egg, New York during the 1920s. Nick lives next to Gatsby. Gatsby owns a huge mansion, Nick owns a little house. One day Nick goes to see his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom. Nick had known Tom before he married Daisy, they went to college together. While visiting Daisy, Nick meets Jordan. While Nick is talking to Jordan the phone rings. "I'll bet that's Tom's lover in New York," Jordan explains to Nick. Obviously, Daisy doesn't know about Tom's lover. When Nick arrives home that night, he sees Gatsby for the first time. Gatsby is reaching his arm towards the water. Nick glances at the water, then back at Gatsby, but Gatsby was gone.

I'm confused about Gatsby. Where did he go? What was he reaching for over the water?

The Great Gatsby Research

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald--
He was named after Francis Scott Key (author of the national anthem), to whom he was related to distantly. in 1898 the family moved to New York, where Edward, Fitzgerald's father, got a job as a salesman, but in 1908 Edward lost the job and the family was back in St. Paul (their home town). In 1909 his first piece of work , The Mystery of the Raymond Mortgage. appeared in the school newspaper. His first novel, The Romantic Egoist, was rejected, but after 3 revisions, it was published as This Side of Paradise, in 1920. In that same year, Fitzgerald got his own piece of paradise when he married Zelda Sayre. In 1922 they had their first daughter. In 1930 Zelda had a nervous breakdown, but Fitzgerald continued to use his wife's mental breakdowns and their overall dysfunctional relationship in his writings including "The Last of the Belles" (1929), "Babylon Revisited" (1930), "Emotional Bankruptcy" (1931), "Crazy Sunday" (1932), and "Trouble" (1937). Zelda struggled with her breakdowns for a long time. In 1940 she moved to Montgomery to live with her mom. During the same year, Fitzgerald had a heart attack and a month later died from another, on December 21, 1940.
Fitzgerald proclaimed: "An author ought to write for the youth of his generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward." --
An author needs to be able to get the attention of all ages. If somebody wants to write for little kids thats fine, but it needs to get the parent's attention since he/she will be the one reading it.
192os in America--
The laws of immigration were changed so the population of foreigners was always changing. The twenties was a productive decade up untill 1929 when the stock market crashed.... causing depression.
Translate: "Exegit monumentum aere perennius."--
"I have erected a monument more lasting than bronze."

*Thesis*

In book, The Red Badge of Courage Henry is extremely self-centered. Everything he does, is for himself. If it doesn’t help him or make his life easier he forgets about it.

• Running away-
Henry survives the first battle, but when he hears the enemy is coming back he freaks out. He sees the mob of people running towards him, and then he starts to run. He doesn’t seem to care about anyone else. He runs to save his own life. “He ran like a blind man. Two or three times he fell down. Once he knocked his shoulder so heavily against a tree that he went headlong.” (Crane, 6.27). Henry could care less about what happens to the other soldiers. He wants to get away from the battle because he isn’t serious about fighting. He is someone taking up space. He isn’t trying to defend his country. The only fighting he takes a part in would be when his life is in danger.

• Feeling betrayed-
Henry feels that he is always right. Whatever he does is what everyone else should do. If he has an idea, they should follow it. When Henry realized that he was the only one who ran away, he felt betrayed he wanted everyone to follow him. He didn’t think it was fair that the rest of the regiment stayed to defeat the enemy. “It seemed that the blind ignorance and stupidity of those little pieces had betrayed him.” (Crane, 7.5). Henry needs to understand that war is not focused on one person. He needs to stop being such a baby and realize that there are other people in this world. Other soldiers are actually dying, but he is just putting on an act, wanting everyone to feel sorry for him.

• His lying-
Henry is always changing his story. He wants people to think of him as a brave individual, but really… he’s the exact opposite. Henry gets a rifle smashed to his head, but when he returns to the regiment he tells Wilson that he was separated from the regiment so he went to fight with the others. During the separation, he says he was shot in the head. ‘‘‘Yes, yes. I've--I've had an awful time. I've been all over. Way over on th' right. Ter'ble fightin' over there. I had an awful time. I got separated from the reg'ment. Over on th' right, I got shot. In th' head. I never see sech fightin'. Awful time. I don't see how I could a' got separated from th' reg'ment. I got shot, too.’’’ (Crane 13.8).

Saving Private Ryan

Themes: an idea that recurs in or pervades a work

Courage- The men had a lot of courage. They were told to save Private Ryan and they actually did it. Some people were thinking "Well why should I try to save his life instead of my own?" The men who went to find Ryan were very brave.

Manhood- I think the men gained bravery when they went to find Ryan. Most of the men were only thinking of themselves, but then the captain started changing their minds.

Self-preservation- No body understood why they should put their own lives at risk to save one guy, but in the end they realized what good it did them and what it meant to Ryan's mother.

Disregard for Human Life- The German soldier stabbed the American.

Motifs: distinctive feature or dominant idea

Noise and Silence- When a US soldier was shot or wounded there was complete silence.

Light and Dark- Light was when they were traveling and dark was when they were resting or planning the next attack.

Clean and Dirty- The dirtier the men are, the more they have fought. When they started on the beach they were all clean, but by the end of the beach scene they are all dirty and full of blood.
Youth and Maturity- Upham was the youth. In the beginning he never shot anyone but in the end he matured and has no regaurd for human life.


Symbols: objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas
The Dead Soldier- When captin dies there is pure silence. He was respected by everyone. All the men stood around him and cried.
The Flag- The flag could be the freedom. It represents the thing that the soldiers were fighting for.

Themes Motifs & Symbols

Themes: an idea that recurs in or pervades a work

Courage: Courage was represented through Henry. Henry was really scared in the beginning, but when he noticed the "red badge of courage" he realized he wanted one too. It was his idea to go into the military so he decided he had to finish what he had started, or gotten himself into.

Manhood: Manhood started when Henry realized that it is normal for someone to run when he or she is in danger. Henry through a pine cone at a squirrel to prove his point to himself. When he saw the squirrel run he thought that he had to go back and fight. He could not hide in fear forever.

Self-preservation: Henry started out making excuses to make himself different from the other men. He later figured out that he was exactly like them. Once he figured this out he became stronger as a fighter.

Disregard for Human Life: In the beginning, Henry and the other men don't really know what life is worth. They don't understand it. But by the end they realize they are all friends and they are fighting for each other.

Motifs: distinctive feature or dominant idea

Noise and Silence: Noise and silence was the only sounds that came from the battle. Noise meant somebody was dying, winning or losing. Silence meant the men were planning an attack.

Light and Dark: Light and dark could have been represented by the soldiers' uniforms. The uniforms were one color, but if a person was wounded the uniform could have easily become soaked with blood causing the color to darken.

Clean and Dirty: Clean and dirty was represented by their journey. A clean journey would have meant no gun fires or battles.

Youth and Maturity: Henry grows up through the story. He starts as the youth not knowing much and scared of everything, but by the end he is one of the best fighters in the regiment.They dead soldier really catches Henry's eye. He doesnt want to become that so he decides to go back to the army.

Symbols: objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas

The Dead Soldier: The dead soldier really catches Henry's eye. He doesnt want to become that so he decides to go back to the army.

The Flag: The flag represents pride. When ever the flag was captured it was a great boost in the everyone.