The Crucible Continued

After two days of student-led presentations, we still have a lot to say about The Crucible. While I am asking you to write a formal response as part of your summative grade for the discussion, I also want to encourage you to continue your discussion of the text as a class. Please respond with one specific piece of textual evidence that you think illustrates an important duality or paradox in The Crucible. We have spoken, for example, about light and dark, morals and laws, the Church and witchcraft, the town and the forrest, etc. Jung's archetypes may (or may not) be useful in considering the symbolic nature of some of these dualities, but what does examining these dualities or paradox contribute to your overall understanding of the play?

What is "American Literature" anyway?

Over December break, I'm going to ask you each to choose a piece of American literature to read in small groups... But the article below raises the question: what can be classified as American literature?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/weekinreview/18schillinger.html?_r=3&ref=weekinreview

Questions

Ask me a question about Gatsby! (No har har questions, please)

ps-thank you to everyone who did not comment on the missing letter "k" in this post.

Chapter VIII

As opposed to earlier chapters, where time seems to by almost halted, in this chapter the reader sees time as "running out". How does Fitzgerald use foreshadowing, imagery, and vocabulary to convey this very important point to the reader?

(A quote to spark some thinkin')

"I jumped out of bed and began to dress--I felt I had something to tell him, something to warn him about and morning would be too late" (Fitzgerald, 154)

Chapter 7

In Chapter 7, there are occurrences of heat/the sun, and once again, we see the emotional imbalances between the characters.

In order to demonstrate your understanding of these themes and symbols, we have two questions for you:

1. Throughout the chapter, as mentioned, we see more emotional imbalances within the characters. Referring to the tensions we discussed in class (pink sheet), where do you see examples of these tensions, contributing to the imbalances?

2. How does the SUN and the heat of the sun relate to the abstract sense of time within the novel? What do you think that the heat represents?

Chapter VI

"'Can't repeat the past?' he cried incredulously. 'Why of course you can!'
He looked around wildly, as if the past were lurking here in the shadow of his house, just out of reach of his hand.
'I'm going to fix everything just the way it was before,' he said, nodding determinedly. 'She'll see.'"

--F. Scott Fitzgerald (117)

Our question tonight can be categorized into 4 separate yet related topics:

1) What overall role does memory and the past play in influencing any character's actions and thoughts? (For example, Tom immediately believes Gatsby to be "'some big bootlegger'" (114) simply based off of past experience.)

2) What effect do you believe status and name have on Gatsby's society?

3) Can the past truly be re-created and/or changed?

4) If so (or if not), how does this affect one's lifestyle?



P.S. This blog needed a little bit of color

Chapter 5 (again)

This chapter is filled with many “awkward moments,” as Daisy and Gatsby meet for the first time after 5 years of separation. Comment on evidence in chapter 5 that illuminates both Daisy’s and Gatsby’s different perceptions of love, and how their actions and backgrounds affect their relationship. Also, feel free to include and discuss the tensions we talked about in class on Thursday (pink sheet) like time, light, status, etc that effect Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship.

Also, how Gatsby's relationship with Daisy changed over the course of the chapter and what factors contributed to this?

Chapter 5

I did not bring my plan book home with me this weekend, so I do not know who is supposed to post tonight. I am posting something for those of you to respond to who have to leave or who want to get the response done early this afternoon rather than waiting. If the chapter 5 group posts also, you can choose to answer their question or mine, or some combination of the two.

Notice the importance of time in Chapter 5--from the big sense (the passage of time) to the very literal sense (clocks). What is Fitzgerald saying about history, memory and time? Is there a paradox here? If so, why or how does this paradox enrich our understanding of the novel? Use specific textual evidence in your response.

Announcement

Chapter 5 duo, you do not need to post until this weekend because we will not be discussing Chapter 5 until Monday. Out of consideration for a range of weekend schedules, please try to post by Saturday afternoon.

Mr. Chiappetta, our guest from last week will be back visiting our class from Tuesday-Friday of next week, so he may (or may not) comment on your questions as well.

See you tomorrow. Don't drive me crazy on spirit day. And Greg, I love your profile picture. For some reason I did not get the same google results...

-AP

Chapter 4

What effect does Fitzgerald's juxtaposition of details, characters, settings etc., have in the story and on the reader?

Chapter 3 The Great Gatsby

Chapter three undoubtedly develops Gatsby’s character. At the beginning of the chapter, we come to know Gatsby as a neighbor: the lavish parties he hosts, “oranges and lemons left on his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves” (43), the arrival of the orchestra (the party set up), the lighting/scenery….As the chapter progresses and Nick describes his first party at Gatsby’s, again, Gatsby is shown in a new, more personal light. He is the topic for gossip: that he once killed a man, payed for the repair of Lucille’s ripped dress, attended Oxford…- no one has a concrete explanation for who Gatsby really is- how he attained his mansion on Long Island, and how he’s come to host so many lavish parties, he has a very mysterious reputation. Before we even meet Gatsby, we come to see him from many different angles and perspectives all that contribute to perhaps a pre-image of what sort of a man Gatsby ought to be, what we would expect him to be. When we finally meet Gatsby we are caught off-guard, he, in his brief interaction with Nick, does not seem to match the picture of expectation rendered throughout this chapter and even previous chapters. How does the pre-image and pre-expectation for Gatsby’s character match/contrast etc. the Gatsby Nick meets? Furthermore, in Nick’s position, which image (rumors/ Nick’s personal experience/perception of Gatsby.…) would you observe/predict to be most accurate about Gatsby’s character? Take into account that sometimes first impressions aren’t entirely correct, that Gatsby could be reinventing himself (as mentioned in class for those there- the difficulty/ease to reinvent oneself…) after a life of these rumors, and that personal impressions always differ.  What sort of overall picture do we have of Gatsby’s character as of chapter 3? How does the overall picture hold conflicting ideas/opinions/perceptions of Gatsby's character within it?

Also, Brooke and I are just curious about this, (if anyone would care to pose their interpretations, obviously you don't have to), what do you think about the meaning/symbolism of the "garden"mentioned throughout this chapter, in terms of the atmosphere of the party and how it contributes to the image of Gatsby's character?- "A wafer of moon was shining over Gatsby's house, making the night fine as before and surviving the laughter and the sound of his still glowing garden" (60). 

Great Gatsby: Chapter Two

In class we have discussed how people view both themselves and others, namely during our discussion of T.S. Eliot's poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." In the poem, the narrator stands apart from the party and ruminates on the universe and humanity.

In Chapter Two of the Great Gatsby, Nick finds himself in a similar position when he tags along with Tom to the city. Throughout the chapter, the personalities of many characters warp to match changes in setting.

How do the characters present themselves and act differently based on their surroundings ? To what extent does the setting play a role? Do inter-personal interactions contribute more to their demeanor?

Gatsby Chapter 1

In class on Friday, we ended with this notion of "tension" as a central part of Eliot's poem. Similarly, tension is at the core of what makes literature worth breaking down into individual lines, words, even syllables... that tension is (or is not) resolved, at least partially, through language. Tension is created formally (by form) in order to influence content.

What types of tension do you see in The Great Gatsby so far? Respond with a specific passage that you think illustrates tension in Gatsby, or respond refuting a classmate's claim about thon's (!) passage. In your comment, be sure to specifically explain what tension you see developing and why.