Who is Jay Gatsby?

Right now I am on chapter ten in The Great Gatsby. I have not used the blogging prompts sheet that Mrs. Bross gave us at all yet, so I am going to use it now. I am going to answer the question, “What is the most important line from that chapter?” I think the most important line from chapter ten is “The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God- a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that- and he must be about His Father’s Business, the service of a vast, vulgar and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to his conception he was faithful to the end” (Fitzgerald 104).

            Just read this line. One, maybe two more times. Who says stuff like that? Apparently Nick does. This is his most descriptive and evidentially truthful description of Gatsby that I have heard through-out the whole book. This line is not only important in understanding the chapter, but also the book. This section shows how the whole book is about Gatsby and how mysterious he is. It is over 100 pages into the book and people are still making accusations about Mr. Jay Gatsby. I can’t help but wonder, who is Gatsby?

 

Is This History in the Making or History Already Made?

Gatsby and Daisy. Daisy and Gatsby. I don’t know how they prefer it but I bet that it has been asked before. What do I mean by this you might ask? I mean that in what I have read so far in The Great Gatsby, I can tell that there is something between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Of course, Fitzgerald has not just come out and said what their history is but there have been several hints. Like when Daisy said to Gatsby, “’I certainly am awfully glad to see you again’” (Fitzgerald 91). Other hints have been the way Gatsby acts when her name is mentioned or when he wants to see her. He acts like the middle school cliché group. The guy who is always asking his friends to find out if a girl likes him. He is too nervous, but not to ask someone else to do it for him. Like when Gatsby indirectly asks Nick if he would “’invite Daisy to your house some afternoon and then let him come over’” (Fitzgerald 83).

            I predict that Daisy and Gatsby are top secret spies. They are always nervous that someone will discover their true identity. And they are investigating Nick because they think he is some kind of bad guy! No… I’m just joking! I don’t think Daisy and Gatsby are some creepy spy team. I think they have some type of romantic history. They both always jump up when they hear the others name in a conversation and they were both glad to see each other again and they went over to Gatsby’s house and did not even notice when Nick left. I could go on and on, but I don’t want to bore you.

            Whenever I hear people talk about The Great Gatsby I always hear them say they don’t like Daisy. From this I can infer that she will do something non-likeable… no duh right. I cannot think of a reason why everyone would not like her. Maybe it is because she does something awful to Gatsby or maybe she leads him on thinking that they will be together but never really do. But instead of hearing my boring old predictions how about you just go read it and make your own!

The Great Gatsby- narrator

When you hear The Great Gatsby and you read the back of the book, would you think this book is all about? Gatsby, right? Well yes and no, Gatsby is the focus of the book, but not the narrator. Confused… you should be.

            Nick. He is the narrator of this book. However, he is not the focus of the story. Nick is like that awkwardly quite kid that barely says anything at the lunch table. Nevertheless, he hears everything. Nick is always at the events, but he never really says much.

            A great example of this is chapter five. Nick invited Gatsby and Daisy over for tea because Gatsby asked him to. Gatsby needed an excuse to see Daisy. However, the whole chapter Nick only says like three lines. He just describes their actions and dialogue. Almost like, he is writing a story. After Gatsby took a phone call, he quickly abandoned it when Daisy said, “’Come here quick!’ cried Daisy at the window. The rain was still falling, but the darkness had parted in the west, and there was a pink and golden billow of foamy clouds above the sea… ‘I know what we’ll do,’ said Gatsby. ‘We’ll have Klipsinger play the piano.” (Fitzgerald 99). This is just parts of a long conversation between Daisy and Gatsby. As you could see in the middle with Nick narrating, he had great description of the rain and clouds.

            Nick may not be the main character of the book, but he is still that character that brings it all together. He is the person that is watching all the dramatic things happen. Who is the Nick in your life?

Jay Gatsby- his character

Well it happened, I finally met Jay Gatsby. He is quite an interesting character. I really enjoy the way his character talks and the certain phrases that he has. For example, he always calls Nick “old sport” like four times each paragraph. “Good morning, old sport,” (Fitzgerald 68), “Look here, old sport,” (Fitzgerald 69), “Then came the war, old sport,” (Fitzgerald 70). This is how he begins every conversation when he is talking to Nick. I wonder why…

I have a guess but, I could be wrong. I think that it is just the way that Gatsby talks to people informally. It is just how he shows people that they do not intimidate him. If he always addressed people as Sr. or Miss, then it would appear as if he thinks he is below everyone. By saying “old sport” he is not showing like he thinks he is above anyone, just that he is more experienced than others. Just like when your grandparents call you “sweetie”.

Jay Gatsby is very unique. In the book there are so many rumors about him. One was that he killed a man or that he was a descendant of Von Hindenburg. But, when he goes to get Nick for lunch, he explains to him about how his family is all dead, he came into his wealth, and that he served in war. He is unique because he carries around souvenirs of his, we will call them adventures, in his pocket like chewing gum. But, I guess you have to do that when the whole town thinks you’re are a crazy person! I don’t think Gatsby is crazy, not yet anyway… I really like it so far!   

The Great Gatsby- character voice

Okay, I know that my last post probably left everyone a little confused on my opinion of the book. Actually, I doubt half of you actually even read it. But, I just want to clarify…

I am really enjoying this book. There are definitely a lot of words that I do not know but I feel like it is extending my vocabulary. What I really like about this book is how real the characters feel. Fitzgerald makes the characters seem both real and not. I know, confusing, but it is true. The voices of the characters is old timey, but the conversations they have make them more realistic. For example, “’There’s something funny about a fellow that’ll do a thing like that,’ said the other girl eagerly. ‘He doesn’t want any trouble with anybody.’ ‘Who doesn’t?’ I inquired. ‘Gatsby. Somebody told me----‘” (Fitzgerald 48). They use words like “fellow” and “inquired”. But the fact that the two girls are gossiping makes them seem so real. We hear and participate in gossip all the time.

Once again, I really enjoy the book so far and definitely recommend reading it before we are going to have to read it for school. It is definitely a high reading level book and at least I have time to learn what they are saying. When you read a book for school you are going so fast that it is hard to have time to stop and think!

The Great Gatsby- descriptive writing

           The Great Gatsby is an extremely descriptive book. I am on page 50 and F. Scott Fitzgerald is still introducing the characters. I have not even really met Gatsby himself yet. But, I think that is the point. The narrator of the book, Nick, hardly ever talks. Just listens. You don’t even really know what he looks like. I still really like the book; it is not like what I am used to reading.

Nick describes people in really specific ways. Not just, “the boy had ocean blue eyes”. When he is meeting new people he usually describes each one of them. Like when he describes Catherine, “The sister, Catherine, was a slender, worldly girl of about thirty with a solid sticky bob of red hair and a complexion powdered milky white. Her eyebrows had been plucked and then drawn on again at a more rakish angle but the efforts of nature toward the restoration of the old alignment gave a blurred air to her face. When she moved about there was an incessant clicking as innumerable pottery bracelets jingled up and down her arms” (Fitzgerald 34). Believe it or not, that was not even the whole description. Also, you probably noticed that there are a lot of big, fancy words in the description. That has caused me to actually have to look things up. I know, that is absolutely crazy, right. I actually have to do work. ;)

Starting Gatsby

I just started The Great Gatsby. I know what you are thinking, but just because I am a freshman does not mean I can not read it. I have always thought that schools kind of ruin books for you. I feel so strongly about this that I even did a whole presentation on it for ECA. My plan is to read the book now so that I can actually enjoy it instead of taking notes and quizzes and skimming  the book.
I am only on page 11, but so far I really like the authors writing style. He does not ramble on, but he is also very descriptive. Right now in the Book he is still giving you some insight on the characters and time period. Since I am not that far, I cannot give a great summary of what itisaboutjust yet. But I will keep peddling through the Book and tell roughshod it is actually good or just "school" good!

Silver Linings Playbook Flashback

Now I know that this is not the book I am currently reading but I really wanted top blog about this. Plus, I just watched the movie…

            I read Silver Linings Playbook by Mathew Quick in Best Sellers last trimester. I absolutely LOVED it! It was so different from what I usually read. I am usually into fantasy, not realistic fiction. But, never the less, it was great, so read it!

            Over the weekend I watched the movie version of the book. You know the one; it has everyone’s favorite loud mouthed, bird whistling actress, Jennifer Lawrence. Now, I don’t usually read that much and the books I read are never movies. So, when I went to see The Hunger Games with my friends, forever ago, and they were all talking about what the book had that the movie didn’t. They were all freaking out for stupid reasons like, the cornucopia was supposed to be gold. Naturally, I thought they were just being picky and annoying like friends are. But when I saw Silver Linings Playbook, I finally felt their pain.

            Don’t get me wrong, the movie was great and it was hilarious. But it was so different from the book. I found myself picking out stupid things that bothered me, like the fact that they danced to the wrong song and Pat actually saw and talked to Nikki in the movie!

            I have to say, if you asked me to pick which one was better, I would have to say both. Though there were some major differences, they both were equally funny and unique. It also got me thinking, who would want to watch the exact same thing they read? Wouldn’t that just be like watching re-runs of a TV show?

            Here is the diner scene from the movie if you all want to have just a little taste of what the movie was like…

Hero's of Olympus Book Series

Now, I am sure that we all have heard of the Percy Jackson books. I am sure we have all thought about how cool it would be to be a child of the gods. To know how to fight, have special powers, and get treated with praise. But honestly, I don’t think that it is all it’s cracked up to be.

            I mean, I am just sitting there reading about how Percy and Annabeth are in the underworld and all the other demigods are fighting off a bunch of problems. I keep thinking this would be one of those cool video game scenarios, not real life. It would be fun to try it out and keep getting unlimited do-overs. Then again, I guess there is one character that got her own personal do-over, Hazel. She was, in a sense, brought back from the dead to help out on this quest. But I still would not wish that my life was like hers or any other of the demigods because they have to deal with some pretty hard stuff. For example, in the end of The Mark of Athena, Percy was faced with a really difficult decision. He could either let Annabeth fall to her doom or go with her and pray that he can get both of them out of the underworld.

            I guess what I am trying to say is that I feel bad for them. But, luckily, it is just a book. It is a really good book series that is like one of those commercial products, “fun to play with not to eat” or in this case, “fun to read it not to live it”

House of Hades beginning

I have just started The House of Hades by Rick Riordan. The previous book ended with Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase falling into Tartarus. Tartarus is the hell of the underworld. However, they are not dead while in there, so that just means they will have to suffer. But, I am not far enough into the book to know how Percy and Annabeth are doing. Last I heard of them, Annabeth had a broken leg and Percy a broken heart because he let something happen to Annabeth.

The mood of the book is very nervous and angry. Hazel is the narrator of the first chapter. She describes, “During the third attack, Hazel almost ate a boulder. She was peering into the fog, wondering how it could be so difficult to fly across one stupid mountain range, when the ship’s alarm bells sounded” (Riordan 1). The phrase “Hazel almost ate a boulder” indicates that she is on edge. She is nervous and angry. Also, I can infer that she is distracted because her friends are in Tartarus. The distraction can only make the journey harder because she is not focused. However, Hazel has a strong and confident personality. Therefore I predict she will find a way through the pain and push on.

Best Sellers post #12: Book Wish List

This is my book wish list (they are in no particular order)…
• House of Hades by Rick Riordan
• Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
• Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
• DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
• I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore
• Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• Looking for Alaska by John Green
• The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
• Maximum Ride by James Patterson

Best Sellers post #11: Book Talk

Best Sellers post #4: Book 1 Reflection

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children was a good book. However, I thought that it moved slowly in the middle. The beginning and end were very exciting. But, in the middle when he was just visiting the island, in was a little boring. Though it was a little boring, it was still very descriptive. I also think that the pictures helped move the story along. They added the feeling of only a few more pages then I get to see a picture. They were a break from reading. I am looking forward to reading Hollow City, the second book in the series. So far I have heard good things about it.

Best Sellers post #10: The Mark of Athena Book Review

The Mark of Athena is the third book in the Heroes of Olympus Series. The Lost Hero and Son of Neptune both set the scene for the seven demigods that are entwined in a prophecy. But after several visits from different Gods, they realize that the Prophecy of Seven and the Mark of Athena are combined in some way. The Mark of Athena goes into detail about the demigod’s journey to Rome and Annabeth’s journey to finding out what her mother’s mark is.

Rick Riordan is the author of this book. He decided to write the book in a different style. Each chapter is narrated by a different character. For example, the chapter called ANNABETH is about what she is currently doing during that time. It goes into her thoughts, actions, discoveries, and decisions. How Riordan did this is interesting because it gives the reader an opportunity to get to see the story from multiple people’s point of view. It gives the reader the chance to pick which character they think is a hero, villain, back up character, non-important character, etc.

Piper is a well-developed character because her personality is relatable. When a chapter is labeled PIPER, there are always times when you compare yourself to her. She does not have any major powers like Percy or Jason, but she still is an important part to the team. Piper always says things like, “Piper had a new entry in her top-ten list of Times Piper Felt Useless” (Riordan 302). This sentence has a quality that none of the other sentences have… compatibility. Her character is compatible with regular people, with the reader. This quality makes her character well-developed in the story. The reader relates to how she thinks and feels.  

Percy Jackson can be a very bitter character because of how he holds the grudge against the wine god. Lord Bacchus is the wine god. In his Greek form at Camp Half-Blood, he was always very rude to Percy. However, this was a year ago and it was in the god’s other form (Gods have two forms Greek and Roman). In a scene of the book where Percy, Piper, and Jason go to see the Roman form of the wine god, Lord Bacchus, Percy is very rude. Lord Bacchus asks Percy why he has not changed him into a dolphin yet because he was so rude. Percy replies, “’It was discussed,’ Percy assured him. ‘I think you were just too lazy to do it’” (Riordan 122). Percy is being very rude to the god in this passage. He is still bitter towards the god for being mean and annoying during Percy’s Camp Half-Blood years. Even though it has been over a year and the Roman form of the god has a different personality than the Greek form.

Opinions that are heard about Percy Jackson are that he is the “best hero”. Many people have awarded him the best hero award when writing a class assignment. Most people say this because he is a young boy, who has given up a normal life to help save others. He never backs down from a fight and he is always trying to save everyone. Also it helps that he can control water. That is his “super power”. In the Mark of Athena, there are several parts where Percy steps out to defend the members of his team, especially, Annabeth. Also, he did not hesitate to get on the ship when the Greek demigods first arrived at the Roman camp. They told him how dangerous the quest was going to be, yet he still volunteered.

The novels purpose is to entertain. Also, it is a feel-good book. It shows the power of friendship, hard work, and peace. The plot has several battles between the demigods and giants/monsters. These creatures are always defeated by the power of friendship. They always show more than one demigod fighting and the demigods helping and protecting each other during the battle. For example, when the Greek demigods showed up at the Roman camp, Percy (Greek demigod at Roman camp) immediately defended them. They were his friends, so he stood up to all the Romans.

            This book was a perfect balance between action, mystery, and imagination. Just the right ingredients of a good fantasy novel. The ending was a great gateway into the next book.

Blog Reflection

                One thing that I struggled with at the beginning of blogging was summarizing. I was over complicating my blog posts. I was focused on looking between the lines of my book, instead of just reading the lines right in front of me. I learned to overcome this struggle by just blogging about what was in my head. Instead of sitting there and thinking too much about what I was going to post, I would read until like 5 minutes before I had to go somewhere. Then in that 5 minutes I would be in a hurry, that caused me to just write about what was in my head at that time, the summary of what I just read. This also caused the book to be fresh on my mind. However, I still did do blog posts that were not just summaries. For example, in Best Sellers we would be given a topic about what was going on in the reading world. It would usually be about a debate that was going on. He would ask us to write a blog post about what we thought and why. I really enjoyed when we blogged about these debates. It was fun to voice my opinion and read what other people thought about the topic.

            I would say that I have definitely grown in my ability to analyze a text. My post about my summer reading book was okay, but not near as good as my more recent posts. In my summer reading post I do not really explain any part of the book except the beginning. The only thing I say about the end is, “However, further into the book when he meets Mr. Penumbra, they tam up to uncover a secret that will change the world.” This is the only sentence that I used to describe 2/3 of the book.

            In one of my more recent blog posts about Silver Lining’s Playbook I went into more detail. I also included things about the book that was not just the beginning of the book and theme. “I think this book is not very complicated to read, it just has a lot of swearing in it. But don't get me wrong, it is still a really funny book. I also really like how the plot of the story is not what you usually read. It is very unique.” This gives people more of an idea of the book. It helps them to decide more if they think it is their type of book. In my newer post I also give a good analysis of the book when I say, “Throughout the book you will discover that Pat and Tiffany have more things in common than you would think.” I think this is good because it helps give the reader an idea of the end of the book, but not really. It is broad enough so that the ending of the book is not set in stone.

            Overall, I would say that I have improved the most when analyzing by using more description and actually words used in the text. In my older blog post the most description I had was, “In the beginning of the book the main character, Clay Jannon, is a big fan of paper because he just recently got fired from a job at a company that only ever used computers.” In my newer post I used description like, “One thing you need to know about Pat is that he is mentally unstable. He has been in the ‘bad place’ ever since his ‘apart time’ with his wife Nikki has been going on. Pat truly believes his wife will come home to him soon.” This is better analyzing of the text because I used actual quotes from the text. Using the words like “apart time” and “bad place” helps people to get more of a feel on the personality of Pat.  

Best Sellers post #9: Character Reflection

 

Leo Valdez is one of the characters is my book, The Mark of Athena. Leo is the type of person to act without thinking. He is one of those characters that people would say, “Gosh Leo , I love ya, but good grief…” He is loveable but you are always wishing you could tell him when he should not have said something. He is also very funny. Leo is not like the characters Riordan usually portrays. He is more plucky and ridiculous, than heroic.

            The more I read my book the more I ask myself, why is Leo Valdez so wonderfully irritating? He is not a villain. Yet he is not quite a nice person. He tries, yet he says hateful things sometimes. I think that Riordan put his character in the book to make the book have a sort of comedy. His character personality goes with the comedy element of Playfulness. Meaning that even though the situation the characters are in is very serious, Leo does not really treat it that way. He is always making jokes about not funny things and not in a rush when the team needs him to be.  Also Leo’s character follows the comedy element of Forgiveness. Meaning that even when he does something that is not so good, he is always forgiven. This is shown when he started bombing Camp Jupiter. Even though he did not know what he was doing, he still did it and his team forgave him in a heartbeat.

The Worst and Best of The Mark of Athena

The best thing about my book so far is all the mystery that is going on. I don’t know what the Mark of Athena is. I don’t know if Leo is somehow related to Sammy. I don’t know which demigod is destined to die with Piper. All of the mystery makes the book makes me want to keep reading. Plus, there is a bunch of action. The demigods get into a fight scene with a giant or monster during every other chapter.

            The worst thing about my book so far is the fact that Hazel might have feelings for Leo. But, she is with Frank. This is not a very big issue, but this was the worst thing I could think of because it is a really good book. I just hope that the book does not go all Twilight. I want the book to stay the way it is with all the action and only some romantic type scenes.  However, I still think it is a really good book. I like this book because of the action and the fact that it makes me feel like I am in a totally different world.   

Best Sellers post #7: Silver Linings Playbook Trailer

Best Sellers post #8: Truth in a Memoir

Fiction vs. Non-Fiction

            I do think that they are two very different genres. However, when deciding if a book is non-fiction or not that all depends on what they lied about. It does not matter how much, it just matters what they lied about. If they changed the color of a girls shirt in the book, that is still a lie. But it is not an important lie. If they changed the fact that they murdered someone but actually did not, then that is taking the step from non-fiction over to fiction. It is okay to exaggerate some things, but if you change the whole story of something that happened, then that makes the story realistic fiction.  

The Mark of Athena: Setting

To start the book off the characters Annabeth, Leo, Piper, and Jason all arrived at Camp Jupiter. At this camp all the demigods are Roman and Jason and his crew are Greek. Camp Jupiter is base doff of the architectural styling of Rome. There are grand marble buildings and plenty of columns.

After they leave this "New Rome", as they call it, they begin their journey to actual Rome. They travel by this big floating war ship called the Argo II. During one part of the book Annabeth takes Percy Jackson to the ship's stable area. Here is how Percy describes it, "The room smelled of fresh hay and wool blankets. Lining the left wall were three empty horse stalls like the ones they used for pegasi back at camp. The right wall had two empty cages big enough for large zoo animals.

In the center of the floor was a twenty-foot-square see-through panel. Far below, the night landscape whisked by-miles of dark countryside crisscrossed with illuminated highways like the strands of a web" (Riordan 159). I feel like Riordan does an excellent job depicting this area of the boat. You can see the roads down below you and the empty, smelly stable. This helps you to set the mood of this part in the book. Since it is Percy and Annabeth, it is supposed to be romantic and beautiful. You can see them sitting together and watching the night pass under them. 

Romeo and Juliet

 

I find the story very interesting. To understand it, I have read some scenes more than once and I have interpreted it differently every time. I have seen it as weird, sweet, creepy, and beautiful all at the same time. I hope we get the chance to compare our views on the story with other people in our class. It will be interesting to see what other people opinion on the book are. For example I know one person who finds it so unrealistic that it bothers them. I find it fascinating how different the story is from how we view life today. I also think it is interesting that this is the one story that has been told by so many different people/directors in so many different countries.
(see CPR book summary in previous post from January 27) 

Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

        I just started this book over the weekend. I am not far enough in to give a full summary of the book. The part I am at right now is just after Annabeth got off the floating ship and reunited with Percy Jackson. From the cover of the book I can predict that Percy and Jason are probably going to fight at some point. There is probably going to be a second part to the prophecy of seven. I predict that this part of the prophecy will be about two enemies, one a son of Neptune and one the lost hero. They will turn against eachother and lose sight of the common goal, which is to destroy Gaea's army. But then in the end they will come together to fight off the army. I do not think that they will defeat the army in this book because there is still a fourth book, House of Hades.

Best Sellers post #6: Readicide

               I completely agree with Jodi Picoult when she says, “I don’t think readers have to choose between literary and commercial fiction…” Students should not be told what they have to read.  When you force someone to do something, they automatically don’t like it, this is a rule in life.

                Classics should not be totally thrown out of school curriculum; however, we should not have to take so many tests and worksheets about them. I think that if teachers just let kids read the book and did not stop them every chapter to take notes and quizzes, then students would enjoy them more. Classics are called classics for a reason. Reason being that people liked them and they taught you something important. But back when they were written, do you think students had someone breathing down the back of their neck making sure that they understood every single aspect that the school thinks they should know. Schools should let us figure it out on our own, compare how we interpreted the book to how others did. Not tell us how the school thinks it should be interpreted. I think that the school is bossy when it comes to reading. They tell us “you are going to read this and like it” and “my way or no way”.

                Schools want kids to read books to gain a better intelligence, but also to learn an important fact about life. Who says that books like The Hunger Games or Harry Potter do not contain valuable information about life? Adding things like that to a class might strike up more interest in reading. It might make kids excited about going to class instead of dragging their feet down the hallway. Classes should be more like book clubs. A place where you can openly discuss what you are reading with others who are reading the same thing.

Silver Linings Playbook by Mathew Quick

Over winter break I finished this book. It is about a married man named Pat and how he always believes in silver linings. He believes that life is like a movie and every movie gets worse before it gets better. This is the idea that helps him to face all of his challenges. One thing you need to know about Pat is that he is mentally unstable. He has been in the"bad place" ever since his "apart time" with his wife Nikki has been going on. Pat truely believes his wife will come home to him soon. Of course by home, I mean his parents house. That is where he moved when he got out of the bad place.
When back in his home town he meets Tiffany. She is a widow with serious word choice problems. Throughout the book you will discover that Pat and Tiffany have more things in common than you would think. I think this book is not very complicated to read, it just has a lot of swearing in it. But don't get me wrong, it is still a really funny book. I also really like how the plot of the story is not what you usually read. It is very unique.