The Great Gatsby, Houston food deserts, and myself

Comment on any connections that you were able to make between The Great Gatsby and the topics that you are exploring in IHSS and Science. How did our outings and/or the seminar contribute to your ability to make these connections.

The primary connections between The Great Gatsby and my science and IHSS class is the constant comparison between rich and poor neighborhoods. One might find that "the valley of ashes" from Gatsby might be a bit of an exaggeration, but compared to the poor neighborhoods in Houston, it wasn't very different. The Houston neighborhoods weren't filled with soot and dirt, but their grocery stores were barren and ancient. Many of the people I saw from my bus window seemed to resemble the "crumbling", tired characters that F. Scott Fitzgerald mentioned as residents of the valley of ashes. 

The West and East Eggs are places fantasizes by many, for they are the representations of the people who achieved the American Dream. The book shows how these privileged, rich people can have a plethora of issues as well as others. In other words: nothing is perfect, the American Dream is a bit of a facade for the harsh reality of the world. After realizing this, a disturbing thought crossed my mind: what if I am in the same situation as one of the debatably fortunate citizens of the eggs?  

Myrtle's death

Describe  what happens when Myrtle is killed in chapter 7. How did it happen? Who was to blame? Use textual evidence.

Myrtle seemed to be in a quarrel with her husband, George. He was sick, and he told the neighbor, Michaelis that he and his wife were moving "the day after tomorrow", and that he had Myrtle locked in the overhead apartment until then. Myrtle must have been enraged when her husband discovered her adulterous ways and finally decided to stand up to her. Their neighbor, Michaelis heard Myrtle cry out "beat me!" and then she proceeded to run out into the road with her arms flailing in the air as if she was trying to get the attention of a speeding car. One spectator of Myrtle's death recalled the car being "light green". In the order of colors on a rainbow, yellow comes just before green, which means it is a lighter color than green. In the darkness of the valley of ashes, one might mistake Gatsby's yellow car for being a pale green in the dimness. So, the culprit is either Gatsby or Daisy (but one will later find out that it was indeed, Mrs. Buchanan herself).   

Gatsby's story about himself vs. Jordan's story about Gatsby

Contrast Jay Gatsby's story about himself on p. 65 and Jordan Baker's story about Daisy and Gatsby on pp. 74-77.  What is different about these stories, and why do you think that they are different?

Gatsby portrays himself to Nick Carraway as a very take-charge, and forever successful businessman. He tells Nick that he was born to some very wealthy individuals, which he then reminds Nick that they are "all dead now". This is the first sign that he is lying about his past. When Jordan expands on her past interactions with Gatsby, he sounds like a common school-boy, who drools after a pretty, young girl like Daisy. Jordan says Daisy received calls on the daily, since she was the prettiest and most popular girl in Louisville. 

The valley of ashes and T.S. Elliot's The Hollow Men

Compare the "valley of ashes," described at the beginning of chapter 2 in The Great Gatsby, with Part 3 of T.S. Eliot's  poem, The Hollow Men. Include evidence from the text

The valley of ashes from The Great Gatsby and T.S. Elliot's The Hollow Men describe many of the same images and give an overwhelming feel of misery, loneliness, and helplessness. "This is the dead land, This is the cactus land" from the poem and Nick Caraway's description of the shambled town compliment one another. In the book, the valley of ashes is described as "a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens." By reading this, I got a feeling of loneliness and nothingness, or at least nothing there but ash and soot. The same goes for The Hollow Men. The only thing that is visible in this macabre battlefield is death, and the only form of greenery or other life are cactus plants. "Under the twinkle of a fading star" from the poem, explains the pitiful and helpless state that the soldiers are in. In Gatsby, the line on page 23: "... of men who move dimly and already crumbling in the powdery air.", shows that the people of the valley of ashes are simply rotting away, and the last thing that they will see is the smokey, "powdery air" that drifts about them eternally. 

The terrifying truth about income inequality

What information about income inequality surprised or disturbed you the most? Explore some reasons why you think this information surprised or disturbed you.

While watching the short movie on the unequal distribution of wealth in America, there was one particular fact that disturbed me. When it was made clear that the 1% of Americans make 50% of the entire nations money. To make it even clearer, a complete half of the U.S.'s money is going to the smallest percentage that hail here. The people that make this are movie/music stars, politicians, and other jobs that would earn one a recognizable title and an abundant salary. The only startling part of this is that this much money is given to such a small portion of the citizens. To relate this to the American Dream, I feel it couldn't be any further from the original goal. The goal was to make everyone's wealth equal. This shows how things are easier said than done, and how optimistic and wishful thinking may increase people's hopes for the future, but may not be very realistic. Personally, I think that the American Dream is a wonderful concept, and many would thrive from it, except, it is quite confusing at the same time. After listening to this video, I had two primary questions. If someone with no work ethic is poor because of their laziness (which is not always the case), should they still receive payment for doing nothing?  If someone has worked hard throughout their years and accomplished amazing things, should they receive an incomprehensibly large paycheck? I think that the small percentage that have accomplished more than others  should definitely be payed significantly more than someone who has not accomplished the things they have, but to hand that small group of people an entire half of the nations money is completely ridiculous. 

ELA class review

Ever since I was little I've always enjoyed a good story. I was pleased to find that this year, every book that has been assigned was exciting, thoughtful, or unique from any book I have ever read. I have yet to find one that's interested me so much that I would call any of them my favorite, but, they were very entertaining. The books were indeed, very enjoyable, but I found it quite hard to question the story or annotate things that particularly stood out. I found myself taking quite a long time to come up with a good question to write in the book. Perhaps, we wouldn't have to annotate, but go back to the methods we used last year, which was to simply write a question on the board for seminar. I do agree that it would take a while to get through everyone's question, but we could still save them for another time. The students who didn't read the book would still be noticeable because they wouldn't have very intricate things to say about the chapters. Aside from this, I think that the ELA class should stay the same in every aspect except for the annotations. I have always enjoyed my time in this class, and I am excited for the next reading. 

Odysseus' nostos

Analyze the purpose of all of the violence in books 22-24. Do you think that this is necessary for Odysseus' successful nostos? Why or why not?

I had mixed emotions about Odysseus' nostos. He did go through 10 years of monsters, witches, sirens, storms and other various forms of mayhem, only to come home to several men harassing his wife and plotting to murder his son. He definitely has a right to be angry, and gathering that he is a great and mighty hero who is favored by one of the most powerful goddesses on Mount Olympus, his reputation exemplifies his possible bloodlust during situations like these. Also, this book was based back in Ancient Greece, which means the majority of female characters in Greek mythology were described as either obedient housewives or magical sex-symbols (minus most of the goddesses on Mount Olympus). Odysseus fell victim to the charm of many of these women. Calypso, Circe and the sirens all thwarted Odysseus on his journey back to Ithaca. Keeping in mind that it was a man who wrote this book in Ancient Greece, Homer probably wanted to keep the male characters stronger than the women. This is why I think it may have been necessary for Odysseus to claim his nostos by slaughtering everyone and ending strong, instead of coming home, tired and weak after his ordeals. Although this is only one side of the argument, I also felt that Odysseus could have fulfilled his nostos without the blood and gore.

On the anti-violence side of things, I think it would have made more sense if Odysseus simply murdered the suitors, and spared all of the innocents. The maids received the worst of it all. If Odysseus was supposed to be the protagonist, I would think of him as kind and compassionate. By executing the maids, my image of this character shattered like glass. I understand that Odysseus might feel betrayed by the maids since they chose to serve the men who came into his home and harassed his wife, but in the end, what were the maids to do? They were maids, not queens. The maids may have been the lowest of the low in terms of the palace-dwellers. They aren't really maids at all, they are slaves. They live to serve. They would have (most likely) been killed anyway, if they denied service to the suitors. Things may have been different if the suitors were women. People seemed to be a bit more lenient towards women bickering with other women in literature of this time. Yet, if a woman talked back to a man during this time period, especially a slave like they were, it simply wasn't heard of, and probably wasn't taken lightly either. In other words, I'm not quite sure if Odysseus' actions should be labeled as correct or not. There are so many things that justify both sides of the argument.