Great Gatsby Ch. 8-9

"It excited him too that many men had already loved Daisy-it increased her value in his eyes" (Pg.156).

Gatsby loves everything about Daisy, and pretty much anything thing that she owns seems more beautiful than if it were it's normal self. He thinks her house is the most radiant and that everything in side the house is just way more spectacular than anyone else's things, and that includes Daisy herself. It is almost as if Gatsby sees Daisy as this magnificent prize to have since she was the gateway to the "real money" world, so the fact that more guys are interested in her, she seems to be more significant in Gatsby's eyes because he feels as though he is winning just for having her.

(Words: 107)

"He stretched out his hand desperatley as if to snatch only a wisp of air, to save a fragment of the spot that she had made lovely for him. But it was all going by too fast now for his blurred eyes and he knew that he had lost that part of it, the freshest, and the best, forever" (Pg.160-161).

Gatsby starts to notice that time is running by so quickly and he feels as though he has just been taking advantage of it this whole time. He desperately snatched for the spot that Daisy has made lovely for him because he wants, so badly, for time to slow down for him to enjoy life. Everything is going unwell in every aspect and his self realization is that he has lost part of himself forever because , and that part of himself was the nicest part. He feels as though the best things are lost and is upset by the fact that even when he grabbed the spot Daisy mad for him, he only grabs air.

(Words: 114)

"I drove from the station directly to Gatsby's house and my rushing anxiously up the front steps was the first thing that alarmed anyone" (Pg.169).

As Wilson was freaking, out about Myrtle's death, he ran away and Nick went after him by following the trail that Wilson accidentally left behind, Wilson was on his way to Gatsby's house to finish what he believed to be what Gatsby had started. Nick followed to Gatsby's house where Wilson had just shot Gatsby and then himself. No one in Gatsby's giant house seemed to notice until Nick had come running up the stairs into the house with the look of panic upon his face. They all went to the back where the pool was and saw Gatsby, and Wilson dead. 

(Words: 102)

"After that I felt a certain shame for Gatsby-one gentleman to whom I telephoned implied that he had got what he deserved" (Pg.177).

Nick feels bad for Gatsby because he has been used most of his life by Daisy, when it comes to romance and taking the blame for killing Myrtle, and all of the people who would show up at Gatsby's parties. Nick called a lot of people, who would come to Gatsby's parties, to ask if they would like to come to his funeral and when one guy replied saying that he deserved to die, it just showed Nick how Gatsby's life wasn't all that great and once Nick realized how used Gatsby was, he felt the shame.

(Words: 97)

"And as I sat there, brooding on the old unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock" (Pg.188).

As Nick was pondering the scene he couldn't help but wonder what Gatsby was thinking when he picked out a green light for Daisy's dock. Gatsby had picked out the green light because the green stood for the money that separated them. He knew how important money and a title were to Daisy and he did not have money at the time and was never able to gain a title since he was not born rich, so the green light also stood for the love he was trying to get from her. 

(Words: 92)

Best In Class

          Imagine if you lost the chance of being Valedictorian by .00154 points: that would make you bitter. Or, what if you were one of the thousands of kids named Valedictorian? It would not be that special. There is no good solution to this because there will always be at least one person who is not satisfied with the results. The author of "The Annals of Education: Best in Class" attempts to show that the problem is not with the title of Class Valedictorian, it is the competition behind it. 


          When the rules to get Valedictorian were just getting the best grade point average and having the most credits a student figured it out and sneakily took easy courses to earn more credits, and won the coveted title. When others realized what happened, and parents found out, they sued the school in hopes that their kid could possibly receive the title, even though that would not even mean anything in a college where most of the students were top high school achievers. After the scandal was exposed, the students hated the kid that plotted his way to being class Valedictorian because they believed that somehow this strategy made him a cheater; even though it was actually a brilliant plan. If he was the only one smart enough to think of that, then he deserves the title of Valedictorian.


          Another problem behind the title of class Valedictorian is that so many people have complained about there being only one or two people to earn the top academic titles when others' grades are only thousandths of a point away from the title. To answer this complaint, some schools decide to give the title to all the kids with a G.P.A. of four or above, but then it does not mean anything to receive the title and makes the reward less of an honor. These schools'  attempt to make things fair has effected the awarded students' college experience when they compete with other college students, since it makes their title less meaningful as a mark of their intellect. 


          Everyone should look at the title of Valedictorian as an honor instead of some prize to fight for. "Cheryl Barker still marvels at how hard Kylie worked, how determined she was, how she never missed a day of school, how she’d go to the library all the time to use the computer because they didn't have one at home. Barker thinks that it was a mistake for the high school to stop naming a valedictorian and a salutatorian" (Talbot). A student who works hard, is very determined, never misses a day of school, and practically lives in the library is the kind of person that should be honored with the title of Valedictorian, and it's really sad that Kylie's mom, Cheryl, can't see the gift of her child without thinking that she should have to win some award. She should be proud that her daughter is a driven girl that has an incredible chance to be accepted at any college and just leave it at that. Whether or not Kylie has a title, her determination will surely help her succeed in college and later.


          Since it is not even going to matter, later in life, whether or not you were the Valedictorian, then students shouldn't fight so hard for the title, when it's their G.P.A. score that really matters. If someone earns the title, they should just be honored and if not, then they should shrug it off and move on. A difference of .00154 points shouldn't make anyone bitter when that amazing score still shows up on their G.P.A., and if a student is named one of the thousands of Valedictorians, then he or she should be honored that they earned that title.
(Words: 571, without quotes)

Great Gatsby Ch. 6-7

(1) "James Gatz- that  was really, or at least legally his name. He changed it at the age of seventeen..." (Pg.104).

Since the beginning Gatsby has been some what of a mysterious character. Not many people know much about his background. Nick is really hung-up on the mystery of the Great Gatsby, but now it seems as though Fitzgerald has pulled back on Nick's obsession, though not entirely. Nick is still hooked enough to wonder about Gatsby's name. He knows now that it is not Gatsby's real name and that Gatsby changed it when he was seventeen, which is quite peculiar and definitely helps keep up with the mysterious look of Mr. Gatsby.
(Words:92)

(2) "[Gatsby] knew when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited... Then he kissed her" (Pg.117).

Fitzgerald is showing how vulnerable Gatsby is letting himself be for Daisy. Here Gatsby is running the idea of kissing Daisy through his head, telling himself pretty much everything that would go wrong if he kissed her. He almost talks himself out of doing it by saying that if he kisses her he wont be able to be as free as being a bachelor allows him to be. So he has to debate whether or not he is going to follow his heart, or if he is going to not risk the chance of being vulnerable. But he did it which shows that he loves her enough to kiss her and not care how it effects his godhood.
(Words:118)

(3) "[Daisy] had told [Gatsby] that she loved him, and Tom Buchanan saw. He was astounded. His mouth opened a little and he looked at Gatsby and then back at Daisy as if he had just recognized her as someone he knew a long time ago" (Pg.125).

Fitzgerald is arguing what a hypocrite Tom is being. He is getting jealous of the love between Daisy and Gatsby, when he has been cheating on Daisy with a mistress for years. Tom is more freaked out at this point because he is just now witnessing this, and the way she tells Gatsby she loves him reminds him of something. That something was the way that she used to tell Tom that she loved him. This is a pretty big loss that Tom is seeing, and it all just hits him in a really bad spot, which makes him act bitter for the rest of the evening and effects the way he views Gatsby and Daisy, but mostly just Gatsby.
(Words:120)

(4) "'Your wife doesn't love you' said Gatsby quietly. 'She's never loved you. She loves me... She only married you because I was poor and she was tired of waiting for me'" (Pg.137).

Fitzgerald is showing that Gatsby can really stand up for what he believes and that Daisy was using Tom just as he was using her. Tom cares for his mistress, but she is in the lower class, and he needs to be with with someone from his social class. On the other hand Daisy has always loved Gatsby, but he was poor and she didn't want to wait, so she settled with someone in her own class. Tom is the only one that comes out as the only hypocrite since he is the only one who gets jealous of the others' lover. Gatsby stands up to Tom and explains this whole "I love you" thing, and explains why Daisy married him in the first place,. All the while Gatsby isn't being very considerate to Tom's feelings because he thought that Tom would understand since he is doing the same thing.
(Words:150)

(5) "[Nick]'d be damned if [he]'d go in; [he]'d had enough of all of them for one day..." (Pg.150).

Fitzgerald is showing a side of Nick that we have never really witnessed before. We usually see Nick as being a very judgmental person, but we don't really see him get upset/annoyed, at least until now. After a long day of a love triangle gone wrong, and the horrible accident he just witnessed. Nick is feeling on edge because he realizes at the end of the day that it was his birthday. After that he doesn't even want to go into Buchanan's house because he expects it all to get worse and doesn't think that he can handle any more of the crazy that they are spewing out. We have finally seen Nick hit his limit.
(Words:117)

Commencement Speech

          The author is trying to persuade everyone to work on being themselves, and doing the things that make them happy, rather than doing what is required of them. This is an amazing article that could raise anyone's self confidence level by going into depth about why it is better to be proud of yourself.

          The concept of this blog applies to the majority of society from any given time period. After reading it I couldn't help but realize how relevant the whole thing is and then I saw that it was written in 1999. It is weird to realize that this has probably been going on since the being of mankind; then again it sounds right, since people have the need to please everyone around them even when it means not being true to themselves. When it comes to insecure people who are pleasing others in bad situations, not being true to themselves becomes a real issue.

          Self confidence is the best thing to get from this story because it explains how wonderful it is to be different or unique, how it's empowering to step out of this conformed path of life, and how you can be whomever you choose to be. This story encourages its reader to make up everything as they go along instead of having a path already set in stone. These are all sorts of ways to allow yourself to be happy. You could have the best job in the world and get paid millions of dollars, but if you're not happy with what you are doing then you shouldn't feel the need to stay in it just for the fear that people will call you crazy. The writer gives a great example of this when she talks about how she quit working at the New York Times newspaper to do what she really loved to do. That is a really hard concept to wrap your brain around because working for that paper is a really big deal, but since it didn't make her happy, it was not worth it.

          As she talks about being true to yourself and loving who you are for it, she ties it to the thinking of children, because who cares less about what anyone has to say about them than children? They are free to be themselves. Children's minds are way more open and creative because they are too uninformed and amazing to worry about how they are "supposed" to be around people, and they just do what makes them happy. She also explains that people tend to create a shell over themselves during the ages of ten to thirty because that is when the thought of how others see them kicks in and holds them back.

          People shouldn't just not care about how the world sees them because that could cause various problems, but if everyone was just a little less judgmental so that others wouldn't have to feel so concerned about being themselves, the world would be better as a result.
(Words: 502)