The Great Gatsby by Sara OchoaSanchez

1. Who seems to be a character that you like or can identify with? Why?

30126341 — 2022-04-20 17:55:02 UTC

I can identify with our narrator/ main character the most. As of right now, he seems to be unnamed but I think his name might be Nick. I can identify with him because he is very observant. He notices how unhappy and false Daisy and Tom's life really is. He is quiet about what he sees, and he is true to his emotions. He is also a hustler because he is getting rich and starting a business out of nothing. He also managed the awkwardness of all of encounters very well. Another great thing he did is that he walked away from the rumors being spread about him. He didn't let it affect him too much.

2. Do you have any questions so far? If not, what predictions do you have for what will happen to these characters?

30126341 — 2022-04-20 17:55:27 UTC

I want to know our main characters name. I also want to know why Gatsby went out in his front yard, and reached out for something in the distance. I have a feeling that he is being watched because he has so much money, and that he might have an disease or something because he was trembeling. I predict that in the future chapters we will learn more about these characters and more about Gatsby's purpose. I want to know why "Nick" is accepting of him even though, Gatsby represents everything that "Nick" hates about New York.

1. Tom and Myrtle have an unusual relationship. Pick a couple you know of from real life, the movies, a TV show, or another book and explain how that couple is similar to or different from Tom and Myrtle.

30126341 — 2022-04-20 17:56:25 UTC

Another couple with similarities to Tom and Myrtle would be Cassie and Nate from euphoria. This is because Cassie and Nate are both cheating on someone, and the relationship they have with each other is toxic and abusive. Cassie is betraying her bestfriend Maddy, to cheat on Nate who is dating Maddy. Nate reminds me of Tom not only because he also plays football and has a stuck up personality, but because he also defends Maddys name when shes not around. Deep down he really loves her and wants to do everything for her. Cassie reminds me of Myrtle because deep down they are both foolish. Myrtle is naive to the fact that Tom can't just leave Daisy, because they have a child together. I also feel like deep down Tom likes Daisy for a reason and that it will be difficult to separate himself from her.

2. Include one brief description from this chapter that you found interesting.

30126341 — 2022-04-20 17:56:36 UTC

Overall, these chapters are very boring. Rich people conversations are so bland and unrelatable. But, something I found interesting was how Catherine brought up Gatsby again. He is clearly a character who has impacted these peoples life in one way or another. She talks about being at a party at his house, which seems usual for Gatsby. He is often having parties. I wonder why we are only getting foreshadowing of him and not a full story as to who and where hes from.

Most Important Chapter-

30126341 — 2022-04-22 18:02:33 UTC

Page 5 - "My own house was an eyesore, but it was a small eyesore, and it had been overlooked, so I had a view of the water, partial view of my neighbor's lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires- all for eighty dollars a month" (Fitzgerald 5). This passage was very important to me because Nick is a very genuine person who does not define his wealth by appearances. He knows that he does not have the mansion of a rich person but his house is enough for him. There is great symbolism and parallelism present because he is comparing his simple cottage life to the ones of rich people. Nick, acknowledges that he has everything that the rich have, at the comfort of a lower price. Appearances don't matter as much to him.

On page 48, Nick meets Gatsby for the first time. Fitzgerald writes that Gatsby has "one of those rare smiles ... [that] understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you are you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression fo you that, at your best, you hoped to convey"Who is a person in your life who has smiled or smiles at you in a way similar to that? How do you know this person?

30126341 — 2022-04-26 16:47:44 UTC

A person in my life who has smiled to me in a similar matter would probably be my cousin or my mom. Their smiles are reasurring and honest. My moms smile is just purely graceful, I can really tell a lot about my moms smile when she does smile at me. When she really smiles at me, I can just tell what she wants to say or like how she is really feeling about me or whatnot. We don't really say "I love you" but her way of saying that is by a smile for sure. With my cousin it's just really honest. I can also notice a lot with their smiles. His smile assures me that he has my back.

Both Gatsby's party and New York City are described here. Please include a couple of images of 1920's New York or 1902's mansions or fancy parties of the 1920's that you find interesting looking.

30126341 — 2022-04-26 16:47:59 UTC

It doesn't let me add more than one image so I will be adding the links below:
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/07/27/books/review/27GAGE/27GAGE-superJumbo.jpg

1. Gatsby's car is described here (page 64). Please find an image of this type of car and post it up. Is this a kind of car you'd have interest in driving? Why or why not?

30126341 — 2022-04-26 17:39:15 UTC

This is the image I was able to find for Gatsby's car. Personally, it is very flashy for my taste and I do not like the yellow color. I can see how and why Gatsby would drive it because he is the type of person to want something weird and rare to his personality. He is also very rich and extravagant given the fact that even his walls are made of real marble and he has real books. This car also looks unsafe, and it seems too small and uncomfortable.

2. Attached is a film clip of recapping page 74-78- in your opinion, what is the most important detail included in BOTH Fitzgerald's writing and this film version? Why?

30126341 — 2022-04-26 17:39:27 UTC

I think the most important detail in both versions is that Gatsby wrote Daisy a letter which we don't know what it said. The other most improtant detail is that Gatsby bought a house right across the bay to be able to be near Daisy. This is a very important detail because it signifies why Gatsby lives there, and it shows just how much she ment to him. I think the white pearl necklace has a lot of symbolism for the love and richness that he had. Gatsby was such a young but very rich soldier who was innocent and blinded with love towards Daisy. Too much happened in this chapter, another important detail could also be how Daisy married Tom with no hesitation. I am very interested to find out if Nick will end up inviting Daisy over for tea.

1. If you were Nick would you have arranged the tea between Daisy and Jay? Why or why not?

30126341 — 2022-04-29 12:11:07 UTC

If I knew their past, I would. But if I didn't know much about Daisy, or her life, then I wouldn't because that could make her very uncomfortable. In this case Nick does know what he is doing and I would do the same. I think he sees how miserable her life is and he sees that this something she would have wanted specially because he thought she was dead. I am very glad that Nick arranged a meeting between them. Overall, I think it was something necessary to happen for these characters to evolve.

2. Why do you think Daisy cried about the shirts? It seems an odd thing to cry over. What does it mean, do you think?

30126341 — 2022-04-29 12:11:16 UTC

I think Daisy cried over what she is missing out. She didn't actually cry over the shirts, but the detail in them the richness and quality they are made with. Daisy is attracted to the material aspect of things, so I think that shows her character and gold digger personality. But she is mainly brutaly upset, because she thought that Jay Gatsby was actually dead when in reality he was alive and living right across from her this entire time.

1. Ultimately, what does Gatsby want from Daisy?

30126341 — 2022-05-01 23:09:24 UTC

What Gatsby really wants Daisy to do is to leave Tom. He wants things to be like the past before he left and started over. Gatsby has been trying his whole life to prepare everything for Daisy. He is ready to have her and be committed to her. He is just very sad that she's already married.

2. What is something that happened in your past that- if given the chance- you'd like to do differently? Why?

30126341 — 2022-05-01 23:09:36 UTC

There are so many things. I think most people would say this but I wish I had started investing online and working on the business I am in right now way earlier. I can only imagine how much money I would have right now. I wish I just worked harder. It feels like most of my life has just been foggy and hard to get through or see towards the future. But now, as I am getting older I can only imagine what the future holds and I can truly only work on the present. I've stopped thinking of what I could do in the past, or what will happen in the future. I try to only focus on what is happening right now and what I can do at my fullest potential.

1. Include at least ONE question you have about this chapter? If you have more, please include them all.

30126341 — 2022-05-03 17:42:06 UTC

Why didn't Daisy stop the car when she hit Tom's mistress? Is Jay Gatsby going to jail for being falsely accused?

2. One over looked moment in this chapter is that Nick turns 30. He says "Thirty- the promise of a decade of lonliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning briefcase of enthusiam, thinning hair" (135). What do you image your life to be like at 30?

30126341 — 2022-05-03 17:42:20 UTC

At thirty, I envision myself being married and with a steady career/ income. I also envision myself to be traveling around the world visiting different parts of Europe and Africa. I imagine my life without kids still. I want kids at thirty-five. I also imagine that I will already have made a property investment and another investment to pay off my mortgage. I think that I might be really successful in whatever career field I choose. And I will be around people I love.

1. Please re-read the section on page 148 (or page 155) starting with the lines "She was the first 'nice' girl he had every known" THROUGH "Daisy, gleaming like silver, safe and proud above the hot stuggles of the poor." What do we learn about the beginning of Jay and Daisy's relationship and how does this tell us about how Gatsby feels about her?

30126341 — 2022-05-10 12:23:54 UTC

What learn about Daisy is that she didn't forget about Jay because she thought he was dead, instead she got bored of waiting for him. We learn that Gatsby did very well in the military that he got promoted and rather sent out to Oxford instead of back home. We also learned that before leaving, Gatsby and Daisy made love leaving Gatsby with the feeling that they got married. Gatsby was willing to wait on her and marry her, but Daisy started to feel anxious and desperate. So, she decided to marry Tom whom her family had approved of. In the end, Gatsby lies in the pool with no meaning in his life, he is upset at everything that happened. His dream of having Daisy is now gone.

Were you surprised by the ending of this chapter? Explain why or why not? (Remember, my goal is to see if you actually read this chapter.)

30126341 — 2022-05-10 12:24:07 UTC

I was not surprised by his death, only because this book was spoiled to me so I knew that Gatsby was going to get killed. But, I was surprised at how fast it all happened. I was also surprised because I really think that Daisy told Tom that she was the one responsible. Yet, I think that when Wilson came over to Tom's to find out who killed Gatsby, Tom purposely told him where Gatsby was in order to protect Daisy. In the end, the scenery and tone of the chapter lead us to believe that Gatsby was ready to die. The goal of his life with Daisy is over, and he no longer had that ambition or thing to look forward to. I think that I'm just upset that Daisy didn't step up and take responsibility for killing someone.

1. Nick runs into Tom Buchanan again on page 178 ( or page 186) and says they are "careless people." What does he mean by this?

30126341 — 2022-05-11 17:36:09 UTC

What he means by this is that how come he didn't have the courage to stand up for their actions (his and Daisy's). He is upset that they let the blame go onto Gatsby just because he was the one with the car. The Buchanan's were precieved as careless by Nick because of their unfair actions. Since they have so much money, they could just brush of the death onto someone else and not be held responsible for it. In this part of the chapter, Nick doesn't even want to shake Tom's hand. He no longer has any respect for them because they killed one of his best friends. He percieves the Buchanan's as thoughtless people.

2. Overall, what is your expereince with reading this novel outside of class? Was it as challenging as you thought it would be to find the time to read/listen to it? Did you enjoy the novel at all?

30126341 — 2022-05-11 17:36:26 UTC

I don't think it was hard to read this novel outside of class. I acutally enjoyed it so much. I am used to reading on my own so this pace was refreshing. I liked listening to the audio from a guy named Micah Reads on youtube. His style of reading is just really enjoyable for me. I think that I was mostly able to find time to read it during the night. It was nice to read it before going to bed. I actually enjoyed the novel a lot. I had seen the movie so long ago, but reading it gives the details so much more meaning. I would recomend this book to other people because it teaches you a lot of little things. What I mostly took away from this novel, is Gatsby's discipline. On those last pages when we get to see his journal and his schedule, I was really intreaged by his way of thinking and how he wanted to really be sucessful in life.