http://darthjjm.edublogs.org Another excellent Edublogs.org weblog Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:06:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I feel the class is moving remarkably fast for the second day http://darthjjm.edublogs.org/2009/09/03/flash-post/       I believe that we have difficulties in life not because of a lack of skill but of a lack of mind set. Too often we find ourselves looking at the problem not the solution.  I found this especially true when I was competing at state power lifting. Going into ... http://darthjjm.edublogs.org/2009/06/13/this-i-believe/ Gatsby's funeral shows how futile Fitzgerald thinks the American dream is. For all of Gatsby's supposed popularity very few people show up. Fitzgerald here shows his belief on how fleeting the materialistic American dream is. Once Gatsby is dead we see how he is truely viewed. Now that he is dead ... http://darthjjm.edublogs.org/2009/06/13/the-great-gatsby-chapter-9/ Gatsby's death emphasizes Fitzgerald's argument that when average people try and climb upward they overreach and fall. Even Gatsby who supposedly made it is not exempt from this rule that Fitzgerald creates. Wilson fleshes out a bit in this chapter as we realize that he truly did love myrtle and is heartbroken over her ... http://darthjjm.edublogs.org/2009/06/13/the-great-gatsby-chapter-8/ Myrtle's death in this chapter is Fitzgerald's argument of what happens to people who try and reach upward socially. They overreach themeselves and this leads to their demise. We see Daisy flesh out a bit more in this chapter its no longer as simple as she loves Gatsby and not Tom. ... http://darthjjm.edublogs.org/2009/06/13/the-great-gatsby-chapter-7/ Fitzgerald shows how unrealistic the American dream is with Gatsby's encounter with Mr. and Mrs. Sloane. Gatsby although is financially as well off as they are socially he is extremely awkward. Fitzgerald points out that there is more to the American dream then the materialistic part of it. In this chapter we finally get ... http://darthjjm.edublogs.org/2009/06/13/the-great-gatsby-chapter-6/ Fitzgerald pokes fun at the American dream through Gatsby in this chapter. Gatsby defines the american dream yet his home is described as a feudal lord's manor and he gets his shirts from Britain. He almost seems like he wants to be a British aristocrat which seems ironic since its the ... http://darthjjm.edublogs.org/2009/06/13/the-great-gatsby-chapter-5/ Jordan's story tied in with the introduction of Wolfshiem is how Fitzgerald explains the high value Americans place on the dream and its cost. Gatsby is just your average soldier trying desperatly to achive his dream of having love. But he places such a high value on it that he ... http://darthjjm.edublogs.org/2009/06/13/the-great-gatsby-chapter-4/ The books in Gatsby's library represent the decline of the American dream. They were real books but the pages weren't cut which shows that they were for look not for actually reading. It symbolizes how the American dream has become much more about looks then actual substance. Jordan Baker develops as ... http://darthjjm.edublogs.org/2009/06/13/the-great-gatsby-chapter-3/ The ashes of the wasteland between west egg and new york represents the decay of the American dream. no longer does it involve the Victorian morals instead its a materialistic pleasure seeking dream. Tom changes in the reader's eyes he shows his more brutish and unsophisticated side when dealing with Myrtle. ... http://darthjjm.edublogs.org/2009/06/13/the-great-gatsby-chapter-2/