Journal #21

Journal 21 - Some Like It Hot and The Great Gatsby Comparison/Contrast

          Some Like It Hot and The Great Gatsby have many similarities and differences. First, Some Like It Hot is about love and romance and marriage. It is an upbeat comedy with a bit of drama thrown in to excite the audience. In this story the good guy prevails and the bad guy dies. The Great Gatsby, however, is a tragedy about crime and deceit. Unlike Some Like It Hot, because of misunderstandings and lies, the good guy dies and the bad goes on to live happily.

            Even though there are differences there are many similarities as well. Both stories have a woman and a man who fall in love who the reader wants to see together. Joe, Sugar, Daisy, and Gatsby all have their partner that they found and want to be happy with. Even though the stories are a tragedy and comedy love can always be found. Gatsby and Spats are another pair of similar characters. They both conduct illegal activity even though Gatsby is kinder and more civilized than Spats.  Both Spats and Gatsby also end up with the same fate; death. A good guy dies in The Great Gatsby and the bad guy dies in Some Like It Hot.

Journal #20

Journal 20 – The Great Gatsby Conclusion

Using the imagery of Gatsby’s parties Nick talks about how there will not be happiness and joy in that house again. People still drove up to the house for the never ending fun but without Gatsby the parties were no longer there. For Gatsby, the green light was his symbol of hope. Hope one day that Daisy would come over the short distance and they would be reunited and in love once again. The Dutch sailors viewed the green trees that made way for Gatsby’s house as their new, hope filled world. Gatsby and the sailors had the same hopes of having a new future.

Journal #19

Journal 19 - Characterization in Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby

 Nick Carraway Adjective -kindhearted
 - Does not describe himself physically
- He is always kind and tries to help people out. He does any favor that is asked of him and always pleases people

Tom Buchanan Adjective - pompous
- Very strong and is advanced in physical activities.
 - He acts like he’s better and smarter than others like Gatsby. Tom is racist and a mean spirited man.

Daisy Buchanan Adjective –Swindler
- She is beautiful and how every man’s dream girl would look
- Daisy floats around and is not really ever able to make her own decision between Gatsby and Tom. She switches back and forth between her old love and most recent love.

Jordan Baker Adjective –cynical
- She is beautiful yet has an athletic build.
 - Jordan is not really fooled by others. She has seen so much throughout her life she knows to be a little cynical at times and not believe everything you hear. Her dishonesty in the golf tournament shows how she may know not to believe every book by its cover.

Jay Gatsby Adjective – lost
- Jay is a rich, good looking young man who any girl would love to be with.
- Jay has lost his way. He came back for a woman who moved on from him and tries everything to get her attention. He purposely moves to a house nears hers just to be closer to her. He is so lost in his fight for her that he cannot see there may not be a fight. She already chose Tom over Gatsby when she married him.

Journal #18

“In Another Country”

1. What is the significance of the story’s title?
The narrator is an American in Italy so therefore it makes him in another country literally. The other characters are Italian but are secluded and distant from the other Italians because they are officers and therefore in another country. Other people would yell at them for being in the military because they did not believe in it. The bond that they all had was that they all had suffered some injury which is what brought them together. That separated them from others in the town or army but the narrator was even more separated. His injuries were not due to being brave in the war like the officers injuries were.


2. Which character do you think best represents the “Hemingway hero”? Why?
The major best represents the Hemingway hero because he is suffering loss on more than one level, a personal loss as well as his hand injury. He had both physical and emotional pain. He was a top fencer and his hand had been ruined to a point where he will never regain that around the same time his wife just died. He is the one that suffers the most. He tells the others not to get married because he thinks you will always lose in the end anyway. He accepts the inevitable just like a hero does.


3. What can you infer about the photographs the doctor hangs up? What is the significance of the major’s reaction?
The photographs hung up were inferred to be fake most likely put there as a motivational ploy for the soldiers and not real results from the machines. The major senses it and rejects it so in response he walks out and stares out the window.

Journal #17

“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” – T.S. Eliot (p.775)

1. What is the significance of the poem’s epigraph? How does it relate to Prufrock?
Prufrock is filled with anxiety and doubt. The epigraph in the beginning is about someone who tells their story even though no one will ever hear it. He would never express personal things out loud because of the characteristics he has. This poem is like a confessional that he would never share with anyone because he is not brave enough. He is able to write the words he could never say which is what the epigraph is about.

2. Make a list of questions that Prufrock asks. Do you see a pattern/theme to these questions or are they random?
Do I?
Shall I?
This reflects the uncertainty that he has in life. Prufrock lives his life with constant questioning and is filled with doubt. These questions represent never being able to take a position and how he drifts amelessly. He is selfconcious about himself and gets caught up in the little things instead of being spontaneous or being decisive.

3. What do you think is Prufrock’s main flaw/problem?
Prufrock’s biggest flaw is that he doesn’t know how to live his life. He is way to self conscious and filled with anxiety that hes not decisive and afraid to take action. He cannot live his life to the fullest because of his hesitations and that is a major problem in his life because he cannot be truly happy without being out there and taking chances.

4. Why do you think this is called a love song? In what way is it a love song?

The reader thinks it will be romantic or relationship when reading the title when in reality it is just about Prufrock being alone. The poem is a love song only in an ironic sense because he talks about his mundane existence alone and how he is not a protagonist. He is the background character who fills in here and there and doesn’t really get the happiness the star does. The content is the opposite of the title.

Journal #16

Crane’s “The Blue Hotel” and London’s “To Build A Fire”

Read the following quote and discuss how it applies to the main characters in both stories. In the course of this discussion, address how each of the characters is both similar and different:

“Determinisim governs everything … The writer must study the inherited traits of individual character and the social condition of the time. Together, these elements determine the course of any action, the outcome of any life. Free will or self-determination is mostly an illusion, although chance is granted a role in human affairs. Still, even the effects of chance are obliterated in the inevitable course determined by the interaction of inherited character traits and the social environment.“

Determinism is the philosophical idea that every event or state of affairs, including every human decision and action, is the inevitable and necessary consequence of antecedent states of affairs. It is not so much based off of your own choices but your traits and environment. In “The Blue Hotel” the swede died because of outside forces more than because of his own choices. First of all they all ended up at the same hotel because of the blizzard that was going on. They were all together which lead to interaction, such as card playing. The swede had read so many books about the wild west that his brain thought the real world was like it. He did not have control over what his brain was telling him and his mind was saying that he would die in that hotel. He kept repeating it over and over causing the men to get angry and a fight to break out. Once the swede won he was cocky and once the other gentleman showed up, once again because of the blizzard, the swede annoyed him to the point where the stranger killed him. The swedes character traits and social environment lead to his death.

In “To Build a Fire” the man is walking in the freezing wilderness trying to get to a campsite. An older man had warned him not to go in at this temperature but he did anyway. The environment was cold and caused the water to freeze. While trying to walk he fell through the ice casuing his foot to start freezing so he had to make a fire in order to keep going. But the environment was against him because when he started the fire a pile of snow fell on it and took it out. One last fire was his only hope but his fingers had frozen as well and he could barely move anymore. He knew he would die because of the temperature and conditions in the wilderness and he eventually accepted it, knowing he sould have listened to the old man.

Journal #15

William Dean Howell’s “Editha”

1. Write a sentence that summarizes the story’s overall message, and provide three direct quotes from the story that best illustrate this message.
This story’s overall message is to not give into peer pressure and always do what you want to with your life.

A generous sob rose in Editha's throat for the humility of a man, so very nearly perfect, who was willing to put himself below her.

Mrs. Gearson gave him no heed. "I suppose you would have been glad to die, such a brave person as you! I don't believe he was glad to die. He was always a timid boy, that way; he was afraid of a good many things; but if he was afraid he did what he made up his mind to. I suppose he made up his mind to go, but I knew what it cost him by what it cost me when I heard of it. I had been through one war before. When you sent him you didn't expect he would get killed."

"Oh, I know that, Editha. I know how sincere you are, and how-- I wish I had your undoubting spirit! I'll think it over; I'd like to believe as you do. But I don't, now; I don't, indeed. It isn't this war alone; though this seems peculiarly wanton and needless; but it's every war--so stupid; it makes me sick. Why shouldn't this thing have been settled reasonably?"


2. What tactics does Editha use to make George believe as she does about the war?
Editha tries to make George believe as she does by acting weak and sad, like him disagreeing is awful of him. She tells him how God would wants him to go to war and to be patriotic. She threatens not to marry him if he does not go, basically giving him an ultimatum. She uses the love he has for her against him by changing his morals into hers.

3. Is there ever a time in which Editha truly understands what she has done? Does she ever experience an epiphany?

I do not think she truly understood what she had made him do until he died and she had to go visit his mother. George's mother yells at her and explains why she never wanted George to fight in the first place. I believe she feels badly then but does not have any real epiphany. Later in the story she is talking to a lady about how rude the mother was, showing how she really did not change.

Journal #14

E. A. Robinson Poems

Realism – The theory or practice in art and literature of fidelity to nature or to real life and to accurate representation without idealization of the most typical views, details, and surroundings of the subject.

Read the following poems and write a detailed description for each of the title characters and explain how each is an example of the “real” instead of the “ideal.”

“Richard Cory“ (497)
This poems is the towns view of Richard Cory. They talk about everything he had going for him and how they thought he was everything. Most wish they could be them. It is ironic because up until the last line it is about this guy who has everything but in the end he kills himself. He was not the perfect man everyone thought him to be because obviously behind the scenes something was wrong. This is a case of appearance versus reality because in reality his life was not perfect. You cannot judge whats on the inside based on the outside.


“Miniver Cheevy” (497)
Miniver Cheevy never wanted the life he was given. He always wished he had been born in a simpler time or medieval times. He loved the days of old with swords and Camelot. Many historical figures in this story are people and places in history that he associated himself with. He escaped into this fantasy world in old times. He was so obsessed with the past and upset about the present he escaped into medieval times with Thebes and Medici. Because he hated his present life so much he drank to get away from it. He believed is he was born in the past he would actually amount to something. So, he confuses what is real with fantasy or what is ideal.


“Mr. Flood’s Party” (498)
Mr. Flood’s Party is a party with himself while looking down at the people of the town. He secluded himself from the town and the people. He is very old and all his friends either died or left because of his drinking problem. So, he creates a friend with himself. He talks to himself, sings by himself, and drinks by himself. He is living in the past, but not another past like Miniver Cheevy, his past. He is looking back to how things used to be with his friends and how much fun they used to have. He idealizes his old life with the other people. In reality they have all left and he is alone at his own party. It is ironic because this party is the opposite of what it should be.

Journal #13

Journal #13 – Edgar Lee Masters Epitaphs (p. 502)

Read “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” and answer the following questions.


1. What object symbolizes George Gray’s life? How is this object representative of him?
The object that symbolizes Goeorge’s life is a boat. George spent his life in fear. He shrank from love, was afraid of sorrow, and dreaded ambition. He should have lifted his sail and embraced all these things while he was alive. A furled ship usually represents destination and should represent his life. But this furled ship is not what he wanted. He wishes the boat was unfurled because he did not do things with his life and come back home to rest in piece like a furled boat represents. He was hungry for life but to afraid to go get it.



2. How was Lucinda Matlock’s life different than George Gray’s? How do you interepret the last line of the poem?
Lucinda is almost the opposite of George. She had a very active and happy life. She wanted to celebrate life rather than be afraid of it. She had children, a husband, and many happy memories. Her life was not all good but she does not dwell on the negatives, she rather embraces what she has. She invested a lot into life and got a lot out of it. Her last statement is to those like George Gray who are angry an full of discontent. She tells them it takes good and bad things to appreciate our lives. You must have energy or spirit and invest yourself in your life to love Life.


3. How are “George Gray” and “Lucinda Matlock” examples of realism?
They both are examples of realism because they are both very ordinary lives even thought they are completely different. Life is a mixture of good times and bad times and all those times in these epitaphs are examples of realism.

Journal #12

1. “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory (symbolic narrative). What do the following represent?

Young Goodman Brown – He is the fallen man. He represents someone good who has the inclination to sin. He is trying to be good in the face of a world which is not.


Faith – represents brown’s faith in her and society. When he realizes she has fallen from grace or become corrupted he realizes that if she was corrupted they all are and therefore everyone has evil inside.


The Elderly Traveller/Fellow-Traveller – represents the devil and temptation. He sees everyone for who they truly are.


Goody Cloyse – represents all the people who he thought was holy and pure on the outside are actually different on the inside. She was so religious and spiritual that it was hard to believe she was also a part of this. If she is like this then the whole society is corrupt.


The Ceremony – represents acceptance of your true nature. Like the story of Adam and eve. It is parallel to any number of religious ceremonies where they pledge themselves to each other or the church. Opposite of a baptism because you are becoming un pure and against God.


The Pink Ribbon –represents purity and then when the ribbon falls, it represents her fall from grace.


Young Goodman Brown’s Journey – represents the journey of life and as we go from innocence to experience. This journey changes him.



2. Identify the following for “Young Goodman Brown”:

Theme Message of Theme Element Used to Establish
The theme is looks can be deceiving. The message is that no matter how someone presents themself on the outside you should not completely trust cahracter by appearance because the true nature of things could be different than what you perceive it to be. Symbolism is the element used because they used different symbols to shows the people’s true sinful self.



In addition, provide three direct quotes from the story that address your theme.
“He had cast up his eyes in astonishment, and, looking down again, beheld neither Goody Cloyse nor the serpentine staff, but his fellow-traveller alone, who waited for him as calmly as if nothing had happened. ``That old woman taught me my catechism,'' said the young man; and there was a world of meaning in this simple comment.”

“But something fluttered lightly down through the air and caught on the branch of a tree. The young man seized it, and beheld a pink ribbon.
``My Faith is gone!'' cried he, after one stupefied moment. ``There is no good on earth; and sin is but a name. Come, devil; for to thee is this world given.'' ”

“Among them, quivering to and fro between gloom and splendor, appeared faces that would be seen next day at the council board of the province, and others which, Sabbath after Sabbath, looked devoutly heavenward, and benignantly over the crowded pews, from the holiest pulpits in the land.”

Journal #11

Write a summary of the following selections and identify a direct quote that you feel best expresses its main idea.

“Where I Lived and What I Lived For” (232)
He writes about to many unnecessary possessions. Humans are advancing but should not be moving forward so quickly. Things should stay simple. Technology corrupts us and takes away from our true selves. It distracts us and disconnects us from other people. Like a cell phone or computer, you get wrapped up in the technology and taken away from what is really important in life. We think technology is improving our lives but really it’s a burden. People consume more than what they need.

Quote: “We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us.”


“Sounds” (234)
This passage is about the unique way of nature and how everyday is full of different sounds and images. The narrator is stating that as he watches each day pass from morning to night, he realizes that he is not wasting his time because he is admiring the way nature can change in just moments. He is living in the present as he experiences the sounds of nature. He notices that life is beautiful and it is important that you should not miss it.

Quote: “I had this advantage, at least, in my mode of life, over those who were obliged to look abroad for amusement, to society and the theatre, that my life itself was become my amusement and ceased to be a novel.”


“Brute Neighbors” (235)
This passage satirizes war and he is saying that people fight over petty things. The ants represent soldiers and are fighting over wood chips while armies fight over land, money, or power. You can see people in all aspects of nature like you can see the aspects of nature in people. As he is watching it he realizes its almost like the same as watching people. There is not much difference between this tiny creature and man. There is a distinction that there will always be rivaling groups. Brutality or and pettiness are causes of war and it will always be there.

Quote: “and the results of this battle will be as important and memorable to those who it concerns as those of the battle of Bunker Hill.”





“The Pond in Winter” (237)
Nature is which creatures live and flourish. A pond in water is beautiful because of its ability to be different but under the ice it is still the same. Nature looks at rest or at peace but life is thriving beneath the surface. Nature is always beautiful. Even though everything looks shut down and hibernating you just need to know where to look to find the life that is still there.

Quote: “Heaven is under our feet, as well as over our head.”


“Spring” (238)
This passage describes spring and compares it to the creation of the world. So many things blossom out of something that seems like nothing. Everything looks dead but then blossoms into life. Spring is when everything flourishes again and the wonderful thing in nature jump out at you and come back. Spring represents rebirth while winter is death.

Quote: “the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.”

Journal #10

Write a one paragraph response to the following question:

Often at the end of a play, Shakespeare’s tragic heroes often have a moment of insight. What is Othello’s insight? Look closely at Othello’s last speech before answering this question.

Othello make many mistakes during his married life and at the end he realizes this. He knows he made a mistake of distrusting Cassio and Desdemona. He regrets turning on them because she was his wife and Cassio was his best friend. He regrets destroying all that love that had been in his life, that is now gone. He reminds us to not take those we love for granted. One of the last things he mentions is how he wants to be remembered. He know he tarnished his reputation and just wants people to remember him how he was before all of these problems arose.