Monday, March 16, 2015

Fishbowl #3: The Great Gatsby, chapters 5 & 6

I concur with the peanut gallery that our discussion from last class was much improved.  Most were actively involved in the discussion & I could see you were thinking about how the text informed your thinking.

A couple of thoughts for today:

Aim for 5 thoughtful posts, as a minimum, during today's discussion.  A thoughtful post...

  • Is carefully proofread.
  • Incorporates a cited quotation from the text.  To incorporate suggests one leads into, and out of, that quote versus referencing the quote & leaving it to your audience to infer how it relates to your comment or question.
  • Demonstrates good reading comprehension & critical thinking
Also, a couple reminders:
  • When asking a question, avoid leading "did" or "does" constructions in favor of more open-ended ones.
  • Use the thread feature to indicate to whom you're replying.  If you're beginning a new line of thinking or questioning, use the general post feature.
Here is a great post from Manual from last class: "On page 70 Gatsby bring up a rather dark scene when it comes to the topic of going to war to take his own life. '...I tried very hard to die but I seemed to bear an enchanted life.' What does this make you wonder about how Gatsby thinks his life worth? Does he think that he is not worthy of a life?"

Manual did a great job not just referencing the quote, but also making it clear how it relates to his thinking.  I love, too, how he has a couple of layers to his questions, allowing many responses.

Let's make it another great discussion day!


27 comments:

  1. Why do you think that Gatsby changed his name to Jay Gatsby from James Gatsby when he met Dan Cody? "...were a source of satisfaction to James Gatz..." pg 97

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    1. On page 98 Nick reveals about Gatsby's parents and his college life, " His parents were shiftless and unsuccessful farm people... He stayed there two weeks, dismayed at its ferocious indifference to the drums of his destiny, to destiny itself, and despising the janitors work with which he was to pay his way through. I would say that Gatsby is embarrassed about the "failures" that he had in his past such as dropping out in school and the embarrassed of having to work as a janitor to pay his tuition. Now he has a way to start over a new life or start over as a new character.

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    2. I believe this is a confidence thing. It is not for the public, he knows Gatz as a man who was a janitor and had the least success, where as by changing his name he believes he can become a new man. After all when he did lose his $25,000 inheritance and he really felt reality after this point. This then leads him to become a new successful man with a different identity.

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  2. Sam asked why he is so helplessly lost in the past supporting it with a quote from page 110. Could this be because of how his lies are catching up to him? If so why are these such a threat to his future?

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    1. They are a threat to his future because he has made a name for himself and he told everyone his family had always had money and also because people would think less of him if they knew where he really got his money and where he grew up

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  3. "I wanna get one of those pink plows and push you around," Pg.106
    Daisy shows how she wants to be with Gatsby, however she believes she is commited to a relationship with Tom, why is this? Why would she not leave Tom at this point in the book?

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    1. Daisy will not leave Tom because Tom gives her stability and safety. Daisy is just in love with the past and the ideas of it. She was in love with Gatsby, she was not worried about money. But now that she has been married for Tom for a couple years she does not want to give up what she has "worked" for.

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    2. She has been married to him for a long time and she had forgotten about Gatsby and she did love Tom, I think it's easier for her to just stay married to Tom

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    3. Daisy likes the idea of being with Gatsby, and likes that it adds fun to her life. She will not leave Tom because he gives her a 'perfect' life. I think that she also fools herself into believing that she is happy and that Tom is not having an affair.

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  4. On page 98 Gatsby starts in on his real life story. What compelled Gatsby to make such an elaborate story? Why would he now come out with the truth? Does he feel obligated to tell the truth to Nick? If so why?

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    1. I think he made such an elaborate story so that he reinvent himself and not be held down by his past. Maybe he wouldn't of got the job bootlegging and become rich if the guys would've known that he was previously poor. He comes out with the truth because i think he is really starting to like nick as a friend so he feels obliged to tell him the truth instead of feeding him lies.

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    2. I believe that Gatsby is starting to come out become he now trusts Nick with himself and maybe even is trying to get a little more attention to what he is trying at.

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  5. On page 87 through page 88 we see the more human side of Gatsby. He gets very flustered around Daisy and begins to question what he has set in place. Does being rich actually give you more confidence and self assurance, or is it just easier to appear that way and hide behind your money?

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  6. On page 102, Nick brings Tom over to Gatsby's house and introduces the two for a second time, and Gatsby basically blurts out that he knows Tom's wife. Why does Gatsby feel the need to tell Tom so quickly after meeting and why does Tom react the way he does?

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  7. Are we at the point in the book where Gatsby is only throwing these parties for Daisy or is it for every that gets invited?

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    1. Gatsby has always been throwing these parties for Daisy. He hoped that she would wander in. I think now that Gatsby has Daisy, he is just throwing the parties to hopefully meet friends and to stop being so lonely.

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  8. Pg. 110 I wouldn’t ask too much of her,” I ventured. “you can’t repeat the past.”
    Gatsby wants to change the past so bad because he feels it is the only way to truly get Daisy’s love back. Do you think that this is true for Gatsby’s situation?

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    1. I don't believe that this is true at all. He has to just be himself and be the man she fell in love with the first time back in Tennessee. So i think he is over thinking how to get Daisy and trying to hard to show off his money to her like he does throughout chapter 5 and 6.

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  9. On page 108 Tom exclaims "I'd like to know who he is and what he does, and ill make a point of finding out." Tom states this as soon as he realizes that Daisy is somewhat enjoying the party as she is singing quietly and sweetly. This quote shows that Tom is acting jealous because before he didn't really show an interest in Daisy by cheating on her, and now he is degrading Gatsby by saying that he's a bootlegger when he doesn't even know him. He does this because he infers that Gatsby could have something with Daisy.

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  10. On page 102 Gatsby is almost rubbing in the fact that he knows Daisy to Tom. "I know your wife,' continued Gatsby, almost aggressively." Is Gatsby trying to show Tom how above him he is? Is Gatsby jealous of Tom? Does Tom already know in some way?

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    2. I do not think Gatsby was trying to prove anything to Tom. I truly think he was nervous that Tom had shown up to his house. Because we also saw Gatsby get nervous when we was showing his house to Daisy. " Now, in the reaction, he was running down like an overwound clock." ... " and began throwing them, one by one, before us,..) Page 92 Gatsby reacts erratically in awkward situations.

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    3. I think that Gatsby is extremely jealous and is just trying to show that he is higher than tom and means more than him. I also do think that Gatsby is just trying to make Tom feel threatened.

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  11. Pg.109 “He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: "I never loved you...just as if it were five years ago"
    It sounds like Gatsby just wants to have Daisy erase the past, sense he can’t however, how will he go about this?

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  12. I do think that Gatsby is jealous for Tom only because he is married to Daisy. Obviously Gatsby wants Daisy.

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  13. p.109 " 'I feel far away from her,' he said. 'It's hard to make her understand.' " Why are they expecting their relationship to begin again so perfectly? Is Daisy actually in love with Gatsby or in love with the idea that he once held? Do they think that they have real love after only re-meeting a couple days ago?

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  14. While Nick goes with Tom to meet Myrtle, Tom seems sad by talking quickly and being cold, but once Myrtle says Daisy's name he shows emotion. Then on pages 76 and 77 Jordan talks about how Gatsby sent Daisy a letter and how after that she wanted to back out of the marriage. Could Daisy's love for Gatsby have caused Tom to seek love from someone else causing the affair with Myrtle?

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