Post 3 Clarisa Franceschelli

This is the 2nd time I read “The Great Gatsby”. At first I thought that it would be a drag for me to read it again, but I was wrong. Since I didn’t remember the ending (and some other details) I was looking forward to reaching the end.

For me the most striking moment was Gatsby’s death (I didn’t remember that). It was something unexpected and unfair… And it was also surprising when Gatsby’s father appeared. The old man, who wasn’t mentioned before, seemed to be very proud of his son. I believe Gatsby deserved this farewell.

When reading the novel I thought a lot about unhappiness and insincerity because most of the characters weren’t happy with their lives. They were just resigned to a life full or comfort and luxuries but no happy moments. It was only Gatsby the one that fought for what he really wanted. To my mind, he was the bravest character because he took the plunge in order to be with his love again and to realize his dream.

If I had the chance, I would ask Fitzgerald if he let Gatsby die in order to add even more drama in the character's life. I believe that the fact that he is murdered make the reader think “poor guy”…I mean, he had to let her love go in order to fight in a war, then he did everything to get her back. And when he was finally fulfilling his dream, after all his efforts, he is accused of killing a woman and then he is murdered. A bit too much for one human being, don't you think?

Anyway, although the ending is unfair to me, I liked reading the story because it portrays the twenties in really colourful way and it is full of very detailed descriptions that help us picture in our mind every place and every character.

Post 2 Clarisa Franceschelli

I believe that the story changes a lot since Gatsby meets Daisy. This encounter provokes conisderable changes in the characters and in the plot as well .

Nick, who before was Tom’s accomplice, now helps Gatsby and becomes his only friend. Jay Gatsby is finally described, he is a very calm man, who only wants to go back to the past and get Daisy’s love back.

Daisy starts showing her real feelings for her husband and she starts changing her attitude towards him. She seems to be puzzled about Gatsby’s appearance but at the same time she is curious and excited about it.

Tom and Gatsby don’t get along very well. And Tom starts suspecting about Daisy’s and her relationship with her new friend. I believe Tom is afraid of loosing her.

“An hour later the front door opened nervously, and Gatsby, in a white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie, hurried in. He was pale, and there were dark signs of sleeplessness beneath his eyes.”

“Gatsby, pale as death, with his hands plunged like weights in his coat pockets, was standing in a puddle of water glaring tragically into my eyes.”

            

 I’ve chosen these quotations for several reasons. First of all I can picture Gatsby in mi mind and for me it is really funny to see a man in his thirties being so nervous about meeting a woman. At this point in the story he looks like a frightened child to me. Secondly, this part clearly shows how important is Daisy in his life. He has a mixture of feelings; he is nervous, and happy and terrified all at the same time. He wants to impress Daisy, and he has been waiting for this moment for a long time. For him, this is the beginning of the rest of his life, he is starting to live his dream, at least this is what he thinks…

Post 2- Cecilia pedrido

So far, my predictions of the Voicethread have been asserted as regards parties and celebrations as well as my predictions from the post 1 (as regards the love affairs).

I perceived some changes:

- We know more information about Gatsby (since before we only knew his name and that he was a rich man): Now we know that he is American but he grown up in Oxford, he went to war and all his family is dead. 

Also we know that Gatsby knew Daisy for many years and they had a romance.

- We know more information about Daisy (narrated through Jordan's point of view): In her wedding day, Daisy didn't look very convinced about the idea of getting married with Tom, but after all she got married. 

Here I can perceive that she is not completely honest with herself, I mean, she is hiding her true emotions and feelings and also I notice that she let herself be carried by Tom's wealth and money, that's why she married him.

- Another thing I perceived while I was reading was that in my opinion, what Gatsby is doing is to "use" Nick in a way so that he can see Daisy again.

 I liked this quotation that says:
"I didn't want you to think I was just some nobody. You see, I usually find myself among strangers because I drift  here and there trying to forget the sad thing that happened to me". 

I selected this one because I feel that Gatsby is trying to express the truth about why he does those parties frequently. And as we already know, he is doing this because he wants to see Daisy again and have her closer.

I think that later in the story, Daisy and Gatsby will meet again after so long and she will fell very confused and doubtful about her feelings.
Also, things will get complicated: I suppose that Tom will find out what Gatsby is trying to do and another possibility can be that the relationship between Tom and Daisy will get worse. I can also add that Daisy will find out that Tom is cheating on her and why not the beginning of a love triangle between Daisy, Tom and Gatsby?

POST 2- Valentina Zanor

My predictions have been confirmed in terms of setting and the way in which people lived those days.In fact, I chose a quotation that can be related with the lifestyle Americans aspired to have:

"They're such beautiful shirts," she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. "It makes me sad because I've never seen such--such beautiful shirts before."

This quotation shows us two different aspects of Daisy:

• She is extremely materialistic. I think that this characteristic could have been easily applied to most women in those days. Money occupied a crucial place when deciding to accept or reject a marriage proposal. Daisy's reaction and her tears in a way symbolize an understanding of what she has given up by choosing to marry Tom over Gatsby. 
• At the same time, we can infer that it is in that moment in which she realizes who she really wanted to spend her life with. She is probably hiding her true feelings, by showing a reaction typical of a shallow person.

The changes I noticed:

• I started seeing Gatsby more as a person. During the first chapters the things we knew about him were just rumors. In the following ones, we discover his feelings and his past.
• The advise that Nick's father gave him, is no longer followed by the charecter. He started criticising most of the other characters. He even praise himself: "Every one suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.

I don't know what will happen next but, I think that the hide business Gatsby carries out must be figured out by Nick.

Post 3 - Walter Rivas

After finishing reading the novel, I was left with a feeling of melancholy. The first time I read it I couldn't understand the Gatsby´s ordeal. You need to have lost a dream to merely begin to fathom Gatsby obsession with Daisy.

Yet, there was something sinister about him. He was a gangster after all. At the last chapters of the novel we learnt about Gatsby ventures with Wolfsheim. They set up a chain of drugstores, where they would sell grain alcohol over the counter in direct violation of Prohibition. But as Tom informs us, "that drug-store business was just small change". Gatsby was also peddling stolen bonds, a far more lucrative venture.

However, Nick states that "Gatsby turned out all right at the end". He considers that although his means were dubious, Gatsby's goal was noble. All he did was for love, and for love he died. He was made a scapegoat for Daisy's accident. Just as Owl-eyes was held responsible for an accident in Chapter 3!

I would like to ask to the author why he chose "the hottest day of the year" as the setting for the tragic climax. Maybe it was a homage to "Romeo and Juliet", I remember that Mercutio also died in a hot day.

Post 2 - Walter Rivas

I chose this quotation because it reflects Gatsby's extraordinary gift for hope. He hoped to re-create 1917 in his affair with Daisy. But this proved to be futile, as we learn later in the novel.

At the beginning of the novel, Nick boasts of his tolerance. However, as the novel progresses he grows more and more cynical. He is prejudiced, making comments like: "Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply". We also observe some "casual racism": the way Nick describes Wolfsheim, as a stereotypical jew; and his reaction to the modish negroes would be considered politically incorrect at the least nowadays. At the end, Nick recognizes his own shortcomings: "I'm thirty. I'm five years too old to lie to myself and call it honour".

Post 3 by Mariel

The moments in the novel that I found more striking were two. The first one was when Daisy had the car accident and killed Myrtle and Gatsby was accused of the incident. The second one was the moment when  Daisy stayed with Tom. She did not even think about Gatsby and she did not followed him or helped him. This really disappointed me beacuse as I was reading the novel I thought that Daisy and Gatsby would end up together.
This novel made me think about how powerful money is and how weak love can be.
If I had the chance to ask the writer one question I would ask him why did he decided to kill Gatsby.

Midnight in Paris

Enjoy Woody Allen's recreation of Fitzgerald, his wife Zelda and Ernest Hemingway.


You may also be interested in this commentary of the film, before or after watching it.

Art in the 19th and early 20th century

The term Impressionism derives from Claude Monet's painting "Impression Sunrise" (1872)

You can read an interesting chronology of this movement and look at some paintings here.

For an overview of French painting in the 19th century, go to the USA National Gallery of Art, where you will also find a discussion of Post-Impressionism.

Post-Impressionism can be exemplified by Georges Seurat's "The Lighthouse at Honfleur" (1886)

Cubism started in Paris in 1908, reached its peak in 1914, and continued into the 20's. Go to the London Tate Gallery for an explanation of its features or read this other discussion

Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" (1907) forecasts the new style.

Virginia Woolf dates the change in "human nature" to December 1910, when the first exhibition of French Post-Impressionist and Cubist painting took place in London.

Can you suggest what elements in common you can find with modernism?

This is an optional activity.

Post 1- Cecilia Pedrido

My predictions so far were not confirmed, yet. Maybe later they will be asserted.
As regards the setting I had predicted, it was correct.

The characters so far are:

Nick Carraway: He is the narrator of the story who was at war but now he lives in West Egg whose neighbour is Gatsby. He moved out because he is looking for a better lifestyle.

Tom Buchanan: He is a wealthy and a rude man who knows Nick since college. He is Daisy's husband however he pretends to love her while he has a love affair.

Daisy Buchanan: She is a wealthy young lady and she is Nick's cousin and Tom's wife. She has a baby with Tom who is 3 years old. She doesn't know that her husband is having a love affair.

Jordan Baker: She is Daisy's friend and a golfplayer. She seems to be a very gossip girl.

Myrtle Wilson: She is Tom's lover. Obvioulsy she dislikes Daisy and she seems not to be in love with her husband, George Wilson.

George Wilson: He is Myrtle's husband. He is a mechanic and owner of a garage. He doesn't know anything about her love affair with Tom.

Gatsby: He is a very wealthy man who lives in a mansion and he is Nick's neighbour. So far, there is not much information about him. I'm sure that during the rest of the novel, we will have more details about this mysterios character. 


I liked this quotation that says:
"Don't talk. I want to hear what happens."
"Is something happening?" I inquired inncocently. 
"You mean you say you don't know"? "I thought everybody knew"
"I don't."

I selected this one because what Jordan is talking about here is about the love affair between Tom and Miss Wilson and I think it is one of the main topics of this novel. Besides, I suppose that later in the story, there will be more love stories because I think that Tom will be in love with Miss Baker and why not a love affair between Daisy and Gatsby?
These stories about love and hates are what makes this novel entertaining and interesting.

Post 1- María Celeste Muttis

So far as I can tell, my predictions are not entirely wrong, but not yet confirmed. There is a wealthy couple living during The Roaring Twenties but there's no such description of the parties I mentioned.

As regards characters, I can mention:

• Nick Carraway: the narrator of the story. It's honest, tolerant. Nick often serves as a confidant for those with troubling secrets.
• Daisy Buchanan: Nick’s cousin, Tom's wife. She behaves superficially to hide her pain at her husband’s infidelity.
• Tom Buchanan: Daisy’s husband and a fellow Yale graduate of Nick’s. He seems to be arrogant and racist.
• Jordan Baker: a friend of Daisy, a famous golf player. She seems to be gossip.
• Jay Gatsby: Nick’s mysterious next-door neighbour.

The quotation I chose is:

"My family have been prominent, well-to-do people in this Middle Western city for three generations. The Carraways are something of a clan, and we have a tradition that we’re descended from the Dukes of Buccleuch, but the actual founder of my line was my grandfather’s brother, who came here in fifty-one, sent a substitute to the Civil War, and started the wholesale hardware business that my father carries on to-day."

We could see here that Nick is from a "prominent, well-to-do" family. He had a comfortable life, but, by no means, he lived the luxurious existence that Daisy and Tom have. Based on what Nick says here, it seems as if his family has lived the "American Dream", but hard work got them to where they are today. These show Nick’s intelligence and how important receiving an education is in this world because the more prepared you are, the more opportunities will open up to you. And people today have to work hard and get an education in order to be successful in life .
I think and I hope that in the next chapter there will be a further description of the protagonist Jay Gatsby, and there should be more action: Daisy could get involved in an affair too.

Post 1 Clarisa Franceschelli

The characters that appeared so far are:

 • Nick Carraway is the man telling the story. He is graduated from New Heaven and he was at war. Now he wants to start a new life, far from his ex-girlfriend, in West Egg. He is into the bond business. Not very much it is said about his personality, but for me he keeps a low profile. 

• Daisy is Nick’s second cousin, they haven’t seen for ages now, but she seems to care a lot about him. Apparently, she gets very emotional at times and she doesn’t seem to be very happy with her life. In chapter 1, her face is described as sad and lonely. But she is no fool since she knows or, at least, she suspects that her husband, Tom Buchanan, is having an affaire. 

• Tom and Nick know each other from university. In those years Tom was a powerful football player. Now Tom is married to Daisy and the pretend to be a perfect family which they are not. He is an arrogant person and, from some attitudes that can be seen he is violent too. • Jordan Baker is a lively and curious young woman. She is a friend of a Buchanan’s and she is staying in their house. In the book it is mentioned that she is playing a tournament but the sport is not mentioned so it remains unknown. 

• Mrs. Wilson is Tom’s mistress. They have a lot in common since she is arrogant too and she is cheating on her husband, Mr. Wilson, as well. However, she isn’t happy about her marriage and about the fact that Tom is still married to Daisy. 

• Finally, Gatsby. Until now, he is only mentioned. He is described as a wealthy man whose money comes from a Kaiser and he throws great parties. 

I believe that some of the characters have things in common. Some are wealthy, some aren’t. But I feel they all are restraining their emotions. 

The quotation I’ve chosen is at the end of chapter 1: 

 “When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.” 

It is a very short one but I liked it because the idea of Gatsby vanishing makes him even more mysterious. I’ve read two chapters already and he doesn’t appear or interacts with other character in any of the chapters. In a book that carries his name, isn’t it puzzling? We’ll have to keep reading to get to know him…

Post 1 - Gabriela Andreoni

 So far my predictions in the Voice Thread have been correct! In the first chapted, I noticed the story develops in 1922, in West Eggs, Long Island, which seens to be a fashionable place for "new rich". Appart form this, the characters that have been presented so far are kind of "snobby".
* Nick Carraway so far looks like outgoing, educated person.
* Dasy Buchanan seems to be a charming woman.
* Tom Buchanan  is described phisically as well-built, and because of the comments that he makes after a book he read, he may be racist and support the "white supremacy"
* Jordan Baker looked as a boyish woman, kind of self centrer as she find herself borred during a dinner.

"You must know Gatsby."
"Gatsby?" demanded Daisy. "What Gatsby?"  ....
"This Mr Gatsby you spoke of is my neighbour. "

 This are the only lines where Gatsby is mention in this first chapter. This called my attemtion beacuse I was expecting to know about him right away.

I hope to read about this Gatsby and know where he comes from and how is he like!

Post 1- Daiana Ascanio

1)Answering the first question, I would say that my predictions were not confirmed so far. At least at the beginning is like a description of Nike´s life and Gatsby was just mentioned as his neighbor. Also in this first chapter, it is said that  Daisy is Tom´s wife and she doesn´t even know Gatsby. 

2)A quotation that called my attention was at the very beginning: 

 "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I´ve been turning over in my mind ever since.´Whenever you feel like criticising anyone,´ he told me, ´just remember that all the people in this world haven´t had the advantages that you´ve had". 

I have chosen it because I believe it is a reflective and thinking phrase that Nike´s father gave him. If you analise that, you would realise that it is a belief that snobs or elitist people have, thinking that they ar "better" than poor people, or may be that they have a kind of "morals". However in my opinion it is on the contrary. Despite having money is an advantage, that don´t make you a good or better person.

3) Main characteristics of the characters:

Nick Carraway : First of all I have to mentioned that he is the novel´s narrator. He works in finance. He seem to be honest and tries to reserve judgements.

Daisy Buchanan -  She is Nick’s cousin. and Tom´s wife. (at least is what is said in the first chapter)

Jay Gatsby -  He is the protagonist of the novel. Gatsby is a fabulously wealthy young man living in a Gothic mansion in West Egg.

Tom Buchanan -  Daisy’s wealthy husband, once a member of Nick’s social club at Yale. Tom seem to be an arrogant and  bully.

Jordan Baker -  Daisy’s friend, a competitive golfer, whom Nick seem to become romantically involved.

4) I guess or maybe I hope  that Gatsby would be better described in the following chapters. Maybe Daisy will meet him somewhere in West Egg and the story will become even more interesting.

POST 1- Valentina Zanor

I  must admit that my predictions were very poor, I didn't take any risk at all! But, as far as I read the setting I provided was correct.
The quotation that I selected is:
“I hope she'll be a fool - that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” 
I chose it because of two main reasons:

•  It shows how frank Daisy is with Nick and with herself.  
• And mainly, we can see clearly the role of women in those years. What Daisy wants to say is that if her daughter is a fool, then she'll never get hurt. She'll never realize that she married for money and social status instead of real love, that her husband is having an affair right under her nose, that everyone sees her as silly, stupid, naive, and pitiful. If she's a fool, she'll never have an opinion that can be dismissed by a men in her life, and she'll never care about anything except dresses and flowers and all the pretty things in life. She'll be pretty enough to find a husband who can support her financially, and dumb enough never to realize how tragic her life actually is. She will suit her place: a bauble, an accessory to men.

Characters: 

• Nick Caraway: To begin with, he's the narrator. He comes from a prominent, well-to-do family and besides he is honest, tolerant, and inclined to reserve judgement. He goes to New York City to learn the bond business and there is when he meets Gatsby who is his new neighbour. 
• Daisy Buchanan: is Nick’s second cousin. She seemed to be naive, but she is sophisticated and smart. She has got a daughter and her husband is Tom Buchanan.
• Tom Buchanan: Daisy's disloyal husband. He is racist and authoritarian.
• Jordan Baker: Daisy's friend and a famous golf player.
• Jay Gatsby : The title character and protagonist of the novel, Gatsby is a fabulously wealthy young man living in a mansion in West Egg.
• Myrtle Wilson : Tom’s lover..
• George Wilson : Myrtle’s husband. Unlike Daisy, he doesn't know about the affair between Tom and his wife. 

I think something else should happen in Daisy's life. She my have passionate affair too! I also feel that Nick will fall in love with Jordan.
I don't know if it is likely to happen, but I wish George finds out the real reason why her wife travelled to New York. 

Post 1 - Walter Leonardo Rivas

Post 1: After reading one or two chapters

So here I am, re-reading "The Great Gatsby". Now, don´t get me wrong, I really love the novel and I agree that it is one of the finest novels in American history.

The first character we get to know is Nick Carraway. He is the narrator, but he is not the protagonist of the novel. The story is about Gatsby, who represents everything for which Nick has an unaffected scorn. Nick Carraway comes from a well-to-do family from the Midwest, he is a Yale grad and a WWI vet.

Daisy Buchanan is Nick’s second cousin once removed. She is an alluring woman, and there is something in her voice that men who had cared for her find difficult to forget. In a sense, she is a siren.

Tom Buchanan is Daisy’s unfaithful husband. As Nick, he attended Yale University. He is a contemptible character, a racist and obscenely wealthy.

Jordan Baker, a famous golf player, and Daisy's friend. She is a great gossip, and rather snooty.

Screenshot from The Great Gatsby - Official Trailer (2012)

This is a valley of ashes — a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.

 This quote made me think about the 1920s boom. Specifically, how the prosperity so obvious in every town and city was not enjoyed by everyone. In fact, the gap between rich and poor was very large: the top 5% of Americans earned one-third of all income.

Post 1 by Mariel

"...we walked back a hundred yards along the road under Doctor Eckleburg's persistent stare". I chose this quatation because this made me think about how this advertisement is used to make the readers feel that "Doctor Eckleburg"-an oculist-is watching what is happenning and what will happen in the story.  This advertisement is  a witness of  the story between the protagonists.
So far, for me,  the characters have something to hide and something to tell. I think,as I have already read the  book, that different and interesting things will happen among Gatsby and Daisy.