Gatsby #2

Fitzgerald does a fantastic job of revealing details to us a little at a time, allowing us to pass and change judgment as the story progresses. Address the following questions in relation to the development of Jay Gatsby: 1) What is the purpose of Meyer Wolfsheim as a character? How does he affect the way we see Gatsby? 2) What does the backstory about Jay and Daisy's past do to our impressions of Gatsby? 3) What does the story of the rest of Gatsby past due to our impressions of him? 4) How does your overall impression of Gatsby change over these three chapters - do you like him more, less, and why?

1. Meyer Wolfsheim is almost known as the accomplice to Gatsby when he first started out making money. He is the character that allows us to see into Gatsby's questionable past and we start to wonder whether Gatsby is genuine or not.
2. Gatsby's relationship with Daisy shows us that he chooses to live in the past. He states he feels "married" to her, so he continuously tries to return to her with no luck. When he finally meets her again, Gatsby is able to satisfy his dream of being with her. His feelings in the one moment when he realized he liked Daisy stuck with him forever, never letting him leave the past.
3. With Gatsby's past, we realize he is not always telling the truth. Yes, he is an Oxford man, but it is because he attended Oxford for 5 months thanks to the military. How can we trust the small things Gatsby says? We realize he is much more of a common man than we hold him to be.
4. I started to think less of Gatsby. At first, I felt he was a mysterious character and I was entranced by his presence in the book. After learning about his past, I wanted to resent him. I wondered why he wouldn't tell the truth and stretched the small lies.

Jelly Roll Morton "Black Bottom Stomp"

1. This msc sounds upbeat, happy, and lively. I can see people happily dancing to it at Gatsby's party, smiling and laughing. It would add to the pleasant and sophisticated feel of the party.
2. The mood is joyous and happy. It is upbeat, the melody is sort of higher pitched, you hear drums, you hear some flutes, and even possibly a trumpet.
3. Activities with this song wuld be dancing, laughing, socializing, and maybe being in a hurry. It seems very modern for its time and it not fit for close, intimate contact. This would be a party where people come to dance and not really get to know the other people at the party.

The Great Gatsby Chapters 1-3

Having talked about hero, antihero, and villain in class, I am sure that you are completely clear on what all three are. And knowing that, you also are aware that how you classify chraracters into one of these categories is a very personal thing. 

Looking at first three chapters of The Great Gatsby, make some predictions about these characters and (unlike Nick) classify them into one of the three categories - hero, antihero, and villain. Give ample reasons for your classification, with support for the text (that means quotes...and page numbers).

• Nick Carraway appears to be the main character and most likely an antihero. He is honest, nice, and relatable. "In that consequence, I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores." (ph 1) Nick is the person you would go to when you needed someone to discuss your personal issues with, that fine confidant everyone wishes to have in their life. It seems he will become an antihero because he doesn't seem to have an distinguishable heroic characteristics. 
• Tom Buchanan resembles a villain in my eyes. "He had changed since his New Haven years. Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and supercilious manner." (pg 7) The word supercilious gives off a negative vibe - who wants a stuck-up, conceited man to become the hero of the story?
• Jay Gatsby is a hero or an antihero. He is admired by all and shows no signs of malicious or evil behavior. He is the character we all anticipate to be brought back into the plot once he momentarily disappears. "He smiled understandingly - much more than understandably. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may across four or five times in a life." Gatsby is continuously idolized and therefor the reader ultimately wants nothing more than Gatsby to be the hero of the story.

Justin Bua

Justin Bua's style is quite dramatic, dark, and abstract. The figures appear almost inhuman like. He uses many dark colors that are close together on the color wheel in the background with contrasting colors in the foreground. You feel sort of doomed when you see his paintings; they are clearly not giving off a happy vibe. The paintings look distorted, almost like something is wrong.