APEnglish–Los Al

Period 4

First of all, I’m sorry if these notes are a little disjointed, I’d like to finally get some sleep so here’s what I wrote down during class:

• We passed back the green packets from the AP test. There were some complaining about who finished early and whatnot, and how ridiculous the third prompt was, but nothing major
• Jumping straight into Gatsby (for once), we talked about the parallels drawn between Tom and Myrtle
  • Tom saw Daisy and Gatsby together
  • Myrtle saw Tom and Jordan together
  • Although in Tom’s case the relationship is real, in Myrtle’s case it’s just an illusion, which is an extension on the theme of reality vs. illusion, as well as romanticism vs reality, past/present, and rich vs. poor
• Existing conception that the rich is inherently superior to the poor, but Myrtle’s and Tom’s reactions are not all that different despite the different socio-economic statuses-through them, Fitzgeral shows the rich and the poor really aren’t that different
• The last sentence of the book unifies the theme
• Barriers between people are artificial – Fitzgerald lived in a time of both extreme opulence and extreme poverty, but through the juxtoposition of Nick and Gatsby’s social status (Nick’s small house and relative poverty right next to Gatsby’s huge mansion) they’re shown to be both human, and not all that different
• America is a country of social climbers
• Tom and Daisy – evasive, prefer not to confront things straightforwardly – it took seven chapters for them to finally address their problems
• Daisy’s major character flaw – spineless
  • Teetering between Gatsby and Tom now that they’re both rich – exposing herself for personal gain
  • Missing moral courage, pathetic fear of being impoverished
• Tom – one of the few to stand up and confront people, but for all the wrong reasons (Even the “great” Gatsby could not stand up to Tom)
• Mr. Wilson was crushed in the face of adversity, turned to cowardly murder
  • A gun is the ultimate form of power- it’s power over life and death
• Death of Gatsby – theme of reality vs illusion – Gatsby is just as dead as Wilson right next to him, exposes the mortality of him under all the legends and stories and the aura of superiority, as well as a deconstruction of the artifical socio-economic distinctions and barriers
• The continuing theme of water
  • Gatsby hasn’t gone swimming all summer
  • Water represents time and separatiuon
  • Finds Gastby underwater in the pool – drowned sailor
  • Gatsby first found his future also in the water, by finding the doc on the boat and sailing for years
• The story follows the seasons, from the flowering to the ripening to the fall
• At the end, Fitzgerald ties the green light that Gatsby sought to the dreams of the Dutch colonists-linking factor-everyone’s connected, not all that different
• Another major theme – it’s hard to recognize the things we really want until we lost it
• There’s only two things – love and lost. Everything’s just a slight variation on it. People are losing every moment in life.
• Everyone in the book’s lost everything at the end.

Period 5

Today in Period 5, the topic of discussion was again the Great Gatsby, more specifically chapter 7. In this chapter, the oppressive heat seems to affect everyone and it becomes clear that Tom is aware that there is something going on between Daisy and Gatsby. After Tom and Gatsby get into an argument over who Daisy really loves, everyine decides to go. Of course, with an uneasy Daisy behind the wheel, this is the end for Myrtle Wilson. There is more to this event than is originally thought. Daisy’s erratic driving is symbolic she must make between Tom and Gatsby. Her running over Myrtle is her decision, choosing Tom over Gatsby, and in turn, killing Gatsby.

Another topic we discussed was the symbolic meaning of Nick turning 30 years old. This age, in most cultures, is the age of adulthood, a time when a person leaves childlike behaviors, such as experimentation and hopeful thinking, behind for more realistic views of the world.

School’s almost out!

-William Avalos

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