From Pages 133-139

"The eyes of Dr. Eckleburg kept their vigil"

"God Sees Everything" (pg 153)

1. Select three quotations that are of significance
2. Copy them into a word document, and explain how these are significant to the novel.
3. Post your responses on the blog

Useful Quotations Thus Far

Using the quotations below, compose a detailed paragraph that examines one of the underlying themes from the novel. Attempt to incorporate sophisticated vocabulary, dual adjectives, parallelism, metaphor etc...

“he opened for us two hulking patent cabinets which held his massed suits and dressing gowns and ties, and his shirts, piled like bricks in stacks a dozen high” (89)


"no amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man can store up in his ghostly heart." (93).


“I usually find myself among strangers because I drift here and there trying to forget the sad things that happened to me” (66)


The exhilarating ripple of her voice was a wild tonic in the rain. I had to follow the sound of it for a moment, up and down, with my ear alone, before any words came through. A damp streak of hair lay like a dash of blue paint across her cheek, and her hand was wet with glistening drops as I took it to help her from the car. (82)


“He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say “I never loved you” (105)

It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced-or seemed to face- the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with irresistible prejudice in your favour(49)

Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had vanished forever. Compared to the great distance that had separated him from Daisy it had seemed very near to her almost touching her. It had seemed as close as a star to the moon. Now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one. (90)

I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known (59)


He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to here perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited. (107)

He wants her to see his house (77)

Slide Show Challenge

We've come to understand the mystery of Gatsby. Driven by an intense desire to attain his dream, Gatsby has sculpted his identity, and forged himself a new image. No longer the son of unmentionable farmers, James Gatz left his work clothes behind, to pursue the promise of prosperity as Gatsby.

However, as he becomes closer and closer to his goal, Gatsby also grows closer and closer to heartbreak. For in placing Daisy on a pedestal, he has built an anattainable dream. We know that his massive home, his glamorous clothing, the "menagerie" of party guests were all carefully selected with the sole intent of winning back Daisy, Gatsby's lost love. There must be moments, even during their first reunion when "Daisy tumbled short of his dreams... because of the colossal vitality of his illusion" (92). It would be no fault of Daisy's if she was not as perfect as Gatsby's dream, as "no amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man can store up in his ghostly heart." (93).

That Gatsby is headed for heartbreak is not hard to imagine. After all, it is his intention for Daisy to tell her husband that she never loved him (105), a statement that would entail immense honesty, and personal (and economic) risk on Daisy's behalf. At this point, Gatsby seems to have captured Daisy's physical form, but can he also snare her heart?

Your Task: We're about to take a break from the novel... I know parting is such sweet sorrow. You'll miss it during your Spring Break. Before departing, let's recap what we know.

Summarize the significant themes and quotations from the novel thus far in a slide show. Find appropriate images, and match them with significant quotes from the book. How do these words help develop theme? Set your work to music for effect. Your slide show should contain 8-12 slides.

Page 73-89

Ah Ha... so that's the deal with Gatsby! This section of the novel contains critical plot developments. Here we learn the story behind Gatsby's secret meeting with Jordan. She tells Nick about Daisy's romantic link with a dashing young soldier, and how this relationship was effectively "prevented" (73), and plans were arranged for her subsequent marriage to Tom. Jordan goes on to explain Gatsby's desire to have Daisy"see his house" (77), and asks Nick to arrange a meeting between the two old flames.

"trying to forget something very sad" (64).....
Now we understand the tragic event in Gatsby's past. Unable to consumate his desire for Daisy, Gatsby went off to war in a state of misery and despair. Upon his return to the States, he "read a Chicago paper for years just on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy's name" (77), with a desperate hope of rekindling lost love. Does this explain the parties? Does this explain Gatsby's house? What about the green light?


Things for you to do...

Analysis of Key Lines:

1. “His name was Jay Gatsby…” (73)

2. “He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths- so that he could “come over” some afternoon to a stranger’s garden” (76)

3. “I’ve got my hands full” (80)

4. ”my house looks well, doesn’t it? … See how the whole front of it catches the light.” (87)

5. “he opened for us two hulking patent cabinets which held his massed suits and dressing gowns and ties, and his shirts, piled like bricks in stacks a dozen high” (89)

Thematic Evaluation

6. Explain how pathetic fallacy plays a role in this section of the novel.




7. Examine the two sources below. How has the author utilized juxtaposition to help us understand the character’s feelings at this point? What does this teach us about their characters?


The exhilarating ripple of her voice was a wild tonic in the rain. I had to follow the sound of it for a moment, up and down, with my ear alone, before any words came through. A damp streak of hair lay like a dash of blue paint across her cheek, and her hand was wet with glistening drops as I took it to help her from the car. (83)

I went out and opened it. 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. (83)

8. Find two quotations from this section that could be utilized to demonstrate a stark contrast to the sources above. Explain how these quotations are suitable.

Poetry Themes 2

If There Be Sorrow



If there be sorrow
let it be
for things undone
undreamed
unrealized
unattained



to these add one:
love withheld
restrained



by Mari Evans

Poetry Themes 1

Dover Beach


The sea is calm to-night
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the Straits:- on the French coast, the light
Gleams, and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night air
Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanced sand,
Listnen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves suck back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.


sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Aegaean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow,
Of human misery; we
find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.


The sea of faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled;
But only I now hear
Its melancholly, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating to the breath
Of the night-wind down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
Ah, love, let us be true


To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various , so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.


by Mathew Arnold

Page 51-59

Synopsis: Nick closes down Gatsby's party, spending the night marvelling at the various antics of the opportunistic sharks who swirl around the cocktail table. Men slowly sink into arguments with their wives and the drunken man from the library is involved in a careless car wreck. Gatsby watches the entire scene, strangely detached and in "complete isolation" (56) from a window.





Later, Nick describes another eye-opening interaction with Daisy, during which she reveals a shocking and hypocritical carelessness and an "incurable" dishonesty (58). Finally, Nick states that in this world of swirling deceit and self-serving excapades, he is "one of the few honest people" (59)he had ever known.


Tasks for You...
1. Based on the book thus far, compose a paragraph that explains how one of the images on this blog relates to the novel. Be sure to make specific reference to the image, and to the novel. Completed paragraphs must include SEE format, and should pay close attention to syntax and diction.








... look carefully... she's wearing a party dress and her face is obscured by a mask....