When The Going Gets Though

Character; we know it when we see it. Maybe more importantly, we know it when it is missing. Character builds over time. Character is additive. We cannot waste our youth pursuing things that neuter or subtract from our character. Equally true, we cannot spend our older years tearing down the character we built. Our character is developed through time. More accurately, our character is developed through our experiences and what we choose to learn and do from them. Trials and tribulations are tough. We all have them in some way. We can mask them, pretending they are not really there. We can tackle them, risking relationships and results. What I know is we cannot ignore them, and we must face them. Each year, we begin with a ritual with little lasting impact: Resolution-making. Instead of making resolutions, maybe we should do things to build our character every day. Imagine what a year’s worth of character-building could produce. We should never ignore our habits, though. Habits effect character.

Dear Mentor

Dear Mr. Orlick,

         I'm doing research on a topic that has intrigued me since the beginning of sophomore year. As I been thinking about what I'm going to do after high school and my goals that I want to accomplish in life. I've noticed that in a daily basis we do the same routine all over again in order for us to reach that level of accomplishment to our goals that is when it comes to school or work. My big question is "What is the point on waking up the next day if we're doing the same routine all over again? Were we build as robots?" As an AVID teacher who encourages his students to go to college, what do you have to say about this when it comes to working endless years to have a successful career (to gain $$$). We live in a country that all you need in life is money for survival so having to do a certain thing all over again will really make a difference everyday for your well being to live life to the fullest... If it's possible, I would like to meet with you to discuss on my big question in more clear detailed.

Sincerely,

Yenifer Castro

Worthy Mentors

David (Dad):
I would have to say my dad, because he has a good point of view on this topic by having two mindsets of religion and well being. 

• Religion- having to live life to the fullest
• Well being- is seeing if your actually happy on how your daily routine is influencing your personal/ mental self

Marcela (Sister):

From all people I feel like my sister can really understand where I'm coming from with this question since that she has been through this age and had many wonders on life itself. We have a nine year age gap so it really does help me think about my big question by comparing it my age right now with her's who's in the adult life.

Mr. Orlick (AVID Teacher):

He would always remind his students that as your going off to college and adulthood you can't forget that you have to balance your school life and personal. Your health always comes first then anything else so yes it's good to try hard and succeed in school but again remember that what you are doing is making you happy.

Cue Theme Music

I think the central theme of The Great Gatsby includes the American Dream, money, and betrayal. 

• American Dream- In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald uses a variety of literary devices to portray the American Dream. One example is the the green light that symbolizes Gatsby's hopes and dreams for a life with Daisy. Another symbol is the Valley of the Ashes, which represents the ugly consequences of America's obsession with wealth.

• Money- For the characters who don't have money, particularly Gatsby, money represents security. A large part of his attraction to Daisy is her affluence: all her life, from childhood on, she has lived in a household with enough money and has never known want. 

• Betrayal- The first betrayal that takes place is Tom's betrayal of Daisy. Tom betrays his wife Daisy when he has an affair with a woman named Myrtle. The second betrayal is Gatsby betraying himself. Jay Gatsby could have easily been a very successful man and could have done a lot of great things with his life.

Resources

1. https://www.cbc.ca/life/wellness/how-and-why-waking-up-at-the-same-time-everyday-can-improve-your-health-1.4357391
2. https://medium.com/better-humans/the-power-of-doing-the-same-thing-every-day-e4994df1c1a2
3. https://www.quora.com/How-do-people-find-the-motivation-to-wake-up-every-day-and-do-the-same-things-all-over-again
4. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/sleep/how-to-establish-a-wakeup-routine-for-a-good-morning-every-morning
5. http://www.skilledatlife.com/18-reasons-why-a-daily-routine-is-so-important/
6. https://open.buffer.com/daily-success-routine/
7. http://www.approachyouractions.com/wake-up-early/
8. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anxiety-work-cooking-sleep_b_5c07f15de4b06d70d3775ca6
9. https://www.insider.com/signs-your-bedtime-routine-is-bad-for-you-2018-4
10. https://markmanson.net/stop-trying-to-change-yourself

Preview Of Gatsby Essay

Prompt: The notion of the American dream figures prominently in this story.  How do readers define the American dream?  Moreover, is pursuing the American dream necessarily a good thing?

• American Dream- the ideal by which equality of opportunity is available to any American, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved
• By having money, a car, a big house, nice clothes and a happy family symbolizes the American dream. 
• This dream also represents that people, no matter who he or she is, can become successful in life by his or her own work.
•  The desire to strive for what one wants can be accomplished if they work hard enough. 
• The dream is represented by the ideas of a self-sufficient man or woman, who works hard to achieve a goal to become successful. 
• (Intro)- The Great Gatsby is a novel that shows what happened to the American Dream in the 1920’s, which is a time period when the dreams became corrupted for many reasons. The American dream not only causes corruption but has caused destruction. Myrtle, Gatsby and Daisy have all been corrupted and destroyed by the dream

>>>>How does F. Scott Fitzgerald portray the American Dream in The Great Gatsby through his use of symbolism and other literary devices? 

• Fitzgerald uses a variety of literary devices to portray the American Dream. One example is the the green light that symbolizes Gatsby’s hopes and dreams for a life with Daisy. Another symbol is the Valley of the Ashes, which represents the ugly consequences of America’s obsession with wealth. Fitzgerald uses these symbols to convey the illusory nature of the American Dream.

What's So Great About Gatsby

1. Is Gatsby great?  Is he even good?  Why/ why not?

• He's similar to the American Ideal. Someone who re-forges himself to conform to what he thinks is success, and to be the kind of person who will draw Daisy to him. He's pretty much an actor playing a role and that's not good. And you really can't have a person who portrays as a mysterious person who's an admirable human being.

2. Nick opens the book by complimenting himself for his honesty.  Is Nick honest with himself?  Why does he constantly hang out with dishonest people?  Why does he respect them and seek out relationships with them?

• Nick certainly seems to be a pretty honest character. He doesn't have the womanizing attitude of Tom, the deceptive heart of Daisy, or even the law-breaking tendencies of his beloved Gatsby.

3. Fitzgerald describes Daisy and Tom this way: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”  What does this mean?  Do you agree?

• The reason why I think Fitzgerald describes Tom and Daisy as careless people is because they have ruin lives of other individuals and simply disappear by hiding behind their wealth. I do agree that they are careless people because not only did they ruin other people's lives/ relationships but there own as well. Their relational ship as husband and wife is all about dishonestly, wealthy, and no communication with one and another. 

4. Do you understand Daisy's behavior?  Do you agree with her choices?  Is she a person you would let your brother/son/friend date?

• I do understand Daisy's behavior to an extent on loving both man at the same time. Yes, I do understand why she picked Tom since that he's the father of her child; even though he cheated on her with Myrtle. He has gained her love throughout their time of being with each other without wealth. Unlike for Gatsby he had a fantasy on getting the love of his life back with the amount of money he has. For example, his mansion, over the top parties, high end clothing, cars, etc. If you're telling me that if I would ever let her date a brother, son or friend I wouldn't just because if she ever loved Gatsby truly she wouldn't failed in love with Tom and wouldn't have lost faith on knowing if Gatsby survived the war. They always say that "if you had to choice in two people to be with go with the second people because if you ever loved the first one you wouldn't be interested in the second." which I believe is true. How can you know if you're not willing to do the same thing all over with another guy and the next.

5. The last line of the book: "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."  What does this mean?  How does it relate to the theme/s of the book?

• This is a final image of Gatsby as powerful presence who lives on despite the destruction of the dream. Nick reminds us on the thin line separating dreams from reality, causing everyone to stop and wonder about the validity of the dreams people chase.

Gatsby Chapter 9 Notes And Thoughts

• Nick tries to hold a large funeral for Gatsby, but all of Gatsby’s former friends and acquaintances have either disappeared—Tom and Daisy, for instance, move away with no forwarding address—or refuse to come, like Meyer Wolfshiem and Klipspringer
• The only people to attend the funeral are Nick, Owl Eyes, a few servants, and Gatsby’s father, Henry C. Gatz, who has come all the way from Minnesota
• Henry Gatz is proud of his son and saves a picture of his house 
• He also fills Nick in on Gatsby’s early life, showing him a book in which a young Gatsby had written a schedule for self-improvement
• Sick of the East and its empty values, Nick decides to move back to the Midwest
• He breaks off his relationship with Jordan, who suddenly claims that she has become engaged to another man 
• Just before he leaves, Nick encounters Tom on Fifth Avenue in New York City
• Nick initially refuses to shake Tom’s hand but eventually accepts
• Tom tells him that he was the one who told Wilson that Gatsby owned the car that killed Myrtle, and describes how greatly he suffered when he had to give up the apartment he kept in the city for his affair
• He says that Gatsby deserved to die. Nick comes to the conclusion that Tom and Daisy are careless and uncaring people and that they destroy people and things, knowing that their money will shield them from ever having to face any negative consequences
• On his last night in West Egg before moving back to Minnesota, Nick walks over to Gatsby’s empty mansion and erases an obscene word that someone has written on the steps
• He sprawls out on the beach behind Gatsby’s house and looks up
• As the moon rises, he imagines the island with no houses and considers what it must have looked like to the explorers who discovered the New World centuries before
• He imagines that America was once a goal for dreamers and explorers, just as Daisy was for Gatsby
• He pictures the green land of America as the green light shining from Daisy’s dock, and muses that Gatsby—whose wealth and success so closely echo the American dream—failed to realize that the dream had already ended, that his goals had become hollow and empty

Nick senses that people everywhere are motivated by similar dreams and by a desire to move forward into a future in which their dreams are realized. Nick envisions their struggles to create that future as boats moving in a body of water against a current that inevitably carries them back into the past

Gatsby Chapter 8 Notes And Thoughts

• Nick suggests that Gatsby forget about Daisy and leave Long Island, but Gatsby refuses to consider leaving Daisy behind
•  He says that he loved her for her youth and vitality, and idolized her social position, wealth, and popularity
• He adds that she was the first girl to whom he ever felt close and that he lied about his background to make her believe that he was worthy of her
• Eventually, he continues, he and Daisy made love, and he felt as though he had married her
• Gatsby’s gardener interrupts the story to tell Gatsby that he plans to drain the pool
• Gatsby tells the gardener to wait a day; he has never used the pool, he says, and wants to go for a swim
• Nick has stayed so long talking to Gatsby that he is very late for work. He finally says goodbye to Gatsby
• As he walks away, he turns back and shouts that Gatsby is worth more than the Buchanans and all of their friends.
• George Wilson stays up all night talking to Michaelis about Myrtle 
• He tells him that before Myrtle died, he confronted her about her lover and told her that she could not hide her sin from the eyes of God
• The morning after the accident, the eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, illuminated by the dawn, overwhelm Wilson
• He believes they are the eyes of God and leaps to the conclusion that whoever was driving the car that killed Myrtle must have been her lover
• He decides that God demands revenge and leaves to track down the owner of the car
• He looks for Tom, because he knows that Tom is familiar with the car’s owner—he saw Tom driving the car earlier that day but knows Tom could not have been the driver since Tom arrived after the accident in a different car with Nick and Jordan
• Wilson eventually goes to Gatsby’s house, where he finds Gatsby lying on an air mattress in the pool, floating in the water and looking up at the sky
• Wilson shoots Gatsby, killing him instantly, then shoots himself
• Nick finds Gatsby floating dead in his pool
• Nick imagines Gatsby’s final thoughts, and pictures him disillusioned by the meaninglessness and emptiness of life without Daisy, without his dream

In this way, Gatsby continues to function as a symbol of America in the 1920s, which, as Fitzgerald implies throughout the novel’s exploration of wealth, has become vulgar and empty as a result of subjecting its sprawling vitality to the greedy pursuit of money. Just as the American dream—the pursuit of happiness—has degenerated into a quest for mere wealth, Gatsby’s powerful dream of happiness with Daisy has become the motivation for lavish excesses and criminal activities.

1. What does Gatsby tell Nick about his night when Nick shows up early in the morning?  What does Gatsby say about what happened between Tom and Daisy?
2. What does Nick suggest that Gatsby do?  Why does Gatsby reject Nick's suggestion?
3. What does Gatsby say about the way he and Daisy left each other the first time, when he went to war?
4. The gardener interrupts to tell Gatsby he wants to drain the pool.  Why, in the middle of all of this drama, do you think the author interrupts the tense relationship dialogue with a secondary character and mention of the pool?  Why do you think it's important that Gatsby wants to swim at least once in his own pool?
5. Nick gets to work-- and the entire narrative shifts.  Now we're getting to the climax of the plot, and Fitzgerald goes nearly Shakespeare.  Describe the action and what it represents.

Have To Versus Want To Versus Get To

Homework teaches students to work independently and develop self-discipline. Homework encourages students to take initiative and responsibility for completing a task. Homework allows parents to have an active role in their child's education and helps them to evaluate their child's progress. However, homework should serve the same function, targeting areas of weakness and pushing them to reach a new place just within their capability. And not having the student feel like they aren't smart enough.

Gatsby Prompts Further Thinking

In my own thinking, about what I think the novel's message to it's readers who have to be The American Dream. It’s established early on in the first chapter when a stranger asks Nick for directions, making him “a guide, a pathfinder, an original settler,” like the brave pioneers who traveled West in hopes of building better lives for themselves. Immediately after that, Nick tells us that he read a series of finance books in the hopes of making his fortune. Fitzgerald uses this juxtaposition of bankers and pioneers to suggest that the American Dream of owning land and making a name for one’s self has been subsumed by the desire to become rich and thereby perpetuate a capitalist system. This desire to be rich and successful is at the core of Gatsby's dream of reuniting with Daisy. He was willing to do anything to attain this dream, including getting involved with Mr. Wolfsheim’s businesses. In a brutally ironic twist, the bootlegging that makes Gatsby rich enough for Daisy is also one of the main reasons he loses her, because when Tom tells her about it in Chapter 6 she hesitates and thinks twice about leaving him for Gatsby. Gatsby’s dream self-destructs because, like the American Dream as a whole, it has been corrupted by money and power to the point where it is no longer real or viable.

What Gatsby Says To Me

Theme (American Dream): The moral of The Great Gatsby represents wealth and growth. In the novel, green stands for Gatsby's hope and short life. It symbolizes the bulk of wealth which Gatsby earns to win Daisy back in life.

Gatsby Notes And Thoughts; Chapter 7

• Chapter 7 is where it marks the climax of The Great Gatsby
• At first it takes place, Daisy's house where Tom, Nick, Daisy, and Gatsby have lunch
• Gatsby wants Daisy to tell Tom that she never loved him
• That the whole time it was Gatsby who she loved the most
• The next Daisy insists to go to Manthanan
•  Nick rides with Jordan and Tom in Gatsby’s car, and Gatsby and Daisy ride together in Tom’s car
• Stopping for gas at Wilson’s garage, Nick, Tom, and Jordan learn that Wilson has discovered his wife’s infidelity—though not the identity of her lover—and plans to move her to the West
• Under the brooding eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, Nick perceives that Tom and Wilson are in the same position
• As soon as the group, arrives in New York City things start to heat up
• Tom mimics Gatsby on saying "old sport"
• Accuses him of lying about having attended Oxford
• Gatsby tells Tom that him and Daisy were lovers back then and that she never loved him
• Driving back to Long Island, Nick, Tom, and Jordan discover a frightening scene on the border of the valley of ashes
•  Someone has been fatally hit by an automobile
• The victim was Myrtle 
• A car coming from New York City struck her, paused, then speed away
• Nick realizes that Myrtle must have been hit by Gatsby and Daisy, driving back from the city in Gatsby’s big yellow automobile
• Tom thinks that Wilson will remember the yellow car from that afternoon. He also assumes that Gatsby was the driver
• Back at Tom’s house, Nick waits outside and finds Gatsby hiding in the bushes
• Gatsby says that he has been waiting there in order to make sure that Tom did not hurt Daisy
• He tells Nick that Daisy was driving when the car struck Myrtle, but that he himself will take the blame
•  Still worried about Daisy, Gatsby sends Nick to check on her

Both Tom and Daisy's actions at the hotel have shown just how alike they are and in a time of crisis, there is no question they will join together. Daisy is likely unaware (or at least unconcerned) with Gatsby's feelings; Tom, while perhaps sad about Myrtle's death, likely sees her as he sees everyone who isn't of his social class — an expendable object. And so Gatsby, utterly lost now that his dream has died, holds on to the last piece of all he's ever known as an adult by standing guard at Daisy's. Unfortunately for him, it will be a long night.


1. Why does Gatsby stop having parties?
2. Why does Gatsby fire his staff, and who replaces them?  How are these people different, and how do their personalities reflect what we know about Wolfsheim?
3. Describe the difference in Daisy's and Gatsby's reactions to Daisy's daughter.
4. Describe the "outing" to New York and the confrontation between Tom and Gatsby.  Who wins?
5. BAM! What happens on the way back to Long Island?  (You have to get this-- it's THE event of the book.)
6. What are Tom and Daisy doing at the end of the chapter?  What does this say to you about Daisy's character?

Gatsby Notes And Thoughts: Chapter 6

• A reporter shows up in Gatsby's home
• Gatsby is being well known to the public now
• Rumors are now crazier about Jay Gatsby 
• Gatsby's actual parents were  shiftless/ unsuccessful farmers
• He real didn't accepted them as his parents
• James Gatz became Jay Gatsby on the fateful day when, on the shores of Lake Superior, he saw Dan Cody drop anchor on his yacht
• Cody is the one who gave Gatsby the opportunity to hone the fiction that would define his life
• Tom Buchanan and two others out for a horseback ride show up for a drink
• After exchanging social small talk wherein Gatsby is invited to dine with the group, the three riders abruptly leave without him, somewhat taken aback that he accepted what they deem to be a purely rhetorical invitation
•  "You can't repeat the past," Gatsby idealistically answers "Why of course you can!


• Not acceptance that the past is over
• Learn to move forward

Fitzgerald creates a protagonist who is unable to function in the present. He must continually return to the past, revising it and modifying it until it takes on epic qualities which, sadly, can never be realized in the everyday world. Gatsby, just as he is at his parties and with the social elite, is once again marginalized, forced to the fringes by the vivacity of his dream.


Analyze:

• Gatsby's POV on love towards Daisy- No real life relationship could ever live up to Gatsby’s unrealistic, stylized, ultra-romantic, and absolutist conception of love in general, and his love of Daisy, in particular. Not only that, but he demands nothing less of Daisy as well. His condition for her to be with him is to entirely disavow Tom and any feelings she may have ever had for him.
• Gatsby was hoping that Daisy would fall in love with him again from the amount of how wealthy he is
• Ended up not being what he thought of (Since that Daisy has a child with Tom)
• Daisy' Motivations-  Daisy’s reaction to Gatsby’s party is fascinating - especially if we think that Gatsby has been trying to be the "gold-hatted bouncing lover" for her. She is appalled by the empty, meaningless circus of luxury. Daisy enjoyed being alone in his mansion with him, but the more he displays what he has attained, the more she is repelled.

Notes And Thoughts On Gatsby Chapter 5

• Nick plays as cupid for Gatsby and Daisy
• He invites Daisy over for tea so that Gatsby and Daisy could meet again
• Rain- made Gatsby feel nervous/ off
• When it came to planning the event for Daisy to come over for tea; Gatsby was a perfectionist for every little detail
• At first Gatsby was nervous when it came to talking and being alone with Daisy
• Later on Gatsby changed entirely
• He has moved from the embarrassment of his initial appearance to unbounded delight, radiating a newfound sense of well-being. Daisy, too, reflects an "unexpected joy" through her voice
• It's been 5 years on not seeing one and another (Daisy and Gatsby)
• Gatsby request on inviting Daisy and Nick over to his house afterwards
•  The excess and bounty of Gatsby's shirts causes her to put her face into them and cry, sad because she's "never seen such beautiful shirts before."
•  She isn't weeping for a lost love; rather she is weeping at the overt display of wealth she sees before her
• Gatsby tells Daisy that he leaves across from her house
•  "You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock." 
• Meaning of the GREEN LIGHT- "You always have a green light that burns all night at the end of your dock" 

As the chapter ends, Nick interprets a look of Gatsby's face to indicate that perhaps he is dissatisfied with the whole affair. What occurs to Nick, and perhaps to Gatsby, is that once a dream is achieved, life must still continue.  For Gatsby, who has spent the past five years dreaming of Daisy, one wonders whether through the five years he was in love with Daisy, or the idea of Daisy. His relentless pursuit of his dream has allowed him ample opportunity to construct scenarios in his head and to imagine her not necessarily as she is, but as he perceives her to be.

Gatsby Test Grades

Answers:
1. Nick says he reserves judgement to others at the beginning of the book.
2. Daisy said she hopes her daughter will be a beautiful fool. This means she hopes she will be oblivious and not get hurt like Daisy.
3. The "valley of ashes" is the railroads, houses, and chimneys (lower class). On a symbolic level it represents absolute poverty and hopelessness.
4. Don't think Tom will leave Daisy for Myrtle because he's only using Myrtle. he treats her badly and even though he abuses Daisy also does not do it in public. Also, while Myrtle is talking about how she made a mistake to marry Mr. Wilson, Ton does not say it is a mistake that he married Daisy.
5. (Part 1) If you were actually invited by Gatsby himself then it was a honor for both of you to be there.
(Part 2) It was very rare to actually see and meet Gatsby at his own party which Nick got to do).
6. Nick thinks he is one of the few honest people he knows because he does not know many honest people. He has a friend that is cheating on his wife. He also has a girl that he's interested in whom he admits he is one of the few not contributing to the mass. In my opinion, I think he is honest compared to his companions and to a point very truthful. The fact is though that no one is completely honest. Nick like anyone else has his secrets and has told his lies. The difference he hold is that maybe he has less of these or he  is just better at hiding them.
7. Gatsby is the son of some wealthy people in the middle west. Brought up in America but educated at Oxford.
8. I don't think Gatsby had any part on helping Wolfsheim with the World Series in 1919 because Gatsby is a smart man who thinks clearly on his decisions but yet again I have that feeling that he did. Yes, he comes from a wealthy family and is very known to many people. Plus, has may connections of wealthy/ known people. I don't think he's background had a thing of meeting such people like Wolfsheim. In order for him to be good friends with these people (like Wolfsheim) he had to do such thing to know more about them than the public/ normal person.


Scores: 

• Tanya- 8/8     
• Odalys- 8/8
• Yazmin- 8/8

How You Know What I Know

I can show what I know by being capable on writing a summary and questions/ answer them without no hesitation on my comprehension of The Great Gatsby. This will show that I'm able to talk about my clarification on the key elements with Great Gatsby. By having explain each detail of the book very thorough following up with symbolic meaning, characterization, etc.

Testing Understanding From The Other Side

As I was writing/ thinking about what the questions should be asked from my side. I was deciding to include a couple of questions that would show the reader's understanding on Great Gatsby. By this ask level two and three questions that go beyond the understanding on the little things. Having the other side explain their thought/ opinions on each action that is taking place within the book.

Gatsby Test Chapter 1-4

Chapter I

1. How does Nick describe himself at the beginning of the book?
2. Why does Daisy say she hoped her daughter would be a beautiful fool?

Chapter II

1. The description of the "Valley Of Ashes" is introduced in this chapter. On a literal level, what is the valley of ashes? What might it represent on a symbolic level?
2. Do you think Tom will leave Daisy for Myrtle?

Chapter III

1. Describe the two ways in which Nick differs from the other guests at Gatsby's party?
2. Nick thinks he's one of the few honest people he knows, why? Do you think he is honest?

Chapter IV

1. What does Gatsby tell Nick about himself?
2. Do you think Gatsby helped Wolfsheim with the World Series in 1919?

Gatsby (Notes): Page 69-80/ Chapter 4

• A little background on Gatsby:
• Schooling- went to Oxford
• Lived like an Indian prince (Rajah)- Paris, Rome, Europe, and Venice
• Nick gets a well performance from Gatsby because he's legit perfection
• Seems unbelievable
• Gatsby: Claims that he won multiple medals from WWII
• Meyer Wolfsshiem- a friend to Gatsby; the brain's behind the 1919 world series huge deal who took money from gamblers and payed the players to loose 
• Has business connections
• Daisy and Gatsby were lovers back then
• Because of this, all the parties that Gatsby has planned out was for the hopes of Daisy to show up
• This is why he moved across the lake of Daisy's house
• The Green Light represents Gatsby's love to Daisy
• So now that Nick knows a little bit more about Daisy and Gatsby's past relationship
• Gatsby wants Nick to schedule a meet up for him and Daisy 

Nick's Cardinal Virtue

Nick Caraway is among the most honest people he knows, but at this point in the novel the reader only has his word to go on. Although Nick hasn’t given much indication that he is an unreliable narrator, how can the reader be sure? Throughout the novel, we aren’t even sure if Nick is being honest with us. For example, he frequently expresses his contempt for Daisy, Tom, and Gatsby, yet continues to spend time with them, accept their hospitality, and even help Gatsby have an affair with Daisy. Nick’s actual honesty is a matter of interpretation left for us readers.

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

• Have you ever had a song on repeat that has affected your mood?
• It doesn't define your personality
• Nostalgic memories
• Certain smells trigger your memories as well
• How do you feel about running up for princess/ prince?
• Ties up with popularity
• What are your thoughts towards the end of Junior year?
• Happy to leave SM/ move out
• Nerve-racking due to all the deadlines coming up
• Thoughts on Tik-tok and social media?
• Mainly effects the younger generations
• Can have a tablet for learning restrictions
• Parental locks
• Rape/ Abortion?
• Why should you carry the baby from your rapist?
• The baby will be hated by the mother
• Foster homes/ adoption- are full and it's a long process
• Race/ age/ gender- affects the adoption process
• Stereotypes on today's learning?
• Sacrifice our health
• Our generation is different from passed generations
• AP classes benefits the school

MOM

MOM- minutes of mindfulness

Within those 6 mins of me thinking about my Big Question, I've realized that the whole purpose of living a life to the fullest is too change our way how we want our day to continue. That is to have a different attitude on the first thing you wake up. It's all about how you want to see life within your eyes. Starting in an emotional/ physical state of mind. 

Now It's A Party? Gatsby Chapter 3

• Gatsby is known for throwing extravagant parties
• Guest mill around exchanging rumors about their host
• No one seems to know the truth about Gatsby's wealth or personal history
• Nick runs into Jordan Baker, whose friend, Lucille, speculates that Gatsby was a German spy during the war
• Nick also hears that Gatsby is a graduate of Oxford and that he once killed a man in cold blood
• Nick and Jordan, curious about their host, set out to find Gatsby
• Instead, they run into a middle-aged man with huge, owl-eyed spectacles- whom Nick dubs Owl Eyes 
• who sits poring over the unread books in Gatsby’s library
• Gatsby has a habit calling everyone "old sport"
• Does not drink
• Keeps himself separately from his own party
•  Nick follows the advice of Daisy and Tom and begins seeing Jordan Baker 
• Nick says that Jordan is fundamentally a dishonest person
• He even knows that she cheated in her first golf tournament
• Nick feels attracted to her despite her dishonesty, even though he himself claims to be one of the few honest people he has ever known

My Un/ Finished Symphony

A goal that I have in mind is to try not be closed minded to others. Be more open about my personal self, make new friends. Try not to be shy when talking to new people.  

Gatsby (Notes): Pages 38- 48

• Tom broke Myrtle's nose
• Due to Myrtle shouting Daisy
• Myrtle- is a play toy to Tom
• Contemptuous- harshly judge mental
• Ex of syntax (2)- Reveals Nick's drunk nature
• Feels like an outsiders
• Ex of diction revealing the alcoholism

Get Stuff Done

BQGSD- Big Question/ Get Stuff Done

• Take two minutes a day to think about my big question (total 14mins).
• Do research if needed
• This week I'll get some stuff done, get myself some time to think 
• Get (10) followers for my blog to critique my work

Gatsby (Notes): Pages 27-37

• Transcendent- goes far and beyond
• Eyes (symbolize)- vision
• Eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg (Located in Valley Ashen)
• Nick meets Tom's mistress, Myrtle Wilson
• Myrtle Wilson- fierce vitality and desperately looks for a way to improve her situation
• George Wilson- (husband to Myrtle) lifeless, loves and idealizes Myrtle
• Tom quietly informs Myrtle to see her; she leaves her husband under the pretense of visiting her sister in NY
• Meet up in an apartment
• Myrtle invites her sister and friends; the Mckees joins the party as well
• During Myrtle's time in the apartment she acts a different way then how she usually is in her daily life
• With Tom- acts more wealthy forgetting how's her life/ financially status with George

Gatsby (Notes): Pages 11-26

• Daisy Buchanan- is never in the moment
• She is totally self adsorbed
•   "Miss" Jordan Baker- mysterious/ vague
• Tom Buchanan (Daisy's husband)- unfaithful, wealthy
• Ignorant?
• Tension at dinner- the phone keeps on ringing and the person who's calling is Tom's mistress
• "I hope that she'll be a fool- that's the best thing a girl can be in the world, a beautiful little fool..."- Daisy (17)
• “Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever…His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one."- Nick
• Mr. Gatsby- reacting to a green light outside of his mansion
• Nick sees the green light as an exclusive and powerful object that has great symbolic meaning to Gatsby

What's In My Big Question For Me

Starting off, my big question is why should we wake up the next day if we're going to do the same thing as the day before? Were we created as robots or human beings? The reason why I have this question in mind is because we are gifted a life to live to the fullest and be spontaneous everyday. Go on in adventures with those who you care for and love. How are we suppose to do that if all we do is to wake up and do the same routine as before. It's like being a robot who is built to follow orders and not feel no type of emotions/ have the free will to do whatever your heart desires. With this in mind, I would have a different mindset as I wake up on being grateful that God gave me another life to live and to be reminded that we all (including myself) have a purpose to be in this world. To create memories and live on a life where we can chose  how we want our life journey to be.

Meet Nick

Nick Carraway is a young man from Minnesota who, after being educated at Yale and fighting in WWI, goes to New York City to learn about business. He's honest, tolerant and inclined to reserve judgment. Nick often serves as this confidant person to those with troubling/ dark secrets.

Behind The Ignite Talks

As I was listening to each of my classmates talk about their "Big Question." The one that had me intrigued and made me realized on "how us human beings are so ungrateful on what we are given to us in life" was Yazmin Santiago. She has a point on our planet. We're granted to live on a planet where there's air for us to breathe and water for not just us but for upcoming generations as well. How are we not going to take care of it for our grand-kid's children to experience the same experiences as us if we don't take act to take care of our world. By doing the supplest thing in life that is to throw away our trash.

Dark Patterns

In my opinion, I think the whole purpose of dark patterns aren't cool for us shoppers. I have experienced my self in the past and still on today. I do understand that all businesses do this to earn more money but again it's pressuring us on buying something since that it'll be sold out soon. For instance, if it's on a website or in stores they'' have discounts available for a certain amount of time for you to shop. Not only are they getting your attention on buying these items but to also feel rushed to get them as well before they're out of stock.

I'm Ignite

• Why are we pressure to go to college?
• Most kids really don't want to go to college since that if they want to pursue in the arts path.
• Why does the brain work how it does?
• Explaining on how our emotions work 
• Ex) a person who is unhappy- has the emotions of happiness
• Free will?
• That goes for animals
• How long can humans destroy the Earth?
• All the pollution that all of us human beings created
• Can the environment at home effect their mentality at school?
• Some kids who don't have a support system at home attend to do more good at school then those who do.
• Why do humans not care about what we are given to us?
• Global warming/ wildfires/ extinction
• Why do we have to appease others?
• As kids we are taught to appease others likes
• Those who don't look worthy about themselves they look for acceptance (exhausting)

Hopepunk

• Hopepunk- sincerely caring about something, anything, requires bravery and strength 
• Isn’t never about submission or acceptance 
• About standing up and fighting for what you believe in
• Standing up for other people
• Why authors think it matters?
• Is to leave a feeling on a word. 
• A narrative message
• A mood and a spirit as a definable literary movement

Argue This

Big Question: What's the point of waking up everyday just to do the same routine as the day before? Were we made as robots?
Major Premises: We're given the life to live to the fullest. Be adventurous, travel, experience new experiences. Live life like it's our last time to do so. The reason why I'm asking this question because we were made to live like there was no tomorrow without feeling that we're robots. Build to do the same things in a daily basis.
Minor Premises: People don't realize that having the privilege to live life is to make the good out of it by having to not fully change your daily day routine but mix some things around so you won't get tired of the same thing all over again.
Conclusion: Furthermore, we as human beings should live a life where we are more spontaneous on how we want our day to turn out.

Last Century's Writing Styles

• Syllogism- simplest form of logical argument
• Ex of Syllogism- of deductive reasoning
• Deductive reasoning- process of reasoning from one or more statements
• Ex) Geometry- all lines have 10 degrees; therefore, this object is a line
• We evaluate them if it's true- it means to fractionally verified in the word
• Validity- Do the premises include the conclusion?
• Naturalist- exaggerated forces acting upon an individual
• Realism- raw; having it be extremely real
• Modernism- to look at the internet differently
• Modernist broke the rules
• Before WWI: technology was to solve/ make everything better
• Liminal- not as what we want it to be but not as what we are to become

Down The Rabbit Hole

• Lucid Dream- ability to realize that it's not a dream
• Capacity- is ability
• Transcending- to go beyond and above
• Steinbeck wrote during the Great Depression, Dust Bowl, Economic Equality, and WWI & WWII
• He was good at federal contradiction
• Inedible- born into us
• Zero stress- death
• Having stress- born and life
• Good is better when you have something to compare with
• Learning about life- messy

Link I followed:

our grounds for hope in the dark

• I decided to follow this link because it's pretty much saying that hope is an embrace of the unknown and the unknowable. Hope locates itself in the premises that we don't know what would happen. Due to these circumstances you may be able to influence the outcomes. It is the belief that what we do matters even though how and when it may impact our personal/ mental self. 

Notes From Today's Lecture

• Ways of taking notes: being able to remember and explain your thinking
• Logical fallacy- is an error (Logical reasoning)
• Ethos (non- verbal)-a credibility from the elements of messenger
• Ex) when you're different from your peers
• Logos Ex) when you're about to enter campus and you forgot your ID. The security guard will not let you walk in without an ID so they hold you accountable/ make you tardy... 
• Pathos- a use of creditably

Observations on "I Have A Dream" speech

• "Withering Justice"- poetic
• signs of diction and syntax- a lot of the audience don't have free education and most of his speech has strong vocabulary; to have an impact and power to the people
• "Racial justice to make justice a reality it would be fatal to our nation"
• Pathos Ex) when Martin Luther King Jr. talks about the amount of deaths/ slavery; the crowd is shouting in the back
• adds a biblical presences of creditably 

Today I Interviewed An Expert

Interviewed Cory Doctorow- an activists, book writer; works with technology

• On how we see the change of technology is not technology itself but the global concept that many companies and businesses erupt

• Pluralism- power is in the hands of many people

• "The environment movement is a great example of how change can be."- James Boyle

• How money is spent in schools:
• Instead of spending it for educational purposes they spend it on censorship in computers

• Bluetooth tracks your phone- can have an open source/ idea for those use in a creepy matter