Blog Assignment #25: The Great Gatsby!

One of the many advantages of America is capitalism. Sure, at times it may seem like more of a obstacle than an asset, as some people have figured out how to clamor to the top using the heads of those below them, but in all honesty, capitalism is the very thing that keeps our country running. Therein lies the American Dream: the idea that one can come from nothing and end up as anything or everything. It is this dream that sustains the people of America and causes the influx of people from other countries, yet it is also this dream that causes so much dissension and corruption in this land. In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this idea is explored with great detail throughout all nine chapters.
The novel revolves around the middle class Nick Carraway, who moves to New York to try and become a bondsman. He ends up living next to a mysterious man named Jay Gatsby. Nick soon goes to meet his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom and gets swept into their rich and glamorous lifestyle. Much of the novel takes place at different parties and many times Nick is unsure of what to do in these new social situations. The rich people that surround him are all relatively self-centered and don’t really care about anything or anyone else. They are very self-destructive in their daily habits (drinking, smoking and partying) and think that everyone is going to bow down to them because of their incredible riches.
Recall earlier that the American Dream is essentially the entire model of capitalism. The richest people are always finding ways to make their money grow and aren’t satisfied with “enough”. Some of them are the epitome of the American Dream—coming from nothing and becoming breathtakingly wealthy. However, money is often called the root of all evil, and with good cause; money corrupts. The American Dream is a nice idea, but what people do with their money is often debaucherous and morally incorrect. So while the rich continue to use their money for the furthering of their own lives, they use it just as much to oppress the poor.
In the Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald takes the idea of the American Dream and rebuts it. He uses the uncaring natures of the characters to show what money really does to people. Take Nick for example. As one of the main characters (and the poorest of the four others), his story-telling is apparently ‘objective’. He says this because he is not corrupted by the pull of the dollar bill, and is often kinder to those around him, which is evidenced in almost every chapter. He also does not want to participate in Gatsby’s schemes to make him some cash. Now, take a look at Tom. Tom is very wealthy. He also happens to treat people with no respect and believes that he is better than everyone he talks to, or even looks at. His money is molding his personality into something more evil and unattractive. However, it can be said that even though Gatsby is as rich if not richer than Tom, his disposition is far better. But, while it may be true that Gatsby isn’t rude and arrogant like Tom, Gatsby shows his uncaring nature through his gigantic and wild parties. There’s no way someone who really cared about their money would throw such parties, yet keep them open and mostly anonymous.
Tom is what happens when the American Dream is taken and violently beaten into submission. That is to say, the money Tom earned (or inherited or what have you) changed him in an extremely negative way. This is true in the real world, too. Think about all of the goings-on in America lately. The economy is in the toilet because a few people were greed-ridden and hungry for the taste of more and more money. When rags-to-riches stories end, they sometimes leave a lifetime of lying, cheating and pain in their wake. The money also serves as a sort of catalyst for terrible behavior. When one can do anything they want, with no one to stop them, the consequences are usually very grave.
One simply has to take a look at the tragic George Wilson to see how the rich affect the poor. Tom treats him like less than a man—less than a dog even—right to his face. Tom takes George’s wife to go and fool around in some hotel in New York, while George is left heartbroken and ultimately defeated at the end of the novel. Obviously the author is criticizing the American Dream here. Thanks to Tom’s greed and sense of entitlement, George is mistreated and abused.

Another critique of another professional example

http://news.webshots.com/photo/1333692643055389201SDMvtI?vhost=news

I chose this picture because it is an incredibly detailed drawing of an ocean liner. While that may not be 100% related to this project, it was definitely very inspiring to me to make my art look good. Though in my pictures I take a sort of "Tim Burton" influnce and try to bend and twist the rules of reality, this picture shows me that the artwork isn't all about the feel. It has to look good, too. I'm still working on that part...

As far as what I like, it's all in the shading. I'm not at all good at shading and lighting, so seeing something like this gives me hope and acts a great example of what I want to do.

(picture wouldn't cooperate so there's the link.)

Blog Assignment #23: Environmental Current Events

http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=10622673

1. This piece talks about people who go around and assess peoples' water usage.

2. The most important info is that the people aren't bona fide police officers; they're just people who want to make sure that water conservation is actually happening in our state and county.

3. The information that's missing is the actual effect these people are having on the environment, assuming they ARE having one.

4. This shows me that there are some people who know what's happening to beaches. These people might be able to tell me what's going on with homes near the beach.

Honors History Writing #3: The Roaring Twenties

During the 1920’s, America was in an uproar. But it wasn’t one of those unsightly and dangerously violent uproars; those were taken care of in the 1800’s. No, American citizens were finally beginning to settle down on the violence front and take care of something far more important than politics: themselves. Known by many as the Lost Generation, this time period was notorious for the amount of people that lost interest in things spiritual and personal, replacing them with more materialistic and worldly pleasures. However, through all of this nonchalance, many advances were made in literature and music that would have never come about if it weren’t for those who are fondly referred to as the Lost. Not only that, but the economy wouldn’t have boomed as it did if it weren’t for those big spending materialists.

In the 1920’s, many people felt very disillusioned because of the war that they called the Great War (now known as World War I). A great many authors wrote about this feeling, but some tried to capture it in a more satirical form, such as books like the Great Gatsby. Others, however, chose to be more transgressive and go against the rules of censorship towards taboo subjects. Poets like E. E. Cummings experimented with such subjects and even incorporated unorthodox punctuation and syntax. Many of the subjects covered in the Great Gatsby deal with being too rich to care or even have a conscience, while much of Cummings’ poetry deals with love and loss (although spending all that time to try and figure his poetry out is kind of time-consuming). The work and style of these authors allows us to get a glimpse into the minds of those who lived during the 1920’s.

But literature wasn’t the only thing growing in this era. Music was booming and becoming a huge affair in America. With the dawn of the Jazz Age, many people were beginning to cash in on their creative skills and write some new and exciting music. Much like the rock ‘n’ roll of the 1950’s, a good number of people called the new jazz music that was being created ‘Devil’s music’, even though much of it just involved nonsense and was filled with fun lyrics that carried no real weight. There were some songs about hardship and suffering, but it could hardly be called music of the Devil. And for something that people were so quick to label as satanic, there certainly were a lot of companies that sprang up to capitalize on the success of such music. The 1920’s were when record companies really started becoming prevalent in the music business. Without the first few companies, none of what we know today in the music business would exist.

It’s actually not surprising at all that the economy went so well in the Roaring 20’s. Sure, there was the Great Depression in the early 30’s, but how could that have happened without some sort of boom in the economy prior? Thanks to the rich people who bought everything in sight to try and fill their empty lives, companies could continue to make money, thus stimulating the economy. Using the immigrants from other countries for cheap labor wasn’t out of the question either, and was, in fact, very common in the United States. People were interested in making their own lives feel more luxurious and continued to buy and buy and buy, which couldn’t be too bad for the economy—until it crashes.

All of these things changed drastically throughout the decade known as the Roaring 20’s. Music, literature, the economy…all changed for the better and continued to morph and grow, and will continue to grow as long as America keeps itself on its feet. Everything that happened in the 1920’s shaped America forever, and it was all thanks to a few visionaries who had nothing better to do than think about how terribly boring their lives were. To them, we are thankful.

Blog Assignment #22: Your MSB Organizations

Birch Aquarium

Mission statement: The mission of Birch Aquarium is to provide ocean science education, tointerpret Scripps Institution of Oceanography research, and topromote ocean conservation.

http://www.connecticutplus.com/cplus/information/news/education/Sea-Research-Foundation-and-University-of-Connecticut-collaborate-on-new-DNA-Red-Tide-And-The-Sea-exhibit65636563.shtml

The Birch Aquarium sponsored some of the findings from the research of the University of Connecticut and the Sea Research Foundation.

The Sea Research Foundation

This is a foundation that I couldn't find much info on, but they're linked with the Mystic Aquarium of Connecticut. I wanted to research them a bit because I'd never heard of them before the Birch Aquarium news story.

Mission: Our Research Mission is to conduct high quality research designed to broaden our understanding of the health challenges impacting aquatic species worldwide.

http://www.connecticutplus.com/cplus/information/news/News_1/Sea-Research-Foundation-awarded-34-255-in-grants-from-Long-Island-Sound-Futures-Fund65086508.shtml

Blog Assignment #21- Gastby ch. 1-4

Nick seems like he's detached because he isn't rich and is new to New York. Gatsby seems detached because he's had tragedy in his life and is looking for a way to drown it out. The main difference is that Gatsby has money to drown his sorrows in, whereas Nick must rely on others while not getting too attached. Nick also feels like he can't relate to anyone because of his status, while Gatsby is able to seclude himself using money.

Blog Assignemnt #20: Beginning the Great Gatsby

The narrartor is Nick Carraway. His family is rich, yet he is not. he moves to New York to try and strike it rich as a bondsman. He lives next to Jay Gatsby in the East Egg. So far, I can tell he is kind of oblivious to the ways of the very rich, and he likes to joke. His sarcasm shines through in many different situations. He seems like a fair and trustworthy person from the first chapter.

I think that having someone who is in the middle of the two Eggs allows the reader to get a perspective on both sides, with no bias. If Fitzgerald were to choose Tom Buchanan, for example, his biases and personality would overpower the novel. By choosing a neutral character, the reader is able to get the full view.

Blog Assignment #19: Critique a Professional Example

I think the lighting is the most successful element of this piece. While you can't really have true lighting in a painting, the way the artist uses shading is very well done.

I don't really know if there is an intended message, but there is definitely an intended feeling. You can tell by the dark colors that the artist intends for the viewer to feel fear.

This piece isn't necessarily too graphic or too scary for children, yet it could easily appeal to adults. I think this work is just for anyone who wants to take a look.

All of the colors and the way they contrast mix very well to create that feeling of fear or foreboding. The character design is interesting as well.

One of the techniques used in this artwork is contrasting colors. The artist uses light and dark colors to convey his theme and the emotion of the work.

I chose this sample because I like this artist. He consistently produces interesting and strange art that I enjoy.

Honors Literature Assignment #2: The Scarlet Letter

As exciting novels go, there aren’t that many that deal with the good old Puritan age. The reason for this is that the Puritans were a very uptight and boring people, who worshipped God with all of their being and never strayed from their hardcore Catholic views. However, with all of those harsh rules and standards, there were bound to be some black sheep, which brings me to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter. Written in 1850, yet set in the 1700’s, the Scarlet Letter is a novel that definitely seems like it would be the pinnacle of boring literature. Oh how wrong that assumption is. Because of its subject matter—which includes adultery, expulsion and clashing of beliefs—this novel is filled with thinking that didn’t exactly mesh with that of other authors during the 1800’s.

Back in the time period that the novel takes place, women were not thought of very highly in society. They were expected to look pretty and take care of a husband, all the while remaining pure and proper in the face of sinful and hypocritical men. The protagonist, Hester Prynne, on the other hand, doesn’t like the way that society expects her to act. As such, she has an affair with a priest named Arthur Dimmesdale and has an illegitimate daughter, who she names Pearl. Hester’s husband, a man who was apparently lost at sea when coming from Europe to their new America home in Boston, looks on at his wife’s public humiliation when her crime is discovered. Since he can’t reveal his identity, he goes by the name Robert Chillingworth. During the course of the novel, Hester is constantly reminded of her sin through the way that her fellow townspeople shun her. In turn, Hester and her daughter Pearl move to a house on the outskirts of town, when Hester’s wild nature can run free…well, as much as a woman’s wild nature can in the Boston of the 18^th century.

For the time, the ideas expressed in the novel were incredibly radical. Nobody in the Puritan age would even think of touching something as taboo as adultery. If one were to take a quick peek at the synopsis, however, it would seem like a very straight and narrow story. But just reading the synopsis doesn’t do it justice. While the plot may resemble something James Patterson would write, the novel is not as conventional as it seems. Upon first glance, it is a boring book about some woman who has sex with some guy. But after reading it, one finds that it is much more transgressive than that. Puritans were very adamant about adultery and sex before marriage and for a woman to violate that would mean harassment to no end, which is exactly what happens over the course of the book.

One of the main reasons for the success of The Scarlet Letter is the fact that it is so controversial and out there. If it weren’t for the unusual subject matter, this book would have gone unnoticed in the 19^th century. Just the fact that it dealt with some very different themes and motifs than other novels of that time period was enough to skyrocket it into high school classrooms around the globe—or at least around America. It’s in the way that Hawthorne tells the story of Hester and her sin that makes this book stand out. Without the controversial elements that lay at its core, this piece is nothing but a simple story of somebody’s struggle with adversity.

Nathaniel Hawthorne does a good job of weaving the wild in with the trite. While on the outside, a story about a woman’s affair with a priest may seem boring and uninspired. But, a closer look reveals the true inner workings of The Scarlet Letter. It tells of a woman’s public shaming in a time period where no one is allowed to make mistakes, all the while exposing the struggles that Puritan Bostonians had to face back in those time periods. These things all come together to make a novel that appears as tame as can be, but really explores some of the wildest concepts of the time period.