The Breakdown

Hello everyone,

This blog is going to be organized for optimum ease of information concerning our deconstruction of the Great Gatsby. As there are so many of us here are the instructions to keep everything in order.

Each group has different sets of questions for each section. The answers will continue to be posted in the Pages for your group. To post on the page you can only leave a comment, in this comment include a Title (your Group, and the question), the answer, who wrote it (minimum first and or last name), and finally Tags. The tags MUST follow the categories listed bellow exactly (this includes capitalization) so they remain uniform. For multiple tags separate them with a comma.

That's it!

From there I will repost to the main page (but under "later posts"). Thus if you have any comments and opinions (ESPECIALLY good ones discussed in the presentations) please comment on the repost. This also helps so it's less confusing on the group pages as it has already started to.

Then when it comes to writing about the Great Gatsby all you need to do is click the label on the side and all posts including relevant information will be there.

Thank you!
Jen

Label Categories:

Gatsby
Myrtle
Daisy
Tom
Jordan
Nick
Valley of Ashes
Setting
Automobiles
Green/Blue
Yellow/White
Silver/Black/Grey

John Green Videos

Hello everyone,

For those who missed the video in class or simply would like to go over it again here is John Green's deconstruction of the symbolism in the Great Gatsby.

John Green: Living the Dream in the Valley of Ashes

And for further help, here is John Green's quick critical reading of the first chapter:

John Green: Gatsby's American Dream (critical reading of Ch 1)


Thank you,
Jennifer

Great Gatsby Movie Trailer

Literary Lenses

Literary Lenses

Reading a text through literary lenses is a neat way of looking at a text through the different points of view. It gives us a good idea of the variety of outlooks and widens our perspective on a much larger scale. There are many different types of lenses, however the three lenses we focused on as a class include – Feminist, Marxist and Psychoanalytic lens.

Feminism gives emphasis to analyzing how women are portrayed in the text. It explores the negative, positive or mediocre qualities of women specifically. The key idea is to critically think about the way women are being perceived. By doing this we get an understanding of how the author valued women in his/her texts.



Marxist view focuses on how social causes and poverty are being sidelined in the name of fame and power. Through this lens the reader is able to understand the importance of justice and how much it matters to stick to the true morals and ethics.

Psychoanalytic lens argues that the work represents the author’s own childhood manifestations and secret desires. It says that our unconscious mind gives rise to the desires and archetypes portrayed in the text. By reading the text through this lens, the reader is able to detect the repressed feelings of the author and understand how different actions are influenced by his/her past experience.

- Nayaelah, Viya, Karishma and Tanya

Academic analysis of The Great Gatsby

http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-14816-0/fitzgerald-and-hemingway/excerpt

Group 1 - Question 5

Gatsby meets Daisy's child. Explain the scene and its significance in the novel and consider this using several critical lenses.

Answer:

In chapter 7, Gatsby finally has the opportunity to meet Daisy's child, Pammy, as they (Tom, Daisy, Nick, Jordan, and himself) join each other for a luncheon on a hot summer day. It is described that Gastby “kept looking at the child with surprise” (Page 117). It is also mentioned that Nick doesn't think Gatsby “had ever really believed in [the child’s] existence before” (Page 117). Throughout the scene, Gatsby actually doesn't say anything at all...he was shocked silent. 

This is scene is significant because Gatsby’s surprised reaction indicates how he is unhappy with the introduction of yet another obstacle in his way of acquiring Daisy for himself. He is unhappy because the bond of a child between Tom and Daisy doesn't fit in with his version of “The American Dream”. Gatsby, in fact, everybody, wants an easy way to achieve their dreams and goals and nobody likes it when obstacles (such as a child) or people (Tom, in Gatsby’s case) slow you down. 

That’s the more obvious reason as to why Gatsby was so shocked and surprised. Although, if we were to look at it from a Psychoanalytic Lens, there is more depth to Gatsby’s dazed expression. It can be observed that he may actually be jealous of Daisy’s child because she is where he wants to be (this is his ID kicking in). He doesn't say much at all, revealing his repressed want of Daisy. The ID is the part of the mind that holds all these repressed feelings and it is also responsible for making people believe that something they WANT, is something they NEED.

At the same time, if we looked at this scene through a Marxist Lens, we would notice and realize that Daisy’s child represents the rich childhood he never had, and tried his best to get away from. Gatsby grew up quite poor and he wanted to make something of himself that would somehow rid him of his past, and make others overlook it. Daisy had Pammy all dressed up because she wanted to “show [her] off” to Nick and Gatsby. Gatsby never had anything to show off as a child in the lower class. This could also be a reason that he continuously holds extravagant parties at his success of a mansion; it brings him to a higher class.

Vandana

Labels: Gatsby, Daisy