The Great Gatsby: Chapters 4-5

(1) “It’s a great advantage not to drink among hard-drinking people.”

The author is making a simple statement about if someone does not drink around people who get drunk easily they will have an advantage over them. By not drinking the person has a clearer mind and can play off any irregularity that might happen in life because the heavy drinkers are to slow to notice. The author is telling the reader if you want an advantage over a lot of people in America do not drink. The fact is America is known for being a society that drinks heavily. Being the person that doesn’t drink you will come out with a great reputation because you could hold your tongue when they couldn’t. (114 words)

(2) “While the rain continued it had seemed like the murmur of their voices, rising and swelling a little now and then with gusts of emotion”

The author uses a metaphor comparing Gatsby and Daisy’s voices to the rain that was falling. When the two first met at Nick’s house they barely spoke to one another like how the rain sounded outside. Gatsby would express some emotion which was awkwardness and nervousness. Their conversation began slowly; however, there were also a few moments of good discussion.  This is what Nick believed to hear when a gust of wind would blow causing the rain to fall harder.  People are often anxious and shy when they first see old acquaintances similar to the discomfort experienced by Gatsby and Daisy.  (103 words)

(3) “Daisy tumbled short of his dreams — not through her own fault”

Gatsby created an unreal expectation of how things would be when he and Daisy meet again. Daisy fell short of his dreams because she did not know of the expectations in his heart; therefore, she had no control of them. This situation made by Fitzgerald is a comparison to how some love is in society today. People find a significant other that they adore and after being apart from them for a certain amount of time, they start to create an unrealistic picture of how life would be when they meet again. That’s the problem with love sometimes people create a fantasy and when it doesn’t become real they are heart broken.  (114 words)

(4) “No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart”

A man that has closed his heart to something or someone will not let it be challenged by new ideas or anger. People tend to do this in society when they feel what is locked up in their heart is better than the other options given to him. Gatsby does this with Daisy because he shuts out any idea of there being a better girl for him. A grumpy old man is a prime example of how this is displayed in today’s society. The elderly man is angered by someone telling him he needs to sell his house when he knows it will never happen. He maintains a negative attitude because it is easier to cope with disappointment. (119 words)

(5) “I think that voice held him most, with its fluctuating, feverish warmth, because it couldn’t be over-dreamed — that voice was a deathless song.”

The voice of Daisy was warming to Gatsby because her voice could never die in his heart and would play over in his dreams. By hearing her voice he felt those feelings and knew that she was not a dream but actually near him. In life a person has to cherish those voices that make them feel happy and not just the feelings that can be manipulated. Those voices are the only thing that will never die and play over like a song in your head when you need them the most. By Fitzgerald showing the voice creates warmth in a person this is his way of showing what should truly matter to people. (114 words)

Week 1.3: Let Teenagers Try Adulthood

In Let Teenagers Try Adulthood the author’s argument that high school for the most part is useless and should be destroyed is very true. During high school you are getting a free education, but for some people this education is more rewarding than for others. In some cases, the teachers are more lenient towards athletes because they don’t want them to fail and miss that all important game. While the hard working students get punished because they spent their entire afternoon working on an essay and the athlete gets the weekend to finish the same essay.

For example, in high school you have cliques, which are composed of the very attractive people, the athletes or the very popular people in school. If a person is on the outside of these cliques they have a more difficult time in high school because they do not have the support of the community. Instead, the lack of support discourages them from being that one of a kind person during high school.  The truth is the outsiders are the people who are getting the better paying jobs and are more successful in life than those who got to coast in high school.

            The claim that high school truly prepares the student for the adult world is completely bogus. For instance, when a lot of students attend college they start to see all the time they wasted in high school and how it put their future in jeopardy. Now the truth of how life really is hits them. All of the partying they might have done in high school won’t help get them a well paying job. The rules of high school are not similar to the rules of life. It can be a struggle to convince a manager why you are the best fit for the job. 

The author’s idea of eliminating middle school altogether by making elementary start at the age 5 and end after 6^th grade is a great idea. This allows a student to go straight to high school for four years causing them to graduate at 16 instead of 18. This makes the kids join the real world sooner and those who weren’t serious about their education get to jump into the hard working environment immediately. The people who attend college and continue their education get professors based on their knowledge not their popularity. The people who sleep during school or skip half of the school year because they don’t feel like attending, will see how cruel the workplace will be with that kind of attitude. Botstein is correct regarding how the late twentieth century to present day teenagers have grown more mature than previous generations. This means they should definitely be brought into adulthood earlier than most people have been in the past. 

This set up would open the eyes of many youth in the world by turning them into adults sooner than expected.  The community can still provide steps that help young people ease into it because it is about trying adulthood not being forced to drown in it. That’s why we should get rid of a high school system that really isn’t needed by most teenagers. 

(537 words)