Cut-up

Narratives:

•  “Sleeping beauty”
• Martin Luther’s King speech “I have a dream” 

      Bibliography:

•     “Sleeping Beauty” ShemRock. Nov 2011. Web. <http://www.shemrock.com/sleeping-beauty.htm>
•      “I Have A Dream Speech (TEXT). Huff Post politics. Nov 2011. Web. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/i-have-a-dream-speech-text_n_809993.html> 

Cut- Up technique

Short stories:

•      “Sings and Symbols” by Vladimir Nabokov.
•      “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D.H Lawrence.

The Cut-Up story:

The Son

At the time of his birth they had been married already for a long time; a score of years had elapsed, and now they were quite old. She married for love, and the love turned to dust. She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them. There they waited again; and instead of their boy shuffling into the room as he usually did (his poor face blotched with acne, ill-shaven, sullen, and confused), a nurse they knew, and did not care for, appeared at last and brightly explained that he had again attempted to take his life. He was all right, she said, but a visit might disturb him. Although they lived in style, they felt always an anxiety in the house. There was never enough money. The mother had a small income, and the father had a small income, but not nearly enough for the social position which they had to keep up. The father went into town to some office. But though he had good prospects, these prospects never materialised. There was always the grinding sense of the shortage of money, though the style was always kept up. And so the house came to be haunted by the unspoken phrase: There must be more money! There must be more money! The children could hear it all the time though nobody said it aloud. In silence he sat down on the steps and in silence rose when some ten minutes later she came, heavily trudging upstairs, wanly smiling,shaking her head in deprecation of her silliness.

This, and much more, she accepted - for after all living did mean accepting the loss of one joy after another, not even joys in her case – mere possibilities of improvement. She thought of the endless waves of pain that for some reason or other she and her husband had to endure; of the invisible giants hurting her boy in some unimaginable fashion; of the incalculable amount of tenderness contained in the world; of the fate of this tenderness, which is either crushed, or wasted, or transformed into madness; of neglected children humming to themselves in unswept corners; of beautiful weeds that cannot hide from the farmer and helplessly have to watch the shadow of his simian stoop leave mangled flowers in its wake, as the monstrous darkness approaches. The boy saw she did not believe him; or rather, that she paid no attention to his assertion. This angered him somewhere, and made him want to compel her attention. But he became a partner. And when the Leger was coming on Paul was 'sure' about Lively Spark, which was a quite inconsiderable horse. The boy insisted on putting a thousand on the horse, Bassett went for five hundred, and Oscar Cresswell two hundred. Lively Spark came in first, and the betting had been ten to one against him. Paul had made ten thousand. "But what are you going to do with your money?" asked the uncle.

"Of course," said the boy, "I started it for mother. She said she had no luck, because father is unlucky, so I thought if I was lucky, it might stop whispering."

"What might stop whispering?"

"Our house. I hate our house for whispering."

So Uncle Oscar signed the agreement, and Paul's mother touched the whole five thousand. Then something very curious happened. The voices in the house suddenly went mad, like a chorus of frogs on a spring evening. There were certain new furnishings, and Paul had a tutor. He was really going to Eton, his father's school, in the following autumn. There were flowers in the winter, and a blossoming of the luxury Paul's mother had been used to. And yet the voices in the house, behind the sprays of mimosa and almond-blossom, and from under the piles of iridescent cushions, simply trilled and screamed in a sort of ecstasy: "There must be more money! Oh-h-h; there must be more money. Oh, now, now-w! Now-w-w - there must be more money! - more than ever! More than ever!"

"No doctors, no doctors," he moaned, "To the devil with doctors! We must get him out of there quick. Otherwise we'll be responsible. Responsible!" he repeated and hurled himself into a sitting position, both feet on the floor, thumping his forehead with his clenched fist. He smiled a quick smile and immediately resumed his excited monologue. They would fetch him as soon as it was day. Knives would have to be kept in a locked drawer. Even at his worst he presented no danger to other people.

The Derby was drawing near, and the boy grew more and more tense. He hardly heard what was spoken to him, he was very frail, and his eyes were really uncanny. His mother had sudden strange seizures of uneasiness about him. Sometimes, for half an hour, she would feel a sudden anxiety about him that was almost anguish. She wanted to rush to him at once, and know he was safe. Then suddenly she switched on the light, and saw her son, in his green pyjamas, madly surging on the rocking-horse. The blaze of light suddenly lit him up, as he urged the wooden horse, and lit her up, as she stood, blonde, in her dress of pale green and crystal, in the doorway. The third day of the illness was critical: they were waiting for a change. The boy, with his rather long, curly hair, was tossing ceaselessly on the pillow. He neither slept nor regained consciousness, and his eyes were like blue stones. His mother sat, feeling her heart had gone, turned actually into a stone.

They sat down to their unexpected festive midnight tea. The birthday present stood on the table. He sipped noisily; his face was flushed; every now and then he imparted a circular motion to his raised glass so as to make the sugar dissolve more thoroughly . The vein on the side of his bald head where there was a large birthmark stood out conspicuously and, although he had shaved that morning, a silvery bristle showed on his chin. While she poured him another glass of tea, he put on his spectacles and re-examined with pleasure the luminous yellow, green, red little jars. His clumsy moist lips spelled out their eloquent labels: apricot, grape, beech plum, quince. He had got to crab apple, when the telephone rang again.

"I never told you, mother, that if I can ride my horse, and get there, then I'm absolutely sure - oh, absolutely! Mother, did I ever tell you? I am lucky!"

"No, you never did," said his mother.

But the boy died in the night.

And even as he lay dead, his mother heard her brother's voice saying to her, "My God, Hester, you're eighty-odd thousand to the good, and a poor devil of a son to the bad. But, poor devil, poor devil, he's best gone out of a life where he rides his rocking-horse to find a winner."

The Cut-Up Technique and Postmodernism

Postmodernism narrative is known for its deconstruction and the different multiplicities within a single object. The spectator is needed in the story, there are no boundaries between the artist (creator) and the viewer and their identity is interchangeable. The Cut-Up technique is postmodern because it takes different elements and puts them together even if they don’t make sense but these fragments are positioned in an specific order which causes that those pieces, that are not connected, end up telling a story though a form of artistic representation. The video is a representation of the cut-Up technique and therefore it is a postmodern discourse. Throughout the video the narrator kept changing its point of view, there were many different stories being told at once   (multiplicities) that are not coherent independently but that are organized in a way that allows the different stories to develop at the same time and they are all connected by audio and images. For the video to work it also needs the viewer to understand the story otherwise it wouldn’t make sense and the piece of are will just become a bunch of different images thrown together.

The Cut-Up technique is an exemplification of postmodern art principally because of the idea of multiplicity within a single object and the concept of deconstruction. The video represents the Cut-Up technique and demonstrates why this technique is considered part of postmodernism. In fact it could be said that the Cut-Up technique has been able to succeed for its context and the ideas promoted by postmodernism since it is this art movement that allows the artist and audience to interact by work of art that is both meaningless and meaningful. 

Comparative essay:

•     How to write a comparative essay, different sources that explain the process:

1.            Bookrags Articles. “How to Write a Compare/Contrast Essay”. 2011. Web. 19 Nov 2011. <http://www.bookrags.com/articles/5.html>

2.            “How to a Comparative essay”. Web. 19 Nov 2011. <http://www.ssag.sk/SSAG%20study/AJL/Hoaw%20to%20write%20a%20Comparative%20essay.pdf>

3.            Kerry, Walk. “How to write a comparative analyzes.” 1998. Web. 19 Nov 2011. <http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/CompAnalysis.html>

•      Topic: The relationship between father and son portrayed in Kafka’s “A Letter to His Father” and Auster’s “The Invention of Solitude”.

•       Ideas:

1.            The importance and relevance of the father in his son’s life.

2.            How the relationship between father and son affects their relationship with the outside world.

3.            The importance of remembering and writing about a father. Both authors express they’re feeling in their works as if writing could give them so closure.

•      Schedule and planing:

1.            Finish reading the letter and memoir.

2.            Find quotes.

3.            Develop the topic and ideas.

4.            Create an outline that includes the basis of the introduction, body (arguments) and conclusion.

5.            Do a draft of the essay.

6.            Correct the draft.

7.            Create final essay.

Auster’s Quote

“We are continually shaped by the forces of coincidence, our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second.”

Paul Auster

Writer Paul Auster once said the quote above. This simple sentence holds in itself many different meanings that may confront the various certainties of the modern world.   With this quote Auster affirms that man can’t have assurance for everything depends on coincidence that is uncertain. Therefore man’s knowledge can’t be more than hypothesis for there are no absolute truths. With this quote Auster takes away the certainty of an absolute truth that men so desires. The quote also means that all the elements that have build the individual’s identity are simply cause by coincidence and consequently man is a mere product of coincidence. With demolished certainties and coincidence as a ruler, humanity is left to derive in an uncertain world.

Auster with a simple phrase diminishes sciences and their knowledge; the beliefs men have gained through their lives, the confidence in “truths” humanity has gotten through its history and eventually the identity of men, their essence. Coincidence is unreliable and if its forces shape the world then the world becomes unreliable. Paul Auster sentence may cause that the individual loses all its certainties and instead only gains uncertainties but that’s they way the world and life work, according to Auster. And even if the quote’s effect is not so radical it still causes doubt whether there are absolute truths or only probable hypothesis. 

Memory in "Inception"

In the movie Inception by Christopher Nolan the role of memory in the individual is explained. This movie is about a group of men that have the ability to enter dreams and therefore get information out or in (inception) these dreams. Thus the movie explores memory within the contrast of dreams and reality. Memory is a key factor in the decisions and actions each person commits. In the movie memory is what drives the characters towards their actions whether it is a correct  (faithful to “reality”) o incorrect memory (Unfaithful to “reality”). These actions might be right or wrong by they follow a specific objective created by memory; that can be from the past, a dream or what could have been. In the movie memory is the reason behind each action and what decides the course each actor takes.

In the movie memory is the cause of why entering dreams is possible and then gaining information from them or performing inception. Memory is what separates reality and dreams but at the same time it is what connects them and may cause confusion regarding them. Memory is the reason why dreams affect reality and the other way around. It is the memories each person contains that make up who he is, how he relates to others and why he acts on a certain way. Inception displays memory as one of man’s most important features that might be the cause and reason of every detail (important or irrelevant) in each individual's life.

 

The Tartan “El Son” by Salvador Dali

This painting portrays the image of a young boy sailing all alone through the sea and ready to overcome whatever obstacle may come his way all by himself.     This painting as ordinary as it appears is a symbol of the relationship between parents and son. The boy sailing is someone’s son who has left his home and is on the path of finding and making his own place in the world. But The Tartan “El Son” represents more than what it portrays for it symbolizes the parent’s purpose in the young boy’s life, which are not painted. The parents raise their children and teach them how to overcome the different obstacles that life may bring along and then when the son is ready to leave they have to let him. The parents can only watch their son leave and hope they raised him well in order that he can make it through but they can’t, or at least shouldn’t, help the young boy for it is his time to be on his own and build himself up all by himself.  Salvador Dali’s concept of fatherhood is that a father should do his best to raise his children and teach them what kinds of choice to make and why, how to reach success, etc. But then when the children are no longer children the father must leave them and take a passive role in their lives.

Biography:

“Dali- The Tartan “El Son” “Over Stock Art Oil Paintings. Web. 11/6/11. <http://www.overstockart.com/tartanelson.html>

Why writers write?

Writers write because they have the need to express themselves. While writing all kinds of events can be expressed, such as: life-changing moments, ordinary moments, moments defined by chance or choice, etc. For some authors writing can be consider a healing process that allows expressing feelings and understanding them so the writer can eventually move on. Writing may appear as the consequence of reading and admiring other authors, because then the true power of the written word is shown.  Writing gives the possibility to make a special moment in mortal (to materialize them) or to make an ordinary moment special. With writing the writer explores himself and his surrounding with a special point of view. The writer writes because he beliefs himself to have a good story to tell, a story that is both a lie and truth. A truth because no matter the genre of the story, the writer will always put something of himself in his work and a lie because no matter how realistic the story may be it will always have fictional elements. In other to write the writer must like this activity and have a story with a message that must be expressed. 

Death rituals:

•         Sutee or Self- Immolation: It was a traditional Hindu ritual practiced in India, in which when a man died the bride will voluntary be burned alive next to the corpse. This was practiced because the culture believed that husband and wife could find each other in the after life. 

•   Tibean Buddhist Sky Burial/ Jhator: This ritual is practiced in Tibet and the Buddhists do it. In this ritual the bodies are left alone for three days, wrapped in white cloth, and then a group of monks cut the body in many pieces.  And then the body is feed to the birds near the region. This is done because the culture believes in reincarnation and therefor the body has no real importance so it might as well be used for Jhator; which means giving human parts to a bird.

• Space burial: Obviously this is a modern death ritual and the cost of it depends on how far out of space the body has to be taken. For this to happen the body has to be cremated first.  With this kind of burial the body, its ashes, are supposed to linger around the universe forever. 

Taken from: Knight, David. “The 5 Creepiest Death Rituals From Around the World”. Cracked. 05/08/ 08. Web. 30/10/11. <http://www.cracked.com/article_16502_the-5-creepiest-death-rituals-from-around-world.html >

My thoughts regarding death

Death is a very controversial topic that may cause relief or fear but to some it is a non-existing state and so it should cause no feeling at all. Death causes me fear. Death is unknown to man and it dreads me to head into something unknown from which there is no coming back.  Death means the end of a period or the end of everything; it means closure and what if you are not ready for it? Death takes away time from the surrounding people and it forces people to question their beliefs and then face them. Only in death can it be known if there is heaven, hell, reincarnation, etc. Or if there is simply nothing; and only then people can know if their beliefs were correct or incorrect or simply don’t know nor feel anything at all. Death gives sense to life for it brings it to an end but what happens when death appears to soon and a life hasn’t had anything to transcend by; was that life wasted? Death scares me because it means the end of the known and beginning of the unknown, it is the moment in which life along with its decisions and actions appears correct or incorrect and worthily or unworthily.   

Whenever I think of dead and my feelings for it; Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The raven” comes to mind for with a simple word: “Nevermore”, the writer explains one of my biggest fears.

The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe.

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door -

Only this, and nothing more."

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow

From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore -

Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,

"'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -

Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -

This it is, and nothing more."

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

"Sir," said I, "or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;

But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,

And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,

That I scarce was sure I heard you"- here I opened wide the door; -

Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;

But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,

And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, "Lenore?"

This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, "Lenore!" -

Merely this, and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,

Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.

"Surely," said I, "surely that is something at my window lattice:

Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -

Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -

'Tis the wind and nothing more."

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,

In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore;

Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;

But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -

Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -

Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,

By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.

"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,

Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore -

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!"

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,

Though its answer little meaning- little relevancy bore;

For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being

Ever yet was blest with seeing bird above his chamber door -

Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,

With such name as "Nevermore."

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only

That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

Nothing further then he uttered- not a feather then he fluttered -

Till I scarcely more than muttered, "other friends have flown before -

On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before."

Then the bird said, "Nevermore."

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,

"Doubtless," said I, "what it utters is its only stock and store,

Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster

Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -

Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore

Of 'Never - nevermore'."

But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,

Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;

Then upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking

Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -

What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous bird of yore

Meant in croaking "Nevermore."

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing

To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;

This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining

On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamplight gloated o'er,

But whose velvet violet lining with the lamplight gloating o'er,

She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then methought the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

Swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor.

"Wretch," I cried, "thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he hath sent thee

Respite - respite and nepenthe, from thy memories of Lenore:

Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!"

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -

Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,

Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -

On this home by horror haunted- tell me truly, I implore -

Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!"

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil - prophet still, if bird or devil!

By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -

Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore -

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore."

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

"Be that word our sign in parting, bird or fiend," I shrieked, upstarting -

"Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!

Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

Leave my loneliness unbroken!- quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!"

Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,

And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted - nevermore!”

Found in: http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/edgar_allan_poe/poems/18848

What did you learn during this Unit? Did you like the novel? Why or why not?

Through the first unit: The Great Gatsby Reading and Writing America. I learned how the discovery of America affected literature and how literature affected the rise and fall of the American Dream. I learned about the different contrast in the 1920’s and it’s context (how at the time people were moving forward and backward at the same time). This due to the different occurrences of the time: racism, prohibition, bootlegging, jazz music, technological advances (movies with sound), mass production, “freedom” in women (who could vote and dress in the flopper look). All of this concepts and ideas appear in Fitzgerald novel The Great Gatsby in which the context and the people of the time are criticized for their cynical attitudes and shallowness. The novel represents an era by telling the stories of six main characters (Nick, Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, Jordan and Myrtle) and their relationships. My personal opinion of the novel is that it is extremely important and interesting for what it represents. However, the plot in the story was ok (it wasn’t good nor bad), it could have been more interesting especially in the way in which different events were narrated. And therefore I like the novel for what it represents and it’s importance to a decade but I am neutral to the plot and the events narrated.

Iconic character of the Roaring Twenties

Coco Chanel

“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”

- Coco Channel

Coco Chanel is probably the most important fashion designer the world has ever seen; she is considered one of the most important personalities of the Twentieth Century. Chanel’s cloths represent the 1920’s for many different reasons. But at the same time it could be said the 1920’s represent Chanel’s clothing because her designs, at the time, were completely innovative and went against the ideas that society had for women clothing. However, Coco Chanel represents mostly the positive aspects of this era, which makes her extremely more exciting. Chanel designs didn’t accept the so-called “Victorian Values” and so her clothing was refreshing and new. She was inspired by the ideas of: masculine clothes on women, more revealing pieces than used before, comfortable yet elegant clothing. The innovations that Chanel gave to cloth affected women beyond their wardrobe. Because in the 1920’s women did feel more free and independent, as a consequence to Chanel’s new style. Chanel is said to have invented the “flapper look” which was what liberal and mostly show girls wore.  Chanel clothing helped women gain their freedom and their right to have fun but that was not all the effect Chanel had in the 1920’s. For her designs were usually accompanied by big and ostentatious jewelry, or the illusion of jewels, which could represent the vivacity and progress of the time. Coco Chanel was a legend whose clothes helped shaped historical moments and affected women’s closet, actions and thoughts. Her brand is still very famous and desired nowadays and her designs also affect women of this time period.

Jazz song and novel

Song: “Nowadays / Hot Honey Rags” sang and performed in “Chicago”

Novel: “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Video from the song (movie scene): 

Lyrics of the song:

Announcer:

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Chicago Theater is proud to announce afirst. 
The first time, anywhere there's been an act of this nature.

Not only one little lady, but two! 


You've read about them in the papers and now here they are! Chicago's own killer dillers


those scintillating sinners


Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly!

Roxie and Velma:


You can like the life you're living


You can live the life you like


You can even marry Harry


But mess around with Ike


And that's
Good, isn't it?


Grand, isn't it?


Great, isn't it?


Swell, isn't it?


Fun, isn't it?


But nothing stays

In fifty years or so


It's gonna change, you know


But, oh, it's heaven


Nowadays

Announcer:


Okay, you babes of jazz.

Let's pick up the pace. 


Let's make the parties longer. 


Let's make the skirts shorter. 


Let's all go to hell in a fast car and KEEP IT HOT!


Roxie and Velma:


And all that Jazz!

Relations’ between “The Great Gatsby” and “Nowadays / Hot Honey Rags”:

The song is the finale of the musical “Chicago”; which is a very famous movie of two girls who want fame and commit murder; this crime is what makes them extremely famous together. The song can be related to the novel in many different aspects mainly because the events, in both the song and the book, occur in the 1920’s or the so-called “Jazz Age”. Frist of all there are these showgirls who killed and got no punishment at all, this reflects the idea that society has lost all its values. Then there is the aspect of people being able to live whichever life they prefer, people can be married and have lovers at the same time which is a very important characteristic of some characters of the novel (Daisy and Tom). After that there is the song’s reminder that at the time nothing lasted and everything came to an end which is what happened to every relationship in the book, except for Tom’s and Daisy’s marriage which is not a real relationship for it has no feeling in it, and even to the life’s of some characters (Gatsby, Myrtle and Wilson).  Finally the song states that living nowadays (1920’s) it’s heaven and it must be for those who have no morality because the 1920’s are a time of progress, criminals, jazz and people believing that they can have fun and be free. This “heaven” presented in the song appears in the book, however it crashes down because the illusion has to come to an end and when it does there are consequences especially for those who truly believed in the portrayed heaven (Gatsby who thought he could be with Daisy, Myrtle who believed she could rise by being Tom’s mistress and Wilson who was stupid enough to believe that his wife was loyal). In conclusion, the song and the novel are so famous because they do not only tell a story but they represent a historical period and an era in itself. Even through the events in the song (movie) and the book are so different, both have common elements, which arise in the fact that they both exposed the “Jazz Age”.    

The Great Gatsby audiobook pg 29-35

Found in here or in here.

Gatsby and Napoleon Bonaparte

Gatsby can be compared to Napoleon Bonaparte, if the comparison has as criteria the relationship with their beloved. In Fitzgerald’s book The great Gatsby the main character is portrayed as a new rich who’s parties are quite famous even through nobody really knows the host; people know that he is in some illegal business and wander about it. Gatsby is described by Nick (the narrator) as a kind and amiable person, and later the reader finds out that he is in love with Daisy (Nick’s cousin and the wife of Tom, Nick’s old fellow in Yale). Gatsby loves Daisy deeply and has been looking for the opportunity to be with her for a long time. Gatsby earned a fortune, bought a mansion and throws lavish parties so that Daisy would be please and they could restart their love affair. This relationship started when Gatsby was a soldier near Daisy’s house and decided to get involve with her for the mere experience of it (But to do so Gatsby had to lie and pretend that he belonged to an elite society when he didn’t.) However, Gatsby plan tumbles down when he discovers he is in love with her. Gatsby is send to Europe and when the war is over he tries to go back but this is impossible and so Daisy, tiered of waiting and with influence from her parents, decides to marry Tom Buchanan, a rich famous guy.

Napoleon and Josephine’s story can be related Gatsby and Daisy’s. Napoleon decides to marry Josephine because of her noble titles, her supposed money and her age (She is older than him and if he marries her people will se him as  mature person, which is necessary in the army). Josephine's beauty and charm attracted Napoleon but he wasn’t in love with her until they married and he became mad for his wife (He idolatrized her). Gatsby and Napoleon fell in love with a woman they weren't supposed to love and they both raised very high, (Gatsby became very rich and Napoleon became the emperor of France) which attracted both of their special ladies. Josephine and Daisy are quite beautiful and materialistic; they are not as perfect as their lovers make them out to be. Daisy does what fits her the best and Josephine is adulterous and a liar, but Napoleon and Gatsby think they are unflawed; they fooled themselves into loving them. And so it could be said that they don’t real love Daisy nor Josephine (because they don’t know them) but rather they love the idea of these ladies and the idea of being in love.  But the illusions and the lies are discovered and both Gatsby and Napoleon become demolished because of the lack of love form those they love so deeply. Gatsby and Napoleon are two characters (fictional and historical) that possessed almost everything (money, fame, power, etc.) except what they really wanted: the love from Daisy and Josephine. 

Writing Strategies

Brainstorming: 

Text:

If I could have three wishes I’d be confused as to what to do with them. However, after some thinking I’ve realized that I would be between two kinds of wishes: wishes beneficial only to myself, and wishes beneficial to others and myself. It is hard choosing only three wishes because the possibilities are endless. But I think I would choose those beneficial to others and myself (my community) for my own wishes are much more essay to achieve and they wouldn't be that great if compared to the other things I could do. Besides the wishes and dreams that people have for them selves they must be achieve on their own. And it is only then that these desires have their  full value for if they are not earned then they do not belong to the person who might have found or encounter them.  There for, if I could have any three whishes they would be: that finally there could be peace in the world, that there would be no more violence (no matter what might justify it) and that all children could be happy. But I would also work hard on my own wishes so they could become true.