Honors Novel #3

F. Scott Fitzgerald uses his novel “The Great Gatsby” to show the corruption of the American Dream in the 1920’s. The character of Gatsby was used specifically for the point that Fitzgerald wanted to get across. The American Dream has always been the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” but the character of Gatsby is Fitzgerald’s proof that the American Dream is being crushed. When we find out who Gatsby is, and that he isn’t all he’s cracked up to be, we realize that his lifestyle isn’t all that amazing and that Gatsby’s American Dream was never even there to begin with.

One of the constant occurrences in the 1920’s that Fitzgerald felt was the corruption of the American Dream was the constant partying. The 1920’s was after World War I so it was almost as if it was one big celebration. Every single week Gatsby would have a party. He was known all throughout New York as the man who held the most extravagant parties in the city. Those on the east egg even knew who he was because word of him certainly got around fast. The corruption of the American Dream was brought upon by the nonchalance attitudes of the people. All the people that would show up at the parties would just be there to have a good time. Most of the time they were drunk, even though alcohol had been banned. The idea of partying was greatly favored among the people of the 1920’s and was one of the reasons for the corruption of the American Dream.

Gatsby is used as the corruption of the American Dream also because his character showed arrogance throughout the entire story. The reasons behind his attitude were because he wanted to get Daisy who was the girl of his dreams. In every single scene that Gatsby is in, he shows off his possessions. He basically wants everyone around him to know that he is better than them, when in fact he’s not all he’s been made himself up to be.  Gatsby is from new money so he lives in the west egg. His house is astonishing and the possessions that he owns is what captures the people’s attention. Gatsby has the idea in his head that if he has more, he will be able to impress Daisy. “We went upstairs, through period bedrooms swathed in rose and lavender silk vivid with new flowers, through dressing rooms and poolrooms, and bathrooms with sunken baths-” He thinks that throwing money at materialistic things will capture Daisy’s heart, when in reality it really doesn’t.

Fitzgerald also uses Gatsby by revealing that his character is fake. Not just the character in the story, but the actual character of Gatsby turns out to be a fake. The character of Gatsby really is a James Gatz from a family of no wealth who prided himself off of a millionaire that he worked for. “So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” Gatsby had been living a lie, but the thing is, he didn’t realize that he actually was. He had gotten to caught up in the new person that he created, that he didn’t even remember the person who he was. He was all about living in the past, but only up to a certain point in his life. Gatsby created the person that he wanted to be and he was successful with it as well sticking to the story he came up with.

The idea of the corruption of the American Dream was essentially the character of Gatsby. Along with all the parties and money, he not only recreated a new person, he lied about the person who he actually was. The American Dream is to live happily, work hard and to raise a family. The entire idea of Gatsby completely contradicts this dream. Gatsby is all about throwing money at material things and having the idea in his head that money will buy him everything. The only thing it can’t buy him is happiness, and he finds this out when Daisy no longer finds an interest in him because of his money. 

Blog #24 More current events

1. http://www.sandiego6.com/news/local/story/Sewage-Spill-from-Mission-Valley-to-Ocean-Beach/qWYuIGp6oEeMp2ZNMf20lQ.cspx
On September 24th there was a sewage spill of over a thousand gallons of sewage into the San Diego River causing the beaches at the river mouth to be closed for a couple days.
"Signs warning of contamination will stand near the mouth of the river at Dog Beach until follow-up testing deems the area safe again for recreational uses, the DEH reported." This can be used in the "did you know" facts saying to watch for the orange signs because it may mean there is high contaminations in the water.


2. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/us/15seals.html
This article is about the fact that the seals will be able to stay at the Children's Pool and the people will not be able to use this area is a swimming place.
"But a state law that takes effect on Jan. 1 gives the city broad discretion to maintain the beach as it sees fit, and the City Council has indicated that it favors keeping the seals. The state law was drafted at the urging of the city attorney’s office."


3.http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-malibu-sewers7-2009nov07,0,4163417.story?track=rss
Raw sewage going into the beaches up in Los Angeles due to the bad septic tanks and piping from the years before. There is sewage and waste all over the beaches and are being drained from the pipes directly onto the beaches and they think the new septic tanks will be able to put an end to this and make the beaches more clean.. as well as sanitary. 


4. http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/encinitas/article_4d4777a4-0cd1-54b5-a36d-9ee741e3972a.html
"Indeed, said Honadle, cigarette butts are the most-littered form of trash globally and represent one out of every four pieces of trash picked up by volunteers at local beach cleanups. He also noted a recent study by San Diego State University professors Tom Novotny and Rick Gersberg, who recently found that chemicals leached from cigarette butts into water can kill fish."


5. http://sandiegonewsroom.com/news/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36229:lawsuit-challenges-proposed-desalination-plants-eir&catid=41:water&Itemid=58
"On Sept. 15, the city of Carlsbad approved changes to the site plan and pipeline network of the proposed Carlsbad Desalination Project. Among of the approvals was an addendum made to the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) issued in 2006. A month later, the environmental groups San Diego Coastkeeper and Coastal Environmental Rights Foundation (CERF) have filed suit to challenge that addendum and the other changes approved by the city of Carlsbad."

Blog #23 Environmental Current Events

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/us/15seals.html

This article is about the fact that the seals will be able to stay at the Children's Pool and the people will not be able to use this area is a swimming place. The article states that there will be a law enacted as of January 1st that will let the seals stay at the Children's Pool and will be able to use the area is a place where tourists can go and see them. There was no information missing from this article. The story stated the people that were active in th legal decision making as well as where, when and when the new law will be enforced. This article could be used in my MSB project because we need information for our captions and this could easily be used in one of the captions that we have. Each caption needs to be about something different and we also need "did you know" facts and some of this information could be used as well.

Blog #22 MSB Organizations

San Diego River Park

San Diego River Park Foundation is not a foundation built upon an endowment or other source of funding. We are a foundation in name because we are built upon a foundation of people that have come together toward the goal of creating the San Diego River Park.

The vision of the San Diego River Park is a greenbelt from the mountains to the ocean along the 52 mile long San Diego River. This greenbelt is really a trail system and a clean and healthy river system which connects a diversity of parks, open spaces, public places and community facilities spread out along the length of the River.


Surfrider


The Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of the world's oceans, waves and beaches for all people, through conservation, activism, research and education.


Surfrider has local meetings where people from the community can come and listen to what is going on with government involvement in the movements that this organization is taking to protect and make the beaches more enjoyable for the people.

Honors History #3

The Roaring Twenties

American society in the 1920’s, also known as the roaring twenties, was the start of the modern era. It was the time in which our nation had many major changes in our economy, technology and culture. Some of the changes included the construction industry that was absolutely booming, new technology such as the automobile and also the way that women were looked upon and their new image.

           

            With the growth of construction, many people were successful with finding a job and bringing in a good income. Jobs involving construction started bigger business with steel, concrete, lumber, home mortgages and insurance companies. After the war was when the increase of construction grew really big. The big cities of the nation were getting bigger and the stress of having more were put upon the construction industry as well. The major cities started having buildings built that were over 20 stories tall and in those days, that was unheard of. Suburban growth was increasing the most of all. More and more people were moving from the cities the suburb and a need for more housing was definitely growing. In Grosse Point near Detroit, the suburbs increased by 700 percent. That incredibly large number was topped by Beverly Hills which increased in the suburban area by 2500 percent. The construction industry was very beneficial to the modern era and helped many people by giving them a job.

            While construction industry was growing larger and larger, the automobile industry was the one that hit the jackpot. The automobile industry was the company that was absolutely flourishing and grew bigger day by day. Before the 1920’s, automobiles hadn’t quite made their grand entrance on the popularity scale but by 1920 there were 10 million automobiles in America. By the end of the 1920’s, the numbers had increased to 26 million. Automobiles became more popular in the 1920’s because they were more affordable with the good economy. “Henry Ford made it possible by pushing standardization and mass production to such ruthless extremes that the automobile became affordable.” The price for Ford’s Model T was $290, which was an unbelievable low price from the original price of $845. The economy was doing so well in the 1920’s that automobiles could be sold $600 less than the original pricing of them. The advance of the automobile changed America by the large spread of paved roads and a new roadside economy.

            The women of the 1920’s were the “new women” of America. Fredrick Lewis Allen called it the “revolution in manners and morals” of the 1920’s. Before World War I, there were many restrictions on women and once the war ended, all of the restrictions were lifted. Pre-war, women could have been arrested for smoking cigarettes, driving automobiles without a man in the car with them, using profanity and even for going to the beach and not wearing stockings. After the war women were free to do just about anything they wanted. The 1920’s began a time where women could be rebellious and express themselves openly. The women of this time period became known as “the flappers” and were known for wearing makeup, tight outfits and hats. Another reason that the 1920’s produced a kind of “new woman” was because birth control became very popular. Once again, before the war birth control was not allowed but after the war birth control was allowed and it gave women the comfort of having sex and knowing they had a very good chance of not getting pregnant.

           

            The roaring twenties resulted in a time where life was carefree and the economy was absolutely booming. The 1920’s was a time where the businesses were skyrocketing, women were looked at differently by their actions and it was easy enough to just go for a stroll in a new automobile. The beginning of the modern era was where change began to take place and the culture of America changed as well.

Blog #21 Gatsby chp 1-4

Gatsby and Nick are both somewhat detached from their surroundings. Compare and contrast this sense of detachment. How are they similar and/or different in this respect?


Nick is the kind of character that just takes life as it comes. He doesn't voluntarily enter a situation or even voluntarily leave a situation either. When he is given an opportunity, he usually takes it. Nick is usually detached from the surrounding he is in. He seems as if he would be a really akward type of person. Gatsby is the kind of character that knows his purpose in life and wants to pursue it. Although he has an opposite personality of Nick, he too is detached from his surrounding. Gatsby is trying to pursue the woman that he loves and because of this he has an elaborate life style and all he wants is more to try and get her. He is detached in a sense that the only reason he has this elaborate life style is because of possibly impressing Daisy the day that he sees her. When Nick is with Gatsby and spending time with him, he is very detached from the environment that he's used too and knows so well. Nick is detached from the "rich" lifestyle that Gatsby lives and tries to get Nick to join in on.

Blog #20 Beginning the Great Gatsby

1. Who is the narrator? Describe his perspective, biases, character traits, etc.

The narrator is the character Nick and he's a character that does his own thing and doesnt neccesarily involve himself in other people's lives. He lives a lonely life but is successful in what he does. He hasn't really shared any of his opinions on certain topics.. for example what they were talking about at dinner when he went to Daisy's. Nick didn't really talk about what he thought about the controversial topics. 

2. What do you think F. Scott Fiitzgerald accomplishes by chooses this specific narrator versus another choice, such as a different character or 3rd person?

Because the narration is in the first person point of view, we are able to read what the character is thinking about everything. I think that he is a good character that the author chose because his mind isn't filled with a bunch of controversial topics and for the most part he sounds as if he's a very simple person.

Blog #19 Critique and professional example

1. The layout for this calendar is really nice and the graphs for the tide calendar is really organized and is able to be seen easily. I think the layout along with the tide calendar is the most successful part because just from starting the tides.. I've realized its a lot of work and being able to put the time in to make it look this nice is the most successful thing in my eyes.
2. The intended message is about the beaches and showing the tide information for each day of the year.
3. The people that plan on purchasing these calendars are obviously the audience for the final work of the calendar.They probably also want the tide information if they are wanting to buy a tide calendar.
4.  What could have brought out the message more would be writing captions about the animal that was in the above picture.
5. One technique they used was using the pictures through out the entire two pages. There's a total of three pictures in the whole page for the calendar and I really like that they do and encorporate the theme throughout the entire page.
6. I chose this sample because the tides graphs looked like they were done really well and thats kind of what I'm looking at right now because we're having a little difficulty with that step right now.