ELIT 48C: Class #15

Grammar Slide

http://listverse.com/2011/06/07/top-10-misused-english-words/

AGENDA

The Great Gatsby

–Movie Day: Friday May 17th matinee. AMC Cupertino Square 16

Historical Context

Discussion

LECTURE: HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Historical Context

Post WWI

Standard of living increased for most

Americans abandoned small towns in exchange for urban living

Economy prospered as Americans tried to forget troubles of war

- frivolous spending

- illegal liquor

- immorality

The 1920s: Nicknames

The Roaring ‗20s

The Jazz Age

The Flapper Era

1920‘s Context

WWI made Americans question traditional ideals.

Literature and art denied foundations of the past and went for the new.

The philosophy of the Jazz Age was ―modernism."

The Jazz Age / Roaring Twenties

Era: 1918-1929

The age takes its name from jazz, which saw a tremendous surge in popularity.

This was a period of pleasure seeking & reckless exuberance

Most of Fitzgerald‘s stories provide a picture of youthful hedonism and the antics of the liberated young women known as ―flappers,‖ affronting conventional values with short skirts, short hair and make-up.

Prohibition

18th Amendment to Constitution prohibited manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages

Thousands turned to bootlegging

Mob activity increased to supply the demand for what was once legal

More 1920‘s

This period has been referred to as ―The Lost Generation.‖

Hemingway, in his novel The Sun Also Rises depicts a group of expatriate Americans, wandering aimlessly through Europe, sensing that they are powerless and that life is pointless in the aftermath of the Great War.

The Great Gatsby likewise reflects this perception of life without purpose, of restlessness, dissatisfaction and drifting.

Conspicuous Consumption

This term was originally coined to refer to the rise & power of extremely rich businessmen, who displayed their wealth in ostentatious houses & extravagant behavior.

This was invariably wasteful & implied increasing poverty among the lower classes in society.

Advertising & the mass market By the time ―The Great Gatsby‖ was published, the

American population had almost doubled. The solution included mass production, which led to

technological development - cars, air travel and the telephone - as well as new modernist trends in social behavior, the arts, and culture.

This growth in commodities led to standardization, where all citizens had the opportunity to buy items that had been too expensive or difficult to acquire.

The early years saw a corresponding change in advertising – products were given brand names as a sign of reliability. But new advertising also sought to create the desire for commodities & packaging became more important

DISCUSSION

Character Sketch

Daisy leans forward and talks in a low voice.

Tom is restless and hulking.

Jordan balances something on her chin almost in an athletic stance.

What is Fitzgerald‘s purpose in thus describing them?

Daisy Buchanan

The other girl, Daisy, made an attempt to rise — she leaned slightly forward with a conscientious expression — then she laughed, an absurd, charming little laugh, and I laughed too and came forward into the room.

―I‘m p-paralyzed with happiness.‖ She laughed again, as if she said something very witty, and held my hand for a moment, looking up into my face, promising that there was no one in the world she so much wanted to see. That was a way she had. She hinted in a murmur that the surname of the balancing girl was Baker. (I‘ve heard it said that Daisy‘s murmur was only to make people lean toward her; an irrelevant criticism that made it no less charming.)

Jordan Baker

The younger of the two was a stranger to me. She was extended full length at her end of the divan, completely motionless, and with her chin raised a little, as if she were balancing something on it which was quite likely to fall. If she saw me out of the corner of her eyes she gave no hint of it —indeed, I was almost surprised into murmuring an apology for having disturbed her by coming in.

At any rate, Miss Baker‘s lips fluttered, she nodded at me almost imperceptibly, and then quickly tipped her head back again — the object she was balancing had obviously tottered a little and given her something of a fright. Again a sort of apology arose to my lips. Almost any exhibition of complete self-sufficiency draws a stunned tribute from me.

Tom Buchanan

He had changed since his New Haven years. Now he was a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner. Two shining arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward. Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body — he seemed to fill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing, and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat. It was a body capable of enormous leverage — a cruel body.

Contrast the green light at the end of chapter 1 and the gray images in the Valley of Ashes in chapter 2.

What thematic statement do the contrasting images reveal?

Involuntarily I glanced seaward — and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock. When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.

This is a valley of ashes — a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.

How can George Wilson be said to symbolize the American Dream? Consider the Horatio Alger‘s (―rags-to-riches‖) motif, as well as his undying desire to better his situation.

Is Nick a symbol of honesty and Jordan a symbol of dishonesty? How are they alike and different in terms of veracity and credibility?

http://anoch.deviantart.com/art/Nick-and-Jordan-258532707

HOMEWORK

Read The Great Gatsby Chapters 6-7

Post #15: Choose One– Discuss how the reunion of Daisy and Gatsby

signals both the beginning and the end of Gatsby‘s dream and of his success.

– Trace the recurring image of eyes, and ascertain the purposes of those images. Consider blindness on any level as well as sight.

– Discuss one argument that supports a feminist theory approach.