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Michelle, Try searching for an especially surprising string of words on google. For example, I searched google for --"incarnation of independence" gatsby-- and came up with this page, with those exact words: http://www.enotes.com/great-gatsby/38 Fight fire with fire, or google with google, in this case. Good luck! Katie >===== Original Message From Michelle Cowell <cowellm@WAVERLY- SHELLROCK.K12.IA.US> ===== >I have a teacher who thinks a student plagiarized some Great Gatsby = >response papers. I spent the morning looking and couldn't find = >anything. I was hoping you could look at them and give me some help. In = >the first and second, she doesn't think some of the terms are his. In = >the third he quotes from Dictionary of Literary Biography, a source we = >don't have, and also quotes Stephen Vincent Benet, someone they never = >talked about. In the last he talks about a debate about the narrator, = >also something they haven't discussed yet. She just doesn't think he = >research is that good. The papers are below. =20 > >Thanks >Michelle Cowell >Media Specialist >Waverly Shell Rock High School >Waverly, IA >cowellm@waverly-shellrock.k12.ia.us > >Reader Response #1 > > >The Great Gatsby is known as a key novel of the Jazz age. It accurately = >portrays the lifestyle of the rich during the booming 1920s. Readers = >live through the lavish parties and on the elegant estates in this = >novel. Romantics relate to Gatsby's unrelenting commitment to Daisy, the = >love of his life. But beneath all the romance, The Great Gatsby is a = >severe criticism of American upper class values. Fitzgerald uses the = >book's central conflict between Tom Buchanan and .Jay Gatsby to = >illustrate his criticism. Tom is the representation of the upper class, = >Gatsby the upstart social climber. The contrast between them = >demonstrates the differences between the values of their respective = >classes. This response journal examines the upper class myths of = >lineage, institutional education, and wealth. One by one, Fitzgerald = >strips away the illusion of superiority to reveal the ugly truth behind = >the glittering mask of the rich. > >=20 > >For the "old" (inherited) money crowd, family lineage is often the = >first, and perhaps most important, indicator of class rank. This theme = >runs through the entire novel. Tom's old Chicago family is "enormously = >wealthy." In fact, "his position" was what attracted Daisy to him. And = >he steadfastly argues his racial superiority during the opening scene. = >But his heredity does not translate into anything worthwhile. The = >Buchanans never see their families. The core of their own family, their = >marriage, is a shambles-Tom cheats and Daisy's miserable. And = >theirdaughter seems irrelevant to their lives. Gatsby, one the other = >hand, is of ui4nown background > > > >Rumors circulate that he is related to everyone from th~'f%aiserito = >Satan. Eventually we learn thatGatshy comes from a humble, mid-western = >family. He grew up poor. Ironically, the Gatsby (or Gatz) family = >provides the only examples of familial love. We learn that Gatsby bought = >his father a house, and his father cannot hide his emotion, his = >affection and his admiration for his son in the final chapter. > > > >Institutional education-where you go to school-holds an important place = >in class structure. Nick points out that he, his father and Tom Buchanan = >attended New Haven, the discreet name for Yale, an ivy league = >institution that ranks with Harvard and Princeton as the school of the = >elite. However Tom's attendance at on of the nation's finest = >universities does little to develop his "simple mind." At one point he = >even admits to being "pretty dumb." His crude attempts at = >intellectualism, for example his "scientific" explanation of the decline = >of civilization caused by "The Rise of the Colored Empires," only serve = >to reveal a thin understanding of the world. By contrast, Gatsby's claim = >to institutional learning is sketchy. Whether or not Gatsby is a true = >"Oxford man" recurs throughout the story as a source of controversy. In = >fact, Tom considers a major victory Gatsby's revelation that his = >affiliation with the prestigious English school was only temporary. But = >despite his lack of formal education, we understand Gatsby to have a = >focused, intelligent mind. He literally pulls himself up from poverty to = >the heights of wealth through discipline and brains. > >=20 > >The third myth associated with the upper class involves the supremacy of = >wealth. Fitzgerald goes to great lengths to describe Tom's tremendous = >wealth, his estate, his cars, his polo ponies. But Tom's wealth comes = >off as worthless. He is mean and stingy and we never see him share his = >unearned fortune. In fact, it's just the opposite. He denies the = >impoverished George Wilson one of his extra cars, despite Wilson's = >desperate pleas. On the contrary, the newly rich Gatsby spends his money = >freely. Stories of Gatsby's generosity abound. He provides food, drinks, = >entertainment and even shelter to hundreds of people, even those he did = >not invite. In one instance, he replaced a guest's expensive evening = >gown that she accidentally tore at one his parties. And unlike Tom, who = >receives money from his family, Gatsby generously gives money to his = >aging father. > >By establishing the conflict between Tom and Gatsby, Fitzgerald minors = >the conflict between the upper and upwardly aspiring classes in America, = >Fitzgerald's characterizations and the narrator's commentary criticize = >the rich throughout the book. Tom Buchanan, with his lineage, education, = >breeding and wealth, epitomizes the upper class. But by the end of the = >story, we realize that these qualities are empty. In one sweeping = >accusation, Nick proclaims to Gatsby, "They're a rotten crowd... You're = >worth the whole bunch put together." Fitzgerald finally and skillfully = >destroys the upper class claim to superiorit > = > =20 > >Reader Response #2 > >Women play an ironic role in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, a novel = >dominated by the hero, Gatsby, and the mysterious narrator, Nick = >Carraway. With the background of Gatsby's lavish parties, women seem to = >have been transformed into "flappers," supposedly the incarnation of = >independence following WW1. > >=20 > >Daisy Fay, modeled on Fitzgerald's free-spirited wife, Zelda Sayre, is = >hardly portrayed as the proper southern beauty. Her friend, Jordan = >Baker, seems openly sarcastic when speaking of their "white = >girlhood"-referring to their youth spent in Louisville, KY. As = >Fitzgerald conveys through a series of flashbacks, Daisy has been = >flirtatious, even at one point discovered packing her bag to travel = >alone to New York City in order to say good bye to a sailor. But her = >rather scandalous behavior does not soil her at all in the eyes of the = >lustful Gatsby. Indeed, as Nick comments , "It excited him.., that many = >men had already loved Daisy-it increased her value in his eyes." (Ch. 8) = >Jordan Baker, is little more than a device to bring Nick Carraway into = >theplot and is neither married nor engaged and apparently lives largely = >on her own except for shadowy. Tom Buchanan, Daisy's husband, might = >pontificate that their house guest should havemore supervision, but = >Daisy ridicules her husband's comment. > >=20 > >So on one level, these characters appear to be free-spirited norms of = >what the nineteenth-century would have considered proper female = >behavior. It's worth investigating, however, just how independent they = >really are. Daisy, Jordan, and Myrtle exist in relationship to their = >husbands, lovers, or boyfriends, and none undergoes a significant change = >during the course of the narrative. Thus, none of the women can be = >considered "round" or multidimensional characters. Each functions-at = >least for a time-as the personality of Gatsby, Nick, and Tom > >Buchanan. Perhaps the miserable conditions for the women is most = >accurately conveyed in a conversation between Nick and Daisy in which = >Daisy discusses the birth of her daughter: > >=20 > >"Well, she was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke = >up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the = >nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl , = >and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad = >it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool---that's the best thing a girl = >can be in this world, a beautiful little fool."' (Ch.l) > >=20 > >In their own ways, each woman functions as "proof' of her husband's or = >lover's success. At several points in the novel, Gatsby is described by = >Nick as a knight. Traditionally, knights go off on a quest; often their = >"price is the hand of a king's daughter in marriage. Gatsby's quest = >during his life has been to recapture the past, those moments in WWI = >when it seemed to him that Daisy, the wealthy, sought-after beauty of = >Louisville, would agree to be his wife. Daisy ,however, hardly constant = >, is swept off her feet by another suitor, Tom Buchanan. But Gatsby = >clings to his peculiar notion of the American Dream: > >=20 > >if he achieves monetary success, he will regain Daisy. Thus, Gatsby = >constructs his ostentatious house in West Egg, directiy across the Bay = >from Tom and Daisy's more sedate mansion. Nick warns him, "You can't = >repeat the past," but Gatsby, incredulous, states "Why of course you = >can!" (Ch. 6) > >=20 > >In assessing Fitzgerald's three principal female characters, the reader = >must keep in mind that all examinations are filtered through the eyes of = >Nick Carraway. Thus, the question of whether he is a reliable narrator = >assumes paramount importance. Nick of course, boldly asserts, "I am one = >of the few honest people that I have ever known." (Ch.3) > >If Gatsby is a love story, it is one centered in hostility toward women. = >Gatsby thinks of Daisy in relation to the objects with which she is = >surrounded. Her value for him is increased by the fact that so many men = >have desired her. Indeed, Tom's gift of a string of pearls valued at = >$350, 000 the night before the two are to be wed only increases his = >estimation of her worth. One might ask if there is an actual emotional = >relation between Gatsby and Daisy or if Daisy has become for Gatsby = >simply an "unutterable vision." > > > >Reader Response ~3 > > >The Great Gatsby explores a number of themes, but none is more prevalent = >than that of the corruption of the American dream. The American dream is = >the concept that, in America, any person can be successful as long he or = >she is prepared to work hard and use his natural gifts. Uatsby appears = >to be the ideal of this dream - he has risen from being a poor farm boy = >with no prospects, to being rich, having a big house, servants, and a = >large social circle attending his numerous functions. He has achieved = >all this in only a few short years, having returned from the war = >penniless. > >=20 > >On the surface, Fitzgerald appears to be suggesting that, while wealth = >and all its treasures are attainable, status and position are not. = >Gatsby has money and possessions, but he is unable to find happiness. = >Those who come to his home do not genuinely like Gatsby - they come for = >the parties, the food, the drink and the company, not for Gatsby. = >Furthermore, they seem to despise Gatsby, taking every opportunity to = >gossip about him. Many come and go without even taking the time to meet = >and few ever thank him for his hospitality. Even Daisy appears unable to = >cope with the reality of Gatsby's lower class background. Gatsby is = >never truly one of the elite - his dream is just that, a dream. However, = >Fitzgerald explores much more than the failure of the American dream - = >he is more deeply concerned with its total corruption. Gatsby has not = >achieved his wealth through honest hard work, but through bootlegging = >and crime. His money is not simply ~new' money - it is dirty money, = >earned through dishonesty and crime. His wealthy lifestyle is little = >more than deceit, as is the whole person Jay Gatsby. (iatsby has been = >created from the dreams of the boy James Gatz. It is not only Gatsby who = >is corrupt. Nick repeatedly says that he is the only honest person he = >knows. The story is full of lying and cheating. Even Nick is involved in = >this deception, helping Gatsby and Daisy in their deceit and later = >concealing the truth about Myrtle's death. The society in which the = >novel takes place is one of moralregression. Any person who attempts to = >move up through the social classes becomes corrupt in the process. In = >Gatsby's case this corruption involves illegal activities, for Myrtle it = >is an abandonment of others of her own background. > >=20 > >A parallel theme of the book is that of love and its briefness. There = >are no stable relationships in the book. Daisy and Tom's marriage has = >been damaged by affairs from early in its life. By the time the novel = >begins, Daisy is well aware of Tom's regular affairs, seeming to suffer = >in silence until Gatsby offers her a way out. Myrtle's relationship with = >Tom is no stronger, obviously based on a physical attraction, especially = >on the part of Tom who has little time for Myrtle outside the bedroom. = >Myrtle appears to be loved by Wilson, but is unhappy in this = >relationship, apparently because he is unable to provide materially for = >her, although his actions later in the book suggest his love may be = >oppressive, causing her to seek escape even before the last events. = >Nick, the narrator, is unable to make commitments in his relationships. = >One of his reasons for coming East has been to escape a potential = >engagement, he has a brief affair in New York which he ends when there = >are signs of commitment, and he cannot commit to Jordan either. Jordan = >herself has had no lasting relationship, discarding men when she has no = >further for them -Nick's rejection of her provides her with 'a new = >experience'. Partygoers are seen fighting with spouses or else attend = >with mistresses or lovers. Only Gatsby seems capable of lasting love - = >his love for Daisy is unshaken till the end. Yet this love is = >unrealistic-based not only on a relationship started on a lie, but also = >needing a turning back of time to make it complete. At times even Gatsby = >himself seems to realize that the reality is not as good as his dream = >has been. In the end we meet the only person capable of true love in the = >final chapter. It is Mr Gatz, Gatsby's father, who has an unshaken love = >for his son, believing in him to the end, and blind to his failings as = >only a parent can be. > >Reader Response ~4 > >F. Scott Fitzgerald was an American novelist and short-story writer of = >the twenties. Sincehis early work shows a romantic feeling for 'the = >promises of life" at college and in "The East,' he acquired the name = >"the spokesman of the Jazz Age." His first novel, This Side of Paradise, = >was the first American novel to deal with college undergraduate life in = >the World War- I era. A handsome and charming man, Fitzgerald was = >quickly adopted by the young generation of his time. His second novel, = >The Beam ~u1 and the Damned, is a lively but shallow book, but his = >third. The Great Gatshy, is one of the most definite descriptions of = >American life in the l920s. > >=20 > >Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sept. 24. 1896, Scott Fitzgerald was the = >son of Edward Fitzgerald, who worked for Proctor and Gamble and brought = >his family to Buffalo and Syracuse, New York. for most of his son's = >first decade. Edward Fitzgerald's great-great-grandfather was the = >brother of the grandfather of Francis Scoff Key, who wrote the poem 'The = >Star-Spangled Banner." This fact was of great significance to Mrs. = >Fitzgerald, Mollie McQuillan, and later to Scott. Mollie Fitzgerald's = >own family could offer no pretensions to aristocracy but her father, an = >Irish immigrant who came to America in 1843, was a self-made = >businessman. "Equally important was Fitzgerald's sense of having come = >from two widely different Celtic strains. He had early on developed an = >inferiority complex in a family where the "black Irish half ... had the = >money and looked down on the Maryland side of the family who had. and = >really had 'breeding, "according to Scott Donaldson in the Dictionary of = >Literary Biography. Out of this divergence of classes in his family = >background arose what some have called F. Scott's "double vision." He = >had the ability to experience the lifestyle of the wealthy from an = >insider's outlook, yet never felt a part of this and always felt the = >outsider. > >=20 > >As a youth Fitzgerald showed he had talent for drama, first in St. Paul, = >where he wrote original plays for amateur production, and later at the = >Newman Academy in Hackensack, NewJersey. At Princeton, he composed = >lyrics for the university's famous Triangle Club productions. Fitzgerald = >was also a writer and actor with the Triangle Club at college. Before he = >could graduate, he volunteered for the army during World War I. He spent = >the weekends writing the earliest drafts of his first novel. Charles = >Scribner's Sons accepted the work for publication in 1919~.The popular = >and financial success that accompanied this event enabled Fitzgerald to = >marry Zelda Sayre, whom he met at training camp in Alabama. Zelda played = >a pivotal role in the writer's life, both in a rowdy way and an = >inspirational one. Mostly, she shared his extravagant lifestyle and = >artistic interests. In the l930s she was diagnosed as a schizophrenic = >and was hospitalized in Switzerland and then Maryland, where she died in = >a fire, > >=20 > >For some time, Fitzgerald lived with his wife in Long Island. There, the = >setting for The Great Gatshy, he entertained in a manner similar to his = >characters, with expensive liquors and entertainment. He celebrated in = >demonstrating the antics of the crazy, irresponsible rich, and carried = >this attitude wherever he went. Especially on the Rivera in France, the = >Fitzgeralds befriended the elite of the wealthy classes, only to offend = >most of them in some way by their outrageous behavior. Self-absorbed, = >drunk, and eccentric, they sought and received attention of all kinds. = >The party ended with the hospitalization of Zelda for schizophrenia in = >Prangins, a Swiss town, and together, with the Great Depression of 1929, = >which ushered in the start of Scott's personal depression. > >=20 > >In the decade before his death, Fitzgerald's troubles and effects of his = >alcoholism limited the quality and amount of his writing. Nonetheless, = >it was also during this period that he attempted his most complex and = >ambitious novel, Tender Is the Night (1934) After Zelda's breakdown, = >Fitzgerald became romantically involved with Sheila Graham, a gossip = >columnist in Hollywood, during the last years of his life. He also wrote = >but did not finish the novel The Last > >Tycoon, now considered to be one of his best works, about the Hollywood = >motion picture industry. Fitzgerald died suddenly of a head attack, most = >likely influenced by a long addiction to alcohol, on December 21,1940. = >At the time of his death, he was virtually forgotten and unread. A = >growing Fitzgerald revival, begun in the 1950s, led to the publication = >of numerous volumes of stories, letters, and notebooks. One of his = >literary critics, Stephen Vincent Benet, concluded in his review of The = >Last Tycoon, "you can take off your hats now, gentlemen, and I think = >perhaps you had better. This is not a legend, this is a reputation- and, = >seen in perspective, it may well be one of the most secure reputations = >of our time." > >01 Y-~ I o > >=20 > > > >Reader Response #5 > >Nick is the narrator of the novel; the story is told in his voice and = >through his perceptions. > >=20 > >It has also been suggested that Nick may be the character F. Scott = >Fitzgerald based most closely on himself and I feel as if this is the = >character I most associate with. It is possible that this is because he = >is the narrator, but I also see some of my qualities in him. In a sense, = >then, Nick shows opinions of wealthy, immoral characters like Gatsby. = >Nick is a good Midwestern boy who attended Yale and moved to New York in = >1922 to work in the bond market. He is well positioned to narrate this = >story - he is Daisy Buchanon's cousin, went to Yale with Tom Buchanon = >and rents the house next door to Gatsby's. From his vantage point, Nick = >can see everything that goes on. What's more, he's the kind of guy that = >people want to tell their stones -and their secrets - to. > >=20 > >Nick tells us in the first chapter that his father cautioned him about = >judging people: > >=20 > >"'Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,' he told me, 'just remember = >that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've = >had"' (1). Nick tries to follow his father's advice; he acts as a = >sounding board for the other characters, particularly Gatsby, and as = >they confide in him we learn more about their lives. There is debate = >over whether Nick is a Reliable Narrator that is, if he tells us the = >whole truth about what he sees, hears and experiences. In the begirming = >of the novel, Nick certainly seems reliable. But as he says, tolerance = >of others "has its limit" (2). Gatsby represents everything Nick hates = >about the East, with its emphasis on money and status and its lack of = >morality. For some reason - perhaps because he's fascinated by Gatsby in = >the beginning, then friends with him despite Gatsby's crimes - Nick = >extends his limit, learning more about both the East and himself in the = >process. > >His relationship with Jordan Baker also couldn't happen anywhere but in = >New York. When he meets her, Nick remembers "some story of her too, a = >critical, unpleasant story, but what it was 1 had forgotten long ago." = >(19) His forgetfulness seems to come from his close attention to her - = >"I enjoyed looking at her. She was a slender, small-breasted girl, with = >an erect carriage, which she accentuated by throwing her body backward = >at the shoulder like a young cadet," (11). He goes on to describe the = >last rays of daylight "leaving deserting her with lingering regret" (14) = >and the "autumn-leaf yellow of her hair" (18). The atmosphere of West = >Egg enables Nick to forget whatever he's heard about Jordan when he = >watches her and listens to her opinions. He begins lusting afier her = >quickly. In Chapter 3, Jordan becomes Nick's "date" for a party after he = >drinks too much in embarrassment over asking where Gatsby is (which is, = >apparently, not a good idea, even at Gatsby's party). They wander the = >grounds, chaffing with other party guests (including Jordan's real date, = >an anonymous undergraduate) until "the scene had changed before my eyes = >into something significant, elemental, and profound." (47). This night = >also marks the first time Nick meets Gatsby. It seems that Nick equates = >Jordan and Gatsby in his mind; in a sense, his farewell to Gatsby the = >night of the broken wheel could be a "kiss goodnight" from Jordan. Later = >in the chapter Nick sees Jordan again, after she has become a golf = >champion. He admits that "I wasn't actually in love, but I felt a sort = >of tender curiosity." but follows that observation with another - "She = >was incurably dishonest" (58). We will discover along with Nick later in = >the novel that Gatsby is also "incurably dishonest"; however, these = >characters are the ones Nick feels drawn to. Nick says "I am one of the = >few honest people that I have ever known," almost as if honesty is a = >failing compared to Jordan and Gatsby (60). > >=20 > >Nick grows closer and closer to Gatsby as the novel progresses. He = >learns, first through Jordan then from Gatsby himself, that Gatsby's = >only goal in life is to be reunited with Daisy.Nick then finds himself = >in the same position Daisy claims she is in with Jordan and himself- = >except in this case, the matchmaking is meant to be serious. This makes = >Nick understandably uncomfortable, as his Midwestern upbringing taught = >him marriage was sacred; also, knowing (iatsby as well as he does, he = >doesn't seem sure that he'd want Gatsby marrying his cousin. Gatsby does = >gallantly take the blame for Daisy's car accident, causing more internal = >conflict for Nick. Tom lies to Wilson, which results in Gatsby's death. = >Nick is surrounded by deceit and violence, and he is disgusted by it. He = >determines that Gatsby, for all his faults, may be the only person he = >knows with any character at all. This, too, throws Nick into confusion. = >He arranges a small funeral for Gatsby and ends his relationship with = >Jordan; in a sense, Nick can't have a relationship with someone he = >associates so closely with his friend. At the novel's end, Nick moves = >back to the Midwest to escape the disgust he feels for the people = >surrounding Gatsbys life and for the emptiness and moral decay of life = >among the wealthy on the East Coast. He comes to a realization about = >that life: "I see now that this has been a story of the West, after all = >Tom and Gatsby, Daisy and Jordan and I, were all Westerners, and perhaps = >we possessed some deficiency in common which made us subtly unadaptable = >to Eastern life" (177). > >=20 > >Nick's character develops from a relatively objective observer to a full = >participant in the action of the novel, both physically and emotionally. = >As a result, perhaps his reliability as a narrator changes as well, This = >brings about a question of how much of the other characters' actions and = >reactions are just observed, and how much is filtered through Nick's = >perceptions of them. His promise to his father at the beginning is = >compromised by the reality around him. The "advantages [he's] had" were = >the simple adherence to a code that doesn't apply to New York or to the = >world of Jay (iiatsby. When he loses those advantages, Nick returns to = >find what he has lost. > > > >-------------------------------------------------------------------- >All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. >To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu >In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL >3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. >LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ >Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ >EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/el-announce/ >LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html >-------------------------------------------------------------------- Katie Voss, Librarian St. Benedict High School Chicago, IL kvoss@stbenedict.com -------------------------------------------------------------------- All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/el-announce/ LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html --------------------------------------------------------------------