Journal #21 - Some Like It Hot and The Great Gatsby Comparison/Contrast

Some Like It Hot may be a comedy and The Great Gatsby may be a tragedy, but they have a lot more in common than most people would think. Both take place in the 1920’s and have a strong emphasis on money, love, and death. Throughout both, money is a large issue. In Gatsby, Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship ended because he was not rich, Nick felt like a complete outcast while living on the West Egg because his house was considerably smaller than everyone else’s, and Myrtle and Tom’s relationship is based mostly upon his buying her gifts. In Some Like It Hot, Sugar is constantly talking about how she wants to meet a rich man and when she gets the chance to go out on a yacht, which she thinks is Joe’s, she jumps for it. There are also many love triangles in both. Daisy, who is married to Tom, is in love with Gatsby. Tom is having an affair with Myrtle, who is married to Mr. Wilson. The love triangle leads to the death of not only one, but two people. In Some Like It Hot, Sugar likes Joe, who is disguised as Josephine. Jerry also likes Sugar, but he is also disguised as a girl, so he catches the eye of a very rich man with a yacht. Both Some Like It Hot and Gatsby also have a lot of death involved in the storyline. Joe and Jerry witness a massacre, which is what forces them to go into hiding in the first place. Myrtle and Gatsby are both killed because of confusion within the love triangle. Myrtle runs in front of Gatsby’s car because she thinks it is Tom, which causes her death and Mr. Wilson thinks Gatsby was the man his wife was having an affair with, so he decided to take matters into his own hands and kills him. The characters are also similar; Wolfshiem and Spatz are very alike, they are both involved in the mob and have no problem ruining other peoples’ lives. The settings are both in rich communities; the East and West Eggs and the ritzy hotel. The characters, settings, and themes are all very much alike. Though one is a tragedy and the other is a comedy, Some Like It Hot and The Great Gatsby are quite similar.

Journal #20 – The Great Gatsby Conclusion

Fitzgerald uses imagery and symbolism many times throughout the last few paragraphs of The Great Gatsby. He talks about Gatsby’s lawn, which has grown as long as Nick’s with no one taking care of it. Nick also talks about remembering Gatsby’s parties so vividly that he goes to New York to escape the music and laughter that he can still hear after all that time. Fitzgerald also paints a picture of a car going to Gatsby’s house, expecting a party, but when he finds nothing, he leaves. Nick also talks about a taxi driver who stops and points at Gatsby’s house every time he drives by, most likely talking about his death and the circumstances which surrounded it. This is a stark contrast to how things were when Gatsby was alive. People talked about him, yes, but his parties held a more positive connotation. Fitzgerald describes Gatsby’s house as a “huge incoherent failure of a house,” which is ironic, because of how glorious and wonderful the house seemed when Gatsby was still alive. Fitzgerald uses phrases like “white steps,” “raspingly along the stone,” and “shadowy, moving glow,” to illustrate how it felt to actually be in the story for the reader. From the first moment Gatsby looked into the green light, to the moment he died, he had come a very long way. This is like the Dutch sailors who “discovered” Long Island. They, and Long Island, have both come a long way.

Journal #19 - Characterization in Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby

Nick Carraway Nick has a medium sized build and a relatively average man. He is smart, quiet, and somewhat unemotional. Adjective: Omniscient Tom Buchanan Tom is a big man with a football-player’s physique. He is very masculine and is the stereotypical husband of the 1920’s. He goes out to earn money and he believes Daisy should stay home. Adjective: Egotistical Daisy Buchanan Daisy is a small, beautiful woman, and is into the latest fashion. She is very needy and cannot control her emotions. Adjective: High-maintenance Jordan Baker Jordan has a boyish figure; she is petite but athletic. She is a demure woman who tends to get what she wants. Jordan is independent, and does not need anyone to get these things for her. Adjective: Strong Jay Gatsby Gatsby is a handsome, well put together man. He is very quiet and does not like confrontation; in fact, Gatsby goes to extremes to make sure people do not have any confrontations with him. Adjective: Artificial

Journal #18 -“In Another Country”

1. What is the significance of the story’s title?

The title is significant because not only is the narrator American and is literally in another country, but even the Italian men feel out of place because of their injuries. Their injuries have put them in a different country, where they are outcasts, compared to the soldiers still fighting the war.


2. Which character do you think best represents the “Hemingway hero”? Why?

I believe that the major is the “Hemingway hero” of this short story because he has lost many things in his life, but realizes that he cannot get them back, so he accepts his fate. Even though, like most people, he sometimes lets his emotions get the best of him, but he is different than most people because he is able to come out of his grief to realize what he is doing and apologize for it.


3. What can you infer about the photographs the doctor hangs up? What is the significance of the major’s reaction?

The photographs that the doctor hangs up are of body parts that were cured by the machines, but the narrator thought that these men were the first ones to use them. None of the men buy into the machines because of this. Instead of looking at all of the pictures of healed limbs, the major looks out the window, because he is accepting of the fact that he will never be who he once was, just like he will never get to be with his wife again.

Journal #17 - “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” – T.S. Eliot

1. What is the significance of the poem’s epigraph? How does it relate to Prufrock?

The epigraph at the beginning of the poem is significant because the epigraph is from Inferno. The man had no shame in telling his story, because no one who could hear would publicize it. The epigraph is a stream of consciousness, much like the poem itself. Prufrock is thinking these things, not saying them out loud. They are both going to tell their stories, because they know no one else will ever know. Neither of them would share their stories for fear of shame and disgrace. These are all private thoughts and confessions.

2. Make a list of questions that Prufrock asks. Do you see a pattern/theme to these questions or are they random?

“What is it?” “Do I dare?” Do I dare Disturb the universe? So how should I presume? To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways? Is it perfume from a dress that makes me so digress? And should I then presume? And how should I begin? Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows? Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, have the strength to force the moment to its crisis? Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
These question, though seemingly random, are actually related. Prufrock asks these questions of himself so that he can be perfect in public, so that he can do the right thing at the right time. Perfection is something that Prufrock strives to reach, but can never attain. He is uncertain of everything and, therefore, cannot decide on what to do.


3. What do you think is Prufrock’s main flaw/problem?

He is always worried about time and questions everything. Prufrock thinks that he has no time left, because he is getting older, and gets anxiety because of it. Prufrock is constantly questioning things, and finds it very difficult when he does not know the answers.


4. Why do you think this is called a love song? In what way is it a love song?

This work being called a love song is ironic, because this man is aging and alone. He does not have anyone to love and does not fit in well with others. Prufrock does not even love himself, constantly second guessing himself and questioning his own actions. It is a fragmentary piece, drifting from one part to another unrelated part.

Journal #16 - Crane’s “The Blue Hotel” and London’s “To Build A Fire”

Read the following quote and discuss how it applies to the main characters in both stories. In the course of this discussion, address how each of the characters is both similar and different:

“Determinisim governs everything … The writer must study the inherited traits of individual characterand the social condition of the time. Together, these elements determine the course of any action, the outcome of any life. Free will or self-determination is mostly an illusion, although chance is granteed a role in human affairs. Still, even the effects of chance are obliterated in the inevitable course determined by the interaction of inherited character traits and the social environment.“

Determinism is defined as anything that happens to a person throughout their life is not determined by them, but by outside causes. This means that people cannot prevent anything that is going to happen in their life. It depends on the person’s ancestors, where they grew up, where they live now, and what kind of instincts they have. Determinism is widely used in both “The Blue Hotel,” and “To Build A Fire.”
Many things in “The Blue Hotel” lead to the Swede’s death, including the horrible blizzard that made all of them stop at the hotel in the first place. At the end, Mr. Blanc and the Cowboy are talking, and Mr. Blanc says that they all had a part in the death of the Swede. Johnny Scully because he cheated at the card game in which Swede called him out and fighting with the Swede about it, Mr. Blanc for seeing Johnny cheat, but not saying anything to back up the Swede, the Cowboy for egging Johnny on in the brawl the Swede and Johnny were having, and the stranger, for stabbing the Swede. It is also somewhat the Swede’s fault because he kept talking about all of the people who died there before and how he was going to die that night. Even though he did not handle liquor well, he still drank some when he was offered. He fought with Johnny and made everyone think that he was strange and not want to be on his side. These show his lack of instincts and shows determinism at work.
Determinism is also a very large part of “To Build A Fire.” The man was surveying the land, but went too far away from camp to get back at a reasonable time. He is even warned by an older wiser man to be careful, but does not listen. He cannot keep a fire steady and burning, which is the one necessity to survival in the Alaskan wilderness. He misjudges time and his ability to survive. His fingers become frozen and he is no longer able to make a fire to keep warm. He believes that he will only lose a few fingers and toes, but, when he is unable to run very far, he comes to the conclusion that he will die out in the wilderness and his friends will find his body tomorrow. The dog that was with him knows the trail and runs back to camp so he can be warm and have a shelter. The man is unable to conquer nature and ultimately falls because of it.

Journal #15 - William Dean Howell’s “Editha”

1. Write a sentence that summarizes the story’s overall message, and provide three direct quotes from the story that best illustrate this message.
The story’s overall message is that people do not know what they actually want and they make others do things without relizing the effect their descisions have on other people.
“’You shall not say that! Only, for once I happen to be right.’ She seized his hand in her two hands, and poured her soul from her eyes into his. ‘Don't you think so?’ she entreated him.”
“All the while, in her duplex emotioning, she was aware that now at the very beginning she must put a guard upon herself against urging him, by any word or act, to take the part that her whole soul willed him to take, for the completion of her ideal of him.”
“’No, you didn't expect him to get killed,’ Mrs. Gearson repeated, in a voice which was startlingly like George's again. ‘You just expected him to kill some one else, some of those foreigners, that weren't there because they had any say about it, but because they had to be there, poor wretches--conscripts, or
whatever they call 'em.’”

2. What tactics does Editha use to make George believe as she does about the war?
Editha uses ultimatums to make George believe as she does about the war. She threatens to end their engagement if he does not join the war. She badgers him so much about the war, that he eventually considers enlisting and goes to a meeting. When he comes home from the meeting he is drunk and ecstatic because the men chose him to be their captain.

3. Is there ever a time in which Editha truly understands what she has done? Does she ever experience an epiphany?
Editha only understands what she has done completely for a very short amount of time, when George’s mother is yelling at her. She doesn’t understand what she has done because, although she loved her fiancé and misses him dearly, she can still walk around her town as the widow of the soldier. She did not cry, or show any emotions, from the time she learned that her husband was dead to the moment she met his mother. Crying when she is with his mother shows that she is truly sorry for what she has done. Editha does not experience an epiphany. After she meets George’s mother, she goes right back to the way she was before; playing the part of the widow of a soldier. The story ends with Editha telling a woman about the meeting with George’s mother and talking about how rude and outspoken she was.

Journal #14 - E. A. Robinson Poems

“Richard Cory“ (497)

He was a man who, on the outside seemed perfectly put together, but on the inside he was miserable. It seemed like he had everything because he was rich, but on the core, he was poor and miserable. He was a real person, and eventually killed himself because he was so troubled. Everyone admired him and thought he had such a perfect life. They idealized him because they thought he had something that they wanted, which was the perfect life.


“Miniver Cheevy” (497)

Miniver Cheevy suggests minimum achievement. He was born in the wrong time. Cheevy preferred the medieval era to when he was living, which, though there was not an exact date, was when people wore khakis and suits. He didn’t amount to much because he was constantly dreaming about living in the medieval era. He learned everthing he could about the medieval era, but did not do anything for his life. He was real because he was an average person, dreaming about being a knight. If he really had been a knight, he would have been ideal.


“Mr. Flood’s Party” (498)

Mr. Flood’s name relates to him because he is drowning in his sorrows and drinking too much. The word “party” is ironic because it is not a party at all. He is lonely and upset because everyone he knows is dead. He is also upset because he is old and will probably die soon. He is focused on the past, so he does not have much of a present or future.

Journal #13 -Edgar Lee Masters Epitaphs

1. What object symbolizes George Gray’s life? How is this object representative of him?
The object that symbolizes George Gray’s life is a boat. It is longing for the sea, yet is afraid of what might happen to it. He was afraid of life but he also wanted to live it. This boat “pictures his life.” Gray was offered many things, but he decided to stay away from them in fear of getting hurt. He never loved or felt sorry or ambitious.

2. How was Lucinda Matlock’s life different than George Gray’s? How do you interpret the last line of the poem?
Lucinda Matlock’s life was different than George Gray’s life because she did a lot more things. She went to dances, played snap-out, got married and lived together for seventy years, worked, raised twelve children, spun, wove, kept the house, nursed the sick, made the garden, gathered shells, flowers, and medicinal weed, shouted to the wooded hills, and sang to the green valleys. She did so much in her life that, when she died at the age of ninety-six, she had lived enough. She does not understand why people are so upset, sorrowful, angry, and weary, because life is such a special thing.

Journal #12 -Young Goodman Brown

1. “Young Goodman Brown” is an allegory (symbolic narrative). What do the following represent?

Young Goodman Brown – A young man, who is trying to be an upstanding citizen. He fails at doing so because all people are somewhat bad. Brown is a common name; he represents the common man.


Faith – Young Goodman Brown’s wife, he has lost all faith in her. She represents faith in humanity.


The Elderly Traveller/Fellow-Traveller – The Devil; evil; temptation. Everyone travels down this road with him.


Goody Cloyse – Religious hypocrisy, corruption


The Ceremony – The sinful nature of people; baptism or confirmation; celebrating sin.


The Pink Ribbon – Innocence; when the ribbon falls, the innocence is gone. Losing faith, he has also lost Faith, his wife, forever.


Young Goodman Brown’s Journey – A person’s moral journey; seeing beneath the surface of everyone to who they really are.



2. Identify the following for “Young Goodman Brown”:

Theme Message of Theme Element Used to Establish

The theme of “Young Goodman Brown” is the morality, or lack thereof, that people have. Brown thinks that everyone in his town is good, but when he goes to this satanic ceremony, he realizes that all of the people he knows are not actually as good as he thought they were. The message of the theme is that all people are bad in some way. People may look, on the outside, to be perfect and good, but on the inside, they are bad. The elements used to establish this theme were the characters and the setting. The characters play a very large roll because Brown loses all of his faith in them when he finds out that they are not all the good people he made them out to be. The setting is also very important because the woods at night are a very dark place, and often described as horrifying and terrible.


In addition, provide three direct quotes from the story that address your theme.
1. “The deacons of many a church have drunk the communion wine with me; the selectmen of divers towns make me their chairman; and a majority of the Great and General Court are firm supporters of my interest. The governor and I, too -- But these are state secrets.''
2. ``Yea, truly is it, and in the very image of my old gossip, Goodman Brown, the grandfather of the silly fellow that now is. But -- would your worship believe it? -- my broomstick hath strangely disappeared, stolen, as I suspect, by that unhanged witch, Goody Cory, and that, too, when I was all anointed with the juice of smallage, and cinquefoil, and wolf's bane''
3. ``You will think better of this by and by,'' said his acquaintance, composedly. ``Sit here and rest yourself a while; and when you feel like moving again, there is my staff to help you along.'' Without more words, he threw his companion the maple stick, and was as speedily out of sight as if he had vanished into the deepening gloom. The young man sat a few moments by the roadside, applauding himself greatly”

Journal #11 - Walden

“Where I Lived and What I Lived For” (232)

Live life only dealing with the essentials. It is about a man who lives in the woods. He wants to live life simply, and he finds that that is the best way to live. He finds that it is best to live on the essentials. He grew and hunted for food and lived near a pond to get water. He is a nonconformist and thinks about how he has all the time for himself. His life is not wasted on distractions.

Quote: “To drive into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms…”


“Sounds” (234)

He wants to just hear everything and he finds it very amusing. He entertains himself by listening and watching nature. Most people need other people to entertain them. He is able to live a very simple lifestyle.

Quote: “I had this advantage, at least, in my mode of life, over those who were obliged to look abroad for amusement, to society and the theatre, that my life itself was become my amusement and never ceased to be novel.”


“Brute Neighbors” (235)

The ants are just like people. They fight and celebrate like people. He exaggerated the greatness of ants to understate the greatness of people. Everything is equal. It is transcendental art. People are equal to nature. There is very little difference. All creatures are very similar. The ants act differently from one another, just like humans, but they are all very alike. Neighbors are normally thought of as good, while these ants are fighting.

Quote: “I was surprised to find that the chips were covered with such combatants, that it was not a duellum, but a bellum, a war between two races of ants, the red always pitted against the black, and frequently two red ones to one black.”


“The Pond in Winter” (237)
The first paragraph shows that the speaker of the poem wakes up to an answered dream that we can sit there and ask ourselves what life is all about or we can go out and experience it for ourselves and find a non-verbal answer. The next few paragraphs talk about how the speaker is inspired by the fishermens way of life. They do not care about the authorities and that they do not live by “the book” (Bible). They do not care about following the rules and learn through their own experiences because they are not artificial people but rather they are natural

Quote: “But there was a dawning Nature, in whom all creatures live, looking in at my broad windows with serene and satisfied face, and no question on her lips.”


“Spring” (238)
Everything changes so quickly. Flowers and creatures grow again. The pond thaws out. He goes fishing and cannot think of death. Spring is about “re-birth” and “re-creation.” Everything comes alive again. It is a very special time, because the world is recreated. All of a sudden everything is blooming. Life has to move on, and people have to move on.

Quote: “As every season seems best to us in its turn, so the coming in of spring is like the creation of Cosmos out of Chaos and the realization of the Golden Age.”