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.