Team+Cossacks


 * __A Tribute to JAzZ__**

The roaring twenties is an era that is commonly characterized by great wealth and prosperity. Due to the improved life of the average American, a luxurious lifestyle set in allowing people to enjoy life. One of the most popular pastimes was swing dancing to the upbeat snazzy tune of Jazz. Famous musicians such as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, Jelly Roll Morton, and Earl Hines attracted a lot of the attention in bars and local concert halls for their unique ability to capture the audience’s ear with their instruments and voices.

Jazz's upbeat tempo brought about "swing dance". Most the swing dances originated in Harlem and other African American communities. As the "Jazz Age" moved in, these dances were adopted into the main stream and were quickly accepted by all.

As people were living the American Dream, Jazz facilitated the transition into the new way of life. 1920's Jazz is commonly regarded as one of the most influential music because it symbolizes the time when Americans were truly living the good life.

In the following clip you will listen to the the songs listed below
 * //Blue Lou// -Benny Carter media type="file" key="07 Blue Lou (2).mp3" width="21" height="21"
 * //Dream a Little Dream// - Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgeraldmedia type="file" key="Louis Armstrong Ella Fitzgerald - Dream A Little Dream Of Me.mp3" width="21" height="21"
 * //Hello Dolly -// Louis Armstrongmedia type="file" key="Louis Armstrong - Hello Dolly.mp3" width="21" height="21"
 * //I Still get Jealous -// Louis Armstrongmedia type="file" key="Louis Armstrong - I Still Get Jealous.mp3" width="21" height="21"
 * //Im In Heaven -// Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgeraldmedia type="file" key="Louis Armstrong Ella Fitzgerald - Im In Heaven.mp3" width="21" height="21"

The pictures relate to both the //The Great Gatsby// and the "American Dream" of the 1920s. Specifically you will encounter many things that characterized the "American Dream"

[|Enter the "Era"]

Hey, I liked the video. smart idea to switch up the songs throughout. I thought it was a really good tribute.

Juliet Chou Katherine Trageser Frank Qin Rahul Prahbu
 * Team Members:**

CHAPTERS 1 AND 2 DISCUSSION //It can be said that F. Scott Fitzgerald makes use of contrasting numerous characters to bring out each specific character’s particular traits. Myrtle vs. Daisy. Tom vs. George Wilson.//
 * Characterization**


 * __Myrtle Wilson__** is a woman of the lower class, yet she presents herself as a haughty, arrogant person in both her actions and words. From the very start of the novel, Myrtle is portrayed as a character who thinks only of status and materialistic gains. In regards to her affair with Tom Buchanan, it is clear that she is in love with his status and power. Their relationship holds no love, only a lust for wealth and pleasure. As for her husband, George B. Wilson, Myrtle states that she knew from the start that he was inferior to her being. Introduced in Chapter 2, Myrtle Wilson is a woman who desires a position in high society, making numerous attempts to seem rich, one of which is the changing of her dress from time to time. In reference to this changing of her outfit, Myrtle is taking off and putting on another personality, trying with every ounce of her being to appear of high station.
 * “He had on a dress suit and patent leather shoes and I couldn’t keep my eyes off him…” (36). This quote refers to Myrtle’s lust for Tom Buchanan.
 * “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman. I thought he knew something about breeding, but he wasn’t fit to lick my shoe” (35). This quote refers to her thoughts on her husband, exemplifying her haughty and superior nature.
 * “It’s just a crazy old thing, I just slip it on when I don’t care what I look like” (31). The changing of outfits, attempting to act rich and suave.
 * __Daisy Buchanan__**, on the other hand, is everything that Myrtle Wilson is not. The two are extremely different characters, and Fitzgerald utilizes the force of contrasting two characters to bring out their unique characteristics. Daisy is a romantic woman, a shallow and gullible girl who holds no true substance. Unlike Myrtle’s aggressive and haughty attitude, Daisy is seemingly the perfect gentlewomen. She is delicate, very feminine, and holds almost no power in her relationships. Unlike Myrtle’s desire to be of the upper class, Daisy is already in the upper class. She does not think much of spending money, seeing as it is already a part of her daily life.
 * “…it’s very romantic outdoors. There’s a bird out there on the lawn that I think must be a nightingale come over on the Cunard (Line) or White Star Line…It’s so romantic, isn’t it, Tom? (15).
 * “But we heard it…from three people, so it must be true” (19). Revealing her gullible nature and willingness to follow the crowd.
 * __Tom Buchanan__** is a very aggressive and powerful figure, in addition to being heavily racist. His mere physical description gives the reader a great deal of insight into his true nature. He is an arrogant and egocentric figure, a hypocrite who demeans others while doing no right himself. It can be determined through his actions and words towards both Daisy and Myrtle that is a being who enjoys being in control. When something is not to his liking, he immediately results in force, as seen from the breaking of Myrtle’s nose and the bruising of Daisy’s finger.
 * “Civilization’s going to pieces. I’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things…The idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be—will be utterly submerged…It’s up to us, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things” (13).
 * “Two shining arrogant eyes…gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward…It was a body capable of enormous leverage—a cruel body” (7).
 * ‘We’re getting off,’ he insisted, ‘I want you to meet my girl’ (24). In control, demanding.
 * “…broke her nose with his open hand” (37). Breaking Myrtle’s nose, quite nonchalantly.
 * __George B. Wilson__**, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of Tom. A timid and washed out figure, George is described as a very pale and nervous figure. He holds no control in his life, and it is clear that his wife (Myrtle) holds the reins in the relationship. George is “blond, spiritless,” his body itself nearly blending in with the dismal and ash-filled town around him.
 * “…went toward the little office, mingling immediately with the cement color of the walls. A white ashen dust veiled his dark suit and his pale hair as it veiled everything in the vicinity—except his wife, who moved close to Tom” (26).
 * __Jordan Baker__** is a self-centered woman, representative of the ideal 1920s flapper. An athlete, Jordan holds practically no shame, and she is confident in her actions and lies.
 * “Miss Baker leaned forward unashamed, trying to hear” (14).
 * “If she saw me out of the corner of her eyes she gave no hint of it…” (8).
 * __Nick Carraway__** is the narrator and central figure in this novel. He is a quite and thoughtful character, inclined to reserve judgment. It is this particular characteristic that has lead numerous souls to inform him of their life-stories.
 * “But I didn’t call to him, for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone” (20).

The novel starts off with an inside view of Nick Carraway’s mind and thoughts. The reader learns that Nick is a character who tries to maintain an unbiased, non-judgmental view on life. In **Chapter 1**, Nick makes a visit to the Buchanan’s house in the fashionable East Egg. Here, we are introduced to Daisy, Tom, and Jordan. Tom’s infidelity is revealed, and things seem to gradually unravel from there. Daisy confides in Nick, telling of the sorrow and unhappiness of her marriage. Nick returns home to West Egg, where he observes his neighbor, Gatsby, looking out across the bay at a seemingly innocent green light, holding his hands out towards the heavens. In **Chapter 2**, Nick and Tom travel to New York, where Tom insists that Nick meet his mistress, Myrtle Wilson. They hold an impromptu, informal gathering at Myrtle and Tom’s apartment, where Nick meets Myrtle’s sister Catherine and the McKee couple. A significant event occurs at the apartment, where Tom and Myrtle hold a violent and eruptive argument over Myrtle’s right to speak Daisy’s name. Angered and annoyed, Tom results in violence, punching Myrtle in the face. However, it is clear to the author that he holds no regrets and feelings in his actions. A chaotic night ensues, as Nick finds himself resigning to the lure of alcohol, and he remembers little of the night.
 * Plot**

One of the prevalent symbols is the usage of **color**. A key reference to color is the **green light**, brought up at the end of Chapter I. It first appears when Nick observes Gatsby staring across the bay towards a green light at the end of a dock. We later find out that this green light stands on the edge of Daisy Buchanan’s dock in East Egg. The green light works to represent Gatsby’s hopes and dreams, representing his desire to reunite with his lost love and to win back her affections. Gatsby can see this green light, this dream that he forever yearns for, but it remains over the bay, forever evading his reaches. Just like his own dreams of Daisy, the light is so close, yet so far away. “//I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him//” (189). In addition to the green light, Fitzgerald brings up numerous other colors throughout the novel. Right from the start of __The Great Gatsby__, the color “**white**” is mentioned. First seen on page 10, describing the “white palaces of fashionable East Egg,” we continuously see it brought up with the rich and wealthy, primarily with the women. Daisy and Jordan are described wearing “//white, their dresses rippling and fluttering//” (12). Daisy is always wearing white; in her youth, she drove in a white car, lived in a white house surrounded by a white fence. “//The windows were ajar and gleaming white//” (13). “//Our white girlhood was passed together there//” (24). This color reflects Daisy’s innocent, naïve, yet shallow and indifferent perspective on life. At the first glance, the color white may be seen as purity and untainted life. However, as the novel progresses, Daisy is slowly revealed to be a rather gullible, a hollow and materialistic girl who lacks real substance. She is afraid to stand up to her own feelings and beliefs, instead following the steps of society. Colors are also utilized in the description of the characters. As mentioned above in Characterization, Daisy and George B. Wilson are more pale and hollow figures, shallow and lacking substance. Thus, the reader notices that they are commonly associated with the color white. However, on the other hand, characters such as Myrtle Wilson and Tom Buchanan, aggressive and in-control, are always mentioned with bright, loud primary colors. The colors work to reflect the characters’ personalities, as the representation of light and dark comes into play. The **Valley** **of Ashes** is one of the many symbols in __The Great Gatsby__. It is first introduced in Chapter II as a valley of ashes between West Egg and New York City, consisting of a long stretch of grey, decayed, and lifeless land created through the dumping of industrial ashes. “//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//” (Fitzgerald 27). A sharp contrast to the luxury and pleasure, this barren wasteland works to exemplify the difference between the two social classes. Lacking the glamorous surface, it represents the moral decay that is hidden by the attractive and beautiful facades of the rich. It suggests that beneath the ornamentation and charm of the West and East Egg, there lies the same ugliness of the valley. It represents the decay that results from the unrestrained pursuit of wealth. The rich indulge themselves with little regard for others, thinking only of their own pleasures. On the other hand, there are the poor, like George B. Wilson, who live among the dirty ashes themselves, losing their vitality and lives as they spend their days wasting away. Above the Valley of Ashes, there lies the **eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg**, painted on an old billboard. “//His eyes, dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain, brood on over the solemn dumping ground//” (28). As we see later on in the novel, these eyes may very well represent the eyes of God staring down upon American society. These eyes are dimmed, huge, flat, and empty, possibly symbolizing a God staring blindly out at the moral decay of humanity and the waste that the lives have become. However, after some thought, we decided that these eyes may also represent those of Nick Carraway, the narrator of this novel. You notice that Nick is the only character that keeps a clear mind, inclined to reserve judgment. While the other characters are influenced by everyday life, Nick is capable of viewing things from a somewhat unbiased perspective. As seen on page 167, Wilson states, “//God knows everything you’ve been doing…God sees all//.” This ties in with the fact that Nick runs in all the circles, and he is exposed to all, hearing and learning all the facts.
 * Symbolism**

//Major themes are slightly introduced in the first two chapters of this novel. However, they are clearly still in the development stage, so there is not an abundance of analysis and evidence. Regardless, some key and prominent themes are introduced in these two chapters, and the reader gradually comes to understand the purpose and meaning of __The Great Gatsby__.//
 * Themes**

“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 shoulders like a young cadet. Her grey sun-strained eyes looked back at me with polite reciprocal curiosity out of a wan, charming discontented face” (15).
 * Women of the 1920s** – Gender Roles – Flappers: Jordan Baker is a key character in the emphasis of the changing attitudes of women in the 1920s. A competitive golfer, Miss. Baker represents one of the new women. She is a boyish, self-centered, and shameless person, beautiful yet entirely dishonest. As we learn in the first part of the novel, Jordan has no qualms of bending the truth, and she truly represents this new generation of women.
 * Decay**: Valley of Ashes – The Valley of Ashes is introduced in Chapter 2, and as it progresses through the novel, the prominent theme of decay emphasizes the end of the American Dream. Dreams are coming to an end.
 * Distinctions Between the Two Classes** – **Illusion vs. Reality** – There is already a marked separation between the upper and lower class. In Chapter 1, the story takes us to the Buchanan’s luxurious home, where a beautiful and majestic picture is painted (illusion). However, in the very next chapter, the reader is taken into the opposite side of the spectrum, where reality is a slap in the face. The town near the Valley of Ashes is home to the lower-class, and the Valley of Ashes itself works to emphasize the stark difference.

F. Scott Fitzgerald makes use of __literary and poetic devices__, and nearly every sentence finds itself reflecting his truly unique writing style. As an observation, one notices that there is a literary device used in nearly every paragraph, if not every sentence. Dipping into the fields of similes, metaphors, personifications, and other devices, Fitzgerald emphasizes the characterization of characters. His words and sentences paint clear images of the characters and settings. Clearly, Fitzgerald exemplifies the setting and characters, bringing out a picture that is clear in the reader’s mind upon reading the text.
 * Writing Style**
 * “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” (7).
 * “Already it was deep summer on roadhouse roofs and in front of wayside garages when new red gas-pumps sat out in pools of light…The wind had blown off, leaving a loud bright night with wings beating in the trees and a persistent organ sound as the full bellows of the earth blew the frogs full of life. The silhouette of a moving cat wavered across the moonlight and turning my head to watch it I saw that I was not alone—fifty feet away a figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbor’s mansion and was standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of the stars” (20).

//January 11, 2007//