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Post by Mr. Thomas on Mar 5, 2014 13:19:48 GMT -5
Nick (the only "honest man" he knows) attends his first Gatsby party.
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Post by frankclarke on Mar 5, 2014 18:38:13 GMT -5
Francis Paul Clarke Junior
Mr. Sean Thomas
English 11
5 March 2014
D. “A momentary hush; the orchestra leader varies his rhythm obligingly for her…” My understanding of this quote is that the band was following her movements, and whatever she did they played a suitable sound to it. Normally, it’s the other way around; normally the dancer reacts to the music. My point here is that maybe, very subtly, what Fitzgerald is doing her is saying that Gatsby, who is barely present in the book thus far (even though we do see him a lot this chapter), marches to his own beat. He himself leads the music, and everyone else follows him.
B. Obviously, the most important part of this entire chapter is on the bottom of page 55 when Nick comes out of a narration mode. We see now that this book was a journal of his reactions, happening on a day-to-day basis. On the bottom of page 55 we see him break out of his journal and talk in a more present day status. He comments on his actions in the past, saying “Reading over what I have written so far, I see I have given the impression that the events of three nights several weeks apart were all that absorbed me.” Clearly he breaks character in the sense of the journal. Bang bang.
E. We see Nick being more of an investigator, which he is at heart. He concludes that Jordan Baker is a liar, and that he may be in love with her. But he says “ It made no difference to me. Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply- I was casually sorry, and then I forgot.” We see that he doesn’t care whether she’s a liar or not. Also, he says “I am on of the few honest people that I have ever known.” Which is kind of hilarious that he would say that, but we just learned that this is somewhat of a journal, and saying that in a journal is a-okay.
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Post by matthewsegarra on Mar 5, 2014 19:32:29 GMT -5
Matthew Segarra
Mr. Thomas
English 11
5 March 2014
A. In this chapter, the great gatsby is still a very mysterious character. Nobody at his party actually knows who he is, nor have they met him. He also stays secluded from everyone else at his own party. He doesn't drink or dance with anyone, he just watches his party unfold. We do however know that his name is Jay Gatsby. Gatsby is very different than what they have told Nick Carraway about him. He is young and hansome, and he has a killer smile. A smile that Nick falls in love with.He says that Gatsby's smile has "a quality of eternal reassurance in it"(48.)
C. In this chapter, many people tell Nick about Gatsby but they have never met him. All I want to know is, how can you tell people information about someone you do not know? The guests tell Nick horrible things about Gatsby. Nick even says "Somebody told me they thought he killed a man once"(44.) How can you tell people false information about a man you have never even seen before? It would seem as if his life was on TMZ.
I. I like how Francis Paul Clarke Junior describes Nick as an investigator in this chapter. He goes around asking everyone about the Gatsby, just looking to piece information together to reveal his identity. When he finally meets the Gatsby however, he finds out all the information he had was false.
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Post by georgebaroudos on Mar 5, 2014 19:48:16 GMT -5
George Baroudos
Mr. Thomas
English 11
5 March 2014
A – When Nick realizes it is Gatsby, it reminds me the joy of seeing Christmas presents under the tree. Nick encounters an awkward moment when he doesn’t realize, but Gatsby is not one to be awkward it seems like. This seemed to be a once in a lifetime opportunity in Nick’s eyes. Gatsby remains true throughout the party and even sets up further plans. I think that through all the fakeness surrounding the other characters, Gatsby serves as a foil. Although Gatsby is rich and deals with similar problems, he stays true to himself and the people around him.
D – “At the enchanted metropolitan twilight I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes, and felt it in others” (56). This is a true phenomenon in my opinion. It is amazing how in a room full of people we can feel lonely. This is a problem for everyone and often times it is hard to escape. I do not understand how it even makes sense, but we are subject to that feeling. Sometimes when we are sad we become lonely, we have difficulty addressing the problems. Through that we may find ourselves surrounded by people yet feeling lonely. It amazes me how that is possible, but it happens. Often times life is difficult, but we have to make the best of it.
I – This constant theme of Nick believing he is better than everyone is a constant theme I believe. At the end of the chapter Nick considers himself as one of the only honest people left. I think this belief shows Nick’s will to be superior. But I believe Gatsby has the power to bring Nick back into reality. Gatsby possesses this trait that brings out the best in people. The best is brought out in Nick when he meets Gatsby. Nick is reminded that he lives in an imperfect world and that he is not better than everyone. Gatsby is Nick’s idol essentially and through this Nick realizes the predicament he is in. It is a smack back into reality.
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Post by johnrice on Mar 5, 2014 20:24:02 GMT -5
John Rice
Mr. Thomas
English 11
March 5, 2014
Discussion Board.
D. "He smiled understandingly — much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life." This line stood out to me as I read it. I remember in the very beginning of the book Nick first saw Gatsby and there was a look of amazement and mysteriousness that was described. Finally Nick met Gatsby (unexpectedly) and he described it like he was meeting God or his idol or something. The youngness of Jay Gatsby also struck Nick as well as my self. THis man is loaded and he is so young, its pretty awesome. But as I said, this line really signify how much Nick idolizes Jay Gatsby, a little weird.
F. I would like to comment on the relationship of not one character but all the characters at the party. THis is an awesome house party. It like project X early 1900's edition. Everyone is just drinking and moving from group to group talking and dancing. THis doesnt seem like the party where you leave with the same person you came with. I say this becasue Jordans date was flirting with other women and never left with her. THe relationships are very short. A few conversations and then the characters are moving along to the next group of people. I liked Jordan and Nicks relationship. I think they are a good match, and it was good to see that Nick actually had someone at the party and he wasnt just moping around the party like he was in the beginning.
C. THis was a very straightforward chapter, but i did have a few questions. Basically I want to know what happened between Jordan and Jay Gatsby towards the end of the party. Jay called her over and they disappeared for over an hour. I didnt sense any sexual things going on, or maybe there was? Im not sure. She left the library pretty surprised or amazed. I wonder what he said to her!
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Post by bourdonm15 on Mar 5, 2014 21:04:05 GMT -5
Matthew Bourdon
Mr. Thomas
English 11
3/5/14
B. Nick really has an obsession problem with Gatsby. The way he describes him is really over the top and very exaggerated in my opinion. He treats and describes Gatsby in every chapter so far as if Gatsby was like some type of “god”. “It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced – or seemed to face – the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.” (Page 48) He is describing Gatsby’s smile as if it is something that makes the whole world feel optimistic for a while and calls it ‘rare’. This is a very exaggerated view that anyone could notice.
F. I am confused on why Gatsby wanted to speak with Jordan. “Gatsby’s butler was suddenly standing beside us. “Miss Baker?” he inquired. “I beg your pardon, but Mr. Gatsby would like to speak to you alone.” (Page 50) Do we know why he wants to speak with her? Could there be any significance as to why Gatsby wants to speak with Jordan? It seems pretty awkward but I feel like it definitely has something to do with Nick because Gatsby was probably observing him, just like he said he does and how he is a bad host.
I. I agree with George’s comment on the loneliness in the room. Although there were many people in the room, when Jordan left to go see Gatsby, Nick was talking about how lonely he was. It really is crazy how we as humans most of the time are not gregarious with others.
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Post by connor on Mar 5, 2014 22:43:25 GMT -5
Connor Ryan
Mr. Thomas
English 11
3/6/14
I feel like a occurring theme that happens today is present in this chapter. It says "somebody told me they thought he killed a man once" and "it is more that the was a German spy during the war"(44). I feel like the reinsures that many people spread rumors. As we saw in the first two chapters that people talked about what they thought and they thought that they were right. Now we see people saying things about Gatsby but they have no evidence to support their claim. This is related to modern times because of the amount of rumors that are present.
D. A part I really enjoyed was a conversation between Nick and jay Gatsby. It says, "we talked of a moment about some wet, gray little villages in France. Evidently he lived in the vicinity, for he told me that he had just brought a hydroplane, and he was going to try it out in the morning"(47). This line reminded me of two old friends reuniting after a long time. I like how they made plans to hang out again even though they probably do not even remember who each person is.
I would like to add to what George said about how Nick feels lonely. He is in a room and a party filled with people and he still feels lonely? I think this shows to us that something is missing from Nick's life that he can not find. Did something happen to him while at war?
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Post by johnmarano on Mar 5, 2014 22:51:35 GMT -5
John Marano
Mr. Thomas
English 11
March 5 2013
B. I would like to point out the significance of the reading. I thought that Nicks personal invite was the most important thing in the chapter. Although its not a huge deal considering random people get invited to these parties, Nick finds this to be so amazing because he can finally test his curiosity. I felt this was so important because this gave Nick the opportunity to meet the Gatsby and enter his home. His invite into the house opened new doors for him and pretty much leads us to the actual start of the story.
C. As we know, Nick fantasies about the Great Gatsby in great admiration. I was a bit confused though because from our current knowledge entering the chapter, Gatsby doesn't know Nick and has never met him. Why is Nick suddenly invited to one of his parties? Also, why did the Gatsby talk to Jordan in private? What were they talking about? Why is he always disappearing? It seems to be a trend that in a minute the Gatsby will be gone. Who else is in that car? Will Jordan and Nick link up? Maybe this is his connection to the solving the Gatsby mystery.
D. A specific quote that I enjoyed reading in chapter 3 was said by Nick. "Dishonesty in a woman is a thing you never blame deeply." I found this minor quote to have such significant meaning. This quote is kind of backing up my point that I had made in class. During this time period, it seems that males had power over females. In this quote, Nick is basically saying that all people are liars so its not a big deal for woman to lie. But as he goes on he begins to explain how these lies are the reason women will not be as successful as the males. He says that females will never make what they make or have as much freedom males have. Because females are more dishonest it affects them in different ways.
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Post by eointunney on Mar 5, 2014 23:10:47 GMT -5
Eoin Tunney
Mr. Thomas
English 11
5 March 2014
E. Finally we meet the man of the hour, Jay Gatsby. In the first few pages we learn that he throws these extravagant parties every weekend and does other exciting things during his spare time. Right away I thought Gatsby was a really wild person, but we see later in the chapter he is not. First, we see him sitting in a library by himself, while his party is going on. And then, we see him standing alone on the steps while the band is playing. These two scenes seem very weird because it seems to be that he is throwing these parties for everyone else to have fun. Also a woman, who Nick is talking to, tells us that Gatsby once sent her a new dress because her other on ripped at one of his previous parties. Gatsby seems to be an extremely generous person, who is willing to help anyone.
D. During this chapter, we hear various people share stories of who Gatsby is and where he came from. We hear that he was born and raised in Germany, and fought for Germany in the War. We also hear that he was born in American and fought for the U.S army. This shows that no one really knows who Gatsby is, but they are all very interested in him. I feel this makes Gatsby an even more mysterious character because it makes you wonder who is really is.
A. One thing about this chapter I found very interesting was the fact that Nick got a formal invite to Gatsby’s party. This seems to very fairly unusual because Nick tells us that people just randomly show up at the party. This shows how much Gatsby will go out of his way to make people feel welcome. Also the letter says that Gatsby has seen Nick several times and meant to call him over, but never had the chance. This definitely excited Nick because he looks up to Gatsby; it is also weird because both of them have seen each other but have never said a word to each other.
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Post by Sgarlato on Mar 6, 2014 0:01:44 GMT -5
Stephen Sgarlato
Mr. Thomas
English 11
3/5/14
A. In chapter 3, the narrator describes Gatsby’s wealth. He describes the mansion he has, the pool, the Rolls-Royce and the crates of fruit and buffet. I feel like Gatsby lives everyone’s dream life. He literally has everything anyone could ask for. They start to speculate where his money comes from or his personal history and the guests start to rumor about him.
C. What I don’t understand from this chapter is the end when Nick feels as if he must describe his life, and that he doesn’t only go to parties but works for NYC and meets women. This didn’t really make sense because he didn’t need to explain his life or what he does. It seems as if he wanted to because he was inferior of Gatsby’s lavish life so he wanted to step up to it.
I. To elaborate on Matthew Segarra’s post I would say that everyone kind of rumored about Gatsby because it says that they wonder how he got the money he has and what happened in his early life. There is a lot of speculation in this chapter by Gatsby’s guests and this spreads to Nick.
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Post by rodriguezj15 on Mar 6, 2014 0:06:16 GMT -5
Joel Rodriguez
Mr. Thomas
English 11
February 6, 2014
The Great Gatsby Chapter 3
B. This chapter continues to perpetuate the modernist idea of people being distant from each other even though there not isolated. This concept of people being two-face, hypocrites, dishonest, and hiding something occurs over and over in a party, a social event that can only go on if there is communication. Nick describes this big party that everyone goes, even if not invited, but there seems to be some sort of invisible border that doesn’t allow anyone to actually know somebody. It’s ironic when Jordan says, “I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.” No one at the party gets to know anyone, even the host. “Introductions are forgotten on the spot.”
E. Nick confirms he is a Hollow Man, when he says “… for a moment I thought I loved her. But I am slow-thinking and full of interior rules that act as brakes on my desires.”
F. I think Jordan is like a parallel to Gatsby, or she foreshadows who Gatsby really is. At first we get a good impression of both of them. They’re probably the only two people Nick describes as decent humans. But when he gets the chance to actually know Jordan he sees that her willingness to be so close with people who weren’t so shrewd, was because “she was incurable dishonest.” It’s a cover-up, a mask to her past. I feel it would be the same with Gatsby because of all this mystery about his past, his same sort of good-heart that Jordan had, his lack of intimacy, and the fact the Nick describes him as if he were a women.
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Post by scanley73 on Mar 6, 2014 0:09:04 GMT -5
C. One thing that doesn’t make sense to me is how rumors about Gatsby get started like this. I can understand a few rumors here and there but when it reaches the point where people are saying that he killed someone it starts getting ridiculous. You would think someone would come out and say that all of it was crap because it’s a ludicrous. Someone even suggested that he was a German spy. One nice part was when it turned out that he had served in the military. It just goes to show that all of those malicious rumors couldn’t have been further from the truth.
I. I agree with what John said about Jordan and Gatsby. What happened while they were gone? She seemed absolutely star struck. Like John said, I don’t think that there was anything sexual going on but I could be wrong. It would make sense why she would be reacting that way. But it just doesn’t make sense what could have happened between the two of them.
A. One thing that I thought was interesting is with Gatsby’s letter to Nick. He says that he has meant to talk to him and has seen him but never got the chance. If that is the case then why is he inviting him to his party? I get that he may be trying to be friendly but it just seems interesting that he is so willing to invite someone that he doesn’t even know into his house. Granted he probably doesn’t really know half the people who show up to his parties
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Post by michaelannunziata on Mar 6, 2014 12:01:39 GMT -5
Michael Annunziata
Mr. Thomas
English 11
3,5,14
A. One thing that I noticed when reading this chapter was how observant nick was about Gatsby. In the chapter Nick and Gatsby just met and already nick is obsessed with Gatsby (especially his smile) and I just find it so weird at how observant he was. I can relate to this because when I just stared going to high school freshman year, I was very observant of everybody and I noticed so many specific things and pretty much judged them on that just like what nick is doing with Gatsby. Although I found this very weird at first I later realized that everyone has that stage at some point in there life.
C. One thing that I found very confusing was the fact that Nick felt the need to describe his life because most people are very sensitive about that stuff and they really don’t like to share most things about their life. I know that I’m very shy when it comes to talking about my life and it just confused me so much of why Nick would do this. That is why I found this very confusing while I was reading this chapter.
B. One thing that I felt was most important when reading this chapter was the amount of stories each person said about Gatsby’s background. Because there are so many stories it shows how unique Gatsby is and it shows that so many people know him as well as how interesting he is.
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