The Great Gatsby Journal Feb. 21

3. Last Thursday, we watched two movies about migrant workers in the United States. These movies, and the discussions that followed, didn't really change my views on the idea of the American Dream; they actually solidified my ideas. Before the movie, I thought that the American Dream was not really possible because our society is set up in such a way that it is extremely hard to move from the lower class to the middle class or to the upper class. I believe that the reason it is so hard to move from one social class to another is because the differences in the social classes are so grand. This movie, as I said before, solidified my beliefs about the American Dream. It showed me that the life of poor worker families is cyclical. For example, the parents will work long days and make little money. When they have children, they will promise that the children's generation will be the one to break the chain of farm working by going to school and getting an education. However, the children are usually not able to get a proper education because their family is constantly moving around. Because of this, the children tend to become farm workers just like their parents, and the cycle repeats. It is extremely hard to escape from poverty because many of the things that one might need to escape from poverty are things that are only available to the rich.

The Great Gatsby Journal Feb. 14

1. Gatsby's story and Jordan's story both are very different even though both of the stories revolve around the same character, Jay Gatsby. These contrasts can be seen in the way that the stories are told. Gatsby rushed his story as if he doesn't want to talk about it or he is ashamed of it. "He [Gatsby] hurried the phrase 'educated at Oxford,' or swallowed it, or choked on it, as though it had bothered him before," (The Great Gatsby 65). Whereas Jordan Baker made Gatsby seem as though he was a hero. "The officer [Gatsby] looked at Daisy while she was speaking, in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at some time, and because it seemed romantic to me I have remembered the incident ever since. His name was Jay Gatsby, and I didn't lay eyes on him again for over four years," (The Great Gatsby 75). I think that the reasons that their two stories vary is because Gatsby is being modest. He doesn't want to make himself seem like he is some great hero for one of two reasons: he doesn't want Nick to feel bad or unaccomplished; or Gatsby knows all the bad things about himself/thinks of all his mistakes he's made and, on the inside, doesn't think he is a great man. Jordan, on the other hand, only knows about the good things that Gatsby has done. For this reason, she tells his life story as though he is a great man.

The Great Gatsby Journal February 5.

2. Personally, I do not believe that Nick is reserved from making judgements like he says on page 1. "In consequence, I'm inclined to reserve all judgements," (The Great Gatsby 1). I don't believe that he holds back judgments because when Tom and him go to visit Tom's mistress in the "valley of ashes", Nick seems to make multiple judgmental statements against the conditions in the "valley of ashes." For example, on page 25, Nick states, "The interior was unprosperous and bare; the only car visible was the dust-covered wreck of a Ford which crouched in a dim corner. ...When he saw us a damp gleam of hope sprang into his light blue eyes." To me, this statement seems very judgmental because not only does Nick critique the interior of this shop by saying that it is unprosperous, but he also implies that this certain man is so poor, he becomes hopeful when he sees well-off individuals walk into his shop. Yet this could be an example of him just being honest and not judgmental, as he claims to be one of the only honest people that he has ever met. I don't believe that we know enough about Nick to tell if he really is honest or not. We've seen, so far, that Nick has been honest, but we've only just met him.

Income Inequality Blog (1/31/15)

3. The thing that most surprised me about income inequality in America is what people thought about it. Specifically, the differences between how people believed income was spread among the population versus how income is actually spread among the American population. I was surprised that so many people, including me, were oblivious to the actual amount of income inequality in America. Why is there such a great range in the differences of incomes between the richest rich and the poorest poor? Another thing that I was surprised by was the amount of people that still believed that the American Dream was a real thing that could happen to anyone. I, frankly, don't believe that the American Dream is a very real thing. I think when America was starting out it might have been easier to move from class to class; now, however, it would be very hard to move from one social class to another because the social classes are so different from one another. I believe that the majority of the people, who work hard to try to be successful in life, are not given the opportunity to be successful. For example, a child, who is born into a very poor family that lives in a bad neighborhood, will end up going to a bad school. This child will either not get a very good education or will work hard to learn and make themselves smarter. Even if they work hard and are very smart, they will not have many opportunities to push themselves out of their neighborhood and class that they live in. However, I believe that some hard-working people get lucky and are able to move to a higher-up social class, yet this is only a very small percentage of all the hard-working, poor people. I believe the reason that many people believe the American Dream is a real thing is because we only here about the success stories of these few people; we don't hear about all the other hard-working people, who never go far in life because of the unfairness of our country.

Final Fall Blog Post Dec. 12

1. I think reading Maus was most meaningful to me because I got to learn about a really interesting topic, the Holocaust; however it was told in a very different way. It was not the standard fact after fact that one usually sees when reading about the Holocaust.
2. I think that the most challenging thing was making my presentations engage the audience.
3. I would like to add a section about poetry, especially slam poetry!!!
4. I liked how we did the blog posts.
5. The books we read were great and I am so excited to do mood rooms!

Purpose of Violence in the Odyssey Journal Dec. 7

3. Throughout Books 22-24, Homer describes Odysseus's fight against the suitors to reclaim his house. I believe that this violence is necessary for Odysseus to receive nostos. If he hadn't fought and killed all the suitors would he actually be home? I mean, yes he would be in the land where his home was located, but it wouldn't be like how he remembered. I believe nostos means that one's homecoming is not only returning the location of their home, but also returning to how their home was before they left. With this definition, if Odysseus hadn't killed the suitors he wouldn't have returned to how his home was before he left. Also if Odysseus hadn't killed all the suitors, he probably wouldn't have the same respect from the people of Ithaca as he did before he left. Without this respect, his home wouldn't be like how he remembered so he wouldn't have nostos.

Xenia in the Odyssey Journal Nov. 22

The Odyssey contains many examples of xenia. One clear example can be found on pg. 45. Telemachus arrives at Menelaus's palace and is treated with great respect. "They (Telemachus and Nestor's son) went into the polished tubs. When the maids had bathed them and rubbed them down with oil, and clothed them in tunics and fleecy cloaks, they sat down on chairs beside Menelaus. A maid poured water from a golden pitcher into a silver basin for them to wash their hands and then set up a polished table nearby. Another serving woman, grave and dignified, set out bread and served generous helpings from the other dishes she had; a carver set sown cuts of meat by the platter and golden cups; and a herald came by and poured them wine" (Odyssey 45). Menelaus gives many gifts to Telemachus as he is getting ready to leave. As one can see Menelaus treats his guests with great respect even before he knows why they have come. This partly because the Greeks believed that everyone should be treated with hospitality because you never know if a God or Goddess (in disguise) might come to your door. Greeks also showed xenia towards strangers, so that they could show off their wealth, or kingdom. Another example of xenia can be seen when Odysseus arrives at in the palace of Alcinous. "He (Alcinous) took the hand of Odysseus, the cunning hero, and raised him from the fireside and had him sit on a polished chair... A maid poured water from a golden pitcher into a silver basin for him to wash his hand and then set up a polished table nearby. Another serving woman, grave and dignified set out bred and generous helpings from the other dishes she had" (Odyssey 100). Both of these examples contain nearly the same sentences. (A maid poured...table nearby.) & (Another serving woman...dishes she had.) These similar sentences could have been put in the song to serve little reminders, or checkpoints for the singers. One can see that xenia in this book is all based around showing off one's wealth and status by serving fine foods, making the guests as comfortable as possible, and giving them gifts.