The Great Gatsby (1 Viewer)

[Nadiaaa]

Hey all,

unfortunately, we at Bankstown Grammar have had this book inflicted upon us as well, and while I can appreciate its literary qualities, it simply can't hold my interest.
On the issue of context, the problem is that there were a great deal of interesting things going on in 1920s America, but they don't feature in the book to a large enough extent that one can write a good essay on it.
My advice would be to compile a list of all the events of the 1920s under sub-headings (art, science, entertainment, religion etc.), and do the same thing for the 1860s. Anything that evokes even the faintest sense of similarity, put in your essay. It may not seem important to you, but done well enough in an essay, it wont matter.
Good luck!

I have a friend who goes there!
& I really like Gatsby/EBB =]

But also, Daisy didn't live up to Gatsby's dream of her.
"There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams - not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything."
I always found that quote interesting =]

 

[gabgab]

so what were the contrasts between the two contexts

they are years apart and nothing is similar

and u can hardly link it to the novel or the poetry

okay, so to really get top marks, you need to REMOVE yourself from the texts, and study them with regards to the values of the contexts they were written in.

for example, patriarchal and religious values in EBB.

both of the authors were commenting on their societies.

EBB was clearly ahead of her time, ie "the contrarious moods of men recoil away" meaning she believed she was seperate from her society because of the love she shared with robert browning. love wasnt a common emotion in her context.

Fitz was commenting on the breakdown of social morals in his society, and the shallowness of the upper classes.

both the texts, of course, have the theme of romantic love.

 

[bijandarabi]

Same here, I'm so hopeless at this. Is anyone going to those seminars they're holding at Pitt St.?

i went to those... they didnt really compare the two texts though.. they just talked about their contexts separatley and didnt really link them

 

[bijandarabi]

"Fitzgerald and Eliot saw how such focus on material possessions and social changes could compromise the moral integrity of people living in Western society".

you say this in your essay, and its obvious that fitzgerald is commenting on it in his novel.
but its actually ironic.
did u know that fitzgerald lived the same way he presents daisy/tom: rich, careless, party-goes.
thats exactly what fitzgerald and his wife were. I learned this at lecture on fitzgerald and the great gatsby. after looking into it i found it was true. interesting isnt it.

 

[supermike]

im doing it as well. does anyone know any good websites or study guides for Elizabeth Barrett Browning, i cant find anything...

i have a Top Notes book published by 5 senses publication on these 2 texts and i believe its the only book out there that actually juxtaposes the texts in terms of contexts, time, love and stuff
its purple and called scott ftizgerald's great gatsby & (sth)'s elizabeth barrett browning and sth else saaying module A 2009-2012 HSC

authors are maree jones and william burden

dymocks in george street(city) has them

hope that helps:wave:

 

[Becky222]

i have a Top Notes book published by 5 senses publication on these 2 texts and i believe its the only book out there that actually juxtaposes the texts in terms of contexts, time, love and stuff
its purple and called scott ftizgerald's great gatsby & (sth)'s elizabeth barrett browning and sth else saaying module A 2009-2012 HSC

authors are maree jones and william burden

dymocks in george street(city) has them

hope that helps:wave:

thanks, i will definitely go and have a look

 

[__moonriver]

I'm not studying this text, but I wrote an essay last year in Ext. English on The Great Gatsby, its context and representation of American values. I don't know if this will be of any use but I did well with it so if anyone wants to have a look, PM me.

 

[al123456]

yehhh mayb that will be a helpp...can i hav a look pls? thanx

 

[sunsettah]

Yep.
It's not that bad really.
Watch the movie, after I read it I hated it, and watched the movie to make sure I understood it.
I'm getting horrible context questions about it because we are comparing it to Elizabeth Barrett-Browning poetry..
I wish we were doing Bladerunner
Oh well, not many teachers are cruel enough to pick Gatsby, so we aren't being tested against heaps and heaps of schools.

Let me know if you need help I'm starting to write some essays and if you have any notes to help that would be awesome

-Ash x

help meeeeeeeeeee

 

[19608182]

everyone is deadset doing this book and the peoms it is death trying to write and essay on it. i have spent an hour and written one line so crap. ahhhh i cant write it. wish we where doing last year 12 modules still.
hating the change. i could have been watching clueless and doing emma. instead this. ahhh

 

[Plodygon]

I haven't actually read The Great Gatsby, but my dad (who's a retired teacher) has been going on about it for ages. Apparently it's the greatest American novel ever written, although I'd say it would be hard to knock To Kill A Mockingbird from that position - in my own head, anyway. But it does sound interesting so I'll get onto reading it soon.

EDIT: Whoops, sorry for asking those stupid questions before. I've only just realised where I am.

 

[Misericorde]

To Kill A Mockingbird was great, but (even though I know it's an important part) I felt it was severely restricted by being narrated from the POV of a ten-year-old. You can tell Harper Lee kinda felt the same, from how incredibly mature Scout was. So The Great Gatsby was better for me, I think.

 

[Plodygon]

Yeah, I guess so. But she really did write Scout's perspective well, didn't she? At least I thought so. Also, I figured that the main aim of the book was to veiw racism through a completely innocent and unbiased point of view, hence the ten-year-old girl. But yeah, I get what you mean. At times I felt like that too.

 

[PrettyStarFury]

Why is everyone doing the Aurora Leigh Poems with Great Gatsby? We're doing Sonnets From The Portuguese, is there much difference?
Has anyone had to do the task question "The more things change the more they stay the same" in realtion to these two texts?

 

[youngs]

cool, so whatz your email...it'll be so cool if you could send it to me

or post it up on the site

Thanks

 

[Absolutezero]

I haven't actually read The Great Gatsby, but my dad (who's a retired teacher) has been going on about it for ages. Apparently it's the greatest American novel ever written, although I'd say it would be hard to knock To Kill A Mockingbird from that position - in my own head, anyway. But it does sound interesting so I'll get onto reading it soon.

I've read them both, and I thought Mockingbird was better. I found it easier to follow as well.

 

[countingdown]

does anyone want to help out a struggling student with trials in less then a week?? ey ey, good karma all the way

 

[countingdown]

help meeeeeeeeeee

and meeeeee! pleease??

 

[gnome66]

Am doing sonnets of the portuguese and The Great Gatsby for this module and beginning to worry they are going to ask us about something really specific! You reckon they're going to ask something like " How do Fitzgerald and Barett Browning show the changing status of women through time"? cause I could say some things, but I'd still freak and my response would be quite limited. Anyway, what do you think they might ask all?

"He must have looked up at a world. . .material without being real where ghosts breathing dreams like air drifted"- The Great Gatsby

 

[Sarebs]

Yeah we did Gatsby and Sonnets from the Portuguese.

When I first read Gatsby, I wasn't really into it. After reading it again, I liked it, but after watching the movie I really love it! The way the story's told, just the little things. It doesn't seem to be written like other books... In comparison to To Kill a Mockingbird (one of my fave books before Gatsby), I think Gatsby is better. There aren't so many events, just people and they way they act. Okay so I'm rubbish at explaining the feeeeeel of the book.

Anyway, if you're having trouble with it WATCH THE MOVIE, it really helps