Written Task on The Great Gatsby

Rationale

In Part 4 of the course, we are doing a detailed study of F.Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby. Throughout this novel, despite the fact that Gatsby holds raucous parties, readers are given the impression of Gatsby’s remote connection to the public. Fitzgerald writes Gatsby as an unpredictable isolated figure in which society seems to be curious about. Therefore, the objective of this written task is to introduce Gatsby to the public and society.

In order to do this, I will write Gatsby’s statement to the press conference where the character himself will reveal his true stories to the public. I have chosen this type of text because it will allow me to express my creativity in creating new a storyline in addition to what Fitzgerald has written. In this case, Gatsby will be answering questions about his life and in particular about his love, Daisy.

From having done the written task, I’ve learned how to be creative in twisting the plot around. Furthermore, I have also gained a better understanding of Gatsby’s character because I mostly wrote from Gatsby’s perspective. In this case, I learned to analyze and think of how Gatsby would respond to certain questions that the news reporters ask. I now also fully understand the relationship between the two lovers and why Fitzgerald makes Gatsby act in a certain way when he encounters Daisy. Because love plays a huge role in Gatsby’s character, I’ve discovered that love can sometimes be the major driving force in shaping a person’s life.

Written Task

The room was filled a cacophony of clicking shots and yelling voices as Gatsby made his way through the crowd to the table before us. As he reached the table, he bowed to all of us and took a seat as his two bodyguards stood behind him.

“Good morning, good morning people! I am glad to see that all of you are here to attend my announcement for the press today. Now please calm down and take a seat everyone,” he said.

The room turned from a busy market into a complete silence.

“Now let me make a formal introductory speech to all of you guests and news reporters who came to my event today.” Gatsby paused for a second and glanced around the room.

“Welcome everyone, I invited you all today because I have the intention to answer the questions that you may have about me. I have heard of many different kinds of rumors that went spiraling for years ever since I’ve started to hold big parties and celebrations. I don’t want wrong gossips about me to spread so I am gladly here today to tell you the story of my life. Not only that, I will also leave time for questions at the end.”

  

News reporters took notes of his words and video taped his speech.

“Now let me start,” Gatsby said.

“I was born to a deadly poor family in the Midwest of America. I had lived in the prairie grass of the vast isolated land where millions of twinkling stars filled the night skies. Initially, I was given the name of James Gatz.”

When I turned 17, I became deadly tired of the impoverish lifestyle I’ve adopted for years. I ran away from home, leaving my deadly poor parents behind, to aspire for the life I imagined mine’s to be. I knew that I had to run far away from the place I grew up to forget my past, and I ended up in a small town in Minnesota.

That time, I reminisce, all I had with me were my clothes and 15 cents that I have collected from the streets as I made my way to Minnesota. I was more than hungry but I knew that 15 cents wouldn’t buy me even a bottle of water. I had no choice but to sleep the lonely night in the large, cold city. I wandered around the vast area of America without knowing where I am heading or what I am getting into. All I knew was that I had the greatest desire to find a better life.

It was in the afternoon of May 1984 that I went to walk along the shore and saw a drunk man in the middle of a rainstorm in the water of Lake Superior. I remember that the old, rotund man was out there in the deep sea alone without conscious. Without a second thought, my strong sense of humanity drove me out into the sea to rescue him. His name was Dan Cody.

Dan Cody was a very honorable man. He was a very very honorable man. Because he knew that I ran out of money and I didn’t have a place to go, he offered to raise and embrace me as if I was blood-related to him. Never had I thought that he would be such a great impact in my life that triggered me to become a new man in the midst of fatigue and lethargy. He is more than words can describe. Without him, I won’t be the person I am today, Jay Gatsby.

To think back, I was such a brave but senseless man to sail out into the dark ocean to risk my life for someone else that I didn’t even know.  To me, it appears as if God had set out paths and that I was destined to meet him.

Though I lived the rest of my life with the honorable Dan Cody, I was cheated of wealth and legacy after his death. I became poor once again.  

At that point in life, I was recruited into the army and I had attended a house party one night where I came across the most heart-striking woman I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Her body was as white as porcelain when the stroke of sunlight hit her skin. Never before had I seen such a smile as graceful as hers or the eyes as charming as hers.

At that time, I knew that I could neither resist myself from taking my eyes off of her nor resist myself from following her upstairs. The night passed by quickly as she looked into my eyes and as I wrapped my arms around her. I knew that things were going far from what I intended but I couldn’t help but spend the night memorably.”

Gatsby looked up with nostalgic eyes as he was telling his story about his woman. He seemed to be lost in the bliss of his own life that he continued to ramble on for hours. The crowd grew bored and tiresome of his love story.

“May I ask who that mysterious woman is?” interrupted a news reporter.

The crowd roared with boastful demands. Gatsby stopped and looked straightly into the crowd.

“Ahh….ermm…..She is Daisy Gatsby.”

“Daisy Gatsby?” the crowd fired back with astonishment. “This seems absurd! We have never heard of this name before in the entire town. We have only heard of Daisy Butchanan!”

Gatsby’s eyes grew red with furious and anger.

“I said Daisy Gatsby! How could my woman be linked to the Butchanans?  You are out of your mind! Now please don’t confuse my woman’s name with anyone else’s. SHE IS DAISY GATSBY”, said Gatsby with a loud and affirmative voice. He continued, “Now will you please excuse me? This is the end of my announcement for the press. Thanks for attending everyone.”

Without listening to the guests’ demands of further questions, Gatsby stood up and walked hastily out the door. Left puzzled and confounded, the guests in the room quickly rushed out after Gatsby but it was too late, he jumped onto his Rolls Royce and disappeared into the road.

Aspiration & Idealism

Do people really know what aspirations can cause? What is aspiration? 

I define aspiration as a strong desire to achieve success, which includes love, wealth, happiness, education and job. I think that the act of "aspiring" is closely related to "dreaming" or "desiring" something that may be unrealistic and impractical. Though there are common sayings that dreams make people's imagination go wild and limitless, I personally think that dreams are just dreams in the end. I feel that the desire of perfection causes problems in our society because expectations that are not being met leads to disappointments.

Although I do agree that people should have some goals in life, I propose that these goals should be realistic and not something idealistic. For instance, I believe that all teenage girls have the same dream of marrying Mr. Prince Charming that is rich and handsome. In this case, I would consider this dream as being unrealistic, although rarely possible, because not every male would fit the category of the ideal "Mr. Prince Charming". Although many people would think that there are no such people who would really forage for Mr. Prince Charming because it sounds absurd, I can justify that this is a misconception because it is actually occurring in today's society. From my personal experience, I have encountered a person whose biggest dream is to marry a foreigner in the desire of happiness and wealth after marriage. In this occasion, she tries every way possible to marry a foreigner or what is so-called "farang" in Thai. In the end, her dreams are being turned down and she faces major disappointments because her aspirations did not come true. More interestingly, she did not work hard to earn a status in society because of depending on this dream, which results in only negative consequences of both not being wealthy and happy.

Although dreams do give people hope and push people to reach out for the best, people should not depend on those imaginary dreams too much because dreams are intangible since people cannot control or force it. Therefore, in order to keep people from dissatisfactions, I would advise people to stay in reality and think of things that are practical.

Keep it real.


Picture source:
http://whisperfall.deviantart.com/art/Dreams-144932089

Stock/Bond Speculation

Stocks and bonds are financial economic concepts that deal with money. Both of them are considered securities or financial instruments that are tradable assets, ie. people are allowed to buy and sell stocks and bonds. In particular, the purpose of the stock market is to allow people to lend money to the company for investments. In return, the people will receive a share of the profit according to the size of the stock they hold in that company. Therefore, we can say that the people owning such certain stocks are acting as the "owner" of the company. On the other hand, the purpose of the bond market is also to let people lend money for the company or the government to make long term investments. In this case, the bond issuer (companies and government) owes the holder a debt in which the issuer must pay back with certain agreements, for example, in terms interest rates. Therefore, the holders in this context are the "lenders". In any case of the two, people are able to profit out of these markets by knowing how to play the game and when to or when not to invest. As a result, many people around the world are zealously involved in these markets since they generate ideally high returns through such economic transactions.

Relation to "The Great Gatsby"

The topic of stocks and bonds relate closely to Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great Gatsby", because the characters evolve around the dream of wealth. In a historical context, many new companies emerged during the 1900s from industrial urbanization, and this introduces the idea of stocks and bonds to the country.
More interestingly, the value of stocks rose immensely after the World War and people who held shares of the stock market profited as an aftermath. It raises the point that people with no wealth or social background can become instantly affluent and make a fortune from participating in the stock and bond markets. Therefore, we can say that the characters, in particularly Nick, engage in the bond market because they aspire to become rich. Not only that, the desire of wealth also reinforces the idea of The American Dream in the novel.


Resources:
http://www.fi-advisor.com/what-is-stock-market.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_(finance)

Importance of Education

Education is the most important thing that each and everyone should have. It frees people from societal conventions, gives people liberty, and opens doors to different opportunities. Though many young adults condemn learning because they think that it is too overwhelming at times, they should acknowledge that living a real, dependent life after 18 is tougher than what they experienced at school. From my perspective, I see education as a very important factor that transforms youth into adults because it makes them become knowledgeably prepared for the real world.


On the other hand, society also demands education off a person. In today's world, there is much more competition in the areas of seeking jobs. Because of this, companies demand higher standards off a person and what distinguishes people apart is education. Therefore, people should strive for the highest level of education as possible so that they could be superior among the other bright leaders of the world. In this case, it is even applicable to say that education guarantees a person for living an affordable life since education enables people to earn money. 

Although education is sometimes tough as aforementioned, people should acknowledge how education will benefit them in the future. In this occasion, people should keep in mind that: "To be happy is to go through the process of being sad, and to be successful is to go through the process of failing". In the end, I believe that people will overcome the hardships and education will lead them to a good life. 



Image Source:
http://www.educationnews.com/2013/03/13/real-winners-of-the-coming-revolution-in-higher-education/

My Ultimate Dreams

Within 5 years

1. Get into Medicine Faculty for University

2. Stay in a nice condo in the city 

3. Get a car

4. Be in a stable relationship 

5. Travel around the world 


Long-term 

1. Have three children(boy, boy, girl)

2. Earn a stable income 

3. Open an aesthetic clinic

4. Be an owner of a resort/hotel

5. See my children get married 

Cartoon from the 1950's

The picture above refers to women in the 1950's period. The words on the picture, "That awkward moment when you realize you spend all of International Women's Day IN THE KITCHEN", is a type of propaganda that is possibly made by male who is biased towards women being the inferior gender in society during that time. However, the cartoon has no purpose of attacking an enemy, it is merely insulting women. In this case, women's role in the 1950's were very limited. They are not treated equally or in other words, have no rights. The phrase, "in the kitchen," is today's common slang phrase of how men in society look down on women as only capable of doing housework. Not only that, the phrase is also emphasized extensively through the use of capitalization and size in this cartoon. Therefore, the common use of "in the kitchen" in the modern society has become very insulting and offensive to women. 


PS:

Some might not understand this cartoon because they do not understand how the phrase is perceived in society. Therefore, the meanings presented can be a total misconception. 

Inquiry to Intelligence

From the picture above, my top three intelligences are kinaesthetic(body smart), intrapersonal(myself smart), and logical(number smart). Personally, I think that this test is accurate because I also feel the same way about myself as the result shows. In this case, I think that I work well with learning things that involves body motion. For instance, I do well in sports and dance. Because I know that I can do these things decently, I tend to do it often and it serves as my stress relief activity. On the other hand, my other top multiple intelligence is intrapersonal. This affects me with my learning immensely. Since I know myself well, I usually plan out things and set goals for myself. For example, if I know that I am going to be slacked off, I would set plans and organize the things that are of superior importance. Lastly, since I know that I am quite logical, I take subjects that requires logic because I know I will be able to master it. I feel that it is best to take or learn things that I'm good. 
In conclusion, I think that it is helpful to know the things that we are knowledgeable with. This makes us know ourselves better and helps us achieve success.  

I am Sam, Moral

The movie, I am Sam, is about a man who has a mental abnormality of a seven years old. Despite his mental abnormality, he tries to be a good father and raises his child to the best of his ability. The selected scene above is when Lucy, Sam's daughter, starts to question about her mom and why her father is different from other fathers. 

To analyze from a moral point of view, I think that Sam feels very guilty and remorseful for being different from other fathers. He pities his daughter that he cannot be the best dad to fulfill his daughter's life.  Lucy acknowledges the situation, thus telling her dad to not feel apologetic towards her. She cheers him up by saying that no one is lucky like her to have a daddy that comes to the park with his children. In my opinion, it is very impressing that a young child can be this understanding towards the situation she is facing. I feel that the conversation between Sam and Lucy is very profound and heartfelt for the audience. It teaches them to be understanding like Lucy. Not only that, in the end of the movie, Lucy chooses to stay with her dad and not any other families the court replaces her with. This reinforces the idea of how much Lucy loves her dad, disregarding his mental abnormality, and this shows the readers of 'unconditional love'.

On the other hand, Sam tries to cheer up Lucy not to feel inferior from any other kids regarding her family issues.  He mentions, "God picks certain people, special people" to answer why Lucy's mom left her. He epitomizes hollywood stars like Paul McCartney and John Lennon that they can still be stars even though they lost their mom. This teaches Lucy that she, having lost her mother like McCartney and Lennon, can also be a star. Personally, I feel that Sam is a very good father. His sayings towards Lucy is very inspiring and uplifting because it teaches Lucy to accept the truth yet become a normal person in society like McCartney and Lennon. 

There are many techniques used in this script. The use of language in this movie is very carefully chosen the way that it is easily distinguishable between Sam and Lucy's verbal expression. From the selected extract of the script above, we can see that Lucy's verbal is fluent while Sam's verbal is repetitive. This contrast effect shows the readers of Lucy being mentally and physically older than her father. 

To conclude, I strongly feel that Sam is just as good as any other fathers can be disregarding the differences. Although Sam might not be the best parent, his love for his child is not inferior from any other parents.