...In F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway serves dual roles. The first one introduced, Nick Carraway is the novel's most well-developed character. The opening paragraphs of the novel reveal Nick's morals and ideals as a person. Though believing himself to have been given a fair amount of the "fundamental decencies [that are] parcelled out unequally at birth", Nick still is inclined "to reserve all judgements" (6, 5). With that inclination, he is then able to get to know most of the characters quite intimately, thus being able to see all the situations as a whole. An example that exemplifies his habit of reserving judgement is just before he meets Gatsby himself. At the first party of Gatsby's that he attends, he had not yet met the host, when already he hears of several rumors concerning Gatsby's past. Unaffected by rumors such as "[Gatsby has] killed a man once" and being "a German spy during the war", Nick still gets to know Gatsby quite well, helping the plot as well as Gatsby's character development (47, 48). Nick's personality qualities qualify him for being a good narrator. The most honest of all characters in the story, Nick is also honest with himself. For example, although Nick cares for Jordan, he admits to himself that Jordan is dishonest and selfish, thereby not letting emotion cloud his judgement. Nick seems to be The Great Gatsby's only uncorrupted and disillusioned character. Every other character, including Gatsby himself, uses money for every...
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...Jay Gatsby the main character in Fitzgeralds The Great Gatsby represents the self improvement that embodied America in all of its grit and glory during the 1920’s. It is this aspect of Gatsby that F. Scott Fitzegerald created which allows the reader to connect on a personal level making him one of the world’s most cherished and memorable fictional characters. Gatsby is a mere image of Fitzegerlds wildest imaginations and dreams. Fitzgerld always wanted wealth and notirity and he lives through is character to accomplish his goals. Fitsgerald also lives out his own inner complexity and confusions through Gasby as he himself hates the shallow thoughts and actions of the rich and famous while at the same time he despertaly wants to be a part...
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...the American Dream was an inspiration to many, young and old. To live out the American Dream was what once was on the minds of many Americans, however soon afterward those same dreams were twisted with corruption. In The Great Gatsby, the American Dream was presented as a corrupted version of what used to be a pure and honest ideal way to live. The idea that the American Dream was about the wealth and the possessions one had been ingrained, somehow, into the minds of Americans during the 1920’s. As a result of the distortion of the American Dream, the characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby along with many others, lived life fully believing in the American Dream, becoming completely immersed in it and in the end suffered great tragedies. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman tells the story of the failure of a salesman, Willy Loman. Although not all Americans are salesmen, most of us share Willy’s dream of success. We are all partners in the American Dream and parties to the conspiracy of silence surrounding the fact that failures must outnumber successes. Miller amalgamates the archetypal tragic hero with the mundane American citizen. The result is the anti-hero, Willy Loman. He is a simple salesman who constantly aspires to become 'great'. Nevertheless, Willy has a waning career as a salesman and is an aging man who considers himself to be a failure but is incapable of consciously admitting it. As a result, the drama of the play lies not so much in its events...
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...found that people who lose their jobs suffer lasting damage to their earning potential, their health and the prospects of their children. The longer it takes to find a job the deeper the damage appears to be. In a article by the Washington Post The-long term impact of unemployment it has been found that people who are unemployed eventually dip into their savings, retirement funds, and in many cases borrow money to pay rent, bills, and buy the basic necessities to survive such as groceries and everyday household products. With the prices of gas, food and many other products on the rise it seems like people who are unemployed will continue to struggle even after finding a job. According to studies nothing has been seen like this since the Great Depression when unemployment was at its highest in American history. Many people will accept a lower paying job just to make ends meet regardless of their potential and qualifications for their career field. The Yale economist Lisa Kahn has found similar long-term earnings loss among the college graduates who enter the workforce during a bad economy. Being a parent of three children and another three step-children these findings are truly heart breaking. I am one of the few lucky...
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...Text, Film, and Historical Fact: Soucing “The Name of the Rose” 1. Evaluate the following statement: The film “The Name of the Rose” is an accurate portrayal of the lives of medieval monks. “The Name of The Rose” is a historical murder mystery combining fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory. The movie is very appropriate for historical class, because it simply describes the debate on the poverty of the clergy, but not converted beyond recognition. The scenes of the life in Abbey describe challenges and promises of monastic life. Such characters as dithering abbot and fat cellarer, quirky herbalist and dedicated illuminator demonstrate the variety of occupation and different personalities within the walls of the monastery. The scenes where after the second murder even the abbey became under the apprehension that they are experiencing the last days before the coming of Antichrist, is a perfect evidence that in the fourteen century many experienced divorce from the scholarly world turned to superstition, heretic movements, or apocalyptical outbursts. Moreover, the movie accurately described some parts of daily life medieval monks. The dining sessions, scenes of prayers, psalms and hymns were showed properly. Medieval monks devoted their lives to strict routine and discipline of life. For example, the part where elderly blind monk was angry at other monks because they were laughing claiming that monks never fool themselves. In the movie there...
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...During the 1800s women who went to prison were considered to be guilty both under the moral law and criminal law. The reason for this is because of the fact that she broke the moral laws society sets for women as well as the criminal law in place for all. There were many ways that criminals were punished during the 1800s; hanging, burning, banishment and slavery. The ones that were committing adultery or even killing her husband were automatically burned alive. Those that had only committed a misdemeanor crime were punished by things such as whippings, branding, and being placed in the stocks. There were even social punishments that were put in place just to promote public humiliation and shame to themselves and their families. There was even a mask like cage was placed over the woman’s face so that their husbands and fathers could punish them for being outspoken, gossiping, and disobeying. It was during the late 18th and 19th century there was a complete change in the way that juvenile criminals were treated. The first was that penitentiary life was extremely hard on the youth that were being imprisoned and therefore doing more harm than good. The second was that when the youth were in the prison with the older adults, they were learning bad behavior and habits from them which would cause further problems later on. The last is that the young people would only be rehabilitated if they were treated better by people that understood the children and how they behave. If there was...
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...AFTERSHOCK Protect Yourself and Profit in the Next Global Financial Meltdown Kevin Ung Economics 309, Fall 2010, Section 2 Professor N. Pulchritudoff December 9, 2010 In 2006, with home values high and credit flowing, authors David Wiedemer, Robert Wiedemer, and Cindy Spitzer accurately predicted the popping of the housing bubble, the collapse of the private debt bubble, the fall of the stock market bubble, the decline of consumer spending, and the widespread pain all of this was about to inflict on the rest of our economy. How did they get it so right while others got it so wrong? The authors saw a fundamental underlying pattern that others were—and, unfortunately, are still—missing. It may seem like the worst has come and gone, but it hasn't, say the authors in this new book. Things are not going back to how they were before. In Aftershock, the authors offer the definitive look at what is still to come—and what investors must do to protect themselves. This is not merely a down market cycle, the authors explain, nor is it a typical recession. It is a multi-bubble economy that is being hit by a "Bubblequake"—and the coming Aftershock will be far more dangerous. Aftershock details the next bubbles about to burst, including the Dollar Bubble and the Government Debt Bubble, while there's still time to protect your assets and position yourself to survive and thrive in this dangerous, yet potentially profitable new environment. They offer specific advice on how to profit...
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...The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald Chapter 6 Color Analysis May 24, 2011 Jay Gatsby | -“torn green jersey” (104): The color green symbolizes wealth and money. At this time in the book, Gatsby is working for Dan Cody, the guy who greatly supplies his wealth. The fact that the jersey is torn signifies the hard work that Gatsby demonstrates which then leads to him reaping the benefits of hard work. This section furthers to talk about his parents and how they were “unsuccessful farm people” also that Gatsby “was a son of God.” This is to say that although Gatsby’s parents were hard workers, they were unsuccessful in reaching their ideal “American dream”. Gatsby is currently making those dreams happen. He was helping to complete his father’s business, and is therefore relatively “a son of God.”---- The green jersey also symbolizes the new life that he yearns for that is full of wealth. Right at this stage in the book, Gatsby is called different names: Gatsby, James Gats, Jay Gatsby, young Gats: Each name recognizes a different stages of growth towards the Wealthy life.-“His brown, hardened body lived naturally through the half fierce, half lazy work of the bracing days.” (104): Brown is the color of earth, and of “getting down and dirty”. It further symbolizes the humility Gatsby underwent while with Dan Cody. Because the idea of wealth plagued Gatsby (“his heart was in a constant turbulent riot.”), he reaped the fruit of his labor as discussed with the color change discussed...
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...Progressive Era through the Great Depression Latisha Blacknall Dr. James Allen HIS105 Contemporary US History November 5, 2012 In American History there were many turning points that occurred from the Progressive Era through the Great Depression. It was during this period that many historical events shaped Americans current society, politics, economy and culture. The progressive era was a time period that American people needed. When society was going through urbanization, this movement was needed to survive the harsh conditions they were forced to live and work in. If it had not been for the muckrakers, the progressive era might not have received the attention that was needed to become a success. They wrote newspaper columns about the unsatisfactory conditions people were forced to live and work in while the government did nothing. The progressive era also brought awareness to the importance of education and started the reformation of the system. It was during this time that more schools were built and teachers’ salaries were raised. There was two major turning points in the in progressive era, the first is the Women Suffrage Movement. The National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA), which was founded in 1890, the second is The National Women’s Party (NWP) which was founded in 1913 and was led by Alice Paul. NAWSA worked many states to try and convince opponents that women were a valuable asset to society and deserved the right to vote. Alice Paul was more...
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...“Sweat” and the “Man Who Was Almost a Man” Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright were distinguished black writers from the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Coming only two generations after slavery, this was an amazing resurgence of black creativity in all fields from writing, art, dance, and music to philosophy, history, and the social and natural sciences. The Harlem Renaissance died out with the Great Depression, but it has left behind a lasting legacy for all Americans including these powerful stories. One idea that emerged from the Harlem Renaissance was called "double consciousness." This theory developed by writer-activist W. E. B. DuBois articulated the psychological effects of living under racism. DuBois's theory focused on the ways that blacks who were confronted with stereotypes but also were aware of a reality of black life much different from the stereotypes lived with both of these conflicting modes of thought. Double consciousness is an idea that seeks to explain the effects of segregation and racism in the daily lives of blacks, and can be seen in the choices Harlem Renaissance artists made. Harlem renaissance authors wrote during a time of self-awareness, which also included an awareness of self as perceived by others, primarily through the eyes of racism. The language choices made by these authors reflect this duality, as the characters "code switch" (a linguistic term for the way people use both dialect and Standard English in different circumstances) between...
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...Compare and Contrast: Jay Gatsby and Dick Diver Griffin Gilmore Mrs. Clark Humanities 28 November 2012 In the novels Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night by Scott Fitzgerald the two main characters, Jay and Dick both face problems in achieving their dreams and face much adversity trying to achieve it. In both novels pursuing their dreams leads to their demise due to their failure to realize that success is from within, not from the superficial qualities that the society around them looks up to. The first difference between Gatsby and Dick is how they value money. Jay Gatsby believes that with money he can buy his happiness, he plans on using his money to fall in love with him and have her leave her current husband (Tom) to be with himself. Dick on the other hand doesn't like all the wealth of Nicole and trues to distance himself way from it. When Nicole and himself start out they are living off of his few thousand a year. Nicole's parents then buy them their own clinic. Much like Gatsby his wealth by no means that he is happy. “had wedded a desire for money to an essentially unacquisitive nature … he had never felt more sure of himself … than at the time of his marriage to Nicole. Yet he has been swallowed up like a gigolo, and somehow permitted his arsenal to be locked up in the Warren safety deposit vaults.” This just goes to show how even with their almost endless income, they were not satisfied, which properly illustrates the time period which took place then,...
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...Themes Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. The Decline of the American Dream in the 1920s On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. Though all of its action takes place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922 and is set in a circumscribed geographical area in the vicinity of Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. Fitzgerald portrays the 1920s as an era of decayed social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music—epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby throws every Saturday night—resulted ultimately in the corruption of the American dream, as the unrestrained desire for money and pleasure surpassed more noble goals. When World War I ended in 1918, the generation of young Americans who had fought the war became intensely disillusioned, as the brutal carnage that they had just faced made the Victorian social morality of early-twentieth-century America seem like stuffy, empty hypocrisy. The dizzying rise of the stock market in the aftermath of the war led to a sudden, sustained...
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...The Great Depression The great depression was a dramatic, world wide economic downturn beginning in some countries as early as 1928. The beginning of the great depression in the United States is associated with the stock market crash in October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday and the end is associated with the onset of the war economy of World War II, beginning around 1939. The depression had devastating effects in both the industrialized countries and those which exported raw materials. International trade decline, personal incomes, tax revenues, prices and profits. Cities all around the world were hit hard. Construction was really slow and so was farming and rural areas suffered as crop prices fell by 40 to 60 percent. The great depression ended at different times in different countries. The great depression was not a sudden total collapse. The stock markets turn upward in the early 1930’s. Together government and business actually spent more in the first half on 1930 than the previous year. Consumers, many of those whom had suffered severe losses in the stock market the prior year cut back on there expenses by 10 percent. In the 1930, credit was available at low rates. People did not want to add new debt by barrowing. By May 1930, auto sales began to decline to below levels of 1928. Prices in general began to decline. Although wages were held for the moment they began to drop in 1931. Conditions were worse in the farming areas. By late 1930 a steady decline...
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...Alexander the Great Alexander of Macedon Biography King of Macedonia and Conqueror of the Persian Empire Alexander III the Great, the King of Macedonia and conqueror of the Persian Empire is considered one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. He was inspiration for later conquerors such as Hannibal the Carthaginian, the Romans Pompey and Caesar, and Napoleon. Alexander was born in 356 BC in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia. He was son of Philip II, King of Macedonia, and Olympias, the princess of neighboring Epirus. He spent his childhood watching his father transforming Macedonia into a great military power, winning victory after victory on the battlefields throughout the Balkans. When he was 13, Philip hired the Greek philosopher Aristotle to be Alexander’s personal tutor. During the next three years Aristotle gave Alexander a training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy, all of which became of importance in Alexander’s later life. In 340, when Philip assembled a large Macedonian army and invaded Thrace, he left his 16 years old son with the power to rule Macedonia in his absence as regent, which shows that even at such young age Alexander was recognized as quite capable. But as the Macedonian army advanced deep into Thrace, the Thracian tribe of Maedi bordering north-eastern Macedonia rebelled and posed a danger to the country. Alexander assembled an army, led it against the rebels, and with...
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...citizens. It affected the American way of life back then and still affecting us today. Following the WWII the economy boomed in several ways. Due to the high demand of supplies for the military it created jobs and decreased the number of unemployed citizens. The production and expansion of military products did not seize even after the war was over. It opened up factories to create more powerful and sophisticated weapons to defeat our enemies. As we see today we are still seeing changes in our military and defense system. Another aspect about the post war that changed the way the U.S. functions today was the changes in the American workforce. The amount of jobs during WWII was scarce especially following the great depression. The government wanted to make sure this would not be a continuing dilemma post-war to ensure that the economy would not be stuck at a stand still. The unemployment percentage decreased dramatically during those years. It also led to the start of the income tax due to the increase of minimum wage. Also large businesses and firms merged to become large sectors in the economy. As well, farming became a popular trade so much that smaller farms had a difficult time competing. Allowing employment to grow aided as a beneficial aspect to America’s prosperity, but incidentally allowed for smaller businesses and private sectors to fall apart as they were being bought out from the bigger companies. Looking at today’s society, small...
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