The Great Gatsby

“My idea is always to reach my generation. The wise writer...writes for the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward.”

This quotation caught my eye because when reading it, I realized that what Fitzgerald says about works of writing is true. "The wise writer...writes for the youth of his own generation." Fitzgerald wrote and set The Great Gatsby during the Roaring Twenties, as the decade came to be called. During this decade, the stock market was on the rise, with seemingly no limit to how high it could go. The rich were becoming richer and the poor were becoming wealthy as well. This time period and the novel demonstrate both "old money," or money inherited through the family, and "new money," or money recently acquired throught the stock market or other means. This brings up the debate of whether "new money" can be considered "wealth," since there are many times when people who suddenly become rich gain the mindset that they have enough money to cover anything they would like to do and quickly end up bankrupt. This debate, the modern time period, and the many love stories intertwined in the story keep the story interesting for the young, especially for the young of the time period. However, there will always be some who disagree with an author's writings or motives for writing. Fitzgerald mentions this in his quotation. These critics of the next generation, as Fitzgerald states, may feel that writings are not appropriate for a specific audience or may have controversial statements or plots. However, these critics must consider in their analyses of writings the time period in which they were written and who the target audiences are/were. Fitzgerald also mentions that schoolmasters will forever use these writings afterward. This is so that present students would get an idea of what life was like in the past, a sort of history lesson from literature.

The Great Gatsby, Chapter 1

In Chapter 1 of The Great Gatsby, we are introduced to the narrator, Nick Carraway. Nick lives in West Egg. In West Egg, most of the people there have become wealthy only recently, mostly from investing in the stock market. Most of the houses are nothing extraordinary, except for the mansion which stands next to Nick's apartment. This is the mansion of Jay Gatsby. The town of East Egg is filled with people who have inherited wealth through their families. Nick travels to East Egg to have dinner with his old friends, the Buchanans. Nick and Tom Buchanan had been friends when they attended Yale University. Since then, they both have changed, Tom becoming more of a stuck-up person, and Nick more tolerant of the people around him. Tom is reading "The Rise of the Colored Empires," a book promoting white supremacy. Tom believes all of the claims that whites make up the dominant race are true; therefore, it can be safely assumed that Tom himself is a racist and believes in white supremacy. At the end of the chapter, Nick sees Jay Gatsby for the first time by the water, but when he looked again, he diappeared, causing who he is and what's he's all about to remain an enigma.

Herman Melville

http://www.poetry-archive.com/m/the_martyr.html
-"The Martyr"

http://www.poetry-archive.com/m/the_berg.html
-"The Berg"

Herman Melville was born in 1819. His father, Allan Melvill, died in 1832, two years after the collapse of the family's import business. Melville began writing at a very young age, but could not focus primarily on his writing due to the family's financial difficulties. After working as a cabin boy on the St. Lawrence, Melville began writing about the sea in novels such as Moby Dick and Typee.

In "The Martyr," Herman Melville uses much imagery. When he says, "He lieth in his blood" one can get a mental image of a man not only dead, but brutally murdered. Also, the line "Beware the People weeping/ When they bare the iron hand" makes the reader fearful that the mourners of the murdered man seek vengeance for his death.

While reading "The Berg" by Herman Melville, I could visualize the shipwreck as it was occurring. Melville's use of imagery allowed me to put myself in the presence of the ship as it hit the iceberg and as it was sinking.

I couldn't see anything in Herman Melville's writing that would classify him as an American poet. The only connection I could make between his works and American history and media was how "The Berg" seemed very similar to the story of the Titanic. Most of his writings seem like they could have been written by anyone from any culture. I doubt that if someone who knew nothing of Herman Melville read one of his poems for the first time he orshe would be able to surely say that he was American.

Mark Twain

Mark Twain was an American realist; that is, he wrote about life as he actually saw it. This differs from the writings of the American romanticists, who wrote about what life may be like if they were living in an ideal society. While the romanticists wrote about such things as how America can become a better place, Twain wrote about what actually occurred in the current America, such as little boys who don't get rewarded for their good deeds or men who tell stories about betting men to people who come seeking other information.

Twain writes about a variety of topics. One topic that he writes about is how the laws of karma are not always followed. It is said that if one does good deeds, good will be brought upon that person. In the case of the good little boy, every time he does a good deed, some negative repercussion in inflicted upon him.

I am happy that I chose to read and write about Mark Twain. I like how his writings do not romanticize society but show what life is really like. I now understand why Mark Twain is such a popular author.