Chapters 1-5 of The Great Gatsby

        While reading the first five chapters of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I have noticed many things. I’ve noticed that there is a lot of relationship drama. Daisy is married to Tom, but in chapter two, we meet Tom’s mistress, Myrtle- his “woman in the city.” Myrtle is married to George Wilson, a gas station owner in the Valley of Ashes. Nick, the narrator of the story, is Daisy’s cousin and is Gatsby’s neighbor. Gatsby is in love with Daisy and in chapter 5, the the 2 of them meet for the first time in 5 years. It is very awkward at first, but by the end of the gathering, they’ve re-kindled their love for each other. All of this love triangle craziness is, I think, a symbol of the love craziness going on in the 1920’s time period. I think this represents not only love, but the craziness of the decade in general. 

        I’ve also noticed how he uses the settings of the book to represent some aspects of the 1920’s. The East Egg represents the people of the time who were born into money and the West Egg represents the people who earned their money- whether it be through business, gambling, etc. This is important because money was a huge deal during the 20’s. The Valley of Ashes represents the downfall of American Society.  

        In my opinion, people who live in the West Egg, in a way, represent American Dream. They are “new money” which means most of them, have been in a low social class, and have worked their way to the top. After all, that is the American Dream to many people, isn’t it? Doing whatever it takes to get to the top. 

        The Great Gatsby is a very interesting book and I have really enjoyed reading it so far. I hope to find it even more entertaining as we continue reading. 

"The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

           In “The Birthmark”, Nathaniel Hawthorne writes about a man named Alymer who is married to a woman named Georgiana. Georgiana is a very beautiful woman, but she has one small birthmark on the side of her face. It is shaped like a small hand and is crimson in color. Alymer is not phased by this at the beginning of his marriage, but soon realizes that a birthmark is Nature’s way of marking imperfections in a person. His imagination and fear of this lead him to constantly fear about Georgiana’s liability to sin, sorrow, decay, and death. He was afraid og her morality. This caused him much horror and grief. He asks her if she has eve thought of removing the birthmark and she is then embarrasses and slightly offended.  Alymer becomes obsessed with her having it removed. Alymer then brings Georgiana to the laboratory, where he works, to have the birthmark removed. He sees and tries many experiments on which to remove the birthmark, including a magic flower, immorality globe, etc. Georgiana constantly begs him to just forget about her blemish and leave it be. Later, Alymer claims the hand upon her face has taken over her and that the hand upon her face is causing hr to be mortal. Georgina then begs Alymer to remove the hand on her face, no matter what he has to do. Alymer then brings over a liquor that then she drinks. The potion removed the hand, but then Georgina ends up dying shortly after. 

      This short story’s theme is very similar to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The theme of The Crucible. is that you are what you fear the most. This means that what you fear happening to you the most, is what takes over your thoughts and dreams and you end up making it happen yourself while trying to prevent it. In “The Birthmark” that is exactly what happens. Alymer is afraid that his wife’s birthmark will make her die, and so he gives her a liquor to make the birthmark disappear in hopes to make her immortal. The poison ends up killing her- which is exactly the fear he was trying to prevent.

On Writing- Final Essay

On Writing by Stephen King

Final Essay

        Writing... That is the key. Writing as often as possible is the key to becoming a good writer. Stephen King expresses this in many aspects in his book On Writing. King uses real life stories and literary examples to show that the best way to become a great writer, is to write. 

        Stephen King begins the book by telling his life experiences. These life experiences show how King evolved into the writer that he is today. He tells of how he began writing in the first grade when he was forced to be at home because he missed too much school due to strep throat and ear infections. (Page 27) This shows that he was, for lack of better terminology, almost born a writer. So what if it was only copying comic strips? At such a young age, most kids are running in circles or playing with toys. King wanted to write.

       As the section goes on, King tells of many other experiences with writing. As a teen, he helped his older brother with his newspaper, Dave’s Rag, and then became the editor of his high school’s newspaper, The Drum. (Page 50) This shows that he continued to love to write though his teen years and kept the interest alive. King wrote about what was important to him. (Even though it may have gotten him in trouble a time or two.)

       King also tells of his many horrifying experiences. King was hit by a truck while on a walking on a vacation and at one point, was addicted to drugs and alcohol. (page 87) These things normally would’ve kept a person from writing, but Stephen King chose to fight through all of this and take these opportunities to write. 

       To me, this book is inspiring because King shows a true love for the art. King is proof and is an example and a role model to know that no matter what I’m going through, I can still write. I can take the situation I’m in and use it to my advantage to better my writing. To become a great writer, I must write as often as possible- no matter what.