All things in life end are best ended with music. Whether it be a movie, play, relationship, funeral, or birthday and since we are officially done with The Great Gatsby in class I thought the best way to end it was with music.
I’m going to put certain scenes of The Great Gatsby to the music of John Mayer’s (with Katy Perry) Who You Love.
The lyrics to the song will be in blue and what scene it overlays will be in purple.
We still aren’t don’t with The Great Gatsby in class and I only found that out after my English teacher thought it would be a good idea to have a discussion and read an article about it. We already had to do the BRAWL and that was enough, more than enough actually. I would have preferred to just have taken a test on the book instead of doing this but I am in AP so what he says goes. I would just like to politely disagree with what he says though. At least the year is half over and I can read more AP books for the AP exam next year; fun all around me. I think the more we talk about the book the more I don’t like it. It’s like setting your alarm to wake you up to your favorite song because you will hate that song really quickly since that’s what drives you to get up from your pleasant dreams and comfy sleep and wake up. I’m sure there are benefits to discussing and answering questions about The Great Gatsby in class but I think you can only analyze something so much before you don’t see any new connections or points of interests. It’s the same reason why it’s a good idea to have someone else read your essay or whatever before you turn it in since you have read it so many times that it’s hard for you to see the grammar errors and helpful hints.
It’s important to know when to move on and when it’s worth it to try something new.
– Gold Glitter Pumps
Hello everyone! How was your weekend?
Last week in class we did six word stories. Now because we just finished The Scarlet Letter we did it concerning that. I think I am getting a little ahead of myself…I should explain what a six word story is. Well…it’s exactly what it says. Though it would be kind of pointless to just put “I went to the grocery store” as your story. You have to try to pull out emotions from people. It all started by someone challenging Ernest Hemingway to write a story in six words. This is what he came up with:
Some say that this short story was his best work. For me it’s so sad, because why would someone have baby shoes that would never have been worn? What happened to the baby? I don’t even want to think about that.
Ok! Now that you know what a six word story is we can get back to what I was saying. So..Scarlet Letter…six word story in class. Caught up? Awesome!
So here were the four stories I came up with for the Scarlet Letter:
1) Pain in heart, no one sees.
2) Revenge for the long forgotten one. (This one is my favorite!!!)
3) A hidden symbol causes much pain.
4) The little child no one sees.
Gold Glitter Pumps came up with these ones for The Scarlet Letter:
1) Guilt or shame, which is worse?
2) She still eventually threw me away.
3) Make the most of every situation.
4) Husband, Scholar, Liar, Plotter, Torturer.
Of course you make a six word story anytime. It doesn’t just have to be concerning a book. What are some six word stories you can think of? Can they evoke as much emotions as Ernest Hemingway’s? As always feedback is welcomed and encouraged! Hope everybody is having a great day!
-Navy Blue Dress
Recently in English we have been having discussions about the Scarlet Letter. Instead of doing a socratic seminar, group discussions, or even small group discussions, we get to do twitter chats with the entire class including our teacher! Yes, I know what you’re saying, why is so great, well I’ll tell you. It’s so great because we get to go out of the classroom for a day, talk among friends, and it’s fun because as you’re typing your answer, thirty odd more students are doing the same as well. It also makes sure that people’s responses are short, only 140 characters, because when you do in class discussions they can get pretty long. Trust me, I know. If you are scared of speaking out, or just don’t like it, then this is especially good for you because they can read it if they want to and you’re not as pressured with the whole class’s eyes on you. You don’t have to sit there waiting for the person to be done talking either because everyone is adding to the same conversation at the same time and this helps ideas to flow more fluently and quickly and more people get to speak this way. For me, they help me understand what we’re talking about a little bit more as well because if I put my answer up, the my teacher’s question, and see someone else’s and think that it’s just amazing, then I can favorite it, retweet it, or even comment on it to tell them what I think. It also gives you helpful criticism on how you view and understand the book.
All I’m saying is that this is really neat and effective in many ways and I’m going to actually miss English class after this year because I don’t know if my teacher next year will do this. I hope you do this at your school, and if not, then I hope you can convince him/her to let you try it.
That’s all for now! Tell me what you think and what you’re experiences were if you have done this before.
-Gold Glitter Pumps
In the book All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul goes on leave and he discovers that his mother, once again, has cancer and things are not looking good for her. He is devastated just thinking that he might not have his mom anymore. Especially with all the pain she’s going through. Every mom has to send their son away to war and pray and hope everyday that the letter they will get in the mail is from them and not from the government giving their condolences. Our mothers care more about us than we ever could and they were forced to live without their sons for years on end. They will never be able to get those years back. Paul’s mother, even though she is hungrier than him, sends him almost all of the food she can get her hands on and figures that maybe if he just had enough food that he will come home to her. Our mothers never want us to grow up and once we are grown up we realize just how important the time spent with them is and all the memories that you hold dear of them. This video shows how much moms mean to people and how important they are in our lives.
What do these warriors have in common?
Army of Skanks – Gretchen Weiners, Regina George, Cady Heron, Karen Smith
Iron Youth – Kropp, Müller, Leer, Paul
They go to the bathroom together.
They too all spend time together “at the bathroom”.
The girls wear pink every Wednesday and sweats on Friday.
But the soldiers wear their uniforms all the time.
Have to stay skinny and not eat a lot because if they don’t then they will be kicked out from the group.
Have to stay in shape to survive the war. They also have very small rations and are almost always hungry.
Act snobby and snooty because that’s their social reform for them. That’s how those types of girls act and how they carry themselves.
Act tough and talk a certain way with each other and are also expected to act a certain way. It’s said in the book how if their teachers and family heard how they were talking they would be astonished but where they are and to them that’s the normal lingo and how the talk.
Think that they are better than everybody else in every way and that they deserve better because everyone else is worse than them.
Think that their generation is better than the previous from personal experience and that they don’t know what their doing.
Aren’t afraid to speak their minds no matter what they have to say. Whether it’s hurtful or nice and they don’t care what anyone else thinks about it.
Aren’t afraid to confront the enemy and be on the front line.
Attend high school and are still growing up and figuring out who they are.
Haven’t even hit their twenties yet and were forced to grow up without anyone being an example to them in their live while on the other hand the girls get time to grow up and have people surrounding them.
All of the girls treat their mom with no respect and this also ties back into them thinking that they know everything and are better than everyone else. They don’t care what their mom think and they do what they want when they want.
Mess with the generals and don’t care about them either. They’ll follow an order without hesitation because an order is an order but beyond that they constantly mess with their officials.
Cady was forced to leave her home and change schools. She will never be able to return to her formal life because it will never be the same and neither will she from that point on between the people that she meets and how her previous friends are getting along in their lives.
Have to draft for their country and leave to war. On the small chance that they live through the war they can never simply return to the lives that they were previously living. They can’t pick up where they left off. Between all the horrific things they had seen and all their friends they saw die before them you change after that and you never really are the same person.
Cady saw Regina get severely hurt by an oncoming bus.
See their friends die all the time on the frontline.
People are always gossiping at school and you could have told someone something at lunch and by the end of the day everyone knows about it. It doesn’t really matter what it is and you know that everyone knows.
Even when the guys are ten miles from the frontline of battle, you can still hear the sound of war. Just like the girls, everyone knows what’s going on all the time whether they want to hear it or not.
Are trying to grow up too fast and be more mature than they actually are. They act like adults so much to the point where they believe it.
Are forced to grow up because when you go to war there is no time for the process of growing up to take place. Especially when you are expected to do certain things then you kind of be immune to things like going to the bathroom in front of each other or being naked in front of each other.
– Navy Blue Dress, Gold Glitter Pumps, Dark Gray Peacoat
The New Vintage 