Reading Journal: The Great Gatsby

Entry No. 1: Reading Schedule The copy I am reading is 9 chapters and 189 pages long, therefore I have come up with the following reading schedule: Week 1: December 11 th to December 17 th   Read chapters one, two and three of the book (64 pages in total) Week 2: December 18 th to December 24 th   Read chapters four, five, and six of the book (53 pages in total) Week 4: December 25 th to December 31 st   Read chapters seven, eight, and nine of the book (70 pages in total) P.S Throughout all these journal entries when I reference the novel I am referring to the 2021 Penguin Books edition of The Great Gatsby edited by Philip McGowan.

 Entry No. 2: Why I Chose this Novel Like many others I had heard about the Great Gatsby enough to know that it was based in the 1920’s and centered around a rich man named Gatsby. I knew it was a classic and one of the best and most influential books of all time but besides that I had no other knowledge about the book. As ashamed as I am to admit it I have always struggled to read classics. However, I know that they are classics and still talked about today for a reason, therefore I chose to read the Great Gatsby for my culminating activity since it would push me out of my comfort zone. Also, there is lots of information about the book and its importance online, which is why I thought it would be a good book to choose since I can compare my general knowledge and interpretation of the book with others. I also chose the Great Gatsby as my book because I thought it would be interesting to read a book narrated by another character rather than by the main protagonist. Most books I read...

  Entry No. 3: Character Development Character Development: Chapters 1-3 In chapter 1 I was introduced to Nick Carraway, a 30-year-old man who lives in the United States and moves East to learn the bond business. We learn that he is a member of a rich family who earned their fortune by sending substitutes to the Civil War so they could start a wholesale hardware business that continues to thrive years later.   In chapter 1 I was also introduced to Daisy and Tom Buchanan. Daisy is Nick’s second cousin and Nick met Tom (Daisy’s husband) when they were both in college. Tom played football at New Haven and is known as one of the best players of his time. As a result of his athletic skills, Tom is a very wealthy man, both him and Daisy live in beautiful Mansion in East Egg overlooking a lake.   When the reader is first introduced to Tom he is described as a “a sturdy straw-haired man of thirty, with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.” (Fitzgerald 11) Tom’s superior...

  Entry No. 4: Biographical and Historical Context The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it was published on April 10 th , 1925. Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In 1913 while he was attending Princeton University, he began to work on his first novel This Side of Paradise. Later he married Zelda Sayre and one year after they wedded their daughter Frances Scott Fitzgerald was born. After the birth of his daughter, Fitzgerald spent many years traveling and moving across America seeking help for his wife Zelda whose mental state was progressively dwindling as a result of mental illness. In the late 1930’s he moved to Hollywood and worked on various screenplays, during this time period he was also writing his final book The Last Tycoon. Unfortunately, this book was never completed since Fitzgerald died in 1948 as a result of health complications due to a pervious heart attack. As was previously mentioned, The Great Gatsby was publishe...

  Entry No. 5: Notes on Resilience  When I think of resilience in The Great Gatsby, the first character that comes to mind is Gatsby himself since he struggled his way to the top to become among the wealthiest in Long Island. When Gatsby finally tells Nick what he life was like five years ago, Nick recounts his story saying that “However glorious might be his future as Jay Gatsby, he was at present a penniless young man without a past” (Fitzgerald 156) Five years ago James Gatz quite literally only had the clothes on his back. However, he remained determined to prosper after he returned from the war, willing to do anything to get Daisy back, thus demonstrating resilience.   Another character who demonstrated resilience in The Great Gatsby was Nick Carraway who was set on giving Gatsby the funeral he felt he deserved and who persevered even though many did not want to attend. We can see Nick’s resilience when he makes several phone calls trying to contact Meyer Wolfshiem, ...

Entry No. 6: Analysis using literary lenses The psychological lens helped me to develop a good understanding of The Great Gatsby in many ways. For example, it gave me a good understanding of its main characters, specifically Daisy, Tom and Gatsby. Using this lens, I was able to closely examine Gatsby’s motivations as well as what helps him to remain resilient. All of these ultimately trace back to Daisy Buchanan since Gatsby is completely head over heels in love with her so much so that he often becomes irrational and excuses her despicable actions. This lens also helped me to understand Daisy and Tom Buchanan’s behaviour and attitudes and why they reacted to certain situations accordingly. For example, in my third journal entry I mentioned that Nick describes the couple as careless, saying that they smashed things up and retreated back into their money (Fitzgerald 186, 187). Examining this behaviour helped me to understand why Daisy and Tom let Gatsby die and ran away from the situati...

Entry No. 7: Text-to-text Connections  While reading The Great Gatsby , I compared a lot of the main characters to characters from novels I have read previously. For example, I could not help comparing Daisy Buchanan to June Iparis from my favourite book series Legend. Both characters have lived privileged lives since the beginning and are ignorant of the struggles of people who do far worse economically. However, when June meets Day a homeless boy from the streets, she starts to realize that she is spoiled and makes more of an effort to be more thankful for all the things she has. Daisy on the other hand, continues in her ignorance throughout the entirety of The Great Gatsby. She knew that Gatsby was poor but knowing this only made her ultimately reject Gatsby for Tom Buchanan a wealthy football player. This gives us a greater understanding of Daisy’s personality and honestly makes her quite unlikeable, leaving many to wonder why Gatsby was so in love with her.   Throughout t...

Entry No. 8: Sentence Starters 13. I dislike Daisy Buchanan because… She is the type of girl who wants everything and everyone and does not appear to be grateful for the things she has. Throughout the book she always seems to be restless, always looking for more despite being born into privilege. Meanwhile, she claims to be in love with Gatsby, but she wants to continue her marriage to her husband Tom all while continuing her affair with Gatsby. Not only is this unfair to both parties involved it is also extremely unfair to Daisy’s daughter who is cared for principally by her nanny rather than her parents.   27. I can’t believe… That Daisy did not attend Gatsby’s funeral and didn’t even call Nick to explain herself when he found out that she and Tom left Long Island not telling anyone where they were going or when they would be back. While I understand that she may have been scared of the truth about Myrtle Wilson’s death coming to light, I think that her supposed love for Gatsby s...

Entry No. 9: Questions to Consider 52. Did this book make you laugh? Cry? Cringe? Smile? Cheer? Explain. This book made me smile when Nick first meets Gatsby and he describes his smile as something so much more than understanding. He continues his description saying that “It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life.” (Fitzgerald 52) This book also made me cringe every time Gatsby tried to convince himself that Daisy never loved Tom and only had eyes for him since everyone except for Gatsby knew it was a lie. Gatsby was so in love with Daisy that he couldn’t see how rotten and careless she truly was. 54. What is the most important sentence/paragraph/passage in this book? The most important event or feeling? Explain. In my opinion the most important passage in this book is the description of the Valley of Ashes which represents the foul dust that covers the dreams and aspirations of the wealthy. This pas...

Entry No. 10: Alternative Responses 85. Illustrate a book cover different from what is on your book. The first image to the right shows what the book cover of my personal copy of  The Great Gatsby  looked like while the other is an image of the book cover I designed myself for this novel. 89. Choose a food that represents this book and explain why.   In my opinion, a food that appropriately represents The Great Gatsby is deviled eggs, these are normally served as appetizers at fancy parties. However, there is actually nothing fancy about deviled eggs as they are simply hardboiled eggs that have been refilled with egg yolks, mayonnaise, and mustard. Likewise, the wealthy characters in The Great Gatsby are made to look like refined and prominent self-made millionaires when they are all actually just like everyone else. They take advantage of the poor and take credit for things they have not contributed to, which ultimately makes them just like deviled eggs. No amount of fan...