Active Reading Jounal: "The Great Gatsby" Chapters 1&2

The Great Gatsby
By: F. Scott Fitzgerald

 Before reading the first chapter of The Great Gatsby we were asked to listen to The Big Read Audio Guide  (until 14:32) and take notes about what we learned about F. Scott Fitzgerald (with some book facts):

• Height of the roaring 20s.
• "Jitteriness" of characters emphasizes the hype of the 20s.
• Nick has an outsider perspective. 
• Nick is a minor character, but he narrates the book.
• Same values and background (Fitzgerald and Nick).
• "Father was a failure."
• Obsessed withwanting to belong from the culture himself (subset, coming from the south).
• First to write seriously about money and how it works. Affects of money on character.
• Fitzgerald never really recovered from it's "commercial failure".
•  Daisy's and Gatsby's kiss is the "Most famous kiss in all of American literature"?
• Characters meant to be un-rounded (Daisy).

Next, we were asked to  Read the attached short essays, “F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1896–1940”, “Fitzgerald and the Jazz Age”, and “Fitzgerald and His Other Works” and add notes to your journal predicting important influences on Fitzgerald. Short Essays

"F. Scott Fizgerald, 1986-1940"

• The paradox of Fitzgerald's father going bankrupt and him still playing with the rich kids.
• His military placement in Montgomery, Alabama.
• Zelda Sayre.
• Move to France.

"Fitzgerald and the Jazz Age"

• New laws that caused change. Like bootlegging.

"Fitzgerald and His Other Works"

• His publication of This Side of Paradise.
• The money earned from his publications (increase in profit).

Chapter 1: Reading Questions

1. Why is Nick telling this story?

I believe Nick is telling this story because:

"When I came back from the East last autumn I felt that I wanted the world to be in uniform and at a sort of moral attention forever; I wanted no more riotous excursions with privileged glimpses into the human heart. Only Gatsby, the man who gives his name to this book, was exempt from my reaction—Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away. This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name of the ‘creative temperament’— it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again. No—Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men" (Fitzgerald, 2)

Gatsby was able to have great impact on Nick's life he is unlike anyone else he has met. He wanted to share the story.

2. Why is Nick “confused and a little disgusted” at the end of the chapter? Answer these in your reading journal.

Nick was "confused and a little  disgusted" (Fitzgerald, 21) because: 

"It seemed to me that the thing for Daisy to do was to rush out of the house, child in arms—but apparently there were no such intentions in her head. As for Tom, the fact that he ‘had some woman in New York’ was really less surprising than that he had been depressed by a book. Something was making him nibble at the edge of stale ideas as if his sturdy physical egotism no longer nourished his peremptory heart" (Fitzgerald, 21)

I think that Nick did not like the fact that Daisy could say things, or act in certain ways but did not intend on it. I also believe that Nick does not like the fact that Tom had a new woman (like having an affair, I assume). He seems to want to figure out what that is all about.

There are a number of things you could consider putting into your journal:
 
Key quotes that you found significant.

The two quotes I have listed above are the most significant to me. They are significant because they somewhat describe what Nick is like (personality wise) while being discrete.

Predictions you have about where the novel may be headed.

I predict that Nick will again meet with Tom, Daisy and Ms. Baker. I also believe that Nick will get to meet or get to know Gatsby.

Significant plot developments and your interpretations of their significance (not plot summary).

I think meeting Daisy, Ms. Baker and Tom was a very significant plot development. It allowed us to see into the characters, which I believe will appear again in the story. (I've heard bits about Daisy already).

    Questions that you have while reading. (you may follow up on these if they involve references you don't recognize – ex. “I didn't know what supercilious meant, but now that I've looked it up, I get the feeling that Tom's character will be …” – or you may not if you feel it is something the story will explain later – ex. “Who is this Gatsby guy anyway? It seems he was significant in Nick's life, but I don't know much about him yet.”)

Some questions that I had while reading include:

"What does extemporizing  mean?" It means: "compose, perform, or produce something such as music or a speech without preparation; improvise." (Memidex)

"Who is Gatsby, and what is his purpose?" Unanswered at the moment.

Listen to The Big Read Audio Guide, ... 14:32 to the end. Maureen Corrigan explains that in this novel, “you can’t get at the truth.” Answer the following question in your journal: From what you heard on the Audio Guide, what do you think Corrigan means? Is there any indication, in the first chapter, that we will not “get at the truth”?

First off, I know this has nothing to do with this question, but I did not like listening to this audio guide because it has ruined somethings for me. I was excited to read this novel, but listening to this made me angry, I do not like knowing what a novel is about before reading it and to hear people discuss it before I have read it just peeves me.

Anyway, onto the question. I don't really know what she means by her quote, but I believe that Corrigan might mean that the book does not blatantly tell you what things are meant to mean, or be. But by interpretation. Things are mysterious, and sometimes we cannot change that. There is an indication in the first chapter showing that we will not "get the truth". It can be shown on page 2 (of my copy) when Nick says that Gatsby was the only man that was able to change his opinion on righteous parties, and extravagant life styles. How was he able to do that? I do not know if we will get an answer being this, but I hope we do.

Chapter 1: Summary:

In Chapter 1 we meet Nick, a bond man, who lives in East Eggs beside the notorious Gatsby. We don't learn much about Gatsby in this chapter, only that he was able to change Nick's life somehow.
Nick goes and visits his second cousin once removed, Daisy, and he husband Tom. He's over for a while and meets Ms. Baker, and then he returns home. Not much important all happens, but we do find out that Tom has 'got himself a woman' in New York.

Chapter 2: Reading Questions:

3. What does Nick learn about Tom at the end of Chapter 2?

That he is not happy in his marriage (he is having an affair with Mrs. Wilson), and has made up a lie about Daisy. He also can be very violent and temper-mental over little things (shown when he hit Mrs. Wilson).

4. How does Tom’s treatment of Mrs. Wilson affect Nick?

Tom's treatment of Mrs. Wilson affects Nick because he gets to see a different side of  Tom, but it allows him to make plans to meet with Mr. McKee for lunch.

5.  Choose one of the literary criticism styles (lenses) and apply it to what you have head so far. In addition to your journal, please send me a page which tells me what lense and generally what you are noticing.  This can be done briefly and in point form.

For this I chose "Reader Response Criticism. I find it the easiest one to relate to while reading, because it is all about my opinions.

• I believe that the author intended to make Nick kind of mysterious, like someone in The Big Read Audio Guide mentioned, Nick seems to be a secondary character. He focuses more on everything around him rather then himself.
• I like this novel so far because it includes a lot of detailed descriptions, imagery.
• The writing style allows me to understand what is happening.
• So far, I feel as if I cannot yet relate to the text because it is to early in, and I don't know what I would relate to. I guess I can relate to the fact that I have hung out with people (not in the same way) that Nick does in Chapter 2.
• I feel like I have invested time into trying to understand Nick's character. How he talks, acts, what he's like overall.
• I feel like the overall significant meaning of the book still needs to be explained.

•  Fitzgerald was able to help us make connections in the first 2 chapters of the book towards the characters because he was able to use Nick as a "minor" (but not minor) character. Nick is used to help tell the story. Everything Nick sees and does, we see and do too. Fitzgerald has already used Nick in the thought that he helps us get to know the other characters. Without Nick we would not know more about the affair going on between Tom and Myrtle. We also would not know that Mr. Gatsby somehow changed Nicks life.
• Most readers would feel that Gatsby seems to be extravagant and Nick feels like an outsider. It this shown when Nick seems not to know a lot about Gatsby, and when Miss Baker mentions
• The author was able to use imagery such as:
  
   "Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red and white Georgian Colonial mansion overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walks and burning gardens—finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold, and wide open to the warm windy afternoon, and Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch." (Fitzgerald, 9)
  To set the scene. This allowed me to feel like I knew what it was like, almost like I was there with Nick. 
 

This is what I wrote for our "Applying Critical Theory to Nick and his Perspective":

While reading The Great Gatsby I chose to look through the Reader Response Criticism. Since reading Chapters I and II of the novel, the book has evolved quite a bit. We now know more about the characters that we are looking into the lives of, and we feel more connection towards them. Nick represents the views of Fitzgerald as he is a lot like him; Nick is like Fitzgerald in the means that he is not a very wealthy man hanging around with the quite wealthy. Nick also made a grand move, as did Fitzgerald, from Chicago to New York (West Egg). They were also both in the war, although Fitzgerald was never deployed because the war ended.

Reader Response Criticism would say that Nick seems to be a minor, yet important character in the story. Nick allows us to understand and connect with the characters and plot more deeply. He uses a lot of imagery while he narrates to allow us to vividly see what he is describing. Nick is also very good at making observations as he says on the way to lunch with Gatsby:

 "He looked at me sideways - and I knew why Jordan Baker had believed he was lying. He hurried the phrased 'educated at Oxford, or swallowed it, or choked on it, as it had bothered him before. And with this doubt, his whole statement fell to pieces, and I wondered if there wasn't something a little sinister about him, after all." (Fitzgerald, 65)

Nick was observing the way Gatsby spoke, questioning the story he was telling him. Nick allows us to see into his world, it's entirely not even his world, it is the world of the wealthy. Nick allows us to see what it is like to hangout and be rich, although he himself is not rich.

Most readers would feel as if Nick is more of a background character, telling the story of an extravagant man who is a mystery to others, and I agree. Nick is a very minor character, and his only purpose seems to be is to narrate the story, and help Gatsby meet with Daisy. Most would also say that the text can be told from a Marxist view very easily as one can make a lot of socioeconomic and class related references and points.

Overall, Nick seems allows us to understand the story better by helping us understand characters (and the plot) more deeply. He describes what is going on with a good use of imagery, and observes things very well to help do this. Without him, there would be no story.

Chapter 2: Summary:

In chapter 2 we go with Nick and Tom to meet Tom's "woman". She is Mrs. Wilson, the wife of a mechanic (I believe). They go to Mrs Wilson's apartment, along the way purchase a dog, and Nick gets to meet Mrs. Wilson's sister, Catherine. We learn that Tom and Mrs. Wilson (Myrtle) both are not happy in their marriages. We also get to see a different side of Tom when Myrtle mentions Daisy and he "broke her nose with his open hand" (Fitzgerald, 27). In the end of the chapter Nick leaves, but makes plans to have lunch with Mr. McKee.