final blog post

For my book I chose to read The Old Man And The Sea, by Ernest Hemingway. I will give a short summary of the book. in the beginning of the book we meet an old fisherman named Santiago. Santiago lives in Cuba and has recently been struck with terrible luck when it comes to his fishing. Because of this his friend named Manolin, who has fished with santiago since he was a kid has to leave to join a "lucky" boat. When the old man leaves to fish he finally hooks a fish. it is the biggest marlin he has seen, measuring at 18 feet. the struggle to catch the fish lasts days and the old man sufferes many injuries along the way. eventually he catches the fish, finally. however, when he tries and pull it to the shore sharks attack the marlin and eat all the meat. Santiago gains nothing and is sorry that he killed the fish, thinking that it would bring him happiness.

 I feel the setting of the book was incredible, Hemingway recreates Cuba in a way that I feel I am really there. however, when I think on what I read I can't help but be confused as to the message of the book was. on one hand I can see and subject in the book of the old man never giving up even though he misses the times when he had a partner to fish with. towards the middle of my reading I thought the book was about never giving up and that you will get what you set your mind to. however, I do not think that is the case anymore, as we learn that the fish is eaten and he gains nothing. because of this I believe that the theme of the book is "when striving for material things you are not guaranteed happiness". my reason for this is that throughout the book the old man is always saying how much he wants the fish and how the young boy Manolin will be able to fish with him again. furthermore, later in the book after he has caught the fish he wishes he had not caught the fish saying that it is not good to kill beatiful things you love.

Blog Post #25

Of all the texts that we've read this year, which one is your favorite, and why? Which one is your least favorite, and why?

this blog post forced me to think about everything we have learned this year and find my favorite book. personally my favorite book was The Odyssey. i think the reason i liked the odyssey so much was because i have always been interested in mythology and the book gave me a different perspective on that. there were also very interesting subplots and side stories that made it easier to get lost in the pages. I also liked the experience i got from deciphering the text. this type of language was fairly new to me and made the book challenging. if i had to pick my least favorite book it would have to be the narrative of the life of frederick douglass. don't get me wrong i loved this book soooo much but i just feel i got more from the other books we read. this book was very emotional and i learned a lot from it but i feel as a whole this book made me more sad than anything. i guess i just feel that i could get more enjoyment from a book like the odyssey or the great gatsby.

Blog Post #24

Why is The Great Gatsby the great american novel?

the Great Gatsby is considered by some to be one of the greatest works of literature, or at least the great american novel. but why is it considered so? in the documentary we watched about the lost generation we saw that young adults who aspires to be writers would study literature from europe. for years writers would try and create a great AMERICAN novel. Fitzgerald accomplished this with his book. he tried to capture american values and the american dream and inserted them into a novel. Gatsby is the american dream, well at least part of him, he got rich quick, bought a big house and got the the girl, well sort of. this is why The Great Gatsby is the great american novel.

Blog Post #23

1. Is the climax the hotel scene when Tom and Gatsby argue, or is it when Gatsby meets Daisy at Nick's house? What central conflict or conflicts are being addressed in the climax, and how is this the turning point of the narrative (story)? Use textual evidence to back up your claims.

when I was reading The Great Gatsby if someone asked me what the climax was i would have said it was when Gatsby and daisy's relationship started. however, now that i have had time to reflect i can say that the climax is the hotel scene. my main reasoning for this being that this is the scene when all the stories conflicts are put out in the open. Gatsby's relationship with Daisy come out and we get a fight between tom and Gatsby. this is also the point in the novel where everything changes. you could argue that the story changes when Gatsby and Daisy meet but there are not really any major conflicts being resolved.