For this blog post I am going to be describing my pitch for my multimodal final project. So my plan in my head right now is to make either a digital version or a poster of each of the seven deadly sins. Then under each of the sins, I will have a picture with where the sin was shown in the 2013 movie. So for example, I will have lust and under it will be a picture of Tom at the apartment with Myrtle having an affair, Tom is very lustful not just for Myrtle but for other women in general. I think Tom and Myrtles relationship is completely built on lust. Another example is Gatsby has a very strong lust for the past and he desires to have that past with Daisy back. Another prominent sin is gluttony and I can show this with pictures of the over abundance of alcohol and the food. Envy is another one that I can show and it is seen where Myrtle is very envious and jealous of the rich life, she doesn’t want to be living the life that she’s currently living, she wants to be living a lavish and rich life. I can show wrath by how multiple different times Tom gets super angry and has hatred. Tom can also be a good example of pride because he always has to brag or boast or be better, but Gatsby is like this too sometimes. I think this is a good idea for my final project because it shows that the main thing that I learned was about how I think the Great Gatsby is completely a novel full of sin.
For this blog post I have decided to talk about my motive for wanting to write about The Great Sins in The Great Gatsby in my research paper. The main reason as to why I want to write about this is because it’s something that I’m really curious about, why would Fitzgerald want to write such a sin provoking book when he was Catholic. I think this is a good topic for me to focus on because I have past background knowledge of the sins and religion, and this will be super helpful to me writing my research paper. Getting to focus on each sin individually in a paragraph or page for each sin will be really easy because I mainly know the definition of each sin and I can easily tell you where it is seen in The Great Gatsby, also as a human I have experience with most or all of these sins because im not perfect, this will be good to add into my research paper as background knowledge. I think this research paper will be something that easily comes to my brain when I really focus on it but the only thing I am worried about is the length because I’ve never written something that long, but being able to use quotes from resources and The Great Gatsby is definitely going to be helpful and I will use that to my benefit. I hope this research paper does well to lengthen my paper 1 ideas and lets me go into more deep detail then i did in paper 1. I hope I can make Dr.Mintler happy by doing well on this research paper and really broadening my paper 1.
For this blog post I am going to be comparing Easter and “The Great Gatsby” while they seem to not have a lot in common, when you look closer you can see some surprising similarities. Easter, which is a Christian holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ and rebirth, it is filled with joy, hope, and spiritual renewal. But, “The Great Gatsby” goes into the illusion of the American Dream, which shows a world of excess and moral decline. The contrast between Easter’s bright colors and symbols of new life for example; eggs, bunnies, spring blossoms, and The Great Gatsby’s darker imagery with; the green light, Gatsby’s mansion, the eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleburg shows their differences. But, both Easter and “The Great Gatsby” include the idea of this big transformation. Easter signifies spiritual rebirth and the triumph of life over death, while Gatsby’s reinvention of himself and his relentless pursuit of Daisy shows the opposite version of this theme. We see how Gatsby’s dream is just hollow, which leads to tragedy, but Easter offers a message of hope and redemption. Both Easter and The Great Gatsby invite the readers to reflect on the human condition, but from very different perspectives, one that is spiritual, optimistic and very hopeful with Jesus’s victory over death, and the other is all about social and critical and has the sad downfall of Gatsby.
In this blog post I am going to be talking about Taylor Swift’s fascination with the glamour of the Great Gatsby era that has been very evident way before her “Reputation” era where she specifically referenced the roaring 20’s. I am diving into one of Taylors first Gatsby references of the small but significant reference is in her 2014 People Magazine cover, where she portrayed Mia Farrow’s iconic Daisy Buchanan look. I think that this deliberate choice shows Taylors very early close connection with the aesthetic and underlying themes of The Great Gatsby. By emulating Daisy, Taylor aligned herself with the character who embodies both beauty and vulnerability, while being trapped in a world of parties and hidden desires and secrets. This foreshadowed Taylors later exploration of similar themes in her music, particularly the themes of fame, love, and society expectations. The Daisy inspired cover had also hinted at Taylors creativity for crafting elaborate narratives and making a carefully made public image like she does even today, much like Gatsby himself. Through this small reference, Taylor showed her deep understanding of the Gatsby lifestyle and its enduring relevance, even today. It goes to show her ability to take inspiration from literary classics and seamlessly intertwine them into her own music, which creates a very thought provoking piece of work. But overall, Taylor’s 2014 People cover was a really smart move that showed her artistry and public persona. It also is what kick-started her love for the Gatsby era as she later adds many nods to Gatsby in her songs.
In Taylor Swifts song “So Long, London”, she describes a character’s hopeful and unrealistic want of the main character for a certain future. She starts the song by saying “I saw in my mind fairy lights through the mist” this is similar to how Gatsby shows Nick that on Daisy’s dock across the water there is a green light so Gatsby can see exactly where Daisys house is directly across the water, even through mist. Then Taylor goes on to say “Pulled him in tighter each time he was drifting away My spine split from carrying us up the hill”, this reminds me of how Daisy was, in a way, just being dragged along by Gatsby because Gatsby thought he could just bring back the past but that’s not something that could be done and Daisy wasn’t able to just go back in time and love him the way she used to. The line ”Two graves, one gun” reminds me of how both Myrtle and Gatsby were killed but metaphorically Gatsby was the reason for both of their deaths because he was in the car with Daisy when they hit Myrtle. Gatsby was also, in a way, reliable for his own death because he made an enemy with Tom and Tom told George that Gatsby killed Myrtle, which made George go kill Gatsby. And then another line in the song that goes “You swore that you loved me but where were the clues? I died on the altar waiting for the proof” this line reminds me of the affair that Tom has, because Tom swore that he loved Daisy and told her multiple times “it won’t happen again” but he continued to do it over and over which really hurt her and that made me super sympathetic to her. Overall this song reminds me of many different things that happen in the Great Gatsby and the sadness and hurt involved with love.
I am going to be looking at the difference between Taylor Swift’s song “Happiness” and “The Great Gatsby”. They share a common theme of wanting to repeat the past, which is impossible. In “Happiness,” Taylor sings about a love that she has lost and how she misses and wants to go back to the time when they were together. In the same way, in “The Great Gatsby,” Gatsby is wanting to repeat the past and tries to recreate his love with Daisy Buchanan, but you can’t go back in time. Both Taylor in her song and Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby explore the idea that happiness is fleeting and that it is impossible to go back in time. In “Happiness,” Taylor sings, “I hope she’ll be a beautiful fool, Who takes my spot next to you”, just like how in “The Great Gatsby,” Daisy says “I hope she’ll be a fool, that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool”. I like to think that Taylor did take this specifically from the Great Gatsby and used it to tell a story in her song. Many fans speculate that Taylor wrote this song about her friend Abigail who was in a seven year long relationship, in the song it says “I guess it’s the price I paid for seven years in Heaven”. Taylor was friends with Abigail from the beginning of her relationship with this guy all the way until the end. Actually Taylor released the song before Abigail told the public that her and her husband of seven years were getting a divorce and the fans went so crazy about wanting to know who the song was about that Abigail eventually just had to release that they were separating. The Great Gatsby is similar to this story in the way that its very messy and chaotic. In conclusion, Happiness by Taylor Swift and The Great Gatsby both have similar themes and Taylor took many things from the Great Gatsby for this song.
The book “The Great Gatsby” and college students going on spring break trips share some fun similarities even though they are separated by nearly a century. Both involve fun parties, a desire for escapism, and a search for being fulfilled. In TGG, Jay Gatsby throws these extravagant parties at his mansion trying to win back the love of his life, Daisy Buchanan. College students go on spring break trips to escape the dullness of their daily lives and experience new and exciting adventures. Both Gatsby and the college students are searching for something more than their ordinary everyday lives offer. Gatsby’s parties are filled with alcohol and jazz music, college students’ spring break trips often have beach parties, poolside lounging, and wild nights out. Both Gatsby and college students use this as a way to let go and forget about their troubles, or homework. But under the surface, both Gatsby and college students are dealing with deeper issues of identity, purpose, and pursuing happiness. On the other side, there are also some differences between the two. Gatsby’s parties are somewhat exclusive and attended by high society, while college students spring break trips are usually more inclusive and open to all. Gatsby’s parties are more formal and have more structure, while college students spring break trips are usually more spontaneous. In conclusion, both TGG and college students spring break trips offer a small look into the human desire for that connection, excitement, and a sense of belonging. While specific details can be different, the basic themes are classic.
In honor of Women’s History Month I want to talk about the good things that the women in The Great Gatsby did, because people seem to mainly focus on the bad that they did. First is Daisy Buchanan, she was a very strong girl all around, like I learned in the Beautiful Little Fools she had to go through both her dad and sister dying at the same time on the same train when she was pretty young and she had to go through all of that grief for both of these important people in her life. Her sister Rosie was her best friend so I can’t imagine going through something like that. She is a very independent girl who’s not afraid to speak her mind, but she doesn’t seem to speak her mind to Tom very much, I personally think probably because of fear. Daisy is also a very loving mother to Pammy and she actually tried multiple times to tell Tom that she just wanted to take care of her instead of a nurse taking care of her all of the time, but Tom never listened. Daisy is also a super loyal friend to Jordan Baker, she stood by her side for everything and I believe she would have stood by her side if Jordan told her the real truth why she wasn’t at the golf tour anymore. The next very successful and good woman overall is Jordan Baker, she is so successful because of her career in golf, she is a very skilled golfer. Jordan is also a really good friend to both Daisy and Nick. For example Jordan tells Nick about the affair that Tom is having, and she helps Daisy get back with her true love. Daisy and Jordan are childhood friends and I think they will always be friends for a long time. In conclusion, the women did do some bad things in the Great Gatsby but overall they did a ton of really good things too and I feel like it’s not as recognized as it should be.
In Taylor Swift’s song “Lover”, she sings about how she finds a true love and all of the fun and the happiness with love. There are many different things that connect Taylors love some to many of the characters and some of the themes of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby. I think this is a song that Daisy could have easily related to. In the song, Taylor talks about wanting to be with this lover all of the time and misses them when they are apart. Gatsby longs for Daisy, his lover, in the same way how he loves her so much but cant have her because she wants to stay with tom for the money. Both the song and the book have a really good idea of this search for happiness and love. Taylor talks about find this love and happiness in the relationship that she describes with her lover. This is very similar to how Gatsby thinks he will feel if he got Daisy all to himself. Additionally both the book and the song talk about the theme of social classes and in the song Taylor describes how her lover comes from a completely different social class then she does. There is a lot of differences in social class in the Great Gatsby like how Tom was the rich guy that was supposedly trying to save poor Myrtle and Gatsby was poor at first but then got rich somehow (with fraud). In conclusion, there are many different things that are similar in Taylors song “Lover” and The Great Gatsby, both explore love and happiness and social class.
In Taylor Swift’s song “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” Taylor talks about the similarities between her and Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby. I’ve done some research on why she wrote this song and she wrote this song about eight years after Kanye West rudely jumped on stage after she won her first VMA and Kanye believed that Beyonce deserved it so he jumped on stage and interrupted her acceptance speech. This song was written by Taylor about her life by saying “It was so nice throwin’ big parties, Jump into the pool from the balcony, Everyone swimmin’ in a champagne sea” this is her describing her life before this debacle with Kanye she is saying that her life was all parties and fun as an up and coming artist. That line also sounds very similar to the big parties Gatbsy threw to get Daisy’s attention and also about the balcony that Gatsby had, and also there was definitely champagne at these parties too. Taylor describes herself as “Feelin’ so Gatsby for that whole year” and then she says “So why’d you have to rain on my parade?” we assume she is talking about Kanye in this line, but in a Gatsby sense you could say the one that rained on Gatsby’s parade was Tom. She sings “This is why we can’t have nice things darlin’, Because you break them, I had to take them away” if you look at that quote in a certain way it can easily describe many of the relationships in the Great Gatsby, like Daisy and Gatsby, Daisy and Tom, Myrtle and Tom, they all ended up kind of broken in the end and they all had such nice things to begin with but ruined it because of mainly selfishness and greed. In this song and many others, Taylor may intentionally or unintentionally write about the Great Gatsby but it shows us how celebrities’ lives can be very similar to the extravagant life that Gatsby had.