In Class Notes

What is a family?

o  Intergenerational pain relating to and expectations between family members.

o  What is hidden behind the picket fence?

o  They relate to each other through their ideals.

o  This is a dysfunctional family desperately trying to not be.

o  No one is quite sure who they are in the family.

o  The sons try so hard to please him in hope of getting approval and live but hate him because they see that as they only way to get approval.

The death of the dream that any man can achieve anything.

·      Willy is the anti-Gatsby.

·      Gatsby becomes everything America represents: self-made, rich, from a poor background, upward mobility.

·      Willy is stuck in the middle class. He never gets to achieve what he was told is achievable by living the life he led. Acknowledging failure.

·      Willy was well liked in his profession and now that is taken away.

·      We never get a real sense of who he was. Everything is so blurred between real and fantasy.

Fear of change.

·      The house in a changing landscape. The house as symbolic of life in America. The world is literally changing around him.

Old play with modern worries.

o  Romans also wrote this worry. There was concern with how the family and society will be washed away by changing times.

o  The salesman as the oldest profession. 

o  How does the aging man bow out of his role as provider and leader?

Coming to terms with being obsolete. The fantasy that lived beneath their function. And when you take his functionality all that is left is the dream. Which is not real.

Linda as a character.

Biff is older 34 and is on a downside. Father hold out hope for him. Disenchanted. Silly adores him but also thinks he's lazy. Is nothing because he doesn't have the American Dream.

Happy is more coming of age. More like Linda and want Willy's approval.

More Death of A Salesman

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=p_LLoI1OnEEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA25&dq=American+Dream+and+death+of+a+salesman+&ots=l7T4kQv0cC&sig=I1IizlWueKD6cUUAPV5mrA5leYU#v=onepage&q=American%20Dream%20and%20death%20of%20a%20salesman&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=sjc5TdesY1YC&oi=fnd&pg=PA156&dq=American+Dream+and+death+of+a+salesman+&ots=Z8S4hr8ffR&sig=gYFkkeygFYvmiYq52cwkTBRqBLQ#v=onepage&q=American%20Dream%20and%20death%20of%20a%20salesman&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=JL1Z38jBGVAC&pg=PA55&dq=American+Dream+and+death+of+a+salesman&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDgQ6AEwA2oVChMIxYatt5SDxwIVBck-Ch2JlwO0#v=onepage&q=American%20Dream%20and%20death%20of%20a%20salesman&f=false

https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/11/12/specials/miller-salesman49.html

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/1949/jul/30/theatre.artsfeatures

http://www.economist.com/node/21550237

http://utmost.org/the-teaching-of-disillusionment/

NO CLASS MON 7/27 OR TUES 7/28--READ ACT ONE OF DEATH OF A SALESMAN

NO CLASS MON 7/27 OR TUES 7/28--READ ACT ONE OF DEATH OF A SALESMAN

This link provides a number of links from the NY Times on the play:
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/teaching-death-of-a-salesman-with-the-new-york-times/

Death of a Salesman (1949) Death of a Salesman relates the story of Willy Loman, a down-on-his-luck traveling salesman. In order to cope with his failures in life, he retreats to the past in his mind and seems to be losing touch with reality. He tries to relive the good times, but keeps coming up against things that went wrong. His family try to help him by lying about their prospects, but when Loman loses his job, after a lifetime with the same company, he becomes desperate. His depression is exacerbated by the guilt he feels from a past infidelity which has estranged him from his older son, Biff. Rather than accept that his life has been a failure, and that Biff is not interested in big business, Loman decides to commit suicide in hopes that the insurance money will help Biff become successful. The play ends with his family and only friend, Charley, grieving by his graveside. 

Here is a really long look at Death of  A Salesman:

http://www.ibiblio.org/miller/DeathofaSalesmanMAThesis2004.pdf

Symbolism in Death of  A Salesman:

http://www.ibiblio.org/miller/gardens.html

Essay 1 Assignment

3 PAGES, DOUBLE SPACED, SIZE 12 TIMES NEW ROMAN

USE TWO OUTSIDE SOURCES (NOT INCLUDING THE TEXT!) AND QUOTE THE PRIMARY TEXTS AS WELL.

USE THE EXAMPLE PAPER HANDOUT FOR MLA GUIDELINES!!

This link will also help with MLA questions:

owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01

Refer to the class blog for outside source info: eng215summer2.blogspot.com

Use direct quotes from the texts along with outside sources to support your thesis.

1. Illusion vs. reality is something that comes up in a lot of literature. We saw some in The Great Gatsby. Pick one aspect of a character’s life, whether it be from the past or the present, and explain how he/she uses illusions to distort their reality
2. Pick one or two of the many symbols from the novel and describe what it is important. What does this symbol mean in to this particular text? Use examples from the texts along with outside sources to support your thesis.
3. How does Gatsby represent the American dream? What does the novel have to say about the condition of the American dream in the 1920s? In what ways do the themes of dreams, wealth, and time relate to each other in the novel’s exploration of the idea of America?

4.      Is Nick a reliable narrator? We do not have much choice but to believe what he says throughout the novel so decide if he is and prove your point.

5.      Compare and contrast Gatsby and Tom OR compare Gatsby to Charlie from Babylon Revisited.” How are they alike? How are they different? Given the extremely negative light in which Tom is portrayed throughout the novel, why might Daisy choose to remain with him instead of leaving him for Gatsby?

6.      We looked at the handout from The Saturday Evening Post about Fitzgerald and in it he said ““There are no second acts in American lives.” How do we see this in “Babylon Revisited” and The Great Gatsby?

7.      What is the role of race in The Great Gatsby? It is not a huge issue in the novel but there are certainly a few hints in there. Use those few examples to give a clearer idea of what role race may have played in society at the time of the novel.

• Your introduction should include:

1)       Title and authors of primary (stories we have read in class) texts

2)       Your thesis (Which depends on the question you write about from above)

• Never end a paragraph with a quote.
• Cite outside sources within in your text; if it appears on your works cited page it has to be used in the paper (direct quotes or paraphrasing).
• Always keep in mind: is this quote proving and supporting my thesis? If not, do not use it!
• WITHOUT A WORKS CITED PAGE OR OUTSIDE SOURCES THE PAPER WILL FAIL

More on The Great Gatsby

This link discusses some random facts about the novel and the writer:

http://gothamist.com/2013/05/07/gatsby_facts.php

The Wire breaks down The Great Gatsby (There is some strong language here):

http://www.openculture.com/2012/08/ithe_wirei_breaks_down_ithe_great_gatsbyi_f_scott_fitzgeralds_classic_criticism_of_america_nsfw.html

Footage of Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda:

http://www.openculture.com/2012/11/rare_footage_of_scott_and_zelda_fitzgerald_from_the_1920s.html

http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/?action=click&contentCollection&region=TopBar&WT.nav=searchWidget&module=SearchSubmit&pgtype=Homepage#/THE GREAT GATSBY

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=the%20great%20gatsby

Race and The Great Gatsby:

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/06/rise-of-the-colored-empires/276844/

https://www.uscupstate.edu/uploadedFiles/Academics/Undergraduate_Research/Reseach_Journal/006_ARTICLE5_2009.pdf

http://flavorwire.com/391193/the-complicated-and-troubling-role-of-race-and-class-in-baz-luhrmanns-Gatsby

https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/why-i-believe-that-jay-gatsby-was-black/153166.article

The Great Gatsby

Taking a few mintues to read some background information on the author will enhance your understanding of the text.

Here are a few quotes to also think about from the text:
 “ Whenever you feel like criticizing any one…just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had” (1).

“”a single green light, minute and faraway, that might have been the end of a dock” (22).

”He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. 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. It faced–or seemed to face–the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself” (48).

“Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known” (60).

Article from class today on the green light:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/education/17gatsby.html?referrer=&_r=1

and one on the American Dream:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-usa-land-of-limitations.html?referrer=&_r=1

Babylon Revisited

Criticism:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00144940.1990.9934031

http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-94-007-0773-3_8?LI=true

Themes found in the story:

• Facing the consequences of one’s actions
• The struggle to change

Symbols found in the story:

• Honoria’s doll
• Snow

This link has some background information and criticism of the story (there is a lot of info here that could be used if you choose to write your first essay about this story):

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tdlarson/fsf/babylon/chap_3.htm

In the next two weeks we will discuss The Great Gatsby which “Babylon Revisited” shares many themes and issues with. Here is a short description of how they are similar:

“Babylon Revisited”: Similarity to The Great Gatsby
In both works, the main character is trying to create a new identity. In the case of Jay Gatsby, he has reinvented himself by a name change and by becoming rich through criminal acts to win Daisy. In Charlie’s instance, he has made a serious effort to reform to gain custody of Honoria.

Both The Great Gatsby and “Babylon Revisited” are also statements about the twenties, the pursuit of wealth and careless living of that generation. Gatsby’s pursuit of wealth, hoping it will bring him happiness and fulfillment, is the embodiment of the American Dream gone wrong. “Babylon Revisited” makes a statement not only about Charlie’s his personal dilemma but the irresponsible seeking of pleasure that was characteristic of the post-war Roaring Twenties generation.

From: http://vickie-britton.suite101.com/babylon-revisited-summary-and-analysis-a204727

NYTimes article:

http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/12/24/specials/fitzgerald-taps.html

America and Second Chances:
http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2009/09/19/history/post-perspective/f-scott-fitzgerald.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/07/13/president-obama-announces-46-commutations-video-address-america-nation-second-chance

http://billmoyers.com/2014/10/31/america-really-believe-second-chances/

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-second-chances-for-elites-only-perspec-1196-20141105-story.html