Monday, March 29, 2010

Gatsby Fishbowl #3: Chapter 3

Relax and enjoy your discussion. Never hesitate to ask questions or to challenge someone's interpretation--just do it with respect and professionalism.

75 comments:

  1. Just because someone is dishonest doesn't mean you cant love them. Everyone is dishonest at some point.

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  2. I think that Jordan's dishonesty is partially why Nick is attracted to her. I think it makes her more mysterious.

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  3. Why does Fitzgerald wait so long to introduce Gatsby?

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  4. I think that Nick is attracted to her because she is different then most women. Also, like Beau said with all the affairs that it is a little hard to think that most women are all dishonest.

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  5. Well since he iss living in west egg, he has "new" money so I think he is earning it himself.

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  6. i think that nick does like Jordan because she said she likes the party scene, but i also think he doesn't trust her so he wouldn't go out with her because he believes she is a cheater.

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  7. Grant, I think he waits till then because it makes the reader wonder who it is for longer and makes you more drawn into the book.

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  8. I think Jordan's dishonesty is her way of hiding something. Maybe she doesn't feel comfortable with something and feels like she needs to hide it by being dishonest to people.

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  9. Grant- Probably to set the story plot, and to give everyone an idea of how Gatsby effects the other characters.

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  10. I think Nick likes Jordan because she is very outgoing and takes risks while Nick is more shy and conservative when he makes his decision, and Nick likes that Jordan is outgoing. I dont know how this makes sense but she kind of completes him.

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  11. I agree with Karly, I think that Jordan is somewhat of a puzzle to Nick and he is interested in her because she is very mysterious and he just wants to know more about her.

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  12. Elizabeth, I agree. Everyone is dishonest even if we don't like to face this fact.

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  13. I think that because Jordan is dishonest, it makes her a mystery. Nick is probably interested in her because he maybe wants to be the only one who (if he wins her heart) will know the truth. And that attracts him. So maybe, just maybe he can be the only one who knows the truth and who she really is.

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  14. I think that Fitzgerald waited so long in introducing Gatsby is because he wanted us to learn the background of the other characters first. He wants us to understand them and I also think he wanted to build up to introducing him.

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  15. I agree with Elizabeth, you can't not love someone just because they are dishonest.

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  17. Grant- I think that he wants to get you introduced into the book and show the setting before he tells you about Gatsby.

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  18. Gatsby doesn't seem to be very social and I think that at the party that he may have been determining who he can trust and that may be why no one knows much about him.

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  19. I think the author keeps him a secret because it keeps the book a mystery. You don't know anything about him until chapter 3 and even then it is still a mystery of who he really is.

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  20. Grant,
    I think that Fitzgerald waited so long to introduce Gatsby in order to keep the reader waiting. Throughout the entire story up till this point we just hear about him and he seems like he will be a large part of the story later on. The fact that we finally know more about him, but still very little is unsatisfying to the reader.

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  21. Grant I believe Fitzgerald wanted to introduce Gatsby so late in the book because he needed to introduce all of the characters and keep the mystery of Gatsby alive. He is only mentioned in short bits and there is never a whole lot of true information revealed about him, only rumors.

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  22. How could Gatsby be a German spy when he recognized Nick from the war and the division Nick was in?

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  23. I think Gatsby is a lonely person so he throws these huge parties to help distract him from what ever is bothering him

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  24. Mallory, I also agree with Karly. I think because he is surrounded by all these people who have gone to like prestigious colleges and are so high class and the fact that Jordan is kind of dishonest and it makes her more risky, and therefore, more attractive to him because shes not like everyone else.

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  25. I feel like Gatsby doesn't drink because he doesn't like to socialize with alcohol and he feels to superior to be drunken and wild.

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  26. Grant- I think Fitzgerald waits this long because maybe he wants the reader to be in suspense. He wants to build up Gatsby so maybe you could imagine who this character is first before he describes him. He wants Gatsby to be so mysterious that even the people in the book don't really even know him.

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  27. I also agree with Karly that Jordan is interesting to Nick and Nick wants to find out more about her.

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  28. I think the reason Gatsby was introduced so late in the book is because he wanted to try and build up Gatsby's character beforehand and then shock his readers. In chapter 3, Gatsby is a surprise and actually acts like a good guy, he is a mystery and might be putting on a front at this party.

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  29. I think that Nick sees Jordan as a mystery that he wants to solve. He seems like he is kind of curious and a mysterious girl like Jordan probably intrigues him.

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  30. Grant- I think that Fitzgerald waits so long to introduce him is because it creates a mystery to the story as well as gives us something to imagine.

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  31. I think that Gatsby might keep to himself so often because he is observing everyone around him and trying to take in everything on the outside before he decides to take more of an interest in the person and get to know them.

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  32. Angelica- I agree, I think Gatsby wants to be liked because of the rumors about Gatsby being related to a German General, so he throws parties so everyone will overlook the rumors.

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  33. Gatsby doesn't invite people he doesn't know "People were not invited--they went there." and i think he opens his house up to everyone so that a specific someone might show up. His home, the parties, and the luxury isn't to impress everyone or gain public affection but to show a few people from his past that he is what they thought he'd never become.

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  34. I don't think it is a fake smile cause it talks about how you only see that type of smile 3 or 4 times in your life.

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  35. Brian- I agree and he might not drink because he has to be responsible for his house and everyone's safety.

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  36. I think that Gatsby's smile is kind of sneaky, or at least they described it that way. It's so honest that it's like concerning.

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  37. Why do you think that Gatsby doesn't really interact with his guests at his party? Do you think he knows them or are they all strangers like Nick?

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  38. Why do you think that people judge Gatsby before like they know who he is before the party, yet during the party he is avoided?

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  39. I think Gatsby keeps to himself so often because he feels that if he lets someone know everything in his life then everyone will know his life story. He doesn't want his "friends" to think of him differently.

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  40. Why does Nick say "Dishonesty in a woman is something you never blame deeply-" (Fitzgerald 58), and does the same apply to men? Is it a given in their time that women are dishonest? Or are women assumed too harmless/innocent to be required to follow social standards of courtesy, such as honesty?

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  41. Gatsby is used as superior power in the book. Whenever he is spoken about Fitzgerald expresses that everybody always acts interested. People are intrigued by Gatsby and his mystery. His smile was also described in way to make him feel superior and almost the perfect guy.

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  42. I agree with Aaron and Angelica, I think that Gatsby might be hiding something about himself and/or his past that he doesn't want anyone to see. So he throws these extravagant parties to give others the impression that he is a rich, powerful man. He doesn't want people to try to get to know him more because of whatever it is that he's hiding.

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  43. I agree with Dana. He has an honest smile that makes you wonder if he really is honest or if he shares some of Jordan's qualities.

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  44. Jake- Jordan is Daisy's friend, she was in chapter 1 when they were at diner.

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  45. Jake H- Jordan is Daisy's friend who is on the couch with her near the beginning.

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  46. I think Gatsby stays sober because he sees what happens to his guests when they drink at his parties. They act shamefully and the night usually ends with couples fighting, wives being dragged out by their husbands, or husbands avoiding their wives.

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  47. I honestly think that Fitzgerald waited so long to introduce Gatsby is because he simply wanted to first pull you into the story by introducing the reader into the setting and the main character.

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  48. What do you think Gatsby had to talk to Jordan about?

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  49. Jake- I also think Gatsby has something to hide about his life. And I think he is afraid of telling someone about his life for fear of how they would react.

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  50. Karly- I think Gatsby doesn't interact with people at his party probably because most of them are strangers. I think he feels no need to interact with them because they are all in their own world and none of them even have a clue as to where he is at his party. They don't seem to care so in return Gatsby probably doesn't seem to care either.

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  51. I agree with Dana that Gatsby doesn't drink to see how they act when they are drunk and so he can see their true colors and hide his.

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  52. Well Mallory, I think it was something sneaky. They both are kind of sneaky people. Do you think they are up to something?

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  53. Samantha, he is talking about Jordan in that quote and I think he looks past all her faults at that point. But aside from that, I think the same does not apply to men because when a man lies, women tend to take it more hard and if a man were to lie, his reputation would fail.

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  54. Karly- I think he doesn't interact with his party guests because he is afraid of the questions he might get asked and also I think he might not know most of them and that might be awkward to socialize with them like you know them.

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  55. morgan- I think they all judge Gatsby before they even know him because he is almost too perfect and some of them may even be judging him out of jealously.

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  56. I think Jordan didn't talk about Gatsby because she is just that kind of person, she likes the keep you on edge and guessing.

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  57. I agree with Samantha. I think Gatsby decides not to really drink because he sees what happens. He is a smart man and would rather enjoy the moment rather than be drunk and forget what happened.

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  58. Elizabeth- I think Gatsby is modeled after who Fitzgerald is because Fitzgerald was always going to parties and
    Gatsby likes throwing/going to parties.

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  59. I think that the whole point of waiting so long to introduce Gatsby was purely to add mystery to the character, because it is chapter 3 and we are meeting him for the first time.

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  60. i think that writers love to leave cliff hangers so you keep reading the story and thats why they introduced Gatsby so much later in the story

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  61. I feel that Fitzgerald wants everybody to try to find flaws in Gatsby because he openly describes the flaws in all the other characters. He wants us to believe that Gatsby is too good to be true. Every character except for Nick has been caught lying or cheating in some way. I feel that Nick meeting Gatsby will alter the life style of Nick. Gatsby I think is used to try be the hope in this Jazz age that was filled with youth and some destruction.

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  62. I think Gatsby prefers to wander among his guests without them knowing who he is. He enjoys showing off his wealth without receiving a suffocating amount of attention. The more people gossip about him, the 'greater' a person he becomes. Many stories have been attached to his name, some true, some not, and I think he likes it that way. He doesn't want to be fully understood.

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  63. Dana- I think that they must be up to something because if it wasn't something that was meant to be secretive he wouldn't of asked to talk to Jordan alone.

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  64. I think that Gatsby is hiding something too. He wants to impress others by showing off with parties and showing people how extravagantly he lives. He wants to distract people with these parties. But I also think he is quiet and doesn't interact is because I think he believes he is better than the other people. But part of him is quiet is because he is hiding something.

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  65. Fitzgerald is using Gatsby as a mysterious character to move the plot. We will learn more about Gatsby, and this is what the reader wants to find out. Nick thinks Gatsby is superior to all of the people of East egg but he doesn't truly know anything about him.

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  66. Elizabeth I think that he did create Gatsby as his dream person. He wants to be perfect so he creates a character he can live his life through

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  67. Mallory, duh. I think that they are up to something. Or maybe he just likes her or something.

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  68. Xavia- I think Fitzgerald found it easier to write about life experiences, instead of making up something brand new. I also think it is his way of expressing his life struggles.

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  69. Gatsby may be hiding something. But also, maybe he has gone through so much in life that he has build a shelter and doesn't tell anybody anything because he may not trust anyone.

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  70. I think the fact that two different cities (Chicago and Philadelphia) call Gatsby in the middle of the night, are clues that he has some darker secrets. It also shows that he is well connected and considered an important man by people across the country.

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  71. I wonder if Gatsby could be hiding some kind of criminal activity through his parties. That would explain the large amount of disposable income and the reason why he does not mingle with his guests.

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  72. I feel that Fitzgerald has a cynical view of life. I feel that he uses this book to portray how he felt that their is no good in life. He wants us to think that Gatsby is like the rest of the people and seemingly perfect with deep flaws.

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  73. Xavia- I think Fitzgerald chose to write about his life and all these flaws maybe for a way to express how he felt. He maybe wants to show people that even though he had a rich lifestyle it wasn't perfect. There were lots of issues throughout his life that he wanted to share with people.

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  74. Why did Fitzgerald include the library scene in this chapter?

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