The Great Gatsby: How To Read Literature Like A Professor

The five aspects of the QUEST are a quester, a place to go, a stated reason to go there, challenges en route, and a real reason to go there. In Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, the quester is Atticus Finch who is a lawyer in Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. He has to go to court to defend Tom Robinson, a black man accused of raping a white woman. The challenges he encounters is the town’s racist white community who wants to have Tom killed without a trial. Atticus’s reason to defend Tom is more than just defending an innocent man in court. He wants to defend Tom because it is the right thing to do; finding

The 1920s in America, known as the "Roaring Twenties", was a time of celebration after a destructive war. It was a period of time in America characterised by prosperity and optimism. There was a general feeling of disruption associated with modernity and a break with traditions.The Roaring Twenties was a time of great economic prosperity and many people became rich and wealthy. Some people inherited "old money" and some obtained "new money". However, there was the other side of prosperity and many people also suffered the nightmare of being poor. In the novel,The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is portrayed as a wealthy character

The “curtains” have human-like qualities, for they are making “whip and snap” sounds. Also, the “picture” has human-like qualities of “groan.” Fitzgerald adds these sounds to show the awkwardness setting in the Buchanan’s house. Just walking in the hallway of Tom Buchanan made Nick feel unease; it was so quiet that Nick can hear the cry of a picture and the lash of the curtain moving.

1. The five characteristics of the quest are a quester, a destination, a reason that has been stated to go there, the challenges along the way, and the real reason for the destination.

Thomas C. Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, and the book “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald both successfully demonstrate what makes a piece of literature so great by the use of community. Chapter two of Foster’s book is titled “Nice to Eat with you: Acts of Communion”, and this chapter discusses the importance of meals in literature. In literature, meals often have more meaning than just a gathering of people; authors would have a hard time writing scenes where people just eat, and nothing more than that happens. Also meals represent community, by the gathering of people to socialize. Another importance of a meal is that it’s a good way to reveal things about a character by their actions, and it is a good way

Dreams are a compelling force in people’s lives. They are what propel them forward each and every day in an effort to reach something better. The American Dream has been sought after by millions all over the world for hundreds of years. This country was founded on the belief that anyone could achieve their dreams. However, in the 1920s these hopes and aspirations began to splinter until they ultimately shattered. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses symbolism, setting, and theme to depict the unattainability of the American Dream.

Memory, symbol and pattern have significant effects on the reading of literature. By recognizing patterns and being able to “distance oneself from the story…”, a reader can look beyond the mere details, draw from memory to a similar experience and understand the symbols. While I was reading The Great Gatsby for AP Lang last year, upon understanding the significance and symbolism of the green light representing “The

“Writers consistently use novels as a lens through which they scrutinise society.” To what extent do you agree with this view?

In The Great Gatsby, the author, F Scott Fitzgerald depicts the post - war roaring 20’s, a time of overwhelming prosperity and a new found sense of hope for the future. While this novel is often perceived as a romance, it is also a criticism on the devastating nature of the elusive american dream. The story of Jay Gatsby is a representation of what had become the values of the individual at the time. With the progression of the early 1920’s the vision of the perfect life, or the american dream, had been skewed. It was replaced with greed, and an abundance of reckless spending in which the wealthier individuals placed their misguided ideas of happiness. In the Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald chooses to expose the hidden truth behind the illustrious concept of the American dream. Through his use of literary devices such as, symbolism, metaphor, and, irony the central idea of the truly unattainable American dream is supported throughout the novel.

Gatsby cannot be classified as a truly moral person who exhibits goodness or correctness in his character and behaviour. Gatsby disputes most moral damage throughout the novel. Gatsby exhibits characteristics explaining the reason behind moral decay in society. Corruption and lies are responsible for the destruction of humanity. Gatsby’s whole life’s basically is a lie as he created a fake identity for himself. A whole new persona, Jay Gatsby is not even his real name. Gatsby

Jose de Alvare AP LIT Dr. Busse 08/14/17 How to Read Literature Like a Professor: by Thomas C. Foster Chapter 1-- Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It's Not) The five parts of a QUEST are The five aspects of the quest are: (a) a quester, (b) a place to go, (c) a stated reason to go there, (d) challenges and trials en route, (e) a real reason to go there. a quester - Percy Jackson a place to go - the underworld and mount olympus The stated reason to go there - to retrieve the stolen lightning bolt from Hades in the underworld for Zeus and to save his mother Challenges and trials en route - On his way to the underworld he has to face Medusa in New York , the Hydra and the Lotus Eaters in a Las Vegas casino. He also has to face Luke attempting to steal the lightning bolt and attempting to kill him.

2. Author and date written: The author who wrote the was was F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the era of when the book was written was 1920’s.

portrays him or her in a story. In The Great Gatsby the main character is an

By delving deeper into literature with the combination of memory, pattern, and symbols in hand, a well suited mind can gain increased insights into the depths of stories and discover hidden joys. To take patterns and a book for an example, The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien, gives the reader an impressive amount of description of a world that a person can simply not keep track of. One could look past the unnecessary details and hook onto the important sections that Tolkien describes beautifully. For me, one example of the use of incredible symbols was while watching and reading Cloud Atlas. Both the book and the movie track different characters throughout time and has many themes. To name a few, how history tends to repeat itself, and how everyone

Understanding memory, symbol, and pattern allows the human mind to understand literature on a much deeper level for many reasons. Instead of reading just reading literature on the surface level, the deeper meaning and the author’s purpose for the piece can begin to be understood. These three things help break up the monotony in a lengthy piece of literature, allowing the reader to focus on the plot and not get lost in the insignificant details. More importantly, understanding these techniques will definitely improve the reader’s ability to relate literature to other books and allow them make predictions on the outcome of the plot much earlier. All in all, literature becomes more rewarding when the reader understands the author’s