The Great Gatsby

Wednesday 22nd February 2012

Hi guys, today we started the lesson with analysing Sophie's essay on "How does Tennyson help tell the story in Mariana?". We colour- coded the aspect, evidence, analysis of language/structure/form and the function of the narrative. By the end of this task we could see that the aspect of narrative was clearly stated at the beginning of each paragraph, followed by the function of the narrative with weaved in evidence and its analysis. Perhaps, including a bit more evidence. The five key aspects in Tithonus were;
the character- the use of caesuras showing "the breakdown of Tithonus" and the switch from iambic pentameter to dactylic trimeter.
setting- interior dramatic monologue and the abscence of enjambent
key moments- developed on the dramatic monologue and syntax changing from mellifluous to staccato.
focalisation- use of plosive sounds
structural contrast- developed on the switch in meter and contrast in colours.

Secondly, we moved on to The Great Gatsby. We started off by listening to a piece of music and saying how we feel towards it. Several words that arose were; cheerful, energetic, isolated, upbeat, mellifuous, fast- paced and uplifting. Then we looked through ten different pictures that was took/drawn in the post- war period which was just after The Great War. This was between 1918- 1925 which was the same time that The Great Gatsby takes place.

Image 1: performance, jazzy, joyful
Image 2: style, advertisement, beauty, birth of fashion and electrical devices for hair.
Image 3: isolated, lifeless, extinct, abandoned.
Image 4: silence, static, isolated, roads (suggesting vehicles existed)
Image 5: centre, crowded/busy, technology.
Image 6: lifeless, industrial, isolation, after Wall- street crash
Image 7: colonial, wealth, pretty
Image 8: machinery, prohibiton (ban of alcohol)
Image 9: timesquare, busy, vehicles
Image 10: New-York, economy boost.

After that, we started annotating titles and what tone/mood, impressions of people it told us.
The jass age was decribed to the the rise of media- advertisements, movies, parties, music "booming", fun, jolly, sociable. The Inter (between)- war was between the two wars, after WWI and before WWII, therefore this time was peaceful and the people were happier. The pre(before) depression was when the business started to boom (which later crashed), employment was widely available, people were content as they had development of cars, nicer houses and a lot of parties. The Bright- young things was connotated with new ideas, difference, new level of acceptance. The Lost Generation was when people were mournful, gloomy and dull. There was abscence of family (as some died in the war), morality and family values. These were all due to people partying and not having time for their families. The Golden age of Hollywood was the success of fame, publicity, celebrities, celebratory, materialism, development, new talents. The Prohibition Era was strict, ban, indulgence on alcohol. Last but not least, we had the Roaring 20's has rapid success, rise in technology, anger against alcohol.

That's basically the summary of the class, hope I have mentioned everything. Also, don't forget to read the first chapter of The Great Gatsby by Friday!
7 words to summarise the time period starting with the letter "S":
-sociable
-success
-style
-sophistication
-sassiness
-swinging (music)
-sexual