Courage

"Speaking of Courage" talks about both courage in the war, and just basic, personal courage. 

Norman thinks that he was a coward when he let Kiowa sink into the mud, but when he imagines his conversation with his father, he tells him that it is his own fault. I think that admitting something that you feel really guilty about could be considered an act of courage. whether or not Kiowa's death is his fault, or pulling him out of the muck would have been courageous, Norman himself considers it cowardice, and admitting that to someone is a daunting thing to do. However,when Norman imagines describing this to his father, he does not say that Kiowa's death is the thing that bothers him, he says that not winning the silver star for valor is the part that he regrets.
Another example of courage in the book is when Tim O'Brien decides to go to war instead of fleeing to Canada, despite his feelings that he is too good for war, or that he does not agree with it. In this case, however, either decision could have been considered the brave one. going to Canada would have meant leaving his entire life behind, but going to war is brave for the obvious reasons. I think that Norman Bowker admitting or not admitting to his father about why he didn't win the silver star would be courageous either way. admitting to him would be courageous because of what i said above, but not admitting it to him would also be courageous because he would have to deal with these feelings that i would imagine he has for his whole life.
It also addresses the courage that it takes to to take part in the war. to be in the war, you would have to deal with situations like Norman's all the time. I think that making those decisions all the time, and not going crazy is courageous in itself.

Memoir Blog

I loved the way that this memoir was written. I like how she said at the beginning of the story how the experiences changed her, and then explained what happened. I also liked how she strung together a series of small, related happenings to prove her point. 
The author used great descriptions, to paint images of her memories for the reader. When she talked about her careful surveillance of her new baby sister, you could really tell how the experience made her look at her life, and change things about it. 
"her crying wore away at not only my sanity but also my hardened, selfish exterior. I eventually realized that taking care of a baby is like fighting a jungle war—one needs to get down and dirty. Thus, I started doing what I would never have done twelve years ago—I took initiative and accepted the burden of responsibility as a big sister."- this passage talks specifically about how having a new baby sister forced her to take on new responsibilites
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writeit/readpoem.asp?id=4209&genre=Memoir&Page=2&sortBy=

Vietnam War Blog

So, for this blog we had to do some research on the Vietnam War, this is what I found:

the major reason that the Unites States joined the Vietnam war was that they wanted to prevent the spread of Communism. Vietnam was considering a communist approach to their government, and Americans didn't want communism to spread.

The Unites States first became involved when they sent military advisers to help the French fight communism in Northern Vietnam in 1950. France decided that their colonies weren't worth it in 1954, but the US decided to stay to fight against communism, and helped South Vietnam by sending more and more military advisers and supplies.

The US involvement in the Vietnam war ended in 1975, when the North Vietnamese captured the southern capitol of Saigon. 

sources:

http://asianhistory.about.com/od/asianhistoryfaqs/f/whyvietnamfaq.htm

http://www.thefinertimes.com/Vietnam-War/why-did-the-us-enter-the-vietnam-war.html

Hughes' America

A heads up: this blog is kind of ALL over the place. no organization at all. sorry.


The poem, "Let America Be America Again", by Langston Hughes, touches on aspects of the American Dream, both the original dream, and what it has evolved into today. He talks about the immigrant who first put everything on the line to come to this new country with endless opportunities. He also talked about what the dream means today, and what he thinks it should mean.

The lines "I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars. I am the red man driven from the land," implies that people were disappointed when they reached their destination. they were face with discrimination, bad conditions, disease and hard work. African Americans came to this country, torn from their homes and families, and forced to labor for white masters, later generations, although freed from slavery, were discriminated against, declared unequal, they had to deal with violence and insults. Native Americans were driven from their homelands again and again, they were given unequal opportunities and resources.

He repeats the line "America never was America to me," I think that this means, is he never really felt the effect of the American Dream. He keeps talking about how this country was built on people's dreams, on people's American dreams, but we have lost sight of that. The people living in this country today, aren't the ones who immigrated here, we aren't the ones who risked everything, hanging on to our dreams of a better life for themselves and their families. we don't appreciate and take advantage of what this country, what our freedoms have to offer, because we don't truly understand the hardships that were endured to get us here.
I'm starting to sound really patriotic here, but even if its not an undying love for this country, you have to admit that we've got it pretty good. And I really do believe that that was thanks to the hundreds of people who struggled to come here. They were thinking of future generations, and they did pretty well by me.

"The millions who have nothing for our pay-
Except the dream that's almost dead today"
I know that when I think of the American Dream, I don't think if it in application to myself, I think of it as a thing of the past, of what drew people to this country. If you were to ask me what my American Dream was, I wouldn't be able to answer you. I know that that seems ridiculous, reading The Great Gatsby should have made me think about the American Dream, and its effect on me, but I still don't personally connect to it. does that mean the dream is dead in me? can the dream be dead in me if it was never alive in me?
Or maybe everyone just automatically dreams the American Dream. who doesn't want to be rich and successful? if that's all there is to it, then it seems like sort of a default. so I guess the question is- which dreams qualify to be American dreams?

Some people did manage to garner wealth, like Gatsby, and others in West Egg. but those are a select few,  separate from the masses. I feel like these are the outliers, out of so many people who came here, or worked hard to try to achieve the American Dream, those are the few who succeeded, and they are separate from everyone else. West Egg is filled with new money- people who have acquired their money recently, and yet they are still separate from their former neighbors. what happened to equal? will everyone ever live together, unbias towards each other?

It seems to me, that Hughes thinks that the American dream today is a depraved, skewed version of what it once was. Millions are getting left behind, crushed by the elite few, while the original idea was that no one would be crushing anyone ("Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man be crushed by one above" VS "And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak."). People came here and ended up forced to work tirelessly for others just to scrape by.

Daisy's Scene

I stared out the window as Nick’s house came into view. I saw Nick open his door and come down to my car.

“Is this absolutely where you live, my dearest one?” This requested meeting was quite suspicious; I was instructed not to bring my husband. Nick graciously offered his hand to help me out of my car.

“Are you in love with me,” I whispered to him, “or why did I have to come alone?”

“That’s the secret of Castle Rackrent. Tell your chauffer to go far away and spend an hour.”

I turned to my chauffer, “Come back in an hour Ferdie.” then to Nick, “His name is Ferdie.”

“Does the gasoline affect his nose?” asked Nick. That was a silly question. “I don’t think so. Why?”

We went in the house and he led me to the living room

The room contained a small coffee table, surrounded by a sofa and 2 stiff chairs. On the far wall was a small fireplace. I thought the room was quaint but classy.

There was a knock at the door and Nick left the room to go answer it. A minute later, JAY GATSBY walks in. I was shocked; I hadn’t seen him in years. Before I had even known my husband. This as a VERY unexpected surprise. Was this why I had to come alone? Did Nick know about our past? Why was he here? I was panicking, my thoughts were in disarray, but I managed to put on a composed Façade. With forced calm, I sat, and managed to squeak out:

“I certainly an awfully glad to see you again.”

What would his response be? Would he bring up our past? Would he explain himself? There was only silence. Jay looked very uncomfortable. He leaned against the mantel, hands in pockets, trying to look calm. His unease soothed me a little. It was reassuring that he appeared to be as nervous as I was.

“We’ve met before,” he muttered, addressing Nick, who had entered the room behind me.  So Nick didn’t know. Jay tried to laugh and caused the clock behind his head to tip, almost managing to drop over the edge before he whirled around to catch it. After he put it back in place, he walked to the sofa, opposite of me, and sat, still looking uncomfortable and nervous.

“I’m sorry about the clock,” he said.

Nick seemed flustered, “It’s an old clock,” he blurted.

“We haven’t met for many years,” I said, trying to break the silence.

“Five years next November,” Jay replies, quickly, automatically. Nick, frenetic, suggested we help him make tea in the kitchen, but just as we got to our feet, Finn brought some in.

There was a gladly received frenzy of tea cups and little pastries. Nick and I began talking, but I couldn’t help but notice Gatsby glancing between us with tense, unhappy eyes. Soon enough, Nick made a quick excuse and tried to duck out of the room.

“Where are you going?” the frightened edge to his voice stopped Nick quickly in his tracks.

He turned around “I’ll be back.”

"I’ve got to speak to you about something before you go.”

They both disappeared behind the closed door.

This scene takes place on p. 85-87

Direction The Class Needs

so, I don't know if we can still turn in this blog or if it was due already, but I'm going to write it anyway and see if I can get points...
I think that that this is one of my most interesting classes, I love the discussions and there are some really interesting people in my class, which just makes it better. 
If I had to choose something that the class needs, it would be more writing. But not related to the book. Sort of like the blogs, except more formal and we turn it in. I guess the word I'm looking for is essays. I want to write essays. Wow, when I say it like that, I feel like I'm digging myself into a hole here. but I just feel like since I've come to Whitney, I haven't really done any writing except for papers about books. And the blogs, I guess.
So as I'm typing this I realize that I don't have any time to write papers. So if we ever get assigned a paper I hope we have loooooooooooooooooooooots of time to do it. OK, well its late and I'm tired so that's the end of my post. 

The American Dream Today

Report: The American Dream--What Are We Working Towards?

by AFRO Staff

The definition of the “American Dream,” and the best way to pursue it, has become more individual and personal than ever before, according to a new report.

The 2011 MetLife Study of the American Dream, released Dec. 8 drew on a representative sample of approximately 1,400, including individuals from the silent, baby boomer, Gen X and Gen Y generations, and a variety of ethnic groups.

The report found that Americans are still largely driven by the belief that hard work will bring success, but what they are working towards has shifted from the early-to-mid-20th Century norm of a college education, marriage, a single-family home with a picket fence, a car, and children.

The report characterizes the new American dream as “do it yourself,” with individuals finding and adding the elements most important to them when deciding how to define their success.

Increasingly, respondents said they placed importance on self-fulfillment and strong relationships with family and friends, and were less focused on attaining material items, as 74 percent said they have all the necessities of life. Also, the need to obtain a lifestyle that surpasses that of their parents is also less important. For all groups, personal fulfillment and attaining enough money to live the way they chose trumped the importance of wealth and financial success.

For all groups except the oldest generation, whose children are likely already grown, providing for security of their children was more important than wealth and financial success.

According to the report, overwhelming numbers of African-Americans did not see wealth as an integral part of achieving the American Dream. More than 70 percent felt that they didn’t have to be wealthy, 65 percent said they do feel they need a college degree and 71 percent said marriage is not important to achieving the American Dream.

Despite the change in focus, 76 percent of African Americans said they are working as hard, or harder than their parents to achieve their version of the American Dream, saying they are working longer hours, or picking up freelance work and second jobs. 

http://www.afro.com/sections/news/afro_briefs/story.htm?storyid=73466

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This article talks about the American Dream today, as opposed to the one of the past. I think that when most people hear the term "The American Dream", they think of a TV show from the 50s. but when they think about it seriously, about what they want, their goals are a little different. People still want success, a term often brough up in class when the subject of the American Dream comes up, but they want a different type of success. They are less concerned with the pecuniary and material values of the original American Dream (the one discussed in The Great Gatsby or the 50s TV show), and more concerned with having strong relationships with people, or personal success. 

The American Dream is evolving with the rest of society. Society as a whole has become more individualistic, so it would only make sense that people's goals have become more unique. 

One thing that I thought was similar was people wanting to provide security for their children. in the book, when Daisy finds out that she had a daughter, she says "I hope shell be a fool- that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool." Daisy realized that her daughter might have limited opportunities and it is her way of being concerned about her future.