Mr_Shank

1st post!!!

Ok guys, so I think we can all say the first two acts are a bit confusing….so to clear things up:

Lucentio, a student from Pisa, and his servant Tranio are on the road to Padua where Lucentio is to study when they come across an argument between Baptista, a wealthy local man and his daughter Bianca’s two suitors, Gremio and Hortensio. Gremio and Hortensio, despite their efforts, are turned down by Baptista due to the fact that he wants Bianca’s older sister Katherine to marry before her. Lucentio falls in love with Bianca upon first seeing her and, in order to woo her, switches places with Tranio and becomes a tutor to Bianca and Katherine. Hortensio not to be left out of Lucentio’s plan also masquerades as a teacher for the girls. During all of this, it is revealed that Katherine is a short-tempered, violence-prone woman who constantly bullies her well-meaning and soft-spoken sister.

Meanwhile, Hortensio and Gremio, rivals to the same cause, agree to help each other in hopes of finding a husband for Katherine so that Bianca is free to be courted. At the same time Petruchio, an arrogant, wealthy man from Verona and a friend of Hortensio, is visiting Padua in order to find a wife with a wealthy dowry. Hortensio, seeing his chance, immediately tells him about Kate and expresses all her qualities, good and bad. Fortunately Petruchio doesn’t care whether his bride is a shrew, as Kate is described, as long as she’s wealthy and decides to propose to her. The next day after a heated battle of words, where Katherine continually mocks Petruchio and he in return avaids them, the date is set for their marraige.

There is also a subplot to this story. As a form of amusement, Christopher Sly, an old drunkard who has fallen asleep at a pub, is taken by a local lord and his men to the lord’s estate where he is treated as a king. Upon waking in a lavish bed where servants wait on him hand and foot, he is entertained by a troupe of actors who put on a play for him, the main story, The Taming of the Shrew.

After reading these first two acts, answer these questions:

1. The whole ‘love at first sight’ thing is reminisent of Romeo and Juliet. Do you think Lutentio and Bianca’s ending will be the same as the star-crossed lovers’ fate or will they have a happier ending?

2. After reading about Bianca’s many suitors, which one do you think truly loves her the most? Which do you think is her best match? Which do you think will get her?

3. Do you think Petruchio and Katherine are a good match? He is arrogant and sees her only for money. She is strong-willed and resists him. Will opposites attract and will the two balance each other out? Or will they totally kill each other in the end?

4. Finally, the subplot. Why do you think Shakespeare stuck the story of Christopher Sly in this play? Is it more comic relief or is there a real connection between the two plots? If there is a connection, what is it?

Use details from the story to support your answers.

OK, first off, I want to apologize for posting this late. Usually I’m able to post at my mom’s house, but this weekend I’m over at my dad’s house. His computer has been acting up a lot lately. He has a Windows 97 (Yes – a ‘97!) and I think it is on its last bit of life. The computer has been freezing up, crashing, and the internet is going haywire. Luckily, I should be able to comment fine tomorrow because I’ll be going back to my mom’s, so I can use my ‘08 iMac. So I’m really sorry about posting late, but due to unforeseen circumstances out of my control this was unavoidable.

So moving on to the discussion. Since this is the last post, I think I’m going to give my group a present and make this short, sweet and to the point (plus, I want to get this done in case the computer decides to throw a fit). Chapters 8 and 9 act as the conclusion to the book. Chapter 8 wraps up everything that happened in the few previous chapters, while 9 summarizes what little we have learned about Gatsby and Nick.

In Chapter 8, we learn about how Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship, but that’s not the part that I really wanted to talk about. The thing I’d really like to mention is Gatsby’s death/murder. This was a really interesting twist put on the story. Throughout the whole thing, I have seen Gatsby as the protagonist. And normally, the protagonists don’t die. So I for one was not expecting that. But when you think about it, everything that we’ve learned about Gatsby’s past and his actions thus far in the book have been leading up to this point (which would be why I called it the conclusion). This brings me to the first thing I would like everyone to answer. I want everyone to look back on every single thing that has happened throughout the book and create a list of events that caused Gatsby’s death. For example, Gatsby taking the blame for hitting Myrtle would be one of the final contributors in the list. Please, please, include chapter or page numbers if possible.

The second thing that I’d like to talk about is Gatsby’s funeral. Nick is placed in charge even though barely knew Gatsby. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t the closest friends and/or family supposed to arrange the funeral? As we see in Chapter 9, Nick has a hard time finding anyone to come to the funeral and in the end barely anyone shows up. Even though hundreds of people have gone to Gatsby’s parties (most without being invited) none of them bothered showing up for his funeral. Question: What does this show about society today? Even though this isn’t a question I want answered, here’s something to think about – how is Nick’s personality reflected in the way he prepares for Gatsby’s funeral?

And that’s all I’m writing for today. But as a closing question, I’d like it if you guys could tell me what you think about the book. Did you like it or not? OK, now I am officially done. You guys don’t have to read anymore of my posts!

Erin B

♥☺Last post ☺♥

Now that we are done with the book I’ll give a summary of the previous sections along with the summary of this section.

The story started when Kathy got evicted from her house, and it just happened that the other main character Behrani bought the house at an auction. Things were not going so well for Kathy, she w as trying to get her house back and while doing that she got threatened by Behrani. She also met Lester who fell in love with her even though he had a wife and kids. Kathy tried to kill herself, but Behrani stopped her. He took her back to her house and she tried to kill herself yet again. Lester comes to the house and takes the family hostage. He orders Behrani to give the house back to Kathy.

In the last section Lester takes Behrani and Esmail into town to sign the house over to Kathy. While they’re walking down the street Email grabs Lester’s gun, not knowing it was unloaded, and pointed it at Lester.  People started to gather and Lester fought Behrani to the ground. Someone called the cops. As the cops came they saw Esmail with the gun and they shoot him 2 times, one in the chest and another in the leg. They arrest Behrani because they think he is the cause of this, but because they know that Lester was a cop they take him in too. They question Lester and he tells them everything about what has happened. He is arrested and sent to Jail. They let Behrani go, and he goes to the hospital to see is son, but when he gets there he is told that his son is dead. Behrani was very upset. He goes home and strangles Kathy (she didn’t die) and his wife. He leaves a note to his daughter because he is going to suffocate himself. Someone found Kathy and took her to the hospital. When she wakes up there is a police officer there to arrest her. She has someone call Connie Walsh and she tells Kathy everything that happened. She is then sent to jail.

Questions:

1.      Since we’re finished with the book, overall what did you think of it?

2.      Why do you think that the author of this book decided to kill Esmail first?

3.      Do you think that police need to learn the facts before they arrest someone, because in this Behrani was innocent and he got arrested.

4.      Do you think that Behrani’s decision t kill everyone was the right decision?

5.      Do you think that Kathy should have been arrested; it was Lester who started this, she was just confused and sad and wanted her house back?

Ok, recap of section 1; Kathy losses her house to the county and Behrani buys it. Kathy’s husband left her, and Behrani quit is second job. Behrani finds Kathy talking to his wife, and he threatens her. Lester impersonates a cop to try to get Kathy’s house back. Kathy tries to kill herself, but Behrani finds her.

So in the section we have just read we learn that Behrani takes Kathy to his house and his wife cares for her. They leave her to take a shower and get cleaned up, but after a period of time she still hasn’t come out so they go to check on her. They find her lying in the tub unconscious from overdosing on some pills. Soon after that Lester comes and hold the family hostage in their house because he saw Kathy’s car parked at their house when she was suppose to be at the cabin with Lester. The family gets locked in the bathroom for some time. Kathy wakes-up to find that the family is locked in the bathroom and that Lester is also there. Behrani persuades Lester to let them out to eat, but then Lester makes Behrani call the county so he can sell it back to them in order for Kathy to get the house back.

Questions:

1.      Do you think that Kathy will ever stop trying to kill herself because she has already tried                  2 times one at her old house with Behrani and his family there?

2.      Do you think that Lester should get some type of legal action taken against him for holding the family hostage?

3.      Should Behrani sell the house back to the county that is if he wasn’t being forced by Lester?

4.      Do you think that after all that has happened Kathy will still love Lester? Should she still love Lester in your opinion?

5.      Do you think that Kathy should just forget about that house and find a new one?

Wow! A lot of action! First Blevins is executed! Then Rawlins is stabbed. OUCH! And we can’t forget about John Grady! I can’t believe that about Blevins, do you think he deserved it? I can’t quite figure it out. Then the fact that when they got out of jail they realized that it was the Aunt that bailed them out. Why do you think she did that? Do you think she realized what she did was the wrong thing? Has she realized how much John Grady and Alejandra mean to each other? All of these are running through my head.

Then Rawlins wants to go home, to Texas, and John Grady is going to go and try to take his princess (Alejandra) back. Didn’t they say that they weren’t going to leave each other? Will John Grady get her back? Is this whole getting out of jail thing a joke? Feel free to ask some questions of your own.

-Abbey

Aright, so I’m going to start off by talking about the theme of Chapter 6.  If you read my last post, I talked about how it was mainly about Gatsby achieving his dream of being with Daisy.  Chapter 6 serves to show Nick (and the reader) just how devoted Gatsby has been to fulfilling this dream. 

Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to mention part of the plotline of the chapter.  Throughout most of it, we are learning the real story of Gatsby’s past – not the rumors circulating, or even the outrageous stories Nick was told in the car ride to New York.  By revealing Gatsby’s true past, the mystery around him disappears and the reader can see him as a real person for the first time in the novel.  However, up until now, Gatsby has been perpetuate most of these rumors himself.  So here’s my question: Why does Gatsby spread rumors about himself?  Or, more acurately, why does he not tell the truth?

My next topic is based on Gatsby’s pursuit of his dreams.  Now that we’ve learned about his past, we have also learned that most of his life has been spent chasing after Daisy.  It’s also important to mention how little Gatsby has grown since the age of 17 to now.  His life is still consumed with getting her, whatever it takes.  Gatsby is very determined, you have to give him that.  But this all-out desperation to win over Daisy seems a little bit dangerous to me.  How can dreams be both good and bad at the same time?

To start Chapter 7, I’d like to talk about two characters we haven’t seen that much of: Tom and Daisy.  Let’s start off with Tom.  Personally, I think he’s quite a funny character.  He’s so arrogant and conceeded that it’s almost comical.  In this chapter, I found him particularly amusing.  The scene in which Daisy proclaims her love for Gatsby is the one that I was basing this off.  She goes up to him boldly and kisses him in full view of Tom.  Tom becomes enraged because he finally confirms his suspicions that his wife is having an affiar.  But wasn’t he the one that had a mistress in New York?  Isn’t that just a tad ironic?  Why do you think this confirmation angers Tom?

Now on to Daisy.  Up until now, she hasn’t had much depth to her.  In this chapter she begins to evolve more as a character, but I’m not so sure that it’s a good change.  My scene regarding Daisy is the same scene that I used to talk about Tom.  In my opinion, her going up to Gatsby and proclaiming her love is showing me that she is playing mind games with those around her.  She is simply using Gatsby to prove a point to Tom – to get back at him, to make him jealous. 

But I’m not done talking about Daisy yet.  If we go back to the hotel scene, it appears to me that Daisy left Gatsby out to dry under Tom’s anger.  She obviously doesn’t really care for him and never really intends to leave Tom.  As if this doesn’t degrade her character enough, there is also the incident involving Myrtle and the car.  Although it can’t be certain that Daisy did it on purpose, it seems that her quest for revenge on Tom got the better of her.  The person she hit with the car was Myrtle, Tom’s mistress, so I’m thinking that she hit her on purpose.  What do you guys think?  Also, what does this accident reveal about Daisy’s character?  What does this chapter as a whole reveal about her character?

Recap:

1. Why does Gatsby spread rumors about himself?  Or, more acurately, why does he not tell the truth?
2. How can dreams be both good and bad at the same time?
3. Why do you think the confirmation of Daisy’s affair angers Tom?
4. Do you think Daisy hit Myrtle on purpose?  Why or why not?
5. Also, what does this accident reveal about Daisy’s character?  What does this chapter as a whole reveal about her character?

That’s all for now! 

Erin B. 

Grrr, I completely forgot too do this yesterday.

Okay, lets get this discussion going. So, what are you thoughts on Norah and the whole overprotective thing? Do you guys think she is overprotective solely because of the supposed death of Phoebe or is it just her. Where do you guys drawn the line with what is overprotective and what isn’t?

Secondly, what are your thoughts on Norah and Dr. Henry drifting apart? For more discussion… it seems that marriages are falling apart more and more in today’s society; do you feel this relates to Norah and Dr. Henry?

You know Mr. Shank I never knew DD was supposed to answer his own questions…

I’m going to start off my discussion with some things I noted about Chapter 3.  The first item I would like to discuss is Gatsby’s character.  Up until now we have not none anything about Gatsby, only that he is considered to be an “outcast” of Tom and Daisy’s social circle.  Every night Gatsby throws elaborate parties that people simply show up at.  I believe this shows how Gatsby is such a polite and well-mannered man. Even though he knows most of the guests were not invited, he allows them to stay at his parties.  In fact, it is suggested that many of the guests do not even know who he is.  People don’t only come to his parties, though.  Nick also notes that they come to use his cars, planes, etc. I don’t know about you all, but it seems like Gatsby is being taken advantage of.  How could this come back to haunt him in the future?  How could his courteous behavior make him lose out in the future?

Next subject: the rumors that circulate around Gatsby’s parties.  Most of the guests concern themselves with talking about all the things that Gatsby has done throughout his life, including but not limited to killing a man.  This seems absolutely ridiculous to me, based on what we know about Gatsby (see above paragraph). These absurd rumors have led me to believe that the guests don’t really know their host at all. The stories are vague and give no insight into Gatsby’s life what so ever.  None of the people seem to care to find out the truth, which makes me question our society of today.  Do you think that people are really this insensitive/corrupted?

One of the characters introduced in Chapter 4 is a certain Mr. Wolfsheim who is rumored to have rigged the 1919 World Series.  Wolfsheim is an interesting character.  In a way, his name personifies who he is: part animal and part human.  His business is shady, like that of a wolf, and he appears to have no heart. Essentially, he is an animal’s soul trapped in a human’s body.  He goes so far as to have cuff-links made out of molars.  Is Fitzgerald trying to make a point in the usage of Wolfsheim?  What is he suggesting about humans in general?  (Think about Lord of the Flies/Freudian psychoanalysis)

Chapter 4 has also brought me to question Nick’s truthful telling of the story.  Up until now he has been a faithful narrator, but his new found relationship with Jordan is slightly suspicious.  Nick himself realizes that the only reason he knew who Jordan Baker was is because of her cheating scandal in a golf tournament. The Nick we have been introduced to so far would not be involved with someone like this.  If Nick’s judgment is being messed up by Jordan, what else has he been confused about so far?  But that’s not the real question. Instead, I would like you to answer this one: How does “love” affect a person’s judgment?  (Note that “love” is in quotation marks) 

Chapter 5 brings Gatsby face to face with realizing his dream of being with Daisy.  Everything he has done up to now has been in pursuit of her, even the purchase of his house.  In some ways this is the climax of the story.  Well, not exactly the climax, but it is certainly where Gatsby reaches his goal of seeing Daisy once more.  Which leads me to ask the final question – Since Gatsby has already obtained his goal, what will happen next in the story?  There has to be a plot twist coming because this novel is not following the normal style of books…

Recap:

1. How could Gatsby’s being taken advantage of come back to haunt him in the future?  How could his courteous behavior make him lose out in the future?
2. Do you think that people are really this insensitive/corrupted?
3. Is Fitzgerald trying to make a point in the usage of Wolfsheim?  What is Fitzgerald suggesting about humans in general?  (Think about Lord of the Flies/Freudian psychoanalysis)
4. How does “love” affect a person’s judgment?  
5. Since Gatsby has already obtained his goal, what will happen next in the story?

Erin B.

In this section we learn that our man, John Grady, has found a secret lover. Well they aren’t so secret, but they have to sneek around to be with each other. Which leads to my first question, Would you do what John Grady and Alejandra did? Sneek around?

Then when the parents and family found out what was going on between the two they tried to hide Alejandra from John Grady. Why did they hide her from him? Was there something against John Grady? Why don’t they want the two to be together? They obviously love each other.

This then leads to my next point. Do you think that John Grady has completely forgotten about his ex? They seemed to be really serious, and caring about each other. My final question for you is, How far would you go in the name of love? I know that this is kind of like the question before, and like the Romeo and Juliet survey, but really, how far would you go?

-Abbey

In this section of the book Anil and Sarath go to many different places and people in order to find clues about what happened to Sailor, the body they found in a cave. Although much of this chapter also dealt with the retelling of Anil’s life. We also learn that Anil was married once but she doesn’t like to talk about it because it is shameful. Anil at first seemed like a structured and matter of fact kind of person, but as we are finding out she has a lot of skeletons in her closet.

What kind of person do you think Anil really is? Use examples from the book and explain why you feel that way.

In this section one of the people that Anil and Sarath go to for help is Sarath’s brother. His name is Gamini and he’s an Emergency Room doctor, even though they’re brothers they don’t seem to talk to each other much. Also, I would assume that their jobs would eventually intertwine considering that at one point they might need each others help to discover cause of death.

My second question is, using the conversations about the brother’s relationship, what do you think happened that could have caused them to be so distant???

Adam Lough

P.S. If you find our complaining about blogging on Fridays annoying…..you know what you must do.