/lit/ - Literature

best ever.

worst ever.

It was okay.
My favorite part was when that thing happened.

how long is the paper? is this for high school or college? how serious is the class?

>>566228
atleast 5 pages. High school. Srs bidness.

I'm really fucking myself over because it's due monday and I still haven't decided on a thesis. I also have a lab report and a test on monday.

Gatsby is pretty straight forward. Write about the green light or something.

>>566258
just do it over the "wanting what you can't have" aspect
It's been too long since I've read the book to give you a well-worded thesis, but I think you can figure it out.

It's as shitty and boring as every other unimaginative social commentary that calls itself literature which they shove down your throat in high school

>>566262
that's not a thesis. what would your argument be? that it sucks? at least relate it to the unattainable american dream or something.

F.Scott Fitzgerald wrote in a time period where the American Dream was coming to an end, and reflects that in his most well known novel, The Great Gatsby.

Fuck, what are you, a freshman? I did this like, four years ago.

>>566270

You'll understand when you graduate high school

>>566271
your idea is no more a thesis than his was. they're the same thing, actually.

You don't have to 'argue' anything, you just have to explain why think that was a theme in the book. Literary Analysis.

>>566282
Yes, and to explain what you think the theme you have to present arguments to base it on. Also, the American Dream is a theme, not getting what you want is not.

>>566282
I believe arguments need explanations. A thesis is, by definition, something one is arguing. I'm not the guy you were talking to, but shrug.

>>566275
This.

oh i just did one of these!!! how about who do you feel is most responsible for <spoiler>gatsby's death</spoiler>, and why?

i said tom and daisy, daisy because she lead gatsby on and then left out to dry and i said tom becasue he told Wilson that <spoiler>gatsby killed mertle</spoiler> and where to find gatsby.

If I got to choose what to write about I would talk about the ending metaphor of the boats beating on against the current borne back ceaselessly into the past.

That's from memory so it is paraphrased somewhat.

I would compare it to classical greek philosophy and their conception of time. A modern conception is that time is like a path one walks down, with man's future self determined in front of him, defined by where he walks. In The Great Gatsby, this man is rowing a boat, and when you row a boat you don't look in the direction you are travelling, you look back at the distance you have already travelled on the river; the metaphorical past. The current represents the status quo challenging progress in 20s American society - the inherited rich with heritage rejecting the new wealth of entrepreneurs such as gatsby.

That part of the book turns me on it's so fucking good

>>566303
This is a good one.
Use SparkNotes etc OP. You're a loser if you don't.

>>566303
but that's just recounting plot basically and wouldn't make for a very interesting paper

Write about how Nick is gay for Gatsby.

>>566307

6/10

fuck you troll

my english teacher would do a poo on your head if she could

>>566313
Why wouldn't you use Sparknotes?
Are you against using an analysis?
What about notes and annotations?
Why?

>>566310

No seriously at the end of chapter 2, I think it's chapter 2 - the one with the sordid party where myrtle gets bitch slapped. Yeah well Nick gets pretty crunk and the narrative gets disjointed but he has a memory of a man topless in bed and a memory of wiping shaving cream off his face. Write about that.

>>566313
sparknotes isn't bad. using sparknotes and not reading the book is bad.

>>566260
>>566275
>>566306

use any of these.

btw, sparknotes isn't bad to keep track of the story and what you want to say. don't make it your primary source tho.

>>566317

Because you will come up with boring conclusions that everyone else comes. The most fun the examiners will get is from reading students' own thoughts, even if they are riddled with fallacies and misconceptions - they are original.

>>566320
Well, obviously you need to read the book as well.
That defeats the point of using SparkNotes - using any analysis and source you can find to get ahead.

>>566325
>don't make it your primary source tho
This. Use Google!

>>566329
Examiners have a checklist of things to tick off. They don't care about how original your analysis is.

>>566303
That is the most retarded thing I have ever read. You should be ashamed of yourself.

>>566341
If you find all the stuff you're supposed to, it's okay to be original and make new connections to current society.

>>566309
true,but i used quotations from the book as well as my own insights into how Fitzgerald created each character to have their own role in gatsby eventual downfall. I then related the true nature of each character to the moral and social climate of the era, i summarized my paper with the idea that the depravity of the ultra rich upper class was what ruined Gatsby, a poor boy from the west who became rich after the war in pursuit of his once beloved and that his lust for something unattainable, the very one he loved in fact made his downfall inevitable.

>>566341
Only worthless teachers do that.

What most want is a well thought out, well written, focused argument. No matter what it's about.

>>566346
i am ashamed only because i failed at spoiler tags....i thought i was writing html im used to <> not []

>>566341

yeah you might get fewer marks but you will make their day a lot less dull

>>566349
Sure, that will add a little too it, but it's a bad idea to waffle on just so you can fit your original thoughts it.
The stuff you're supposed to put in is more important.

>>566348
>how Fitzgerald created each character to have their own role in gatsby eventual downfall. I then related the true nature of each character to the moral and social climate of the era

That sounds a lot better than what you originally said. Good job.

>>566348
>>but i used quotations from the book as well as my own insights
>>but is used quotations from the book... insights
Like everyone else did? Like you were supposed to? Do you think that makes you special or something?
>>my own insights
Are you fucktarded?

>>566355
I'd say the personal spin is more important; the new connections. Because you'd be the one finding new ground whereas everyone else was just finding what they were supposed to find.

>>566203

>>566361
i merely wanted to emphasize that a little thought went into my paper and that it was a shoddy rehash of the sparknotes. sorry i offended you? shit i was only trying to elaborate on a topic for a paper.