... point-of-view, and writing style. America has been a zealous follower of self-invention, individualism, which is one of the main traits of Gatsby. Gatsby represents the American idealist, he is, like millions of Americans, a person who realized what he wanted to become, and spent his whole life ... within the characters, and their relationships with each other. Through this POV, the relevance of the book to today's America is magnified, for now readers can see without bias the truth behind Gatsby, how he embodies the American dream of individualism, the pursuit of one's ideals, how he ...

• Word Count: 1599
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... being that was characterized by reckless jubilance, overarching cynicism, greed, and an empty pursuit of pleasure. Within the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald uses Jay Gatsby to illustrate the corruption and eventual downward spiral of the American Dream to the vulgar pursuit of wealth and materialism in the 1920s. ... neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder." (Fitzgerald 171). Gatsby was the spiritual descendent of these Dutch sailors and much like them he set out for gold and stumbled up...

• Word Count: 1786
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... man will store up in his ghostly heart" (Fitzgerald 96). F. Scott Fitzgerald states this quotation through Nick Carraway's narration in The Great Gatsby. Nick comments on the values, qualities, or ideals that people will invariable hold true to themselves. In Fitzgerald's novel, not only can the ... own speech. Fitzgerald's use of individual speech patterns that define the characters in his novel aids in furthering the renowned characterization in The Great Gatsby. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the novel, is characterized by his honesty and straightforward speech. At the very beginning...

• Word Count: 849
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... These issues such as consumerism, corruption, cynicism, and social class divisions were brought to light by the characters and actions in The Great Gatsby, through Fitzgerald's depiction of the 1920's as an era of deteriorated social and moral values as well as the American dream and its ... and a higher social standing made people blind to corruption, immortality, and issues among social class divisions. Corruption during prohibition was extremely prevalent and when Gatsby offers Nick a job, "Well, this would interest you. It wouldn't take up much of your time and you might pick up a ...

• Word Count: 1603
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... obliterated the early spiritual ideals. So there emerged a state of material well-being but lacking in spiritual life or purpose. So that when Fitzgerald produced Gatsby, modelled no doubt on the writer's own faith in life, he seemed to have created a character who represented an early American in whom the Dream ... , there are still poverty, discrimination and exploitation. And as for the values and morality, there are also hypocrisy, corruption and suppression. In a way The Great Gatsby" is also a comment on this condition. The Corruption Of The American Dream The American Dream - as i...

• Word Count: 798
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... that elegantly and truthfully details the period of American history known as the Roaring Twenties. Taking place on the West and East Eggs of Long Island, The Great Gatsby tells the tale of Jay Gatsby (an incredibly wealthy but yet a complete mystery of a man) and of his undying love for Daisy Buchanan. During extravagant parties in which what can only be described ... about someone or something, he gives the reader a sense of security and trust, that the information that Nick is relaying back to the reader is genuine and significant. The Great Gatsby is a novel of lavish parties filled...

• Word Count: 841
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... upheaval of the 1960s in the US. The construction of the character Daniel in itself is one of the most interesting features in this book, since he shows an outstanding intelligence, although he is also permeated by many internal conflicts and all throughout the narrative he shows a high ... degree of confusion within his mind - maybe this explains the constant flashbacks in the book, besides a lack of linearity as the plot develops. His perspective, as we can infer from the way the narrative flows, is not individualistic ... maintaining the real facts almost untouched. This juxtapositio...

• Word Count: 1122
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... has caused waves of anti-Catholic sentiment since the country's inception and up through the present day, and this prejudice is the topic of his book. Dr. Greeley is a Catholic priest and professor of sociology at the University of Chicago and the University of Arizona. He is also a ... and writes a weekly column for the Chicago Sun-Times, he has also been awarded numerous honorary degrees from many prestigious universities. The basis of his book is that though a large percentage of the United States population is Catholic, and most noticeably Polish, Irish, and Italian they are under re...

• Word Count: 617
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... They were allowed to sue, and their working lives were not nearly as strenuous as the lives of the slaves working on plantations. Throughout this book, Betty Wood focuses mainly on the economical reasons that West Africans were enslaved. It is my opinion that Betty Wood was able to convince me that ... it was both racism and economics that played the key roles in slavery. Based on her book, my thought is that slavery began because of the racial differences between the English and the West Africans, and the English were not able to ... it was more logical to keep on capturing them, rat...

• Word Count: 982
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the slave ship revolt has contributed to the formation of national and cultural identity in very different ways both in Africa and the African communities in the United States. The book has to main themes, "Remembering the Past" and "Reinventing the Present." In the introduction the author guides us through her history of Sierra Leone and how ... Spielberg's good intentions but she suggests that the plot and narrative scripts do not really represent in full the Africans' memory of their real own experiences. I really enjoyed this book. I chose this book because in class I had previously...

• Word Count: 725
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... adults from the world around them. Young adults have the right to be exposed to real world situations, so that they can begin to form opinions and ideals for themselves. Book banning violates the personal freedom that each American citizen is given by the Constitution; therefore, the school board should revoke the decision to ban certain books from being used as ... year students become more mature the written material considered suitable could be widened to include other ratings. This system would keep everyone informed, as well as solving the problem of book banning....

• Word Count: 1183
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... support for pursuing their American dream. American dream has been mentioned in many literary masterpieces; Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed and the promise of new beginnings. Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream. At the beginning ... ...

• Word Count: 981
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... middle and high school age, the author included this content, and the often graphic language associated with such content, because it made the book more realistic and possibly because it made the novel more appealing to the age bracket. Fiction is not the only genre faced with banning ... and censorship. Educational books such as the sex education text It's Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris and The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsmanare under attack because they discuss sex-related topics. Sexuality is a fact of life, not some forbidden subject and ... text from...

• Word Count: 2745
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... is the author's brief commentaries on racism, with a unique facility for embedding a sort of linguistic philosophy that are unique to Cooper. The book begins innocently enough, with an introduction that tells us that the setting is the third year of the French and Indian War. The author's use ... knowledge of the French and Indian War. Already, the specter of racism has "reared its ugly head", as one of the characters of the book exhibits a stereotypical reaction to a Native American, one of both fascination and repulsion. This fear of Native Americans is what fueled, in part, ... is ...

• Word Count: 1482
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... " (Harrison, XV). The idea that the success of society depends on culture and not politics is a concept that is instilled throughout the book as well as the idea that politics can change a culture and save it from falling apart. For example the dependence on culture as opposed ... rise of westernization and a democratic capitalist society influenced Japan to become westernized. While this is an example of politics affecting Japanese development, " In this book, however, we are interested in how culture affects societal development" (p. xiv). A perfect example of this is the comparison of ...

• Word Count: 1972
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... already used to inadequate representation in local assemblies. The notion of "virtual" representation in Parliament as being sufficient for agreeing to taxation was rejected strongly throughout the colonies. In this book, the author offers his own interpretation of the importance of the Revolution. It was the source of what he calls "middling democracy". By this phrase, the author means that any ... such as Staunton, Virginia, and Salisbury, North Carolina growing tobacco and port cities like Baltimore, Norfolk, and Alexandria grew up almost overnight to handle this much traffic. Even t...

• Word Count: 700
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... senior affairs writer for the New York Times uses his world travelling experience to make understandable examples of his theories on globalisation. Thomas Friedman divides the book in to four parts, Seeing the system, Plugging into the system , The backlash against the system and "America and the System". Each part ... he portrays needs to be secure is the environment where each country should be responsible of maintaining theirs. In the third part of the book "The Backlash Against the System" Friedman basically resumes what could be the response of the individuals that do not want to e...

• Word Count: 2593
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... felt a great opportunity to broaden my horizons and learn some things about conservation biology - a subject about which I knew absolutely nothing. In the book The Condor's Shadow, David S. Wilcove attempts to make the public aware of the all the problems facing today's ecosystems and nature's delicate system ... horseman, air and water pollution, although some might consider it a form of habitat destruction." (8) Wilcove refers to this quote throughout the entire book as it is a recurring symbol of the culprits of wildlife loss. With every ecosystem presented, he also describes the "hors...

• Word Count: 1282
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Klein shows that the rise of this marketing philosophy has led to an unmatched corporate intrusion into the rights of consumers all over the world. The book is divided into four parts: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs, and No Logo. Each part takes on a different facet of the changing ... market and advertising strategies that cause us as individualized, free thinking souls to transform into brainwashed, brand loyal, consumer zombies. The first section of the book, "No Space" deals with the physical and cultural ideas of advertising in the modern world. The physical aspect of the business of...

• Word Count: 1843
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... repeat itself, but it delights in patterns and symmetries." These stories are eye opening and quite interesting. They tell of patriots, high motives, extreme courage and cruel betrayal. This book brings them together for the first time, but it seeks to do more than simply tell what happened. By considering these operations as a series of unrelated incidents, it seeks to ... : why did the United States carry out these operations? and what have been their long-term consequences? In a review of Overthrown, written by Stephen Kinzer, Jason Snart concludes that Kinzer's book "may not provide...

• Word Count: 955
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... away from abstinence-only programs, the state of California seems to be taking a stay towards it. In August of 2014, 2000 parents signed a petition to remove a book on sexual education from a public school library (Kutner). Multiple parents stated that the book was not educational, and would simply give their children the wrong ideas about sex. The parents explained that they wanted the ... book gone because it is not the education systems duty to teach their children about sex, but the parents' duty. Many members of the community argued that the book was useful in explained the ways of...

• Word Count: 2898
• Approx Pages: 12
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... 's "destiny", the newly acquired territories caused many disputes, which ultimately contributed to setting the stage for the Civil War. Groom's book recounts the thrilling, almost Hollywood-esque adventures and dangers that Kearny and his men encountered while venturing throughout the trail. Kearny's story also coincides ... understanding of the dangerous and dirty business that shaped our country. Winston Groom's qualifications and thoroughness were very present in the writings of this book. He is a well-known novelist and non-fiction writer who has also written Forrest Gump, which was ...

• Word Count: 693
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... moral and political action. Bowen writes well. 'Miracle at Philadelphia' is captivating. She pays a great deal of attention to detail, which although historically irrelevant, does give the book flavor. For example, the book begins by telling us of the uncomfortable humidity in Philadelphia prior to the Convention. She adds another tidbit which is equally interesting and equally irrelevant. It was speculated ... hard these men had to work to create a document that would successfully and competently withhold the principles of our nation for many decades and centuries to come.  After r...

• Word Count: 1258
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to "invest in whiteness, to remain true to an identity that provides them with resources, power, and opportunity." (Lipsitz vii) " Lipsitz's book gives a substantial amount of evidence which shows that America's investment in whiteness with historical facts, stories, and statistics. Although at times Lipsitz's ... degree, even more than the many reports of the deaths of dozens of blacks in the civil rights struggle."(Lipsitz xiv) " Lipsitz's book summarizes that public policy, for a long time, have excluded communities of color from everything that Americans deem as desirable. These thi...

• Word Count: 1644
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... creatures, a part of the geography of hope (153)." Wallace Stegner makes this statement at the end of "Coda", a letter included in his book The Sound of Mountain Water. In this letter Stegner asks David Pesonen, who was working on the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission, to work ... to preserve what wilderness is left in the United States. In publishing the letter in this book, Stegner is arguing not only to Pesonen but to the American people that wilderness is a necessary part not just of the physical American ... various locations around the western U.S. Two of these locatio...

• Word Count: 1836
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate