Gatsby#2)

The chapter starts with talking about the valley of ashes. I got really confused at this point. There was also the part about the billboard with the doctor's eyes looking down on them. In this chapter Tom takes Nick to New York and stops at the Valley of Ashes along the way. This is where Myrtle, Tom's girlfriend, is introduced. She is a whore (: Tom buys her a puppy. They go to the apartment, Myrtle's sister comes over along with some other people and they start drinking. They get very very drunk. Myrtle starts talking about Daisy and Tom tells her to stop. She continues saying, "Daisy, Daisy, Daisy..." so Tom punched her in the nose. The chapter ends with Nick sleeping in the train station waiting for the four o'clock train.

Gatsby#1;

The book begins with Nick telling the reader about some advice that his dad gave him. After a while, we learn that he moved to New York to learn about the bond business and hat a Mr. Gatsby is his neighbor. Nick doesn't like Gatsby's actions, but enjoys his personality. Nick is then invited to a Tom Buchanan's house for dinner. He went to Yale with Tom and Tom is married to Nick's cousin, Daisy. While Nick is at Tom's, he is interduced to a Miss Baker. Nick knows he's seen her somewhere, but can't quite figure out where. While the four of them are eating, Tom gets a phone call. He leaves to take it, and soon after Daisy follows. Nick trys to make small talk with Miss Baker, but she tells him to be quiet and she trys to overhear what is being said in the next room. She then informs Nick that Tom has a woman in New York. After the night is over, Nick drives back home and looks over at Gatsby's house. He sees what seems to be him, but when Nick looks back over at him, Mr. Gatsby is no longer there.

Themes,motifs,and symbols:

Motifs:

• Noise and Silence: Henry is having an internal battle, doubting himself. He is very quiet, but everyone else continues to talk and noise continues on around him. When Henry stays for battles, it is very loud and all over the place. Henry runs away into the forest and it is very calm and silent.
  
• Youth and maturity: Henry and the others at camp seem to be fairly young. They are very mature to just pick up everything and go to war for what is right. Henry keeps going from youth to maturity, he's mature when he signs up to fight. He then becomes childish again when he thinks of running, but he stays and fights so he is once again mature.
  
• Clean and dirty: The clean and dirty represents the veterans and the new members of the army. Henry notices how clean their hats are, while the veterans hats are faded and torn. At this point I don't know if Henry's thinks will ever get dirty or tattered, he's always contemplating on running away. If he doesn't fight, his things will stay clean.
  
• Light and Dark:
  

Symbols:

• Dead soldier: The dead soldier really fascinates Henry. It's after seeing him that Henry decides he would rather just be killed.
• The Dead Soldier: I think that the dead soldier reflects what could become of Henry. Maybe the soldier also ran, because of that he ran out of food and water supply, dying.
• The flag: I think that the flag could represent that they are fighting for a cause, they're country/what's right and just. The army isn't going to give up, they will continue fighting.
• The flag: Now I think that the flag actually represents what is going on during the war. Before it was calm, just flowing in the wind. Now it's jerking as if someone is shaking it, to tell the soldiers that the enemy is attacking.

Themes:

• Courage: Henry really shows courage in this chapter, it's when he finally get it. He forgets all about his thoughts of running and his thoughts of just dying. He fights alongside the other soldiers and contributes to the end result.
• Disregard for Human Life: I think that when somebody dies, and they just leave them, don't cover them up or anything is a disregard for human life.
• Self-preservation: Henry is always thinking about running away, not caring about whether other people will die or not. He only cares whether or not he will die.
• Manhood: When Henry finally stays and continues to fight in battle, he has finally achieved manhood.
  

QUIZ #2.

Henry is referred to as "the youth" and Wilson is referred to as "the loud private." How has each character changed from the beginning of the story to now, specifically in regards to these monikers? Use specific examples from the story to support your answer.

• Wilson isn't as loud as he was in the beginning of the story. He has fought in different battles and matured.
• Henry has matured some from being in a battle, but I think that he is still a youth and immature because of the fact that he ran away from battle.
  

CHAPTER TEN.

When Henry "is stabbed and his tongue lay dead" does it mean that he has a great deal of pain dealing with Jim's death, but he can't talk about it/can't form words? Henry and the tattered soldier decide they can't do anything for Jim, and just leave him. That doesn't make sense to me, because Henry said he would take care of him and said something about taking him to the road, but instead he just left him. The tattered soldier talks about how someone had to tell him he was shot, how would you not know if you got shot in the head? The tattered soldier seems to care for Henry and is concerned that his wound might be worse than Henry feels, so he asks him where it is. Henry of course doesn't have one, so he gets quite mad at tells him to leave him alone. Henry walks away as the tattered soldier begins to stutter and refer to Henry as his neighbor, Tom. Beings Jim did the same thing before he died, I think that the tattered soldier probably died too.

Question:

• Henry knows how Jim acted before he died, and now the tattered soldier was acting the same way. He said that now he wished he was dead. Why wouldn't he help the tattered soldier and actually want him dead?
  

CHAPTER NINE.

Henry begins to question what the tattered soldier said and now wishes that he was injured too, that way he could get a red badge of courage. As Henry is wandering around, he is constantly worried about how others are viewing him and whether or not they are thinking the same thing as the tattered soldier. Henry finally sees Jim and is very excited until he notices that Jim has been shot. Jim was worried that Henry died because he didn't see him out on the battlefield. Henry swore to God that he would take care of Jim, and Jim was very happy. But then Jim starts to walk away and wants nothing to do with Henry, telling him over and over to leave him. Henry continues to follow Jim until Jim died. I think Henry will be more willing to fight now that Jim has died, he wants to fight for Jim.

Question:

• It said that Jim died with a laugh about his teeth or something like that? Why would you die laughing? I sure wouldn't be. I'd be screaming or crying or something, just not laughing...

CHAPTER EIGHT.

Finally,I can fill in the tattered soldier blank on my characters list. Chapter eight opens up very ironically. The entire story Henry has had doubts about running or actually running from battle. In the beginning of this chapter, Henry actually runs to where that battle is. As Henry is running back towards the edge of the forest, he thinks of how the other soldiers and himself took the battle so seriously. They think it's deciding the entire war or that they will go down in the history books, when in reality this just isn't so. After Henry gets out of the forest, he finds an area of the battlefield belonging to five or six corpses. He feels as if he in invading their area, and quickly leaves, thinking one will get up and yell at him to leave. Henry continues walking, and ends up in the hospital type area where they take all the injured. It is here where he meets that tattered soldier. They talk for awhile(mostly the tattered soldier is doing the talking) until he asks Henry where he is injured at. Henry, obviously not being injured, turns and walks away.

Question:

• How big was the battle? There seems to be many injured and dead, but Henry seems to think the battle wasn't big enough to be mentioned.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

Henry is in disbelief and can't believe that they had won the battle again. He feels anger and that he was betrayed by the rest of the arm. Why didn't they run with him? Why didn't they try to save themselves? Henry begins to pity himself and moves further into thicker woods, as if to bury himself, to get rid of all the noises. Henry then sees a squirrel and throws a pine cone at it, and is finally satisfied. The squirrel ran away, showing him it's just nature to run away from fears and when being attacked. After this, Henry continues to wander, finding himself almost into a swamp. He wanders some more, and is horrified and what he finds. He finds a dead soldier, his blue uniform faded to a sort of green, his red lips faded to yellow, and ants covering his face. He runs away, afraid to have his back to the corpse. He thinks that if he turns his back, it will somehow come after him and attack him.

Symbols:

• The Dead Soldier: I think that the dead soldier reflects what could become of Henry. Maybe the soldier also ran, because of that he ran out of food and water supply, dying.

Question:

• After seeing the dead soldier, will Henry return to camp? If he does, what will happen to him for running?
  

CHAPTER SIX.

Chapter six opens up with Henry waking up. Everyone around him is bragging and talking about how they held off the other army and how hot it is. They don't want another battle any time soon because of the heat, they want to soak up the sun. But before they can talk anymore, there comes a shout. They're charging again. Henry begins to lift his rifle, and just as he is about to shoot, he notices through the smoke that there are men fleeing left and right. Henry threw down his gun and he too, ran. All of Henry's disbelief and fears are back. He fears that they are coming after him and him alone. When Henry is running, he trips a couple times and hits his shoulder on a tree and falls. He feels its better to be hurt this way that to be killed during battle. As he continues to run, Henry sees a general on his horse. Henry feels as if he should approach the general and tell him what he is doing is unjust. A messenger comes to the general and tells him that they have, again, held them.

Question:

• Now that Henry knows they have held him, will he go back? Or just continue running?
  

CHAPTER FIVE.

Chapter five begins with the battle still taking place. Henry is waiting for the enemy, and this reminds him of being back home in his village waiting for the circus. The General came over to where Henry and the others were, telling the Colonel that they're section must hold back, don't fire yet. Henry lost all doubt and concern for himself, he finally felt that he was fighting for a cause. He felt like he was a member and that he belonged there. Henry forgot everything, and fired the first shot. As the battle went on, Henry was aware to everyone around him grumbling or swearing. After the battle is over, he looks around, noticing all the dead bodies. Including his captain. After this, he notices the blue sky and can't believe that everything just continues while there was such a gruesome battle and people lost.

Themes:

• Courage: Henry really shows courage in the chapter, it's when he finally get it. He forgets all about his thoughts of running and his thoughts of just dying. He fights alongside the other soldiers and contributes to the end result.

Question:

• Where are Wilson and Jim?
  

CHAPTER FOUR.

This chapter begins with everyone talking about what is happening to others, although they don't know for sure. As they were all talking, they began to get shot at. Henry's lieutenant got shot in the hand. Others begin to retreat behind them, running away from war. Henry has one thought, and it is that he could possibly run faster than all of them.

Symbol:

• The flag: Now I think that the flag actually represents what is going on during the war. Before it was calm, just flowing in the wind. Now it's jerking as if someone is shaking it, to tell the soldiers that the enemy is attacking.
  

QUIZ #1

Post your answer to the following question in the most current location on your blog. Be complete. You may use your notes (obviously).

1. What does the title of this book mean? Be specific in your response, noting Henry's comments.
Henry has doubts about battle and second guesses himself, he needs courage. He doesn't get it until battle. The battle could represent the red part of it, because of blood and there's a lot of blood in battle.

2. What is the importance of the tattered man? What does he represent?

3. What role does Henry's mother play while he is away from her?
Henry's mom plays a role of comfort to Henry. She doesn't necessarily want him to be away at war, but she knows that nothing would have stopped Henry from signing up, so she stays and encourages him and believes in him even when Henry doesn't believe in himself.

4. How does Henry use the squirrel to justify his actions?

CHAPTER THREE.

Chapter three starts with Henry and the rest of the army still marching to their destination. Along the way, everyone is getting fed up and tired, so they start ditching stuff they don't need. Finally one day, it seems like their marching is finally worth something. They join up with some brigades and then one night while they were sleeping, they all got up and started running and didn't know why. Henry was trying to find out ways to escape, but couldn't think of anything. He expected to see a battle scene, but instead just saw people in the form of battle lines. Soon, he too, was in a line with others, and they began to march into the trees. As they continue to march in the forest, they see a dead man. Henry looks at him and continues to question himself. The men continued to march for awhile until finally they stopped at a place in the forest. Wilson started to complain with Henry and Jim started to yell at them. They ate and then went back to the battle field. Henry doesn't doubt himself anymore, instead, he thinks it would be better to just be killed. Henry forgets all about his plan about just dying when he sees the battlefield, he's astonished. He's in a gaze, but when he feels a hand on his shoulder, he snaps out of it. Wilson handed him a yellow envelope saying it was his first battle and his last, he expected himself to die, so he wanted Henry to give the contents of the yellow envelope to his family.

Symbols:

• Dead soldier: The dead soldier really fascinates Henry. It's after seeing him that Henry decides he would rather just be killed.
  
• The flag: I think that the flag could represent that they are fighting for a cause, they're country/what's right and just. The army isn't going to give up, they will continue fighting.

Motifs:

• Clean and dirty: The clean and dirty represents the veterans and the new members of the army. Henry notices how clean their hat are, while the veterans hats are faded and torn.

Question:

• During what war is the story taking place?
  

CHAPTER TWO.

This chapter begins at the same camp they were located at in chapter one. There's a lot of tension because it turned out that Jim's fact about them leaving for battle turned out to be false. A man from Chatfield Corners was especially mad, and Jim beat him. A lot of people were very upset about not going to battle, but Henry, in a sense, was relieved. He it still battling himself about whether or not he will run away from battle. Soon after though, he decides that he can not sit still much longer and he needs to go battle. Although the rumor is proven to be false, it still gives everyone a reason to talk and be excited. Because Henry is so unsure of himself, he's sure that others are too and that most of them have to be lying when they say they are ready for battle. Finally a man came on a horse and had a very short, straight to the point conversation with the commander at the camp. They were, in fact, going to go in behind the enemy and fight. While the army was marching to get where they were going, a fat soldier tried to steal a horse. The woman who lived at the house grabbed the horse by its mane and stood her ground. The others soldiers made fun of the fat one and supported the maiden, saying to "hit him with a stick." While the army was setting up camp and still had excitement about them, Henry had to go out on his own and be isolated from everyone, for he was still doubting whether or not he really had it in him to be a soldier. He thought back to his days on the farm with him mother and wished he was there again. Henry feels as if he is an outcast because no one else seems to have the same doubts about running from battle.

Motifs:

• Noise and Silence: Henry is having an internal battle, doubting himself. He is very quiet, but everyone else continues to talk and noise continues on around him.
  
• Youth and maturity: Henry and the others at camp seem to be fairly young. They are very mature to just pick up everything and go to war for what is right.

Question:

• What does "the youth" mean? Just Henry? Or multiple youths?

CHAPTER ONE.

Chapter one begins during dusk on a hill. Everybody is awakening and the area is full of excitement with talk of going into battle soon. Jim goes to wash his shirt and comes back with the news that they are to go into battle the very next day. The soldiers had been sitting idle for a very long time not doing anything, so getting this news made everybody anxious. One man did not believe Jim, however, and called him out on it. The two men began to fight. Henry was nervous about going into battle the next day, so he goes into his tent to think and reflect on his life before he enlisted in the army and what his mother said to him the day he left. Henry was becoming very worried about the next day, thinking that he may possibly run from battle. Jim and the man he got into an argument with before come into the tent that Henry is in, still fighting. Jim comfronts Henry and makes him feel better about battle the next day.



Question:

• Why is Henry just now questiong his curage when he knew from day one that he would have to go into battle?

CHARACTERS.

Henry Fleming:

• Main character.
  
• Henry is a young boy and has wanted to be in a battle ever since he was a young boy.
• He goes to bed at night dreaming of Greek-like battles, but when he finds out that he might have to be in an actual fight he gets really nervous and thinks that he might end up running.

Jim Conklin:

• Jim is a tall soldier.
• He is the one who puts the idea into everybody's minds that they're going to go battle the next day, but it is not for sure that they are or not.

Wilson:

• Wilson is a very loud soldier.
• He gets very excited about the fact that they are finally going to be at battle.
• Wilson is sure that he is not going to run from battle.

Tattered soldier:

Lieutenant:

• Henry hates the lieutenant.
• Beats up somebody who tried to run away.
  

Henry's mother:

• Henry's mother cares about Henry very much.
• She tries to convince him not to go but fails.
• She is last mentioned sitting out in her garden crying.