The Great Gatsby Essay Example for Free

The Great Gatsby Essay Chapter 1 The narrator and one of the top-two main characters is Nick Carraway. He is a mix of narrator and author of the book. The first thing you encounter in the book is Nick commenting on himself. He characterizes himself as a very highly moral and highly tolerant person. He briefly mentions the hero of his story, Jay Gatsby, saying that Gatsby represented everything he scorns, but he will exempt Gatsby from his usual judgments. The actual story begins when Nick arrived in New York, this in year 1922. He moved there to work in the bond business and rented a house on a part of Long Island called West Egg. Here are some major differences between the place West and East Egg. West Egg is a place for the ? new? rich, those who have made their fortunes recently. The houses are in totally different sizes. Nick’s house is small and poor of taste while Gatsby has a giant mansion. East Egg on the other hand is conservative, aristocratic and noble. Nick is unlike his neighbors, is not lack of social connections and noble pedigrees. He graduated from Yale and has lots of connections on East Egg. If we take a few steps forward in the book, we are in the middle of a dinner on the East egg. Nick is at his cousin’s place, Daisy Buchanan. Daisy is married to a man named Tom Buchanan. Daisy seems to be very calm, but superficial and hides behind her proper shell. Tom is a powerful figure, dressed in riding clothes, greeting Nick on the porch and all that. This meeting will also be the first time Nick meets Jordan Baker, his future-flirt. There is never a very big focus on the Jordan and Nick romance even though it’s close to the main character. When Nick gets home he sees a very handsome young man standing in the lawn with his arms reaching towards the dark water, Gatsby. Nick is trying to understand what he is reaching for, but all he can see is a distant green light that might mark the end of the dock. Chapter 2 I found some parts of the book lengthy and not particular eventful and unfortunately chapter 2 was one of them. Basically two things happened. You get to understand the talent to create symbols Fitzgerald, the author, is. One example is a couple of eyes on a billboard in a gray valley halfway between West Egg and New York City, where ashes from New York were dumped. This valley is symbolizing a poor part of the population, the and the eyes could be seen as God or something powerful, since later one important incidents will occur under the watch of these never blinking eyes. The second event takes place on the fourth and final setting of the novel, which is New York City. Tom brought Nick here along with Tom’s lover, Myrtle Wilson. Tom takes Nick and Myrtle to an apartment he keeps for his affairs. Here they have an impromptu party. Nick claims this is the second time in his life he gets drunk and finds the party very vulgar and tasteless, but even though is too fascinated by it to leave. He also realizes during the party that Tom do not feel any regret to be with another woman. Chapter 3 The main reason why Gatsby is so famous around New York is that he throws amazing parties every weekend at his mansion, to which people long to be invited. One day, Gatsby’s chauffeur brings Nick an invitation to one of these parties. Nick takes the short walk to Gatsby’s house and joins the party, feeling somewhat out of place amid the crowd of overjoyed strangers. It does not take long until Nick notice all the rumors going on about their host – no one seems to know the truth about Gatsby’s wealth or personal history. Some say he was a German spy during the war, a graduate of Oxford and the he once killed a man in cold blood, no one really knows. His parties are absolutely insane and almost unbelievably luxurious. Guests marvel over his Rolls-Royce, his pool, his beach, crates of fresh fruit, buffet tents, a live orchestra playing under the stars and liquor flows freely. Nick meets Jordan at the party and while the other guests get more and more drunk, they begin to wonder where Gatsby is. At midnight Nick and Jordan go outside to watch the entertainment. They sit at a table with a handsome young man who says that Nick looks familiar to him: they realize they served in the same division during the war. The man introduces himself as none other than Jay Gatsby. Nick becomes increasingly fascinated by Gatsby, who seems very elaborate and formal and has a habit of calling everyone ? old sport?. He notice that Gatsby does not drink and that he keeps himself separate from the party, standing alone on the marble steps, watching his guests in silence. The remainder of the chapter is basically about Nick’s everyday life. How he works in New York, meets women and so on. Nick follows an advice he got from Daisy and Tom – which is to date Jordan Baker. Jordan, who is a professional golf player, is regarding to Nick dishonest, selfish and cynical but he is attracted to her vitality nevertheless.

Causes and Effects of Binge Drinking Essay -- essays papers

Causes and Effects of Binge Drinking In many of the colleges and universities today, there are a tremendous amount of students who Drink. The students who consume at least five drinks in a row at one point during a two week period are considered Binge Drinkers. Binge Drinking by college students is the cause to some of the students’ deaths, causes some students grades to fall, and is very dangerous and unhealthy. The overwhelming amount of college students deaths caused by binge drinking has increased greatly by about 44 percent. To go along with the amount of deaths is the amount of life long injuries one may obtain from binge drinking. As David L. Marcus states, in recent newspapers, headlines are troubling. â€Å" A 20-year-old student at Georgetown University dies in a fight after drinking. A fraternity member at the University of Michigan shoots a 19-year-old pledge with a pellet gun at a keg party. A party at Washington State University turns into a 500-student brawl.† (David L. Marcus) These incidents that occurred were only at three universities out of hundreds. Another incident that occurred at a party at Duke was of a 20-year-old student who got drunk and died after inhaling his own vomit. All these deaths and injuries can all have been avoided if only the students had not been involved in the stupid acts of binging. In a magazine article written by Jack Hitt, he tells a story of his nephew who knew two college students that died after binging. One died after falling off a cliff and the other was from blood poisoning. Along with these two deaths came 5 other students who had been paralyzed and seriously injured in car accidents after their acts of binging. As for students not believing anything they re... ...New York; May 1999. Binge Drinking Blowout: Educating Teens About Alcohol Use. Volume: 45 Issue: 5 Start Page: 52 Hitt, Jack; New York Times Magazine; New York; Oct. 24, 1999 The Battle of the binge. Start page: 6, 31:3 Marcus, David L.; U.S. News & World Report; Washington; 3/27/00 Drinking to get drunk Campuses still can’t purge bingeing behavior. Special volume/issue: Vol. 128 No. 12 Start page: 53 Weber, Wim; The Lancet; London; Feb. 24, 2001 Young people’s alcohol consumption reaches alarming levels in Europe. Volume: 357 Issue: 9256 Start page: 617 Wechsler, Henry; The Chronicle of Higher Education; Washington; Oct. 20, 2000. Binge Drinking: Should we attack the name or the problem? Volume: 47 Issue: 8 Start page: B12-B13

Essay on Critical Thinking and Writing

Critique on the Importance of Critical Thinking and Critical Writing in the Social Sciences Critical thinking is defined as the most objective way to interpret, analyze, explain or evaluate a specific topic or conflict. An easy way to explain critical thinking is as an intelligent way that judges use in court to sentence people as guilty or innocent. The way judges use critical thinking at court is by asking lawyers from both sides of the case to show him whatever factual evidence they have so that he or she can take the best decision on the case.Basically the side who should win the case is the one that has sufficient evidences to prove to the judge whatever statement they are making. There is no way a lawyer should win a case only by expressing his or her opinions before the judge; that wouldn’t be an objective way to try to win the case. Critical thinking is the most rational way to react to any matter. By using critical thinking on a daily basis people from any environment are able to take better decisions than by using any non-critical thinking method.For example when someone is offered drugs for a first time; with the use of critical thinking that person can analyze whether to take it or not. The person can look at the advantages and disadvantages of taking the drug in order to make the best decision for him or her. A non-critical way of looking at it would be if the person tries the drug only because he or she is offered. Basically to not think critically means to not make the use of intelligence to analyze or evaluate any matter before making a decision. In writing about a topic or conflict the use of critical thinking is very important in order to get the best conclusion possible.The first thing the writer looks for are what the two sides of the conflict are. There is no way someone can write a good paper if there is no factual evidence to support both sides of the conflict in order to make a conclusion. A good paper is based on evidence rather than pure subjective claims or opinions. A writer who gives pure opinions on a paper does not make the use of critical thinking to write it because in order to do so he or she needs to analyze evidences to support his or her conclusion about it.

Teamwork Icebreaker Games and Excercises

Icebreakers are exercises that are designed to facilitate interactions. They are often used at meetings, workshops, classrooms, or other group functions to introduce people who dont know each other, spark conversations among people who dont typically converse or help people learn  how to work together. Icebreakers are usually formatted as a game or exercise so that everyone can relax and fun. Some icebreakers also have a competitive element.   Why Icebreakers Help With Team Building Icebreakers games and exercises can help with team building when they require everyone in the group to work together to accomplish a specific task or goal. For example, the group may have to work together to conceptualize and implement a strategy to achieve the task. This sort of teamwork can improve communication among group members and may even help to energize and motivate a team.   Every Team Needs a Leader Icebreakers can also break down barriers among participants who are at different places in the chain of command in an organization - such as a supervisor and the people they supervise. People who normally dont take the lead on a team may have an opportunity to do so during an icebreaker game. This is empowering for many people and may help to identify people in the group with leadership capability and potential.   Teamwork Icebreaker Games The  icebreaker games shown below can be used for both large and small groups. If you have a relatively large group, you may want to consider splitting the attendants into several smaller groups. Although each game is different, they all have a common goal: get the group to complete a task within a specific amount of time. If you have more than one group, you can add a competition element to the game by seeing which team can complete an assigned task the fastest. Sample tasks to try: Build a house of cards using 10 cards.Form a line according to height (tallest to shortest or shortest to tallest).Think up and write down 20 words that start with the letter T.Create and write down 5 questions that have the same answer. After the icebreaker game ends, ask the teams to describe the strategy they used to work together and accomplish the task. Discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of the strategy. This will help all of the group members learn from each other. As you play more and more icebreaker games, you will notice that the group tries to hone their strategies to improve from one game to the next.   More Icebreaker Games for Teams A couple of  other icebreaker games that you might want to try to encourage teamwork and team building include: Team Building Puzzler - This game encourages multiple teams to compete against each other in a puzzle building competition.The Ball Game - This classic group icebreaker is a great way to help people in small or large groups build trust and get to know each other better.