RETURN TO Roster  

Jackson, Tyra 

 

Major: Criminal Justice

Minor: Psychology

What I hope to do with this class: To deeply understand the value of literature. To change my way of thinking into a more complex perspective. 

 

Jackson, Tyra  Personal Online Presentation Material: Group One Final Paper: Tyra Jackson Final Paper Final Paper:  Rough Draft Daily Course Work

---

Personal Online Presentation Material: Group One

Group Number-

Term:

---

 

Final Paper: Tyra Jackson

Final Presentation: The American Dream's Destruction vs The Great Gatsby

 

 

---

 

Final Paper

1. The Nineteenth Century in Print and Making of America Project: finding an artifact from after 1865

1. Find and identify an artifact from online databases above.

      

          My artifact is a photograph from the Library of Congress, representing the value of money and how it alters the perspective of individuals lives. The title of the artifact is "Money Talks". I will discuss how World War One caused a huge breakdown in the 'American Dream', I will use huge major points from the life of Scott Fitzgerald and his best seller, "The Great Gatsby." 

1. Find and identify three possible primary texts for your final paper (American literature written before 1865 that is not being studied in class) 

 

• The Great Gatsby 

1.  Race, Sex, and Citizenship: Redefining America 

 

• It did not quite depend on how much money you had at the time, whites thought of themselves as superior than anyone else. Men believed that they were much better than the women in their lives. Anyone in America who was not an American citizen was not recognized as a human being, 

1.  Doing a Close Reading 

1. Select one passage from the text and do a close reading (3-5 paragraphs). The close reading should tie into the theme for the paper. 

 

• Chapter 2 (Pages 24-27)
• The "Valley of Ashes" represents the people left behind in the Roaring Twenties. The dust recalls Nick's reference to the "foul dust" that corrupted Gatsby. Eckleburg's eyes witness the bleakness, and represent the past that the 1920s wasted.  The old money represented by Tom uses the "no money" people while pretending to help them. Wilson and Myrtle have different reactions to the world that has left them behind. Wilson is left weak and defeated, with vague dreams he can't fulfill. Myrtle wants desperately to be a part of the world she sees but can't touch, and so takes up with Tom. The drunken party shows both the "fun" and hidden desperation of the Roaring Twenties. Getting drunk, it seems, is the only thing making the party fun, or at least bearable. Rumors swirl around Gatsby. He has become so rich and is so mysterious he seems almost hollow, all surface and no substance.  Tom's degrading treatment of Myrtle reveals the cruel side of his privileged "old money" upbringing. His "loyalty" to Daisy also reveals his hypocrisy: he's cheating on her.

1.  Making Connections: texts and artifacts 

1. Think about the course theme of American encounters. In 3-5 paragraphs, discuss how you see this theme (or some other theme from the course) developing in both your artifact and one of your primary texts 

 

• I believe that before World War 1 our country stood for the Declaration of Independence, we actually stood for something. If you wanted something you had to work hard to receive it. I believe that over the decades of years America has completely transformed. Many individuals believe that work comes easy and that you do not have to work for it. Many individuals believe that money should just be handed down to them after their parents have worked hard for it. The generations today believe that life is so unfair because success is not handed to them and that is where we took a turn, I also believe that money is not the happiness to our lives. Yes, money has a positive factor in our lives but I do not believe that money should weigh heavily on our happiness in the world. There are individuals who are completely successful and struggle desperately trying to figure out what makes them happy and there are individuals in this world who struggle to live from pay check to pay check yet they are the happiest souls living. I do believe that money is just as powerful but is should not stand in the way of our happiness and doing what is right. I believe that my artifact is perfect for my discussion because it has a very powerful meaning. It seems as if he is very wealthy by the way that he is dressed yet his facial expression displays unhappiness.  

1.  Secondary Sources 

1.  Create a list of possible sources (5 secondary, scholarly texts) from your annotated bibliography.

1.  See "Primary vs Secondary Sources" if you have questions about what constitutes secondary texts.  

 

---

Thesis & Outline

   I. Background of the American Dream

1. definition of the American Dream
2.  When/How the American Dream originated
3. what is considered the American Dream

 II.  What changed the American Dream

1. Information of the journey of the American Dream
2. The transformation of the American Dream
3. Discuss who was attainable to fit the 'American Dream' 

 III. Artifact 

1. Description of artifact and what makes it symbolic
2.  Personal Opinion and descriptions
3. How the artifact correlates to "The Great Gatsby"

 IV.  Secondary Sources

1. Significance towards the book
2. Significance towards the artifact
3.  Background information of the secondary sources  

 V. Persona Symbolic Viewpoints

1. How has the American Dream affected society
2. How do I relate to the importance of the American Dream
3. How has the journey of the book portrayed the American Dream

 VI.  Author's Background and Life Experiences

1. Background of the book
2. Background of the author
3. Author's journey, young life, and significance to his best seller "The Great Gatsby" 

 VII. Significant facts and viewpoints of the research

1. facts
2. information
3. details
4. "wrap up"

 VIII. Conclusion

 

 

 

---

Final Paper:  Rough Draft

     The American Dream is the ideal that every United States citizen should have equal opportunity to achieve success and wealth through hard work, motivation, and strong ambition. The phrase" American Dream" was first used by a historian, James Truslow Adams in his book, The Epic of America, that was published in 1931. During the time of his books publication, the United States was suffering under the Great Depression. When Adams referred to the term "American Dream," he was describing the complex beliefs, religious promises, and political and social expectations, but throughout history the American dream has become a term that simply means a way of life. In fact, the American Dream deals greatly with the Declaration of Independence: our equal rights to "life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness." The simple idea of this is that every man and every woman should achieve what they are able to do regardless of their birth. It focuses on the equality that everyone should be treated and seen as completely and without a doubt, equal. The central key that was built to support this was the workforce in our society. It's central goal was to allow all Americans to work together to achieve the American Dream. (COnsider trimming and transitioning towards GG).

    

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates/models the way that wealth destroyed the American Dream in elite white 1920s society through the actions, motivations, and ... of the characters. 

 

      The American Dream originated in the earlier days of the American settlement, with the mostly poor immigrants searching for opportunities. It was first manifested in the Declaration of Independence, which describes an attitude of hope. The Declaration of Independence states that “All man are created equal and that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness”. In The Great Gatsby the American Dream plays an important key role that I am going to focus on. Throughout my explanations I will allow you to see  what happened to the 'American Dream' during the 1920s. The values of the American dream have totally changed in our world today. The Great Gatsby does a great job portraying the how the American Dream drastically changed. Instead of striving for equality, they characters of The Great Gatsby focus their time on getting as wealthy as they could without a purpose and without meaning. They did not have a motivation or a drive to overall achieve their goals or to be success. They did it for all of the wrong reasons. 

     The transformation of the American Dream was recognized when the prediction of the idea that social and economic mobility can be accomplished through less government and more industry, rather than more government and less industry was created. This simple creation turned the American Dream into an American nightmare. 

Those who were attainable to fit the description of the American Dream were simply those who had a great opportunity to a well paid education, a well paid job, and simply those who had the desire and motivation to be successful and to work hard. Those with an ivy league education had a better opportunity to live the American Dream. Those individuals still fit into the category today, however; even with all of those things, it is still difficult to fit into that category due to the elevation of the cost of living and college expenses as well. 

     My artifact displays a man holding to bags of money. From your point of view you automatically think happiness right? You have no idea what is going on in his life, you have no idea what kind of work ethnics he has but seeing his attire, you think business. You have no historical evidence of his background or how he even received this money. All you think is 'happiness.' Sad to say that from his point of view, he could be going through an emotional struggle financially, physically, and mentally. Then again, you could be right. The man in the picture is wearing a suit, which strikes business so you think important. If you look closely, the bags of money seem to display a evil facial expression as if he is not doing the right things to receive the money. The man seems to be haunted by a sort of shadow that seems very symbolic in this picture. The symbolic shadow seems to represent secret and darkness. The vague and gloomy color of the picture seems to also be dark and seems to display mysteriousness. The look on the mans face seems to be very unhappy. The symbolic representation of this picture to me means, "Money cannot buy happiness." 

 

 

Name (paper): Tyra Jackson

Name (reviewer 1): Danae Cox

Name (reviewer 2): Mykenzie Roach

American Literature I Final Paper Rubric

 

	Satisfactory	Unsatisfactory	Comments
Organization	Strong thesis at the conclusion of the introduction to guide the paper. Thesis connected and supported in all body paragraphs. Thesis makes a strong argument about a single theme or idea using the primary text and artifact. Discussion of the primary text and artifact is coherent and succinct.	Thesis is vague or spread throughout the introduction and the paper. Thesis is not clearly connected to all body paragraphs. Thesis does not make a strong argument about the primary text and/or artifact.
Close Reading	Analyzes the theme of the American hero in or through a primary text and artifact. Close reading brings the primary text and artifact together in meaningful ways. Places close reading in conversation with secondary sources. Summarizes and paraphrases evidence from the primary text to support the close reading (only using direct quotes when it is necessary to analyze the language).	Does not clearly analyze a theme from American Literature in or through a primary text and/or artifact. Close reading does not relate the primary text and artifact in meaningful ways (although it may discuss both separately). Does not situate close reading among secondary sources. Primarily summarizes the text or quotes it (rather than analyzing it).
Support (Research)	Integrates support from secondary sources to support close reading. Creates a clear conversation with secondary sources (without being overpowered by them). Uses strong evidence from secondary sources. Summarizes and paraphrases evidence except when quotations are necessary.	Does not integrate support from secondary sources. Argument is either overpowered or disconnected from secondary sources. Evidence from secondary sources is not clearly connected with the argument. Uses unnecessary quotes from the secondary source.
Pre-Writing	Completed all pre-writing activities on-time (includingconferences and rough draft workshop)	Did not complete all pre-writing activities on-time.
Presentation	Addresses the main points of the paper in a succinct and engaging way. Interactive and creative online presentation with text and visual elements (NOT a power point)	Does not address the main points of the paper. Is not interactive or online. Does not include text and/or visual elements.

 

 

---

Daily Course Work 

Class Discussion Board (Feb, 10, 2016)

-Excused Absence from Women's Basketball Game.

 

• What was the main point of the article we read about short fiction: "The Remarkable Reinvention of Very Short Fiction"? 
•   The main point of "The Remarkable Reinvention of Very Short Fiction" was to determine if chronicles were being recreated or if they were being generated of an imagination. 
• How does this relate to the short stories we read from Sudden Fiction?      
• The author primarily discovered that the fiction stories were a venture to being recreated into a totally different fiction. Stories that we comprehend in today's society are pretty clear. The stories that we interpret paint a clear picture and are completely understandable. They are so easily understood that it is easy for the reader to assume the plot. The stories that we read are very common, short, sweet, and to the point.  

 

• In "Cannibals and Explorers" - a MICROSTORY - Ana Maria Shua makes a commentary about the behavior of European explorers and in the New World. What is she saying? How does the condensed form of the microstory enhance her message (see The Remarkable Reinvention of Very Short Fiction for ideas about the power of these mini-stories)?
• Ana Maria's message is enhanced by the condensed form of a micro story because she is simply stating that because the cannibal characters devour who they glorify, they become the explorers, ultimately becoming that in which they dissipate. The micro story is very rounded and concrete.  

 

• How does Fernando Benavidez's story "Montezuma, My Revolver" related the history of conflict between Native Americans and Europeans to the present? Why is this significant?
• Fernando Benavidez's story relates deeply to the history of conflict between Native Americans and Europeans to the present. With the story that Fernando presented, it discussed the battle to cease drugs from entering into the America. This story correlates to the battle that Native Americans face with land. Native Americans have always been in a constant battle with land. They have always had land taken from them by the Europeans. I feel as if the   story by Benavidez was very significant to show the importance of history of conflict with those two because they had to defend for themselves because they did not carry a great deal of trust within each other. 

 

• Don Quixote is a satiric Spanish epic critiquing Spanish military and chivalric ideals (and actions). It was written by Miguel de Cervantes in the 1600s (as Spain sent conquistadors to plunder the New World). What do you think Juan Martinez is saying about the relationship between modern life and the past in "Customer Service at the Karaoke Don Quixote"? 
• Martinez is describing how we only use maker strategies to benefit ourselves. We are pretty much a "one man's game." Everything that we do, we only do in the hopes to benefit ourselves and ourselves only. We use and step on others just to get what we want and to forcefully progress ahead in life.  

 

---

 Questions for the New Bedford Samurai

      1. Would he rather live in Japan or the U.S.? And why does he make the decision to live where he does?

 I think that he would have much rather stayed in the United States because there is a wide variety of opportunity. He would have found a work force to become successful in with the abilities and skills that he had.

      2.  How does Manjiro relate to the ocean?

  I believe that Manjiro relates to the ocean simply because the ocean is a wave of motion. It is always moving no matter what and that is how he correlates to the ocean. He is constantly traveling. What was different about Manjiro is that he traveled across the world. He traveled across every different type of ocean.  

      3. If the roles switched, could Manjiro have been successful?

 I believe that Manjiro would have been successful if roles switched, but not in a much effective way. He has always been a hard worker I just think that with him having the opportunity to travel and gain experience in other aspects that what he was used to it allowed him to be more successful. His work ethic was always there. He just gained experience and knowledge. I just believe that he has the opportunity to pursue something more because he was able to travel the world and see other things.

      4. Give 2 examples of continuity in major experiences and relationships with people in different places.

 Manjiro was a very hardworker. I think that he had a unique way of using his sources to allow him to see a bigger opportunity for him.

 

---

Questions/Responses: Guest Lecture

1.) Page 16

     Where was the mother when he ran away? Was she worried at all that he ran away? Was she worried when he did not return?

2.) Page 20

     What allowed and caused them to get stuck on sea? Why were they so happy to find land?

3.) Page 25

     Why was Denzo completely against them going high to broadcast that they needed help?

4.) Page 26

     What is the captain planning to do with Manjiro?

5.) Page 13

     What were they not so wealthy?

6.) Why were the eyes so significant when the men saved them? 

---

Class Work: Participation 3-23-16

 

 

Common

 Artifact

·  He has a lot of money but does not seem to be happy

·  It seems as if he is battling something way more important than the wealth of his bank account

·  The money seems evil, as if it may be controlling him

·  Maybe he isn’t doing the right things to receive the money

· GREED

·  Early 1900's

     Book (Close Reading)

· Wealthy

·  Money does not seem to buy his happiness, he is battling something much more than his wealth

·  LOVE

·  1942

     Formal Analysis:

My artifact is simply a man holding two bags of money. I believe that there are many details and themes that one could label but it is characterized with a mix of the lines. It has vertical lines and also diagonal. I think vertical lines mean that the picture is filled with potential energy that could be released if they were to fall over. Vertical lines are sturdy and inflexible as well. Diagonal lines represent unstableness. There is not much space here in this picture. It is all composed in one photo. My picture is 3D. Texture of the picture seems to be not necessarily modern. The colors in the picture are dark which gives the picture a gloomy and negative vibe as if it is mysterious. His shadow seems to be very symbolic in the picture as well.