february 4

JOURNAL TOPIC: [today's tunes: "War" by Edwin Starr; "Give Peace A Chance" by The Plastic Ono Band]

[Minute of Mindfulness: Focus on a conflict-- within yourself, between yourself and someone else, or between other people-- and ask what it would take to resolve it.  *Or, as always, you can think about nothing.]

Ever since we read yesterday (and talked about the Rotary scholarship essay) I've been thinking about conflict.  Whatever else we learned from the exposition, the author definitely gave us the idea that some things don't seem to go together.  Like whoever Gatsby really is and the "great" version the epigraph recommends to anyone wanting the attention of a lover.  And what about the narrator?  He seems like he goes against his family's tradition to move to New York, where he doesn't fit in with the millionaires-- and he even got the idea when he came back from... World War I.  What do you think of these conflicts?  Do you think they will matter in the book?  Do you think they matter in life?  Please explain your answer. 

-OR-

Choose a character or a moment in the book and describe it like you’re telling a friend about something that happened at lunch.  This will tell me what gets your attention, what affects your mood as a reader, and what you remember. (Obviously, it will also tell me what you’ve read and understand.)  When it comes to the characters and their words and actions, be as judgmental as you want.

AGENDA:
1. Journal
2. Keep reading (as a class, in groups, or by yourself) and taking notes
3. You should be posting to your blog EVERY DAY now as part of your routine. You can do this during the last part of the period if that makes it easier. Please post your notes (title: GATSBY pages xx-xx). (Don’t type “xx” — use the pages you/we read that day.)  You can also post about any Big Question work you’re doing and anything else you want to share with your readers.