Kate’s Comments (group member since May 25, 2016)

Kate’s comments from the Mills AP Lit and Comp group.

Kate Hartshorn Period 1

Sonnet XV (fifteen)

“When I consider everything that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;”

Shakespeare's Sonnet Fifteen speaks to the impermanence of youth. In the first lines of his sonnet, he sets the world as a sort of stage in which everything has its own growing beauty. Both “men as plants increase” and both are subject to the same outside influences. Like a plant, Shakespeare writes that humans reach their full growth and then wither from that point until they fade away, eventually forgotten. Today with social media’s influences stretching globally, a new form of growth has taken root. Everyone's focus is held for a split second on the next greatest thing. In this way, Shakespeare's words, “at height decrease,/and wear their brave state out of memory;” applies to those who find fame or success through the Internet. They can only reach so high, capture that moment, and then fall from their achievement to be forgotten in the constant flow of new ideas and input. Sonnet XV relates to today's world as it captures the ephemeral nature of all things.

Chiara wrote: "Chiara Walz
Charles Dickens’ novel Great Expectations has two different endings; the original ending is dreary, while the second ending is more fulfilling. In the initial ending Pip and Estella see..."

Kate Hartshorn Period 1

While I understand your draw to a more emotionally satisfying conclusion, Dickens’s abrupt change in attitude towards his characters disrupts the novel in the edited ending. Relying on outside perspective didn’t allow him to stay true to Pip and Estella’s relationship. Most of their relationship was based on Pip’s adoration of everything Estella represented, and she was obligated to be with him due to their mutual relationship with Miss Havisham. In one interaction, Estella says, “We have no choice, you and I, but to obey our instructions. We are not free to follow our own devices, you and I.” (247). This obligation to have a relationship makes it clear that Estella would not sustain their acquaintance if she was not forced to It is then strange in the edited ending to think of Pip and Estella suddenly coming together after they have experienced years of separation, and were never incredibly close in the first place.

Kate Hartshorn Period 1

While the ending Dickens published Great Expectations with is arguably more emotionally satisfying, it does not remain consistent with the mood of the novel. Dickens was obviously unsure of which ending to choose on his own, whether to satisfy the reader with the edited ending, or remain true to his characters with the original ending. However, under the influence of audience satisfaction, and the opinion of Mr. Bulwer-Lytton the edited ending was chosen, straying from the mood. Due to it remaining most consistent with the rest of the novel and Dickens's attitude toward his characters, the original ending is superior to the one Dickens chose to publish.

In his novel Dickens paints Estella to be an emotionally challenged character, not relating well to others and particularly coming off cold hearted to Pip. In one interaction between Pip and Estella, she acts as though their, “association were forced upon (them) and (they) were mere puppets.” (250). Although Estella’s attitudes and behaviors are largely a result of Miss Havisham’s upbringing, Estella makes it clear time and time again that she and Pip are not meant to be together at all (friendship or otherwise). She says, “When you say you love me, I know what you mean, but… I don’t care for what you say at all. I have tried to warn you of this; now, have I not?” (336). So it does not make sense for Estella to completely change her mind in the end, saying later that she has “often thought of (Pip)” and that she wished for him to “tell (her) (they) are friends.” (450). It is clear that Pip has always desired a world in which he “saw no shadow of another parting from her” (450), but the ending is not realistic in consideration of all previously occurring events. To end the novel with a complete reversal of Estella's opinion on their relationship doesn’t do the novel justice.

The original ending still offers emotional closure to Pip and Estella’s relationship while not overly romanticizing it. To make it seem as though they have chosen to come back together and be close friends after all of the time they had apart strays from the nature of their relationship. Dickens’s original ending presents a more natural interaction that doesn’t seem planned in the way meeting at the Satis house does. When Pip happens upon Estella at the Satis house her words appear forced as she says “I am greatly changed. I wonder you know me.” (449). It gives too much credit to Estella reflecting on their relationship, while nothing else in the novel indicates that she would ever give it that much consideration. However, for her to say, “I am greatly changed, I know, but I thought you would like to shake hands with Estella too, Pip. Lift up that pretty child and let me kiss it!” aligns more closely with something Estella would say. The original ending of Great Expectations is therefore superior as it offers closure to Pip and Estella’s relationship while not straying from their characters.

Kate Hartshorn Period 1

In an effort to create compelling characters and plot in the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, the author relies heavily on distortion as an alternative to literary realism. By creating emphasis on class and larger than life characters, Pip’s fascination with the upper class is more understandable to the reader.

Throughout the majority of the novel, Pip links wealth and class to a higher sense of being. His dreams of becoming a gentlemen are only inhibited by his current class, family, and a lack of greater opportunity. Upon gaining small entry into the lavish life he dreamed of, Pip begins to feel, “ashamed of home...now, it was all coarse and common, and (he) would not have had Miss Havisham and Estella see it on any account.” (99). Although Estella is “self-possessed” Pip is entranced by her and everything she represents to him. When Pip is given the option to be, “immediately be removed from his present sphere of life, and from this place, and be brought up as a gentleman- in a world, as a young fellow of great expectations.” (129), he jumps at it. Pip’s previous descriptions of his life and his “particular reasons for wanting to be a gentleman” (119) being explained as him being “not happy at all” and “digusted with (his) calling and with (his) life” (119), help to explain his ability to break all old ties for a new life. Pip’s distorted expectations of the upper class causing him to leap at a chance to change his situation before thinking about possible consequences.

Miss Havisham is arguably one of the strangest characters Dickens creates. When Pip first meets her, he says, “In an arm chair, … sat the strangest lady I have ever seen, or shall ever see… I saw that the bride within the bridal dress had withered like the dress… waxwork and skeleton seemed to have dark eyes that moved and looked at me.” (54). A bride left to wilt away in lost time and a dream of something long gone, she carries a sense of resentment towards the man that left her. Raising Estella to be wanted by men, but cold in the face of their many pursuits, avenges Miss Havisham’s loss. The distortion of her character through Pip’s descriptions and interactions compels an interest in her story. At the end of the novel, Miss Havisham’s confession that, “When she first came to me, I meant to save her from misery like my own… But as she grew… I stole her heart away and put ice in its place.” (371) brings many loose ends to a close. If a spotlight was not put on her character, Great Expectations would have been far less captivating. Dicken’s use of distortion in the novel allows for ruminations on class, and wealth that would not have existed with literary realism.

Kate Hartshorn, Period 1

The “illuminating” moment in The Great Gatsby occurs fairly quickly after Nick Carraway moves to his house by Mr. Gatsby’s. While some may look to later times, an especially important revealing moment of the novel is when Gatsby invites Mr. Carraway to his party. Nick says, “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited-- they went there… I had actually been invited.” (45). By giving a physical invitation to Nick, Mr. Gatsby becomes human. He is no longer an elusive character, but a real person who has a life, a story, and a motive. Through the invitation he welcomes Nick into a part of his life that few people have ever known. The real Jay Gatsby has built the life he wanted for himself, and has fallen in love. Gatsby chooses to patiently harbor that love until he finds Mr. Carraway and realizes that Nick can help. The invitation is pivotal to the entire novel. If Nick had not received it and gone to the party, he would have never met Jordan Baker, Jay Gatsby, assisted in the love affair of Jay and Daisy, had Jay’s friendship, or witnessed the aftermath of his death and desertion. Also, by Mr. Carraway understanding that not many people ever receive invitations, he is flattered to accept one and develops an attachment to Mr. Gatsby. This loyalty would not have existed if he would not have been invited to the party, and simply wandered over on his own. Fulling grasping The Great Gatsby depends on understanding Mr. Gatsby’s motives, and why Mr. Carraway chooses to remain by his side; both of which relate back to the invitation, making it the “illuminating” moment in the novel. The Great Gatsby truly rests on a single slip of paper.

Kate Hartshorn, Period 1

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby revolves around the adventurous character Jay Gatsby. While Gatsby does not always actively seek new adventures, he creates ones for those around him with his various parties and business endeavours. In his own life, Mr. Gatsby was able to completely reinvent himself, changing everything including his name to pursue, “his Platonic conception of himself.” (104). In his new life he meets people and has opportunities that he could have never dreamed about if he was still James Gatz.

Balancing his past and present selves allows Gatsby to find moments where he truly treasures his life and finds awe in all that he is able to have. While he initially seems to have disregarded his past Daisy reminds him that some of his desires will always be just out of reach. Their relationship and different roots contribute to Fitzgerald’s reflection on origin and flight to greater opportunity in his novel.

Although he initially fled from his childhood, and everything associated with his past life, Gatsby later recognized its value in shaping him as a person. If Gatsby had never needed to work for an entirely new life, then he would never value his success or have the mindset that hard work would get him what he wanted. This relates specifically to his relationship with Daisy; he is patient enough to wait for her, but still does everything he can to get her sooner. As Mr. Carraway says, “‘Gatsby bought the house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.”” (83).

Gatsby’s later returns to his past are voiced by his father who says, “Of course we broke up when he run off from home but I see now there was a reason for it. He knew he had a big future in front of him. And ever since he made a success he was very generous with me.” (181). The two sides of Mr. Gatsby, his past and present selves are brought together in his connection to Daisy. Around her he still feels his boyhood wonder of witnessing a lifestyle so different from his own, but he appreciates it in his current state as someone who has worked to achieve the life he wanted.

When Mr. Gatsby’s adventures eventually kill him his past returns in the shape of his father, Mr. Gatz. In a way, this represents that Mr. Gatsby’s past was always with him. After his death, no one in his new life other than Nick was there for him. He was abandoned, with only his father and Nick to offer support. Mr. Gatsby may have created an entirely new life in his adventure to becoming a new man, but in truth all that he really had to fall back on was his past.

Kate Hartshorn, Period 1

The Great Gatsby, a reflection on success and society is hindered only by one decision. Choosing Nick Carraway as the eyes through which the story of The Great Gatsby is told was the downfall of Fitzgerald’s attempt to write a “perfect novel”. By creating Carraway’s character, instead of telling the story from an objective point of view, Fitzgerald was seeking a more personal look into the world of Mr. Gatsby. However, he fails to achieve this as he relies on Mr. Carraway more as a lens than as a full character that interprets events as they unfold. Fitzgerald barely develops Mr. Carraway’s character at the beginning of the novel giving only notes about his upbringing and establishing Mr. Carraway’s views when he writes, “ A sense of fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.” (6). While this phrase of Mr. Carraway’s is arguably central to the reader’s interpretation of the entire novel, Nick’s lack of personality does not allow for a due amount of thought to be given to his words.
Mr. Carraway often reflects on his inability to fully trust any of the people he is around. He even goes so far as to say, “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known.” (64). Although Fitzgerald may have believed that readers would in turn trust Nick with a statement like this, the opposite is true. Mr. Carraway’s lack of dimension, of forward thought and action deprives the novel of an enticing and focused plot. Later, when Nick makes claims opinions around Mr. Gatsby such as saying, “I disliked him so much by this time that I didn't find it necessary to tell him he was wrong.” (151) it is difficult to have any connection with any character in the book. Never furthering Nick Carraway’s character leads to distrust from the reader.

If Fitzgerald had made the decision to complete Carraway’s character, it would have given the reader someone to listen to in times where the plot lacks clarity. Using Nick as someone to provide opinions and explanations throughout the novel would have made it much easier to relate to and follow. Refusing to develop Nick as more than a shadow of a character wounded the novel beyond anything else. The lack of familiarity as Mr. Carraway tells the story disconnects readers with the plot, and does not allow for The Great Gatsby to be the “perfect novel” Fitzgerald desired.