Journal B
Robert Overholt


As I Lay Dying is not ending. The same stories are repeated over and over and nothing is developing or changing. The plot is static. The characters are boring. Addie is a grouch. Her kids are brats. Anse is simply inept. Even the neighbors are boring.
I can’t wait until we are done reading this book.

On the other hand, The Great Gatsby is actually not that bad. The characters are interesting and developed, and the plot is intriguing. We were asked earlier in the week if we felt sympathy for Myrtle after her tragic and unexpected life. At first I was sympathetic, but then I realized that she was having an affair as well. She was just as much a cheating, unfaithful partner than Tom was. If one is to sympathize with Myrtle, they must also sympathize with Tom by association. Similarly, if Tom was to suddenly get hit by a car or die we would also sympathize with him.
Interestingly, when reading the scene about Myrtle’s death, Fitzgerald writes sympathetically about Myrtle’s situation. It seems like he purposely wants the reader to sympathize with her. Contrarily, Fitzgerald is very indirect and succinct about Gatsby’s death. Fitzgerald uses a whole chapter to discuss the circumstances surrounding Myrtle, but he only writes a paragraph about Gatsby’s death. It seems as if he does not want the reader to sympathize with Gatsby, because it would potentially take the reader’s focus off of what Fitzgerald intended it to be. I think Fitzgerald wanted to use Gatsby’s death to reinforce his point, but he didn’t want the reader to be over disappointed with his death because that would potentially ruin the taste of the book. This move by Fitzgerald is impressively strategic.
Friday was a good day in AP Lang. We read a portion of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Personally, I have never seen the movie or read the book. I always found the characters (from what I have seen) overly extravagant and unnecessarily obnoxious. But I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed the chapter that Mr. Glenn read out loud to us about the tea party. I had no background or anything about the story line and I still was dying laughing. Sarah and I were the only ones that were actually laughing out loud. But she laughs at everything that’s why we love her. HAHA. To make the class even better, Mr. Glenn brought in some green tea so we could have a tea party of our own. It was green tea and we drank it out of Listerine cups, but it was still a nice treat. All we needed was some organic cookies to make the day complete. I might just see the movie now…maybe.
I still need about fifty words so I’m going to talk about something controversial. Medicare. Why is everyone cramming this new medical bill down our throats? Issues of such large proportions need to be taken slowly. Democrats are accusing Republicans of saying no to everything and not being open to it. False. Medicare needs reform—badly. However, it needs to be negotiated and discussed and compromises must be made. This bill is going to be hard to swallow if they try to jam it down our throats in one piece. When eating an elephant you have to eat it one bite at a time. It can’t be eaten in one bite. Get it Congress? Chill out with the Medicare bill. 578 words. Boom. (579 )