aspiration

Aspiration - noun
I have great aspirations to get this year approved so I don't have to repeat it in Norway.

exasperate, affable

Exasperate - verb
That boy used to exasperate me when he was younger. 


Affable - adjective
The affable girl tried to stay out of the drama. 

prestigious, prominent

Prestigious - adjective
The king and the queen in Norway are prestigious.

Prominent - adjective
The leader of the government is prominent.

mesmerize, sardonic

Mesmerize - verb
Thomas pretended to mesmerize Sophia so that people would believe he had magical power.

Sardonic - adjective
Elisabeth sardonic way to behave made Peter don't like her anymore.

fractiousness

Fractiousness - noun
Julia is a fractiousness girl, she always make big problems out of nothing.

infinitesimal, supercilious

Infinitesimal - adjective
The chances that the world will end in 2012 is infinitesimal.

Supercilious - adjective
To be supercilious is never a good thing. The chances that something unpleasant will happen are big.

the great gatsby, chapter 2

1) The Valley of Ashes symbolizes the death and failure of the American Dream. People who live there are already destroyed! And everyone wants to get out of there. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson live there.  

2) The Eyes of T.J. Eckleburg are the eyes of God, which is an irony. If it is the God he has died or doesn’t care.

3) Nick describes George Wilson as spiritless, anæmic and faintly handsome. (He has blonde hair and blue eyes.) Mrs. Wilson seems to have a lot more spirit than Mr. Wilson, she seems to be more “playful”, which she also is. He symbolizes the death of the American Dream because he lives in the Valley of Ashes.

4) New York City is the place where dreams meet reality. Myrtle realizes that Tom will never leave Daisy for her. Tom also breaks her nose.

5) Town Tattle is a gossip magazine from the 1920s. The motif is gossip, roumers a lot of will be spread!

6) The McKees are the ones that live in the apartment below Tom (where he has his affairs with Myrtle). Mrs. KcKee takes pictures, but he (they) sound a little desperate to me, because Mrs. MeKee talks a lot about it, and that Mr. MeKee would love to take pictures of Myrtle. He needs an entry in to his business. 

7) She likes to be the center of attention, and has to be in every conversation. I bet she is a gossip girl, since she is the only one sober while they are talking about private stuff such as Myrtle’s old “marriage” in Europe.

8) When she married George (Mr. Wilson) she thought he was a gentleman, but he was just "lieing" (he failed). Now she can’t to anything because she is Catholic and doesn’t believe in divorce. Tom is the one who said she couldn't get a divorce. 

9) I think Myrtle likes to pretend that she is upper class because it makes her feel worth more. It reflects person vs. self? Nick describes her as “…middle thirties, and faintly stout, but she carried her surplus flesh sensuously as some woman can. Her face, above a spotted dress of dark blue crepe-de-chin, contained no facet or gleam of beauty, but there was an immediately perceptible vitality about her as if the nerves of her body were continually smoldering.” When they are both going to his apartment in NY, she wants Tom to buy her a dog, more specific and Airedale. Wealthy people owned Airedale dogs!

10) Tom wont buy the Airedale for her, but instead he buys a mutt for her. It shows her how little he cares about her, the mutt is more at the same “level” as Myrtle. Myrtle thinks of the dog the same way as Tom thinks of woman. Trash!

11) Cathrine went to Monte Carlo with a friend, where they spent $1200 in two days in the private rooms. It shows us that she is naive.

12) The first rumor about Gatsby is “well, they say he’s a nephew or a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm’s. That’s where all his money comes from.” Kaiser Wilhelm was a German emperor and King of Prussia (Latvian, Lithuania, Poland were countries under Germany) from 1888 to 1918, when WW1 ended.

13) “I married him because I thought he was a gentleman. I thought he knew something about breeding, but he was fit to lick my shoe” It means that Mr. Wilson failed. He is not the perfect gentleman, neither he is rich. 

14) “Making a short deft movement, Tom broke her nose with his open hand. “ It happened because Mrs. Wilson kept saying Daisy's name over and over again, without being allowed to do it. It shows us how little he cares about Myrtle. He treats her like she is nothing but trash. He doesn't see her as a human, but more like an object that he can do whatever he wants to with. 

levity, extemporizing

Levity - noun
Comedians often make levity out of things people have said or done.

Extemporizing - verb (extemporize - adjective)
I used to extemporize all of my projects in school.

colossal, complacency

Colossal - adjective
People in "the biggest looser" are colossal.

Complacency - noun
John was being complacent after the game, even though he made some mistakes.

frigned, languidly

Feigned - verb
Jessica feigned as a result of her injury so she didn't have to go to school.

Languidly - adjective
Peter languidly, because he didn't want to run.

chapter 1, the great gatsby

1) Nick uses the words hope and dream to highlight the irony of the American Dream. The American Dream does not exist, its dead.


2) I think his dad was a good man. He had money, but at the same time, he cared more about people's souls than their social class. Nick had the opportunity to go to Yale and travel in the US, but he also had to work for it. Yes, he does reserve judgement. 


3) It was June 7, 1922


4) Nick came from a respected family in Chicago, and later moved to the east coast. He went to Yale, although his family didn't drown in money. His friends are rich people, so it seems like he considers himself as one of the rich ones. He is a little snobbish!  Until now he seems to be a very honest person. He is open and we get to know what is going on.


5) Jordan Baker doesn't let other people (men) control her. She seems to be a strong woman, more like women today. In their society women weren't supposed to be like that. They were supposed to be like Daisy said "beautiful little fools". 


6) Nick was intimidated by Jordan, because she had such a strong and unusual characteristics. 


7) Tom is not a good person. In fact he is a manipulating womanizer and racist. He is rich, plays polo and is married to Daisy. Tom used to play football in college too, something that also makes him feel better than other people. He also doesn't like Jordan, because she is a woman who is successful as a golf-player. We also know that the women Tom has affairs with are in a lower social class then he is. The reason is because if anyone would find out, it wouln't matter that much, because no one cares about the lower class. 


8) Nick thinks Daisy's voice is soft and charming. When she talked to John she was mad because he didn't come to her wedding, but after that she was all happy again. This shows us that she can be fake.  


9) She said that the best thing a woman could do was to be "a beautiful little fool", which describes her perfectly. She is blonde and naive. What she is saying is that women should just be objects, sit down, look pretty, don't say anything smart... This contrasts with Jordan Baker. 


10) Tom is not a good person. He makes people feel bad, so he'll feel better. He also know that he has status because of his money. He is a very controlling person, who knows how to make people do as he wants them to do! He is an horrible husband, who cheats on her. His poor wife is even too scared (and dumb) to do anything with it. It's just wrong! He read a book called "The Ride of the Colored Empires" which is about the colored races taking over the white people. This makes him mad, which also shows how racist he is. Nick didn't really say anything about it. 


11) Nick lives on the West Egg (old money) while the Buccanhans (Tim and Daisy) live on the East Egg (new money). They do care more about people's status than what really matters. 

wan, prodigality

Wan - adjective
Peter was looking wan.

Prodigality - noun
Paris Hilton is prodigality because she doesn't' have a life.

vocabulary words, week 1, 2011

Wan - adjective
pale and giving the impression of illness or exhaustion


Prodigality - noun
spending money or resources freely and recklessly, wastefully extravagant,
a person who spends money in a recklessly extravagant way. 



Feigned - verb
pretend to be affected by (a feeling, state, or injury)


Languidly - adjective
displaying or having a disinclination for physical exertion or effort; slow and relaxed


Colossal - adjective
extremely large


Complacent - adjective
showing smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's achievements 


Levity - noun
humor or frivolity, esp. the treatment of a serious matter with humor or in a manner lacking due respect 


Extemporizing - verb
compose, perform, or produce something such as music or a speech without preparation; improvise


Supercilious - adjective
behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superior to others 


Infinitesimal - adjective
extremely small


Fractiousness - adjective
easily irritated; bad-tempered