The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby is a classic novel still today for different reasons. This novel is a tradgedy similar to Romeo and Juliet and Othello.  At the end of The Great Gatsby, Myrtle and Gatsby are both killed, At the end of Othello, Othello and Emilia die, and at the end of Romeo and Juliet,they both kill themselves.  People can relate to some of the events in this novel which keeps them reading, therefore, as years pass, people will continue to read it. This novel also shows the image of a self-made man and how Gatsby went from being poor and having nothing to being rich, successful, and popular.  The Great Gatsby is a classic novel and will be read for many many years because of its characteristics and how some people can relate to the events in it.

Letter to Sullivan Ballou

My dearest Sullivan,


I am so happy to get this letter from you.  I have been waiting to receive one.  I miss you very much and you are always in my heart.  I am praying for you every night before i lay my head down to rest.  I am proud of you for fighting for our country and being willing to lay down all your joys in life to help our home land.  The boys are doing just fine.  They are getting smarter and stronger everyday.  They miss you very much as well and are also praying for you every night.  They need their father by their side while they grow and become men.  My love for thee, i can not put into words.  Every morning when i wake, i think of you by my side and lie there for some time.  I miss you dearly and can not wait till you are home again with the boys and I and can tell us all about your journeys.  My love, but if you do not make it home, you will always be in my heart and always know that you are the only man i have ever loved. And just remember that it will stay that way until i meet with you in Heaven.  So my dearest Sullivan, be safe out on the battlefield because without you I have nothing.


                                                                     ~Sarah

The Cleveland Flats- The Place To Be

            The Flats may not be the nicest part of Cleveland today, but it was once a very important part of the city.  It has gone from a manufacturing and distribution center to an entertainment city containing bars, clubs, and concert arenas.  It has two separate ‘sides’ to it, in which one of them is a ghost town today and the other is still full of entertainment plazas.  Three elements that show that The Flats are a good part of Cleveland today are; they had a successful and powerful past, people still go down there to have a good time today, and they are already making and changing plans for the future.

            The Cleveland Flats economy fluctuated in the past.  It had many accomplishments and many times that were not good for their reputation.  One very important accomplishment is that it was home to Cleveland’s first settlers, the Lorenzo Carter family.  An unfortunate moment in its time is that when the 1970’s came around its business decreased.  There is no exact reason why but it became a deserted area and no one ever came around that part of Cleveland anymore.  A lot of restaurants closed leaving only a few open.  By the 1980’s and 1990’s, there was an increase in people and business.  More companies and businesses opened including Joe’s Crab Shack, Hooter’s, Landry’s Steak House, and Gentlemen’s Clubs that are still there today.  Because of all these additions, there was less parking space and cheap happy hours, the business decreased again but, The Flats eventually recovered from that and there was more business.

            The Cleveland Flats today is separated into The East and West Banks.  Sandy Mitchell from About.com stated, “In the summer of 2000, three people drown in a river after a night of partying, the east bank grew as a place of crime and violence”.  In 2001, a safety task force raided nine clubs and boarded up six of them on the spot.  The east bank never recovered and is still in the same condition today.  Even though the east bank is a disappointing side of The Flats, the west bank is a much more successful side.  The west bank still boasts the Powerhouse today.  It also still holds the Plain Dealer Pavilion Concert Revenue, Summer Nautical Charity Poker Tournaments, and The Nautical Queen Dinner Cruises (Mitchell).  Also, it still has many bars that are still used today.  The area is being rebuilt so some places have been torn down to do so.

            The future of the flats is uncertain.  The area is to be rebuilt eventually in the future.  It will have underground parking, residential buildings, retail and restaurant, and much more.  Several property owners are fighting this project to try and get it to stay the way it is so none of their businesses are destroyed in the process.  The city has threatened to invoke Eminent Domain.

 

            The Cleveland Flats was once a very important part of Cleveland, Ohio.  It was also a fun place for people that want to have fun.  It has had its ups and downs, but it has had quite a few drastic transformations.  It has had a successful past and is still in descent shape today.  Its future will hopefully be just as successful if not better than the past.  The Cleveland Flats have been around for many years and will stay for many more.

Blog #2. Pocahontas

The movie Pocahnotas connects to Native Americans in many different ways.  The movie has Native Americans in it and it shows how the colonist came from England and built colonies like Jamestown which was the first English settlement in America. They fought the Indians for the land.  They thought they were savages and barbaric so they took their land.  Alot of indians and colonists were killed.  In the end, the indians showed the colonists how to live off of the land. They eventually learned new things from each other and used these things to their advantage. After this they all got along.

Entry 1

"If a story is not about the hearer he will not listen. And here i make a rule- a great and interesting story is about everyone or it will not last."- John Steinbeck

This quote is saying that if someone is being told a story about someone other than them, they will not listen because it is not interesting to them.  But if the story is about them then they will be more interested and it will mean more to them.  For example, if a person started a rumor about someone else, then that rumor will go around and people will here about it but it will not mean anything to everyone or affect the people that the rumor is not about.  It will only affect the people involved in the story.  Now if this rumor had everyone involved in it, then everyone would listen and actually care about what they are hearing.  This quote shows that everyone is somewhat full of themselves.  They only care about what is being said about them and how it affects them.  They do not really listen to stories they are being told about other people.