Nick Elnasser 12/22/16

At the beginning of class Mr.Rivers handed us back our index cards from yesterday that explained how Jay Gatsby went from bad fortune to good fortune. On those cards read quotes from "The Great Gatsby" that explained Gatsby's young years. Mr.Rivers drew the good/bad fortune chart on the board and we ranked Gatsby's fortune in a timeline of his life. We discussed how he started at the absolute bottom because he was born in North Dakota to shiftless parents and with the name James Gatz. Young Gatz, trying to make something of himself then went to St.Olaf college in Minnesota but only stayed for 2 weeks. Gatz then became a clam digger at Lake Superior because he had to do something to survive. One day while he was clam digging Dan Cody came to the shore in his yacht and he took young Gatz in for 5 years. At this point Gatsby's fortune went up tremendously but he was still poor. When Cody died he promised Gatz $25,000 but Gatz never actually received the money. The story then broke off and Gatsby turned rich but we don't know how he got there. Mr.Rivers then asked the question "Does Gatsby's path represent the American dream?" our groups discussed and this discussion led us to the end of the period.

Julia Orlando 12/22

Welcome back to the classroom! At the beginning of the class Mr. Rivers handed us back our cards that the groups worked on yesterday. He then told us to re discuss the events on our cards which my group did in this discussion. We drew the good fortune and bad fortune chart again on the front born and began to analyze the events that happened in Gatsby life. The events we talked about yesterday are that Gatsby was poor and from North Dakota with unsuccessful parents. We also talked yesterday about his connections with Dan Cody, college,  and a new name going from Gatz to Gatsby. Gatsby is really ambitious and is mad that as a poor, janitor he is neglected and ignored so he leaves St.Olaf's in Minnesota and becomes clam digger which then again strikes him with his bad fortune. We then got into groups went into more depth about Dan Cody who is a rich, yacht owning, drunk man and how he and Gatsby benefited one another. Dan and Gatsby both offered companionship, while Gatsby helps Cody with his alcoholism and Cody with wealth. The two men rode with each other on the yacht for five years. After this we talk about the notorious $25,000 and the status decline of Gatsby because of the money he never gets. We then proceed to talk about Toms jealousy and how he is petty and annoying towards Gatsby. Does this relate to the American dream?

Ben Dottinger 12/21/16

With most of our time in class today, we analyzed how the revelations about Gatsby’s past in the beginning half of chapter six pertained to the topic of the American Dream as well as what themes about the American Dream became prevalent as a result.
Remember, topic is just an idea or subject that prevails in a text or a passage, while a theme is an evidenced assertion that can be made about a given topic in a text.
We had focused mainly on the American Dream because this is, after all, 11th grade American Literature, and the American Dream is a hot topic amongst many American writers, especially in the modern era, which we are currently studying.
The activity today consisted of leafing through the nonlinear development of Gatsby’s origins that Nick relates in the head of chapter six to find quotes that were indicative of Gatsby’s change in social status as well as his achieving the American Dream and to write them down on the given note cards. Some of the events chosen and sampled in class were the fact that the young James Gatz had resolved to change his name to Jay Gatsby from a very young age, and, on top of that, he didn't believe he was the product of his unsuccessful, “shiftless”, farming parents. From these humble beginnings we can see that Gatsby had started with a social status pretty much as low as they come, his status did improve slightly when he made the attempt to leave North Dakota for a small Lutheran college elsewhere. His status, however, fell again when Nick described how Gatz had moved to the shores of Lake Superior, where he dug for clams for his own sustenance and survival. The first time we see Gatz’s status rise to neutral is when he meets Dan Cody and joins him on his yacht. This is as far as we had gotten with the note card activity before time had expired.
My sister showed me a song today, which offers what sounds to me like a modernist view on the modern-day American Dream, how not everybody is perfect or going to achieve perfection and have their dreams fulfilled, like the singer’s mom or even the line “We’re secretly out of control”. It’s attached below. Not my cup of tea for genre, but I really enjoy the meaning of the song, and I thought it was relevant. Hope you enjoy!
https://youtu.be/k0yxIXz8Yqw

Callie Bevacqua 12/20 Blog

Class started off today with a quick chapter 6 quiz. The rest of the class followed with a great discussion about chapter 6. Our class discussions are always very beneficial and interesting to me.

Our overall topic was mood, and mood is defined as provoked feelings or vibes from words and descriptions. The party Gatsby threw in chapter 6 had a boring, awkward and tense mood, according to nick. The difference between this party and the first previous party is pretty clear. Tom has gone to the party with Daisy! This factor made for an awkward event because Gatsby and Tom are basically competing for Daisy. For example, during the party Gatsby turns to Tom and aggressively says, “I know your wife (Fitzgerald).” In this moment Gatsby was trying to intimidate Tom. Also, Gatsby kept referring to Tom as the polo player. This is basically calling Tom just a basic rich dude which is belittling.    

This picture gives off a sketchy and mysterious mood. 

Kurz 12/20

Today during class we analyzed mood in our tables. Each table had to analyze the mood of either gatsby, tom, or Daisy and find evidence. We also took a quick reading check quiz in the beginning of the class to see if we read by answering a few plot based questions. Along with that we also analyzed the differences between the party in chapter 6 and the party in a previous chapter.

12/20/16 Zabrina Branning

Today's class started off with a quick book chat quiz, and then we went straight into discussing the events of chapter 6 of The Great Gatsby.

Mood: the feeling or atmosphere of a text

Chapter 6: What’s different about this party compared to those we see in earlier chapters?

For starters, Tom Buchanan was present, accompanying Daisy, whom has never attended one of Gatsby's parties before. Tom continuously hinted to Nick about how he doesn’t like nor trust Gatsby, showing disappointment in the way he represents himself and even in the matter of the party itself. Another big difference we see is in Gatsby's feelings, we see that he wasn’t happy about the outcome of the party. He also shows a lot of rage and anger at the end because he is realizing his plan for Daisy and him isn’t working, that he can’t win, and the fact that nothing is happening the way that he wanted.

Next we discussed how the following characters played into the tension and mixture of feelings at the party. (Tom, Daisy, and Gatsby) Based on Nick's perspective of what went down that night.

(My group worked on Tom) Tom: he continuously draws negative attention from Gatsby away from Daisy, possibly is trying to get Gatsby to focus so he can get something out of him, rather than be distracted on Daisy, the party, or his guests. ‘Eyes’ “Tom’s arrogant eyes roamed the crowd” (104). He is very set on finding out more about Gatsby, even complains to him about being labeled a polo player, possibly because doesn't want to be dismissive to a 'soldier', he did not accomplish what Gatsby has. It was mentioned that maybe the stereotype ‘Jock’ is a label he is trying to avoid, possibly because he is starting to realize that he has not had as much success. Tom is adding to tension, when Nick mentions that, "Tom was evidently perturbed at Daisy's running around alone..." (103).

Daisy: She sides with Gatsby at the end of the chapter in a tense discussion with Tom, and dismisses him and his opinions, “At least they’re more interesting than the people we know” (108). Daisy accepts the fact that Gatsby has $, even was giving rumors about backgrounds of Gatsby “He owned some drug-stores, a lot of drug-stores. He built them up himself.” (108)

Gatsby: “I’m going to fix everything just the way it was before,“ “She’ll see.” (110) Here, he wants to believe that he’s making the decisions, determining what he wants, and even starts arguing through Nick to get Daisy. He also hints at being in denial of change and is clinging to the past, of his past with Daisy, even though he is started to realize that everything is changing around him, most importantly that Daisy has changed. This was an obstacle in his plan that he must have overlooked until now.

Sergei O'Sullivan 12/19/2016

12.19.2016

IWBAT distinguish between topic and theme

IWBAT analyze how multiple texts can develop different themes about a common Text

Today in class we discussed the difference between Topic and Theme. This discussion clarified what past teachers have attempted to teach us. We learned how a Topic is an idea or subject that occurs in the text. We went into different topics that have been present in the Great Gatsby. This included Daisy's and Gatsby relationship, partying, wealth, and concluded that there are many more we could have talked about. After this we went on to explain what theme is, and how it is different from topics. A theme is a particular Claim about a topic. These claims should be supported by the text. Some of examples were, "Spending money is more important than being with family" and "Christmas is a time for punishment and fear". These examples are taking a stance, thus making them a theme. We talked about myths about myths which was ....

1. There are only one single theme for a text
1. There are MANY themes, (of varying importance)
2. A theme is a lesson
1. When you're younger--. Complex texts develop more complex themes
3. A theme is can be only one word long
1. NOPE!!!!!!!!!!!! That's a topic.

After debunking these myths, we we talked about different topics in Notorious B.I.G.’s song, “Juicy”. That included Childhood, struggle, stereotypes, discrimination, money, The American Dream.

12/19/16 - Colin Higdon

Today we began English by taking out our notes and books. We took some notes on Topic vs Theme. Topic is an idea or subject that occurs in the text. Theme is a particular assertion about that topic. We then looked at the songs "Juicy" by Notorious BIG and "Children's Story" by Black Star. We identified the themes and topics of each song. For example a theme of "Juicy" was "the American dream is achievable even when the odds are stacked against you." An example of a theme from the song by Black Star is "doing hood-rat-stuff with your friends is a risky way to reach the American dream." because Black Star talks about guns, violence, and other bad tings that get people money and power. We continued this for the rest of the class period until the bell rang. 

Christina Bally- 12/19/2016

Today in class we discussed the difference between a topic and theme in a literary piece. We were given the definition of both and analyzed the differences. Many common perceptions about what a theme is were given to us and we were told that they were myths. We then were given examples of works where the theme was common to another work yet the theme was different. The example given was two different Christmas stories in which Christmas was the theme for both yet both contained more different topics. We then analyzed two different hip hop songs. Both of these songs had similar topics. Although the topics were pretty much the same, the themes were very different. We then realized that topics and themes don't always coordinate.

12. 19. 16Sarah kokoszka

Today In class we clarified what a topic and theme is. In our past English classes, we have learned that a topic is just one idea in a story or piece of writing. We also learned that a theme is one lesson through out the whole entire writing. In class today, we clarified that yes a topic is an idea, but a theme is more in depth. A theme, is more than one word, and it can be a claim rather than just a lesson. To add,  there are hundreds of themes throughout a piece of writing, rather than just one. To practice a theme vs topic, we listened to two different songs. These two songs were rap songs that both had a similarity within topics but a differ in themes. Both songs had the topic of the American dream, success, race, hard work etc.... although they both had the same topic, they both portrayed a different theme. In the first song we listened to, the theme showed that the American dream is achievable by any person. In the second song we listened to, it demonstrated that the American dream is not always this big amazing goal you think it is. Both these texts had basically the same topics but the way it was portrayed by using other types of vocabulary that there was a different theme. The first song showed a positive theme, and that the American dream can be accomplished by everyone. But I'm the second song it showed that the American dream is not the best thing in the world. To sum up, class today was basically practicing finding topic and themes with evidence to show. Evidence is key to topic and theme and we must be able to always have it to make our claim stronger.

12-15-16 Jimmy Bliss

Today in English class, Mr. Rivers explained in detail our "Does Money Buy Happiness" assignment. Mr. Rivers stated that this assignment will be due on Monday morning, instead of the original Friday due date, in effort to give us enough time to work on it thoroughly. Mr. Rivers assigned us each a power point to complete, each listing what needs to be done in order to receive full credit. First, you must make your stance on if you believe money can buy happiness or not, and support your answer with articles and quotes. For example, I said that money can buy happiness, and found an article to prove my points. After you find online articles, you must find 2 quotes from "The Great Gatsby" and explain how they support your answer. Finally, you have to find a song that supports your side of the argument. You must insert lyrics to the song you are analyzing, and then provide a link to the source. On the next slide, one must explain how their song relates and strengthens their argument. The final step in the project is to write your conclusion. This includes your concluding thoughts about whether or not money can buy happiness. We had the entire period to work on this project.

    

12-14-16 Connor Gormley

Today in class we went over the blog post of the former day.  We went over Robbie's analysis of what happened on Mr. Rivers's day off, but first we had a quick lesson in possessive nouns like "Mr. Rivers's day off". We learned that if a proper noun ends with an "s" then you still put an apostrophe s even though it may look or sound funny. If it not a proper noun and it ends in s then you just put an apostrophe at the end. After this quick tutorial we analyzed Robbie's blog post of yesterday. Robbie's post could either be determined as fact of fiction depending on your perception. I was personally there and I could swear that it happen, but if you look at the blog post of Julia you can see that see interpreted the day very differently. After inspecting this blog we then turned our attention to Gatsby. We discussed Daisy and Gatsby's interaction and meeting. We realized that the weather is a symbol for how Jay is feeling. Whenever Jay is feeling anxious and nervous the weather is always raining. Once he gains confidence though the sky clears up and becomes sunny. In the beginning of their meeting Gatsby acts very clumsy and unlike his normal self when he meets Daisy. This could possibly because this has been more than 5 years in the making and he is super nervous. At first the interaction is awkward but then once Nick leaves them alone he comes back to them hitting it off. Once Gatsby shows Daisy him house and they go there she becomes a lot more interested in Jay. This could possibly point out the fact that Daisy is potentially a gold digger. After a while Nick realizes that he is not needed anymore and he leaves. This shows that Gatsby is not very grateful for Nick's help in reigniting the spark between Daisy and Jay.

River's Day Off :)

Something was off in class today. Something beyond just the absence of our teacher. The sub was very relaxed and ordered us to check Google Classroom for our assignments. Like a scene out of Lord of the Flies, the absence of an adult has led to the rise of a power-hungry barbaric savage. Young Dog has claimed the throne. His first action as almighty dictator was to banish all the females and minorities (pretty much all the non-WASPs).  Many objected to this law, however fewer objected to his brute strength. Young Dog used his brute strength to summon a lasso out of his backpack and ordered all the anarchists to shut up and get in the closet. James, a well-liked patriot in the class, stood up to his authoritative rule. James dashed for the door in hopes of finding a teacher or anyone that could help. His sprint was halted by an immovable object. Young Dog's barreled chest and stork-like extremities brought James to a crashing stop. James fell to the ground and attempted to scurry to his feet. His efforts were abruptly ended by a fierce blow of a desk to his skull. Towering above his unconscious body, Young Dog took out a canister of gasoline and began pouring it on the rebels body to make an example out of him. He took out a Zippo lighter,  and pressed a huge cigar to his lips. He lit the cigar with perfect balance and symmetry and gave it a puff. He allowed the cigar to fall from his mouth. Looks of terror ran across my peers faces. I could not stand for these autocracies any more. I reached into my backpack and pulled out my first aid kit and fire extinguisher and yelled "Finally this came in clutch!". I quickly channeled my inner Fire Marshall Smokey the Bear and put James's screaming to an end. I directed my attention towards the menace that was reigning terror. I reached into my first aid kit and pulled out my wooden stake. I grasped the stake with white knuckles and locked eyes with the beast. Young Dog's inner satin was prominent in his eyes as they gleamed back at me. The classroom morphed into the Valley of Ashes with only Doctor Eckleburg to witness. I let out a loud roar and charged the monster. He matched my charge like two comets in the same orbital path. We collided with a force so great Einstein could not comprehend it. The Valley of Ashes transformed into a cloud of dust. The only remaining structure was a gallant warrior menacing over the crippled body of Young Dog, the wooden stake protruding from his heart, well his heart if he had one. I called my chauffeur and he drove me back to my lovely estate in West Egg where I spent my remaining days stalking some chick named Daisy. We then did the assignment.

Julia Orlando 12/13/16

Hello! Welcome back to the classroom. Mr. Rivers was not here today so we did an online assignment that is due Thursday. The essential question is whether or not money buys happiness or it does not and do what the power point assigns. It asks you to read the article provided and do some things to the power point slide. You have to find two articles that prove your claim along with two The Great Gatsby quotes. Before that you have to write an introductory to what will be in your slide and a conclusion at the end, to well, conclude everything. Another thing you have to do is find a song that represents your claim and relates to your reason.
I wrote my main paragraph but I did not really do anything else but try to find songs. I am thinking Oh No! By Marina and The Diamonds, This blog is kind of short because it was a day of just me doing work by myself. The power point with information is on classroom if you need more information!

12/12/16 Elias Frieling

Today we had a slightly shortened period of class due to the delayed opening. In class we discussed about the privilege that WASPs had throughout the history of our country and how Gatsby became who he is. In addition we discussed Nick's bias when talking with Gatsby and then with Wolfshiem.
We started off by discussing how throughout American history almost all of our presidents have been WASPs, White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. This connects to great Gatsby because we see how our main characters who are all wealthy compared to many other Americans, are WASPs.

We then discussed the background of Gatsby, how he supposedly went to Oxford. Previously in the book there was discussion between Jordan and Nick that Gatsby may have never been to Oxford, but as we went over today, Gatsby shows Nick a picture of him at Oxford.

This in turn, allowed us to look into Nick's bias when he talks about conversations he had. With Gatsby, Nick is constantly referred to as "Old sport", a term used mainly by wealthy British men talking to someone of lesser status than them. In almost every conversation Nick and Gatsby have, Gatsby calls Nick Old sport.

Then we looked into how Nick says Mr. Wolfshiem talks, a character described heavily with Jewish steriotype, in pronouncing Oxford as "Oggsford". Nick although not outright saying it gives the impression that even though Mr. Wolfshiem is very wealthy, that he talks as if he is low status.

The video attached shows how many times in the movie Gatsby says "Old Sport"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kYk-slslBk

12/9/16 Ben Dottinger

Within the bounds of today's short 42-minute session, we were able to accomplish a plethora of things and draw a myriad of conclusions. To kick it off, we established a universal, uniform definition of the word “nostalgia”; that which we defined as a fond and even longing reminiscence (of the past). However, the consequence of nostalgia is an imperfect memory, as it is clouded by our very own emotion. This will come into play slightly later.


We jump into The Great Gatsby by analyzing and trying to find where F. Scott. Fitzgerald puts perspective in action, especially in chapter three, when Miss Jordan Baker relates the story that Gatsby so badly wanted her to tell Nick. Jordan refers to Gatsby as “the officer” for three paragraphs, as if he wasn't important, meanwhile, the story is about him and Daisy and what Gatsby wants Nick to do for him (which is to invite Daisy over for tea so they can be reunited, at least for a short while). Furthermore, Jordan’s perspective limits the concept of absolute truth in a number of ways; we don't know about Daisy’s other engagement in New Orleans that Jordan offhandedly mentioned; we don't know specifics about Daisy’s honeymoon with Tom, and why they were acting so strange when they come back; Jordan never sees the letter that caused Daisy all that grief; even something that Joran does see, like Daisy and Tom being all power-couple-y, limits the idea of absolute truth because it risks nostalgia (we shouldn't forget that this was all during WWI, why the heck would she be longing for that?).


We also utilize perception to see gaps in truth, which is especially true for Nick in the way that Fitzgerald portrays him and speaks through him. For instance, Nick calls Jordan “incurably dishonest”, which is agreeable to a point, but then he goes on to say that he’s “one of the few honest people I’ve [he’s] ever met”, which is much less agreeable, especially after having been reading his opinions and judgements for so long when he started the book by saying he never judges. We found that Nick’s bias is subconscious--below the mind--which is exactly where Fitzgerald puts those gaps in truth! After a little bit of searching, we were able to find Nick’s subconscious bias toward black people and toward Jews. For example, when Gatsby and Nick first cross the Queensboro Bridge, they pass by a group of  “modish”--fashionable-- black people, he then goes on to call the men “bucks” (which is a derogatory term referring to someone that is always at the lowest possible status), and he then calls them snobby and arrogant, all without saying any of this explicitly. So, as you can see, bias and the subconscious and absolute truth and perception and nostalgia play a huge role in the entirety of The Great Gatsby.


The attached video I found below discusses why we have nostalgia and it’s origins in the first minute or two.


https://youtu.be/3mQczcuZtcE

12/7/16 Nick Colaco

Today in class our objectives were to be able to distinguish between framing narratives and nonlinear narratives, as well as to analyze how poetry and music present modern romantic ideals. Mr. Rivers then taught us about what a framing narrative is, it is a story within a story. Think of inception, how throughout the movie they go into people dreams and then to dreams within those dreams. Framing narratives are the same concept, someone is telling a story and in that story is another story. An example of this would be Frankenstein, the story is told by Captain Walton who describes Victor Frankenstein, who describes the creature. We learned that this way of telling a story within a story dates back to the likes of Home and Chaucer and is even seen is Shakespeare's works. This method of narrative is effective at showing how one story affects another which affects another which affects the bigger picture in a sort of domino affect. Framing narratives emphasis how people in a story communicate with one another and how that affects the story as a whole. We then discussed what makes a story linear. Linear stories have a logical progression of cause and effect, then move forward in time in a linear and logical way, there is no jumping back and fourth in time. Nonlinear narratives blur the line, the may make jumps in time, this makes the story complex. Instead of using the same progression from rising action to climax to falling action and then to resolution, they may begin or jump to different parts of that progression at any point in the story. An example of this is the movie Pulp Fiction, the story follows different characters through different periods of time and then brings it all together in the end.  After this we watch a short clip from the princess bride and Discussed how the kid and his grandfather differed from Buttercup and Wesley. We then moved on to discussing the poem  I carry your heart with me by e.e. Cummings.

12/6/16 Zabrina Branning

Today's class was a continuing review of what happened in the previous chapter in the book, chapter 3, and more focus on tone in the story.
      Tone: how the text is stated (positive, neutral, negative), relies on adverbs, almost always implicit.
We were asked to analyze Nicks claim, "Everyone suspects 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."
Within our groups and as a class we were able to list the following tones that we got from Nick in the last paragraph of the chapter: narcissistic, vain, arrogant. These are all negative expressions we see from the way Nick is talking.
      Why would Nick lie? (one of our guided questions) Saying "I am one of the few...I have ever known" kind of saying that there really aren't very many honest people, which makes him 'special'. Also claiming throughout his entire life, saying 'ever' implying that in his entire life, he's the few. Mentioning 'Cardinal virtue' (each of the chief natural virtues of justice, prudence, temperance, and fortitude, as defined by Plato and Aristotle and adopted by the Church Fathers, Gods, and it is ancient) gives the idea that he is congratulating himself for his said great honesty.
      Next we analyzed the true honesty of Jordan and Nick

• Jordan: Nick became very judgmental towards her in particular, dismissive of her, claiming that she is 'incurably dishonest' can't be fixed, dishonest to her core, she can never improve or change her ways, being biased against women, proves her falsity by mentioning what he heard about one of her actions she refuses to face up to, when she "moved a ball in the semi-finals", where she cheated. He also judges her in the fact that she is a bad driver, and catches her in a lie after she left a borrowed car out with the top open, where it got rained on ruining the interior of the car.
• Nick: his judgments reflect badly on him at his mentions of tangles that he is in back at home, which he claims he will end so he can start a new connection but never does, and also the fact that he continues to sign letters to his 'entanglement' as Love Nick. Also his strong negative views on Jordan and her cheating makes him hypocritical considering he continues to put on cutting of his other relationship all while cheating on her while drinking and partying all the time with Jordan.

We questioned why the characters would lie, what is their possible justification?

• To get out of trouble
• To make you feel better
• To protect yourself
• To protect your morals
• To save your reputation (Jordan, cheating in golf)
• To protect someone else's feelings
• to take an easy way out to avoid punishment
• To gain an advantage
• For amusement, or gossip

REMINDER: (Homework) Chapter 4 is due Thursday
      How does the structure change from the previous chapters to this chapter?

12/5/16 Blog Jimmy Bliss

Jimmy Bliss
Today in class, Mr. Rivers asked us the following questions: "what do we learn about Gatsby." He also asked us what the difference is between perception and binary. We explained that perception is how something is viewed using our 5 senses (taste, smell, hear, see and touch), and binary is how something is viewed in the grey area. Mr. Rivers allowed us to discuss this question with our table. We came up with a list of 7 different items that we learned throughout chapter 3. We learned that Gatsby is super wealthy, and lives on West Egg, the town that is comprised of "new money." Gatsby hosts huge parties almost every weekend, but he doesn't partake in any of the drinking. He tends to stay to himself at his parties, often sitting in the corner and observing his peers. We learned that he is a World War 1 veteran, and mysteriously knows Nick. The final two ideas that we learned are that he is professionally important to society, and that there are a lot of rumors surrounding Gatsby's past. After our discussion, we changed topics into learning about how to be clear and specific in introducing quotes. Mr. Rivers showed us a quote that was clear, but not specific. The next quote displayed was specific, but not clear. The next slide had a quote spanning 7 lines of text, creating a massive run-on sentence, which made it uninteresting and difficult to understand. The final part of English class today contained Mr. Rivers instructing us to write a paragraph about the new things that we learned about Gatsby, and introduce and cite quotes to strengthen our arguments. At the end of class, Mr. Rivers reminded us to have chapter 4 read by Thursday, December 8th. The, the bell rang and class was over.

Christina Bally 12/2/2016

Today in class, we learned about perception and how it alters how one reflects on a series of events. The first thing we were ordered to do was to sign onto the google classroom and make a post containing what exact events had taken place up to the point in which this assignment was addressed. Everyone posted their response and we then went over several of the responses from the class. A reoccurring phenomenon was people telling the events that had happened but not including all the full details of every single event. I had been in the bathroom prior to the assignment being addressed and therefore was at a great disadvantage. The other students were able to recap several more events that had happened. Although my post did not contain any lies, it did not have the full story of what had happened in the classroom. We then took notes on perception and discussed input versus output. The success or failure of senses relates to input. This has to do with failures of the human brain especially memory. The success or failure of language relates to output. Output could also be alerted by lies of  omission. This is when although one may not be deliberately trying to lie, not telling the complete truth alters what is being told. We then discussed how modernists believe that truth is subjective and that there is a gray area to it.

This picture symbolizes the modernistic idea in which we discussed today. This is that truth is based on perception and that it is subjective. In this image, there is a grey area to the truth of how many objects are present. From one side, the person processes there being three which on the left, the person processes there being four.