The Great Gatsby Essay Example for Free

The Great Gatsby Essay In American society, the way people act is quite an interesting, yet confusing subject to look at. If you were to look closely at the behavior and the thinking of the average American man in the modern day, you would see that he is not too different from a man that lived one hundred years ago in America. Obviously many things have changed in society that make a man different nowadays compared to one hundred years ago, but the point is that, in general, the mind of an American person has kept the same characteristics. A great way to understand how an American mans mind has remained the same is by comparing The Great Gatsby with modern society in the United States. In this novel, which takes place in the 1920s, we see that the major themes incorporated into it are hope in the American Dream, the idea that rich are always entitled and never responsible for their behavior, and that the common man will keep trying to achieve the American Dream to the fullest even though he is vaguely aware that he has higher morals than the person he is seeking to become. Ever since the United States was founded, man has always hoped of becoming successful and even prosperous. All men were created equal according to our Declaration of Independence so the American Dream is something that any man can achieve if he puts in the work and the dedication needed. Plenty of hope is also needed if a man wishes to become successful in the United States because sometimes hard work and dedication alone are not enough. The main character in The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, has, â€Å"some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life,† which is like saying that Gatsby is an average man that devotes his life to the American Dream and getting what he wants. Gatsby also has, â€Å"an extraordinary gift for hope,† which means that Gatsby has a positive attitude toward achieving the American Dream. Jay Gatsby can relate to many success stories that have happened recently in the United States. One example of a modern day Jay Gatsby is Oprah Winfrey. Oprah was born into a poor life with not much opportunity, but she did have hope and eventually she was able to work her way to the top of the American Dream. Having hope when trying to become successful is a must or your dream may never happen. It seems as though the old money, rich people think they have entitlement no matter what they do. The wealthy can have whatever they like all the time even if they dont morally deserve it. This has been the case in America for a long time, including the time of Jay Gatsby and also in modern day society. A major character in The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway, realizes that the rich lack responsibility for their actions and they continue living as though they have every right to their good fortune. Nick says, â€Å"They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. † Even when Daisy murders Myrtle, Gatsby ends up paying the price for her because Daisy and Tom are careless and rich. Money is way more important to them than anything else in the world. There are many people in our society today like Daisy and Tom. One example is Paris Hilton, who basically goes around and parties with her fathers money. She can do whatever she wants and the money is always there to cover it up. It is amazing how money can determine someones character. The common man seems to always fight to have the American Dream even if they realize that they have higher morals than those who already are successful. Money can blind a person from realizing that having good morals is more important than having financial success. The Great Gatsby shows that Jay Gatsby innocently pursued the American Dream, he worked on personal improvement his whole life, and he continued his hard pursuit even with forces working against him. He ultimately was killed because of people unlike him that had money but no morals. Gatsby tried to have money and great morals and that is something that is not exactly possible. People nowadays try all the time to pursue the American Dream while remaining a good person with morals. It is hard to have it both ways and that is evident after reading about Jay Gatsby. Realizing that modern day society is still the same as it was in The Great Gatsby is important. The author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, would very likely agree that todays society is no different than the society portrayed in his novel. Everybody wants to pursue the American Dream and remain as a good person, but as you look at Jay Gatsby, it is easy to see that it is extremely hard to accomplish and maintain. Maybe soon society will become a fair playing ground, but for now all people can do is hope that life works out for the better.

Putting a Stop to Smoking Essay -- Tobacco Education Prevention

It is shocking to know that there are about ten people who die from smoking every single minute, and nobody seems to have any idea about it. Indeed, there is â€Å"a growing gap between the real world and the academy† since people are more intellectual about things that are irrelevant to the real life and are ignorant of things that are imperative to live in the real world (Orr 310). Did you know that there are over four hundred thousand deaths caused by cigarettes and tobacco each year in the U.S. alone? That makes it about five million deaths worldwide each year, according to â€Å"Statistics about Smoking.† Smoking is notorious for causing avoidable diseases and deaths, and yet not many institutions have develop an appropriate system to prevent cigarette and tobacco from killing millions each year. For instance, all universities promote health and wellness and many claim to be substance-free, yet they do not restrict the selling of cigarettes and tobacco in camp us stores or smoking on campus. People are dying, thousands are getting hooked, and a whole population is being affected, hence it‘s urgent that a university aims to educate students to combat smoking. The ideal student will learn the immediate and long-term affects of what cigarette can do to himself and others around him, to resist peer pressure, and be capable of recognizing and resisting advertisement and media ploys. In order to achieve this, the university must provide a curriculum that includes classes such as Anatomy, Smoking Biology with seminars, Media Effects, History of Smoking, Tobacco Industry 101, and DARE with community service. Many people are not aware of the many ways cigarette or tobacco use can harm them and others around them because they have never... ...its students to spread their knowledge. The classes that a university provide should enable the ideal students to learn the immediate and long-term effects of tobacco use, and to recognize and resist both peer pressure and media ploys. More importantly, they must also enable students to share their knowledge with society and help others, so that the entire population can effectively combat smoking together by preventing people from puffing their lives away. Works Cited Martin, Terry. "Global Smoking Statistics." Quit Smoking | Quit Smoking Support | Smoking Cessation. The New York Times Company, 28 Jan. 2007. Web. 26 Oct. 2010. http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/antismoking/a/statistics.htm. "Statistics about Smoking - WrongDiagnosis.com." Wrong Diagnosis. Health Grades Inc., 2010. Web. 31 Oct. 2010. http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/s/smoking/stats.htm.

Elimination Reactions Essay

As described previously, primary alkyl halides generally undergo substitution reactions with simple nucleophiles by an SN2 mechanism. Secondary alkyl halides, often react with simple basic nucleophiles to give a mixture of products arising from both substitution and elimination. As with substitution reactions, the rate at which elimination reactions proceed can be proportional to both the concentration of the base and the concentration of the reactant alkyl halide (an â€Å"E2† reaction (elimination bimolecular), or the rate can be proportional only to the alkyl halide (an â€Å"E1† reaction (elimination unimolecular). The mechanism for the E2 reaction is best described as concerted with the reaction coordinate passing through a single energy maximum with no distinct intermediate. The transition state for this reaction is described by the structure shown below in which partial bonds exist between the attacking base, the hydrogen which is abstracted, and departing halogen. The geometry of this transition state requires that the halogen be anti and coplanar with the hydrogen which is being removed (also termed â€Å"antiperiplanar†). This fact is important to remember since the stereochemistry of the resulting alkene (Z or E; cis or trans) is often controlled by the hydrogen which is removed in the elimination reaction. In the reaction shown below, the hydrogen on the carbon bearing the methyl group cannot become anti-to the halogen, hence the elimination occurs on the secondary carbon, to give the unfavored less substituted alkene. The rate-limiting transition state in the E1 reaction is again, carbocation formation, and the transition state is generally described as shown below. Factors which control whether E1 or E2 mechanisms will be observed again relate simply to the stability of the intermediate carbocation. Control of the reaction pathway between substitution and elimination is generally accomplished by careful choice of the reactants; strong, sterically hindered bases tend to favor elimination, while weak, unhindered nucleophiles tend to favor substitution. The choice for a â€Å"strong, hindered base† is generally tert-butoxide anion in tert-butanol as solvent, and it is generally safe to assume that a potential substitution/elimination reaction showing these conditions will proceed with elimination.

The Internet Troll U MAD BRO! - 1166 Words

The Internet has become a vast and limitless place for education, entertainment, and community. It is an extraordinary virtual world that abets in satisfying our insatiable curiosity. Every World Wide Web voyager controls their adventure from the security of their living room cockpit while retaining anonymity through a username. From this invention we have changed our daily routines dramatically; we have developed a desire to share our thoughts and opinions with complete strangers. From these two key elements: ambiguity and self-expression a new being has been forged, The Internet Troll. The Internet Troll has a primary goal to entertain themselves by bringing chaos to others. On the receiving end the result can be as minor as a ruined†¦show more content†¦There is no rhyme nor reason why someone chooses to act this way. Writer David Auerbach explains theres no way to know the views of the participants. The only commonality amongst all of them is the venue. Many try to dis sect the presumed causes for this conduct however, it is truly uncertain why this behavior has emerged. The trolls range from young to old, male to female, emotionally unstable and popular to well grounded and geeky. The rules have been dissolved and the pleasantries abandoned, younger generations are testing the limit of freedom of speech, and so the troll was born. Facing The Internet Troll is no task for the amateur internet user. To combat them with their tactics will certainly lead to failure and frustration. The troll can walk away entertained no matter the outcome and they do not experience remorse. The solution can only be obtained by analyzing the big picture. It must be understood that the battle is one of David and Goliath proportions. The trolls strengths lie in their ability to hide, and use of correctly placed comments to cause mayhem. If you can manage to take these weapons away the troll will lose focus and move on. In the story of David and Goliath, David uses a sma ll stone accurately slung to a sensitive area on Goliath to kill him. In this case the troll is David and the population under attack represents Goliath. The group under attack must realize that with the vulnerability of their emotional