Great Gatsby1 essays

Great Gatsby1 essays The more things change, the more they stay the same "The Times They are a-Changin'," or so 60's singer/songwriter Bob Dylan thought. But have we really matured enough as people to say that racism and prejudice are no longer words in the English vocabulary? Most people like to think so, but the facts paint a different picture. The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald can be used to illustrate these points. In the mid-20's, when American author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby, it was common to use words to describe African American people that today would be seen as offensive and degrading. Mainly the sole purpose of using such words were to depict African Americans as objects, not human beings. When Nick describes the "two Bucks" and a Negro girl passing them in a horse-drawn carriage with a white chauffeur he thinks to himself "Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridgeÃ…  anything at allÃ…  " This shows how people in Fitzgerald's time reacted to free black families. Nick describes the black males as "Bucks" because that's the name people used when they auctioned them off as slaves. He couldn't just refer to them as "men" or "gentlemen" because it was inappropriate to give blacks a high status. Throughout the novel discussing the downfall of the white race is a common topic. Tom and Daisy share thoughts about the downfall over dinner and Tom states that "If we don't look out the white race will be-will be utterly submerged," and Daisy follows that comment up with "We've got to beat them (minorities) down." Because nobody looks the same and because people fear anything different, they had no choice but to fear minorities. If you were not wealthy and white, you were feared. But racism wasn't the only degrading thing in the book; characters spoke condescendingly about people's financial status as well. If you lived in East Egg, you were wealthy and glamorous. If you lived in West Eg ...

40 Fish Idioms

40 Fish Idioms 40 Fish Idioms 40 Fish Idioms By Mark Nichol The ubiquity of fish in culinary traditions and the popularity of fishing as both a recreational pastime and a food-gathering activity has led to the development of many fish-based idioms, including those listed and described below. 1. all is fish that comes to his net: a proverb that alludes to a person’s resourcefulness 2–4. another/different/whole other kettle of fish: spoken to recognize an abrupt shift in the topic being discussed 5–6. better/other fish to fry: a reference to having more important things to do than what one is doing or than what is proposed 7. big fish: an important or influential person 8–9. big fish in a little/small pond: an important or influential person on an insignificant scale, such as in a small community 10. cold fish: a person who does not exude friendliness or show emotions 11. cry stinking fish (primarily British English): self-deprecate 12. drink like a fish: imbibe excessive amounts of alcohol 13–14. fine/pretty kettle of fish: a predicament 15. fish around: investigate 16–17. fish for a compliment/compliments: encourage someone to say something favorable about you without asking outright 18. fish in troubled waters: involve oneself in a dangerous or difficult situation to risk gaining an advantage 19. fish or cut bait: an admonition to act or to remove oneself as an obstacle to another person acting 20. fish out of water: a reference to a person who feels awkward or uncomfortable because he or she is in an unfamiliar environment 21–24. fish out/fish out of/fish up/fish up out of: retrieve (the first variation is also used literally to mean â€Å"deplete a body of water of its fish population by overfishing†) 25. fish story: an exaggerated account or tall tale, from the supposed tendency of fishermen to claim that the â€Å"one that got away† was larger than it actually was 26. fish-eating grin: smug smile 27. fish-eye lens: a type of wide-angle camera lens 28. fish: inept or stupid person 29. fishy: suspicious 30. like shooting fish in a barrel: a reference to something that is extremely easy to do, on the notion that fish swimming in a barrel rather than in open water make for an easy target 31–32. need (something) like/about as much as a fish needs a bicycle: a reference to the incompatibility of a fish and a bicycle to convey that something is utterly useless to someone 33. neither fish nor fowl: an allusion to something difficult to categorize, describe, or understand 34–35. odd/queer fish: a strange person 36–37. plenty of/more fish in the sea: a reference to the notion that many other romantic partners are available to one after the end of a relationship or after one is rejected by another person 38. teach a man to fish: the essence of a proverb, one version of which is â€Å"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime,† which means that it is better to teach someone to do something than to do it for him or her 39. The cat would eat fish but would not wet her feet: A proverbial comment referring to the necessity of enduring annoyance or taking risks to achieve goals 40. What’s that got to do with the price of fish? (primarily British English): a response to an irrelevant comment or a non sequitur Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Using "a" and "an" Before Words8 Writing Tips for Beginners40 Idioms with First