Last Blog of the Year!! (:

My favorite blog was Affirmations of Life. My least favorite blog was the one about music for the Great Gatsby. I did not enjoy that blog because it was very hard to find songs that matched the Great Gatsby. Most of my blogs I put effort into. There were a few that did not interest me so I did not put in as much effort for these. I thought that using blogs was a good idea for learning. It furthered everything we were doing in class and required that I go into more depth on some of the topics. When writing my blogs I learned even more about what we were focusing on in class at a given time. I enjoyed blogs because most of the time they were on opinions and also the points gave my grade a boost. My top three stories were Having Our Say, All Quiet on the Western Front, and all of the Emily Dickinson poetry.

Advice to the new teacher

One tip I would give the new English teacher is to not have us read books over breaks. Even though we have extra time most people do not end up reading this story. This makes it hard to have good discussion in class. Second, I would tell her to do more projects instead of papers. Projects are a lot more fun and encourage more participation in the class. I understand that papers are necessary but it would be nice if we could switch off on every unit. I would tell her to keep the essay format on tests because the tests helped me to write better essays in brief time periods. Lastly, I would tell her to enjoy her time teaching because Rockford Lutheran is a great school!

The Great Gatsby playlist

The first song I chose is West End Blues by Louis Armstrong. I chose this song because it sounds like a song that would be playing at one of Gatsby's extravagant parties. I looked up a list of top songs from the 1920's and this song was number 1. Gatsby liked to have the best things to impress Daisy, so it would only be fitting that he had the best music at his parties. Also, it is called the "West End" Blues, so it is kind of like West Egg, where Gatsby lived.

The second song I chose is I've Found A New Baby by Ted Lewis and Ethel Walkers. I chose this song because I think it sounds like a song that could be Tom Buchanan's theme song. Even though he was married to Daisy, he was cheating on her. So it is kind of like he found a new baby in Myrtle.

The third song I chose All Alone by Al Jolson, John McCormack, and Paul Whiteman. Just like the last song reminded me of Tom Buchanan, this song reminded me of Gatsby. He was a man who had it all, a big house, money, nice cars, servants. He had everything except for what he wanted, Daisy. Even though he had many lush parties with a lot of guests, he was still all alone. Even surrounded by people, he was alone.

Lastly, I chose Toot Toot Tootsie by Al Jolson. This sounds like a very happy, upbeat song. I could also hear this song playing at one of Gatsby's parties.  This sounds like a song that would bring everybody to the dance floor to dance and have fun with their friends.