Category: Blog

  • Beautiful Colorado Springs

    This past weekend we were able to enjoy the outdoors and the beautiful, inexpensive activities Colorado Springs has to offer. Almost a year ago, the Waldo Canyon fire destroyed part of the majestic mountain side. Now, the Black Forest fire is wreaking havoc on the dense, wooded area to the east. Canyon City to the…

  • Blessing 22: The Teaching Profession

    If we are honest, we would have to acknowledge the fact that we are all teachers to some extent, whether we want to be or not. We have children and adults all around us who are watching us and learning from our actions and words. We don’t have to be celebrities or athletes to garner…

  • The Great Gatsby Movie Review

    First, before I get into the movie review, I want to make a small statement about my expectations of film adaptations: I don’t ever imagine that a movie can encompass the depth and breadth of any novel; it’s virtually impossible to include all elements an author puts into a novel. What I look for in…

  • The Write Stuff: Diction, Purpose, and Audience

    Video filmed and edited by Ameer Abukhedeir. The Write Stuff Blog

  • The Great Gatsby: Chapter 9

    Well after the denouement of the story, after we discover the fates of Gatsby and Nick, we get a final glimpse of Nick on the beach in front of Gatsby’s house. There seems to be nothing more to say, except perhaps a final reflection on the events of that summer of 1922. It is in…

  • The Great Gatsby: Chapter 8

    In Chapter 8, the reader gets a glimpse into Gatsby and Daisy’s past relationship. After Daisy marries Tom, Gatsby returns to Daisy’s hometown, hoping somehow to feel Daisy’s presence, to breath in the air that surrounded her, to touch the inanimate objects where her hand might have lain: The track curved and now it was…

  • The Great Gatsby: Chapter 7

    Of all the characters, I’m anxious to see Carey Mulligan’s portrayal of Daisy Buchanan. Her part will be the most difficult to play. She is the woman Gatsby has been dreaming about for five years. Even Nick, her cousin, seems to be infatuated with her as well. He pays particular attention to describing her voice…

  • The Great Gatsby: Chapter 6

    Chapter 6 gives the reader a glimpse of Gatsby the Dreamer, of how the poor James Gatz became the rich Jay Gatsby. What I love about this chapter is how Fitzgerald states something seemingly trivial and mysterious about Gatsby in the beginning of the chapter and then uses that information to solidify Gatsby’s fate. Also,…

  • The Great Gatsby: Chapter 5

    One of the interesting elements of the novel as a whole is that the plot structure mirrors that of a Shakespearean Tragedy: Chapter 1 is the Exposition; Chapters 2-4 is the Rising Action; Chapter 5 is the Turning Point; Chapters 6-8 is the Falling Action; and Chapter 9 is the Resolution. Like all great tragedies,…

  • The Great Gatsby: Chapter 4

    Chapter 4 opens with Nick juxtaposing the church going people with the people who enjoy Gatsby’s hospitality. Contrasting these images emphasizes the contradictory nature of the people Nick encounters throughout the novel; whether they are new money or old money, these people are morally challenged and judgmental, and definitely unworthy of the hospitality Gatsby showers…