Rain also symbolizes and in a way animates the mood and emotions in specific instances. I watched a new rendition of The Great Gatsby movie for the first time sometime after reading this book and I put it all together. During the reunion of Daisy and Jay Gatsby the rain falls as it seems daisy has moved on making it hard and sad on Jay, but as the love rekindles the sun comes out because Gatsby was happier. Another example of weather in The Great Gatsby is fog. As Gatsby spends his nights admiring the green light across the bay the fog is often present. The fog creates a metaphorical obstacle between Gatsby and the green light which represented Gatsby's love interest, Daisy. The whole concept of every little detail being important and meaning something is relativity new to me and I am starting to believe it more and more. Last year I was completely opposed to our English discussion of "color symbolism," but now I am changing my mind. I think I owe Mrs. Reuschel an apology.
Monday, July 20, 2015
PROMPT 5 - WEATHER
Rain also symbolizes and in a way animates the mood and emotions in specific instances. I watched a new rendition of The Great Gatsby movie for the first time sometime after reading this book and I put it all together. During the reunion of Daisy and Jay Gatsby the rain falls as it seems daisy has moved on making it hard and sad on Jay, but as the love rekindles the sun comes out because Gatsby was happier. Another example of weather in The Great Gatsby is fog. As Gatsby spends his nights admiring the green light across the bay the fog is often present. The fog creates a metaphorical obstacle between Gatsby and the green light which represented Gatsby's love interest, Daisy. The whole concept of every little detail being important and meaning something is relativity new to me and I am starting to believe it more and more. Last year I was completely opposed to our English discussion of "color symbolism," but now I am changing my mind. I think I owe Mrs. Reuschel an apology.
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I was quite appalled to be completely honest when Foster began saying that everything written in a piece of literature had meaning. If I were a writer, I feel that I would decide how the weather was with the flip of a coin, without much thought. After listening what he had to say, it started to make more sense. If I hadn't read this book I'm not sure that I would have recognized the importance in some of the decisions an author makes in a seemingly simple scene. There is so much room to explore when an author fills the pages with small details that we are challenged to catch and give meaning to when we open the novel.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read what Foster said about all details having meaning, it was quite the epiphany for me. The thought that writers obviously would not want to waste their time writing words that do not matter hit me, and a little piece of me wondered why I hadn’t realized it before. Previously I had always felt that small details like the weather were basically meaningless. On some level I knew that they influenced the mood-- I could recognize that different events will occur on a dark and stormy night than in the middle of a bright sunny day-- but I never thought that all details mattered.
ReplyDeleteI can make direct relations to the facts pointed out about the rendition of The Great Gatsby. However, when Foster pointed out “It’s never just rain.” it spoke to me. Rain exists for a reason, in reality and in text. All types of weather are present for a reason, and it creates physical and moody traits. The fog example is an excellent example of how the weather is present for a very specific reason. I never thought about it until that was said, and it makes the weather factor very clear to me now. I learned quite a bit reading what Foster had to say about the weather and I couldn’t agree with Stephen and Foster even more. Weather is one of the biggest factors to play into literature and reality, no one really realizes it but it has much importance.
ReplyDeleteStephen,
ReplyDeleteWho ever knew that a rainy day could entail so many different moods! Most see weather in literature too simplistically. Even as much as you and I may be tempted to skip past the few paragraphs (or even pages) of weather and setting development, we must come to understand just how much the mere description of a location can show. Foster made it abundantly clear that weather almost always is being used by the author in order to foreshadow future events or describe the current situation of the book's characters. Rain can cleanse and rain can kill, but it cannot be present without some type of literary meaning. Writer's write in order to convey a message, and it is our job as readers to not take any of their words lightly.
While reading How to Read Literature Like A Professor, Thomas C. Foster discusses various things that mean something more than what meets the eye in Literature. However, I never thought the type of weather an author decided to use in their work had a specific meaning. Stephen, I like how you brought up The Great Gatsby and Gatsby's reactions to Daisy causing changes in the weather. I believe it proves that there is something more than what meets the eye to an author's selection of weather. Foster talks about The Three Strangers by Thomas Hardy and how Hardy uses the rain to force the men together while one of them was being chased. I never thought of rain intensifying a chase, but it does. Rain creates mud which can cause a character to slip, or if someone is in the rain long enough they could become sick, in which both scenarios cause more problems to arise in the plot. After reading this chapter of the book I started to realize how an author's choice on weather always means more than we originally think.
ReplyDeleteDear Stephen,
ReplyDeleteBefore reading How to Read Literature like a Professor, I never would have paid attention to a minor detail like the weather. I thought that authors put in small details like the weather, because they needed a setting for the story. Foster taught me that every word in a book has a purpose. One way he could do so is by revealing a foreshadowing future event or a character’s mood. It’s our job as readers, to notice these small details and figure out how they further the plot.