What Lies Beneath Tom Buchanan's Villainous Nature

In The Great Gatsby, Tom Buchanan's villainy stems from the privilege conferred upon him by his gender and wealth, enabling his aggressive and violent tendencies to go unchecked. Tom's villainy originates in part from the privilege that is afforded to him because of his gender and wealth. At the end of a drunken party, Tom and his mistress, Myrtle, fight over Myrtle saying Daisy’s name, when Tom responds by punching her in the nose and breaking it. Tom's aggressive and violent response reveals that he does not have to know how to peacefully resolve conflict because those in his environment will allow his behavior to go unchecked.

By punching Myrtle, Tom acted on anger and broke the nose of someone who is smaller and weaker than him, taking advantage of strength afforded by his gender by abusing someone who cannot physically defend herself against him. By hitting his mistress, Tom shows that Myrtle has no status because of her position as the “other woman.” Her working class background also puts her at a disadvantage because she has no connections to powerful people who can stand up to Tom and correct what he has done. Because of his old money status and brute strength, Tom’s villainous nature becomes a source of unchecked brutality to those who hold less power.

This incident with Tom and Myrtle reveals disturbing aspects of human nature, highlighting how power dynamics and societal structures can perpetuate violence and inequality. Tom's behavior underscores how individuals in positions of privilege often exploit their status to dominate and mistreat those who are more vulnerable. This exploitation reflects a broader tendency in human nature to abuse power when there are no checks in place, illustrating a dark side of humanity where self-interest and the desire for control can lead to the oppression and dehumanization of others. Through Tom's actions, the narrative exposes the inherent flaws and moral failings that can arise from unchecked authority and societal privilege, prompting a reflection on the need for accountability and empathy in human interactions.

Rubric for Informal Writing Pieces

Informal Writing Pieces will be graded according to how well students followed teacher instruction. All informal writing pieces are worth five points. If all parts of assignment are complete, the student will receive full credit. For every missing component to the assignment, one point will be deducted until the score reaches 2 points. If the student misses three components, he will be required to re-do the assignment for partial credit, bringing his score up to 3 points.

The Following are Informal Writing Pieces:

Free-writing/ Journaling

QQR Handout

Fairytale Handout

Symbolism Writing and Visualizing

Metaphor Writing and Visualizing

Fairytale Presentation Rubric

Category Participation	5 All students equally participated in sharing their fairytale with the class.	4 Student participated, but not as much as other members in the group.	3 Student did not participate in the fairytale.
Engagement	Student acted out their part in the fairytale with enthusiasm or interest.	Student read his part but appeared uninterested in the story.	Student did not complete part of story, was lost in story, or showed a general disconnect from story time.

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Motivational Factors For High School Students

Analysis

Self-determination Theory: Autonomy, information and control, and relatedness.

Self-determination theory hypothesizes the factors that affect a person’s ability to become an independently guided learner. To achieve self-determination, a student should be immersed in an environment that encourages his autonomy, provides information that enables the student to have control, and offers meaningful relationships within a supportive community (Deci & Ryan, 2009).

Paul enjoyed show choir because he felt very autonomous in this class. He stressed the importance of doing things his way and being allowed to be creative. Show choir was a way for him to explore his own thoughts and interpretations without fear of being wrong.

He mentioned that he got to try a lot of new techniques and felt that he learned a lot through show choir. His teachers provided him with the information to succeed and become more creative.

Show choir offered Paul a communal environment with a group of people who shared the same interests as him and encouraged one another in this pursuit.

Mary showed a lot of autonomy in her schoolwork, whether it was provided by the teacher or not. She was able to find her special interest and value in most of her subjects and this motivated her to learn for the sake of learning. Sometimes her learning took a different direction than her teachers’ intents but she was much more self-determined in the learning process because of it.

Though Mary didn’t always find her teachers or parents as helpful resources, she acknowledged that if she made an effort to build better relationships in her learning communities, she would likely receive more assistance. Regardless, as a very intrinsically motivated student, she finds additional help through her friends and admirable work ethic.

As I mentioned earlier, Mary didn’t feel like she had the strongest relationships with her teachers but she has support from her family and friends who encourage her in her own success.

Attribution theory: Locus, Stability, and Controllability.

Attribution theory attempts to explain the different ways we attribute the causes of our successes and failures. It hypothesizes that every outcome can be categorized by locus, stability, and controllability. Locus refers to whether the cause was internal or external. Stability refers to whether the cause is unchanging or changeable. Controllability refers to whether it was within our control (Weiner, 2000).

Paul and Mary both had a strong internal locus. They attributed his successes to their innate intelligence and effort. Paul claimed that he expected to get A’s without a lot of effort, but also made sure to increase effort if the task required it. On the rare occasion that he did not do as well as he would have liked, he took the failure particularly hard because of his belief in his ability and potential.

Though his successes may not have always been stable, his effort seemed to remain stable throughout his high school career. With personal expectations put on himself as well as pressure from parents to succeed, Paul was both internally and externally motivated to maintain a high academic performance.

Mary also rarely experienced failure but always looked on the positive side of what she could do to improve her results next time.

Because of their high confidence and resulting sensitivity to failure, Paul and Mary displayed a belief in his ability to maintain control over even difficult learning situations. Though they do not particularly like to turn for help, they often look inside find the answers and strategies that will help them succeed.

Both Paul and Mary shared that if they did turn to anyone for help it would most likely be their friends and not their teachers because they feel more comfortable around their peer group. In adolescence, students will often place more importance on the opinions of their in-group of friends than they will on the opinions of their older peers, such as parents and teachers. The weight of a peer’s opinion can directly affect their self-efficacy and future motivation (Kiran-Esen, 2012).

Incremental view of ability:

Ability can be viewed both as fixed or developmental. Incremental view of ability attributes intelligence and other successes to the effort of its owner. This view encourages self-reliance and a positive view of self-worth because one can always improve if one tries harder (Dweck, 1996).

When we asked Paul and Mary to share their ideas on where ability originates, they both said that they think ability is both inherent and malleable. Though Paul and Mary think some people are born with more ability than others, all have the opportunity to grow and improve. Their beliefs about personal ability affected their motivation in school. Having a high opinion of personal ability, as well as a strong sense of self-efficacy, Paul and Mary had the confidence to approach most assignments with the belief that they would do well, even if they required additional effort.

Mastery Approach and Performance avoidance:

Goal orientation is a theory that attempts to explain the underlying motivation we use to accomplish tasks. This theory posits that one can be motivated to learn for the sake of learning or one can be motivated to perform for others.

Mastery approach is learning because one loves to learn. This approach encourages exploratory learning that is satisfactory to the student but shows little correlation with quality work because the learner is working for himself and not for the instructor (Anderman, Anderman, & Meese, 2006).

Performance avoidance is completing assignments to avoid looking inadequate in front of others. This approach can be detrimental to having a meaningful learning experience because this motivation leads to surface knowledge needed to perform and then is forgotten when no longer needed (Anderman, Anderman, & Meese, 2006).

Paul showed both a mastery and performance orientation to learning that varied depending on his interest level in the subject. In show choir he is very intrinsically motivated to learn because it isn’t about mastering someone else’s concept but creating his own. He favors assignments that value his perspective and creativity, as well as provide him with the autonomy needed for intrinsic motivation to thrive (Henderlong & Lepper, 2000).  Paul’s genuine interest in acting and performance is what motivates him to pursue these activities in the present and as he mentioned, hopefully as a career later in life.

Mary is also very intrinsically motivated to learn. She expressed that her most difficult subject is her favorite subject because it challenges her to learn new concepts. Her least favorite subject was so because she found it tedious and couldn’t find a personal connection to its intended purpose.  Common to mastery approach learning, sometimes her interests would pull her away from the assignment because she would get carried away in the content. This sometimes hurt her but overall encouraged her love for new concepts because she consistently made an effort to connect them to her life.

Though Paul maintains a mastery approach in some areas, he shows a performance avoidance approach in others. He mentioned that one of his biggest motivations to do well in his classes is his parent’s expectations towards his success. Though he never expressed a desire to be the best in his class, he did share that he didn’t want to look intellectually inferior to others or disappoint his parents, a key tenet to performance avoidance (Elliot, 2010).

 Another motivation to perform well was keeping up with his friends’ intellectual successes. Paul has a group of friends who consistently perform well in school and not keeping up with their success would cause him to stand out in a negative way.  His friends’ influence made unappealing assignments more interesting to him because he admired their interests and success. Often positive social contexts can motivate students to perform better because they want to fit into that social context (Jarvela, Volet, & Jarvenoja, 2010).

Expectancy x Value theory:

Expectancy value theory states that the likelihood of completing a task relies on both the individual’s belief in her ability to complete the task as well as the value the individual believes she will receive from the task (Wiggfield & Eccles, 2000).

As mentioned earlier, Paul has a strong sense of self-determination and belief in his ability to succeed. When asked about how he felt about assignment length and difficulty, he said he preferred shorter assignments but saw the value in longer assignments because they offered the opportunity for additional practice and in-depth learning. Paul was able to motivate himself in most assignments because he had a strong sense of self-efficacy in his school environment as well as an ability to see opportunity for growth in his learning experiences.

Mary also showed an ability to find value in assignments that didn’t immediately connect with her. She shared that she completes all assignments as soon as possible and even the ones she is not interested in, she can maintain her attention half way through at a steady pace. Though her value for every assignment may not always be intrinsic, she nonetheless searches for value, shows faith in her effort, and produces quality results. Her natural desire to learn motivates her to want to go to college and pursue a career in education where she can motivate others to also personally value learning. As this is common with intrinsically motivated students, Mary expressed a desire to learn for a lifetime (Hornya & Raacke, 2012).

References

STRUCTURE, STUDENT MOTIVATION, AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT. Blackboard.bsu.edu.

Deci, Edward L. Ryan, Richard M. (2009). Promoting Self-Determined School Engagement: Motivation, Learning and Well Being. Blackboard.bsu.edu

Dweck, Carol S. (1996). Implicit Theories as Organizers of Goals and Behaviors. Blackboard.bsu.edu

Eccles, Jacquelynne S. Wigfield. (2000). Expectancy –Value Theory of Achievement Motivation. Blackboard.bsu.edu

Elliott, Andrew J. (2010). Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals. http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/hedp20 =

Hennderlong, Jennifer. Lepper, Mark R. (2000). Turning “Play” into “Work” and “Work” into “Play:” 25 Years of Research n Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Motivation. Blackboard.bsu.edu

Weiner, Bernard. (2000). Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Theories of

Motivation from an Attributional Perspective. Blackboard.bsu.edu

JARVELA, S., VOLET, S., & JARVENOJA, H. (2010). Research on Motivation in Collaborative Learning: Moving Beyond the Cognitive-Situative Divide and Combining Individual and Social Processes. Educational Psychologist, 45(1), 15-27. doi:10.1080/00461520903433539

Horyna, B., & Bonds-Raacke, J. M. (2012). DIFFERENCES IN STUDENTS' MOTIVATION TO ATTEND COLLEGE: LARGE VERSUS SMALL HIGH SCHOOLS. Education, 132(4), 708-724.

Kiran-Esen, B. (2012). ANALYZING PEER PRESSURE AND SELF-EFFICACY EXPECTATIONS AMONG ADOLESCENTS. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 40(8), 1301-1309.                                                                            

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Day Five/ Week One

A Rebellious Shadow

Objectives:

1.     Students will be able to reflect on the qualities of their shadow by playing the Shadow Game.

2.     Students will be able to uncover what Peter Pan’s shadow symbolizes by using a double entry journal to compare and contrast the qualities of their shadow and Peter’s shadow.

Materials:

·      Projector

·      Dark Room

·      Discovery Journals

·      Peter Pan

Strategies:

·      Shadow Game

·      Large Group Discussion

·      Read-Aloud

·      Free-writing

·      Journaling

Procedures:

1.     Have students explore the qualities of their shadow by playing the Shadow Game.

a.     Tell students that they are going to do the following with their shadows: Run away from them, walk towards them, interact with someone else’s shadow, make their shadow bigger and smaller, and try to make their shadow disappear.

b.     Turn off the lights and face projector light onto a blank wall. Make sure to move all desks and tables out of the way for students to play.

2.     Have students share what they noticed during each step of the game. Write down their answers on the double-entry journal on the whiteboard.

3.     Read aloud the section of Peter Pan where Peter loses his shadow. This can be done on their iPads and other electronic reading devices or with the book.

a.     Pick a few volunteer readers to read the characters’ lines.

4.     Have the students complete the double-entry journal in large-group discussion by sharing what was different about Peter’s shadow and their own.

5.     Pulling from what was written in the double-entry journal, discuss what the shadow might symbolize.

6.     Have each student write down what the shadow symbolizes in his discovery journal.

Evaluation:

1.     We will know that students are able to reflect on the qualities of their shadow by listening to their contributions to the double-entry journal.

2.     We will know that students are able to uncover what Peter Pan’s shadow symbolizes by checking their understanding in the double-entry journal, large group discussion, and discovery journal writings.

Story Stones

7^th  and 8^th Grade English  Composition

Kassie Markovich

Eng 350

Dr. Jones

03/19/12

My intentions as a writing teacher

As a writing teacher I will aim for my classroom to be an open and creative environment. Middle School students can be energetic and independent. In a teacher-focused classroom these traits are subject to the harm of being suppressed because of the focus on meeting the instructor’s objectives. Though there is merit in this type of instruction, I will promote a student-focused learning experience that will foster my student’s innate energy and creativity. Nurturing and developing these traits within my students will access them to a personal and lively writing journey.  

My aim in teaching my students “story stones” is both practical and inventive. I will begin by teaching the class about the fundamental parts of a story plot. This is to demystify the writing process as well as to make the art of story writing tangible and accessible. I will then shift my focus by allowing the students to help lead with their creativity. Through a game that challenges them to create plot elements based off of a random image presented they will make their own stories by using disjunctive and collaborative learning.

This lesson is intended to be diverse by offering the learners the opportunity to be both a leader and collaborator. The students will have the opportunity to share their individual contributions within the comfort of a small group that can aid each other when needed. This lesson is dynamic because it pushes the students to not only create elements of a story, but also collaborate with other students’ ideas and perspectives to design their finished work. This lesson is also distinct because it creates an environment that welcomes the students to voice their individuality and then apply it to the art of story telling.  By focusing their thoughts and ideas through this lens, the writing process can be looked upon as a personally meaningful and creative medium.

Writing Metaphor:

Writing is the time capsule of humanity. Burrowed from her heart, the author lays to rest past failures, dreams, and private stirrings deep in the earth.  As the end of a chapter is drawn, her hauntings become hidden, detached in a piece of forgotten communal ground. Life works to form the next isolate shell while the rudiment, long forgotten, blossoms into a garden of undiscovered treasure. The jewels of understanding unearthed by society awaken a perpetual cycle of death and life that neither the author nor reader can escape.

Teaching Philosophy:

As a future English teacher, I believe that student-centered learning provides the most meaningful experience for the student. Creating individually applicable instruction guided by the learners will help them develop an intrinsic learning value. This is crucial to a student’s motivation for present and future personal growth.

Through reading and writing, I want my students to learn about the humanities. Because English is a recorder of all human experiences, critical reading and personal reflection will help them begin to develop a comprehensive worldview. By furthering their understanding of themselves and others I will assist our future leaders to build upon their purpose in how to better serve humankind. 

I wish to work with adolescents because it is a crucial period for identity formation. Guiding students to develop an intrinsic motivation towards learning as well as a deeper comprehension of the world around them will help them establish an internal locus of control. This foundation is crucial for the students to develop into dynamic and independent adults. I intend that my facilitation will help students become capable and valued members of society.

Enduring Understandings:

Why are stories effective relayers of communication?

Why do stories help us build connections?

How do stories help us gain new perspectives?

Objectives:

The students will create new meanings by combining unlikely information.

The students will learn the plot elements of a story.

Students will learn to critically listen to a story.

Students will gain new perspective through collaborative work.

Students will practice public communication when they deliver their stories to their class. 

Story Stones:

0:00-3:00 Introduction into the Lesson: Have the students go around and say their names with an adjective associated with it. I will then explain the story that we’re going to read along. The story is titled Why the Sun Smiled, an original short story written by a fellow writer and personal friend.

3:00-5:00 Read Around Story: I will place the students into 4 groups of 3 by assigning them a number. Before reading aloud I will give the students a minute to read through the story and then ask one student from each group to take turns reading Why the Sun Smiled. After, I will ask the students what they think makes a good story. I’ll write their thoughts on the board for everyone to see throughout the lesson.

5:00-10:00 Plot Elements: I will explain what the plot elements of a story are by using the funsheet I hand out.

10:00-20:00 Story Stones: I will explain the rules of story stones. The class will remain in groups and one student will be assigned a note taker. The note taker can ask for assistance from the other members of the group. Each student will flip over a stone with a picture on the back and create a plot element to the story based on that image. The note-taker will write down each new addition to the story.  The class will sit on the floor, in a circle.

20:00-25:00 Story Telling: The group will come back together and the note taker of each group will recount their story. If there is time, I will ask the group how they felt about creating stories.

IDEO Standards:

EL.7.7 2006 - LISTENING AND SPEAKING: Skills, Strategies, and Applications

Deliver focused, coherent presentations that convey ideas clearly and relate to the background and interests of the audience. Students evaluate the content of oral communication. Students deliver well-organized formal presentations using traditional speech strategies, including narration, exposition, persuasion, and description. Students use the same Standard English conventions for oral speech that they use in their writing.

EL.7.1 2006 - READING: Word Recognition, Fluency, and Vocabulary Development

Students use their knowledge of word parts and word relationships, as well as context (the meaning of the text around a word), to determine the meaning of specialized vocabulary and to understand the precise meaning of grade-level-appropriate words.

EL.7.3 2006 - READING: Comprehension and Analysis of Literary Text

Students read and respond to grade-level-appropriate historically or culturally significant works of literature, such as the selections in the Indiana Reading List illustrate the quality and complexity of the materials to be read by students. At Grade 7, students read a wide variety of fiction, such as classic and contemporary literature, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, mysteries, adventures, folklore, mythology, poetry, short stories, dramas, and other genres.

EL.8.4 2006 - WRITING: Processes and Features

Students discuss, list, and graphically organize writing ideas. They write clear, coherent, and focused essays. Students progress through the stages of the writing process and proofread, edit, and revise writing.

EL.8.6 2006 - WRITING: English Language Conventions

Students write using Standard English conventions appropriate to this grade level.

EL.8.7 2006 - LISTENING AND SPEAKING: Skills, Strategies, and Applications

Students deliver focused, coherent presentations that convey ideas clearly and relate to the background and interests of the audience. They evaluate the content of oral communication. Students deliver well-organized formal presentations using traditional speech strategies, including narration, exposition, persuasion, and description. Students use the same Standard English conventions for oral speech that they use in their writing.

Resources:

Stones

Storybook

Pencils

A floor

A whiteboard

Funsheet!

Teaching Techniques:

Read Aloud

Read Around Groups

Small group collaboration

Large group collaboration

Large group discussion

Disjunctive learning

Acting out a Problem

Assumption Surfacing

Clarifying

Cueing

Decision Making

Demonstrations

Didactic Instruction

Directions

Independent Reading

Think and Ink

Note taking

 Rubric:

Story Writing: Story Stones Teacher Name: Ms. Kassie Student Name:     ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Creativity	The author has added new or original ideas to the story. The author works with others to build the story. The author uses his or her imagination to solve a problem.	The author has added new or original ideas to the story. The author works with others to build the story.	The author has added new or original ideas to the story.	The story is lacking in creativity. The author does not seem to have used much imagination.
Creativity Feedback
Introduction	First plot element introduces the characters and setting, and really grabs the reader's attention.	First plot element introduces the characters and setting, and interests the reader.	First plot element introduces the characters and setting.	No attempt was made to introduce the characters and setting in the story.
Introduction Feedback
Conflict	A crisis is presented in the story. The conflict ties in with the introduction. The reader is surprised by the conflict.	A crisis is presented in the story. The conflict ties in with the introduction.	A crisis is presented in the story.	No crisis is presented in the story.
Conflict Feedback
Resolution	The solution to the character's problem is easy to understand, and is logical. There are no loose ends.	The solution to the character’s problem is easy to understand, and is somewhat logical.	The solution to the character's problem is a little hard to understand.	No solution is attempted or it is impossible to understand.
Resolution Feedback
Organization	The story follows the five plot elements. One idea or scene follows another in a logical sequence with clear transitions.	The story follows the five plot elements. One idea or scene may seem out of place. Clear transitions are used.	The story is a little hard to follow. The transitions are sometimes not clear.	Ideas and scenes seem to be randomly arranged.
Organization Feedback

Assessment:

To evaluate the students’ work I will grade on how well the group stories follow the five plot elements. I will also evaluate to see if the individual parts of the story tie together to make a cohesive whole. I won’t be giving letter grades but rather constructive and supportive feedback on the logistical part of this writing assignment as well as the positive attributes in their creative contributions.

Writing is the time capsule of humanity. Burrowed from her heart, the author lays to rest past failures, dreams, and private stirrings deep in the earth. As the end of a chapter is drawn, her hauntings become hidden, detached in a piece of forgotten communal ground. Life works to form the next isolate shell while the rudiment, long forgotten, blossoms into a garden of undiscovered treasure. The jewels of understanding unearthed by society awaken a perpetual cycle of death and life that neither the author nor reader can escape.