5/23/18

Today in class we continued discuss the three characters that we have been introduced to so far, Stardlater, Ackley, and most importantly, Holden. Throughout this year we have been using the Good Fortune, Bad Fortune chart, which we used today in class. Ackley was placed all the way at the bottom of the chart to show that he has bad fortune. The reason he has such bad fortune is because of the way that Holden was describing him, gross. Not also does he have an unattractive physical appearance, but Ackley is jealous of Stradlater and how popular he is. All the way on the top of the chart, we placed Stradlater for the highest of good fortune. Stradlater is placed at the highest point because of his romantic success. Lastly, Holden was placed in the middle of the chart. He is not extremely popular like Stradlater is, but he is not as hated as Ackley is. Towards the end of class, we tried figuring out if this book is a Romantic tragedy or a Modern tragedy. The personal flaw of Holden through a romantic tragedy perspective, is his lying, but the systemic flaw in a modern perspective is that the world doesn't/ can't help Holden. At the end of class, Mr. Rivers read the end of chapter 5 to the class, which mentions Holden's younger brother, Allie, who had died from leukemia. Allie's character shows the sincere emotion and memory that Holden has of him.

Deciphering the differences between a Romantic tragedy and a modern tragedy can help find a deeper meaning to the story. We can see what part of Holden's life is destroyed and what it means. Also, we can dig deeper into Holden's personal flaws and how he feels about them.