A. The speech first addresses one of the many issues that The great depression brought about 1. “ …waste in men and women, in human skill, character and life”
2. He isn’t just discussing the loss of money and jobs as the stereotype of the depression presents, but is going into depth about people as individuals which would appeal to the emotion of the people. (Roosevelt)
3. During The Depression, many people lost their jobs, their spouses, their houses, and many lost their lives as well but each individual had something to contribute to the society they all had skill, and character but employers and government officials had to view them as just another person because the condition of the society …show more content…
as whole was terrible.
B. The speech then goes on to highlight the positive aspects of the Depression 1. “We have lost, for example, that false sense of values that puts financial success above every other kind of achievement (Roosevelt) 2. Roosevelt is taking the positive aspects of The Depression and making them more distinct and celebrated to take away the main idea that The Depression was such a horrible thing. 3.
Although the economy was terrible and many bad things happened, there were many positive things that came out, including the strength that people gained. If they could pull through The Depression as a family then they could get through anything.
II. The Great Gatsby
A. The carelessness of some lead to the misfortune of others 1. “I couldn’t forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” (Fitzgerald) 2. This quote represents the wealthy people of the time who went around causing mischief and trouble amongst others not realizing what they were doing but had all the money in the world and didn’t care what they did. 3. During the Roaring twenties, people bought what they wanted, did what they wanted, and were overall careless, and the government didn’t want to do anything in fear of ruining the economic boom which led to the stock market crash.
B. The American dream isn’t always what it’s shaped up to
be 1. “The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.” (Fitzgerald) 2. Gatsby was an example of someone who actually got the American dream. He had money, and well everything he could want but he failed to grasp ahold of happiness. 3. The stock market crashed in 1929 was so sudden. Half the year the economy was experiencing one of the greatest booms it ever had and the next it was crashing quicker than anyone could image. People lost their prosperity and riches. Gatsby had all the money and material things he could want but without happiness it was all worth nothing.