What’s So Great About The Great Gatsby?

The Great Gatsby

How Did The Great Gatsby Become a Classic?

Friends, Romans, countrymen lend me your ears eyes.

I come to shatter your beliefs about the Great Gatsby.

Calm down.

This is not a critical review of the book but rather an objective analysis of its evolution to “classic” status.

There’s a backstory you need to know.

Let’s Talk About Classic Books

But before I get to that back story, let me explain why I decided to do this and subsequent blog posts.

On various social media platforms and opinion pieces on multiple news outlets, I’ve read people railing against any change to the required reading list for middle and high school students.

People claim to have pulled their children from public schools in favor of private school or homeschooling because children should only read the classics.

Here’s a question for people committed to maintaining the list of classics that they read when they were in school.

What book did Gatsby knock off?

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Categories: History

The Subliminal Messaging in Florida’s African American Studies

 

What’s Published About the Curriculum?

What follows (excluding the image) is copied and pasted directly from the Florida Department of Education website.

The messaging is subtle but clear. The status quo must be maintained – nothing else will be considered.

Our brief reflections are below, but for now, read it in its entirety, and draw your own conclusions.

AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY

  • The following is in the required instruction statute, s. 1003.42(2)(f), F.S.
    • The history of the United States, including the period of discovery, early colonies, the War forHistory Revealed under torn paper. Independence, the Civil War, the expansion of the United States to its present boundaries, the world wars, and the civil rights movement to the present. American history shall be viewed as factual, not as constructed, shall be viewed as knowable, teachable, and testable, and shall be defined as the creation of a new nation based largely on the universal principles stated in the Declaration of Independence.
  • The following is in the required instruction statute, s. 1003.42(2)(h), F.S.
    • The history of African Americans, including:
      • the history of African peoples before the political conflicts that led to the development of slavery;
      • the passage to America;
      • the enslavement experience;
      • abolition; and
      • the history and contributions of Americans of the African diaspora to society.

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Categories: History

The Brilliant Career of Isaac Burns Murphy

Isaac Burns Murphy atop horse.

A Winning Career Full of Accomplishments 

With the Kentucky Derby less than a week away, it’s a good time to look at the career of Isaac Burns Murphy. 

A name unknown to many today, Mr. Murphy was the standard setter and bearer for horseracing in the late 1800s. It was a time when black jockeys dominated horseracing in the United States.

Key Firsts from the Career of Isaac Burns Murphy

♦ First jockey to be inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame 

♦ First to win Kentucky Derby back-to-back

♦ First (and only) to win the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Oaks, and the Clark Handicap in the same year

♦ First winner of the American Derby

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Categories: History

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