January 9, 2011
English/Language Arts Literacy
Mr. Williams
Explanatory Essay / Great Gatsby
Due: January 10, 2011
First, I will explain what the passage means to me but first here is the passage;
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever”
This passage means to me that God is like a shepherd and I am the sheep. Like a shepherd, they always take care of sheep like a mother taking care of her young. The shepherd takes care, watches over, and showing what is best for me. We can’t lie on green pastures or sit besides water if we disobey our shepherd. He leads me into the path of righteousness direction when I get lost, when I honor is name. When walking through the valley of darkness/shadows of death our shepherd shall lead us to the other side without felling a bit of fear. We should follow the shepherd that offers us eternal comfort. God offers us the protection of a host (like a banquet) even when our enemies surrounded us. My cup overflows with blessings and as a guest he welcomes me and anoints my head with oil. The shepherd promises to protect us with his unconditional love throughout our life and to bring us into his house forever. This is my understanding of Psalms twenty-three is true.
Secondly, the passage that relates to the text that I found in the Great Gatsby book is;
“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.”It relates because when Nick gets Gatsby’s adolescent years through his young adult years figured out he saw that Jesus and Gatsby were somewhat similar. The similarity was that Jesus and Gatsby are faithful to their dream that was self-created but scornful of the factual truth that finally crushes them and their dreams. For Gatsby he loved Daisy and when it came to the truth she loved Tom more and broke Gatsby’s heart. Gatsby have been waiting for Daisy and she didn’t wait for him. If it was love Daisy wouldn’t have married Tom and waited for Gatsby. For Jesus he created everyone and loves them very much, but when they don’t obey him he has to punish them and when they die some won’t be able to reach the exquisite kingdom. Some of them suffer like they never suffer before because they didn’t reach the kingdom of God. Instead of people using people they should love them so that no one gets hurt. Now you can see how Jesus and Gatsby we treated, how they love somebody and the people don’t love them back.
Thirdly, in today’s current world there is good and bad. In the valley of darkness there is evil, racism, terrorist, murders, rapist, and/or temptation that makes up the darkness/valley of shadow. When people walk in the valley of shadow they feel scared and feel loneliness because there are some people that have all that anger in them so they take it out on other people. One thing that God doesn’t like is ugly and ugly isn’t a good thing especially for people. But God is our protection, guidance, our family member, just everything to us and he is there for us through the bad times. He helps the people that are going through in this world. He helps the people that need help and guide them to the right direction (the direction of righteousness.) He loves each and one of us the same way and doesn’t like one better. If they have God they wouldn’t have any fear going into the valley of shadows.
Lastly, in my life the passage is related because have a shepherd and he is the only one that I want, nothing else. If I obey him, I shall lie in the green pastures and sit beside still waters. If I get lost or wonder in the wrong direction, the Lord will pick me up and put me back in the path of righteousness while I shout out his name. Even sometimes I start to lose my way and go into the wrong path but I cry out his name to help get back. When I walk in the darkness or the valley of the shadows, he is there beside me. I fear no evil because my shepherd is there with me if I stop hanging in the bad crowd and change my attitude than I might not be able to reach the kingdom of God and that will make my shepherd unhappy. But he loves me very much because he made me and I should dwell in the house with him forever.
