The American Dream in The Great Gatsby

In "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the character Jay Gatsby is eager to achieve his american dream. He has almost everything, plenty of money, he is well known, but the one thing missing is a wife. Jordan Baker tells Nick about Gatsby's past with Nick's cousin, who is now married, Daisy. "The Officer looked at Daisy ... in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at some time ... His name was Jay Gatsby"(75). Now Gatsby and Daisy haven't been in contact for years but it is her that he wants to complete his American Dream. Jordan says "Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay." (78) I predict that Daisy is going to leave her husband, who is cheating on her anyways, to be with Jay Gatsby.

I Stepped From A Plank

I stepped from plank to plank
   So slow and cautiously;
The stars about my head I felt,
   About my feet the sea.

I knew not but the next
   Would be my final inch,--
This gave me that precarious gait
   Some call experience.

I think this poem is about trying new things. The first two lines means your going out of your comfort zone to try something new, and the next two lines is about how cautious you are of everything around you when your in an unfamiliar place or situation. "I knew not but the next would be my final inch,--" is the lack of knowledge about what will happen next. And the last two lines are about how you gain experience through everything you do in life, whether they be good or bad.