Outside Reading #8

When Anna's parents finally arrived at home Picoult describes the emotion of the situation, "They come in like a hurricane. Kate barely manages to look at me before my father sends her upstairs to our room. My mother whacks her purse down, then her car keys, and then advances on me. 'All right,' she says, her voice so tight it might snap. 'What's going on?'" (Picoult 53). After a long angry debate, Anna's parents convince her to talk to the judge and repeal the lawsuit. "My mother holds me tighter. 'We'll talk to the judge and explain it. We can fix this,' she says. 'We can fix everything.' And because those words are really all I've ever wanted to her, I nod" (Picoult 58). After that conflict, the book goes to Sara's perspective again where it is affirmed that Kate's diagnosis is APL. Sara speaks with the doctor about the change in lifestyle that goes along with that disease, and it begins to sink in with the family that it isn't just temporary.

Outside Reading #7

Anna finally followed through on her lawsuit against her parents. This appeared in one of Kate's dialysis sessions, "run three times a week, for two hours at a time" (Picoult 49) The purpose for this session is to clean Kate's blood because of her kidney failure. Anyway, when Kate was having one of these sessions, Vern Stackhouse, a sheriff and a family friend, handed Sara Fitzergerald a pile of papers, or the papers that announced Anna's lawsuit for the "Petition for Medical Emancipation." Even worse, Anna was standing in the same room, but a medical scare on Kate's part temporarily distracted her mother from her rage. Anna quickly called Jesse to pick her up and bring her home, only to face her parents when they meet at her house later...

Outside Reading #6

After only a little bit into "My Sister's Keeper" it is becoming evident that Anna is secluded from her family's ties and attention. Anna's father, Brian Fitzgerald, acknowledges this, "This is when I realize that Anna has already left the table, and more importantly, that nobody noticed" (Picoult 40). If Anna's father even noticed her lack of connection with the family, then it must be extremely apparent and a large factor to Anna. This is probably the reason that Anna is filing the lawsuit against her parents for the rights to her body; because of their ignorance and lack of concern for her. However, I believe Brian is more conscious and sensitive of Anna than Sara, her mother. Sara is more worried for Kate and her condition which is probably why Anna was 'produced' to deal with Kate's issues and not necessarily another child. The past and uncovering of Kate's illness, Sara and Brian's relationship, and history of the family is beginning to reveal the reasoning behind many of the actions of the characters and it is interesting as a reader to understand what is going on when the people in the book are oblivious to unfolding conflicts (dramatic irony). It is fun getting hooked on the story and feeling like a part of the plot and I'm excited to see the characters' next actions.

Winter Break/Birthday!!

So today is my sweet sixteen and Winter Solstice (aka December 21)! I'm really excited for winter break and having time to spend with my family and friends. For Christmas, I'm going to my cabin with my Aunt's family, my family, and my grandparents. It will be interesting to see what it looks during the winter because I am used to going there for a few months in the summer. This will be one of the first time that my cousins from California will see and experience the thrill of snow!...yaya. This week in LA has been pretty fun reading and seeing how the plot of Much Ado About Nothing, and watching the movie is a good twist on reading. So yea, that was pretty much the week in LA..well see ya later!

Much Ado About Nothing

So far, Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare has been pretty interesting. Its complex plot, however, can be difficult to follow at times. I enjoy how cunning and witty the characters are when they are argueing, even though there are still some jokes that are used in our society today. For example, Beatrice and Benedick's quarrels are interesting to follow with all of the puns and clever remarks. The story line is definitely less intense than Romeo & Juliet which gives and will continue to give a lighter and more comedic feel to the play. The plan for revenge that Don John and Borachio are plotting to make it seem like Hero is in love with Borachio and not Claudio are sometimes a little obsessive, however. It is unrealistic to believe that someone (in this case Claudio) would mistake another woman (Margaret) for Hero just because she is wearing her clothes. Other than a few situations like these, the humor, discussion, and events are overall entertaining.

Outside Reading #5

The main method that Jodi Picoult is revealing events that explain the build-up to the present is the use of flashbacks in My Sister's Keeper. This technique is used when Sara, Anna's mom, is recalling the first hints of Kate's illness. She began describing the natural events in her family's (Brian-her husband, Jesse-her son, and Kate-her daughter) life; taking a bath, going to bed, playing. After a few pages of this course of events the symptoms begin to appear, when Kate is still very young, "The bruise is the size and shape of a four-leaf clover, and sits square between Kate's shoulder blades" (Picoult 26). For a parent this isn't exceptionally different from anything in a healthy child, but after further bruises, Kate's parents took her into the pediatrician. Many tests later, Kate was diagnosed with Leukemia, a blood cancer. Picoult portrays Sara and Brian's emotions very vividly, in the perspective of Sara, so you feel like you are in the room with the doctor and the family. This big news will change the family's lifestyle, behaviors, and priorities, and it will be interesting to follow them in that transformation.

Shakespeare Video

I believe the new Shakespeare unit will be fairly exciting. We read Romeo and Juliet last year, and I liked how poetic the writing style (kind of going along with the time period) and the plot were very entertaining. The sophistication of the play is interesting to decipher all of the different dialogues and mini-speeches of the characters. The movie on Shakespeare was a good representation of the ending of Romeo and Juliet and sort of a refresher on Shakespeare's style and life. Some of the facts on the society at the time of those plays arises the difficulties of the time period in which Shakespeare was writing, and especially with women's rights. The culture and social structures had a large influence on the plays being presented, and it will be interesting to keep that in mind if we read some Shakespeare plays.

Outside Reading #4

In the next few chapters of My Sister's Keeper the style of the writing and the perspective is changing. The first chapter was in Anna Fitzgerald's point of view and the following chapter is for Campbell Alexander, the attorney that Anna visited regarding suing her parents for the rights to her own body. Through the discussion that Anna and Alexander had in his office, more information on Kate's condition and Anna's purpose is revealed. Anna began to describe the procedures she was forced through to Alexander: "The first time I gave something to my sister, it was cord blood, and I was a newborn. She has leukemia-APL- and my cells put her into remission. The next time she relapsed, I was five and I had lymphocytes drawn from me, three times over, because the doctors never seemed to get enough of them the first time around. When that stopped working, they took bone marrow for a transplant. When Kate got infections, I had to donate granulocytes. When she relapsed again, I had to donate peripheral blood stem cells"(Picoult 21). Through that lengthy description, Anna's frustration is definitely evident and it is fairly reasonable to imagine why suing her parents is an option. After a while, Campbell Alexander's sympathy grows for her situation and her agrees to the case.

Research Paper: Alternative Energy Sources Conclusion

Throughout the process of annotating, note-taking, outlining, and researching, I have learned many things about the different steps in writing a research paper and alternative energy sources. The main proponent arguments of the sources are that it decreases dependency on foreign oil, it is healthy to the environment, and it would create new business opportunities. The arguments against it are that is uneconomical (mainly expensive), consumes a lot of space (for windmills renewable energy), and it is dangerous to the bird population. Obviously, I'm in favor of the government subsidizing energy supplements, mainly because the arguments against it are inconsiderate, unreasonable, and somewhat selfish. Firstly, it is only uneconomical for the time being while scientists are testing new ideas, but in the long run it will be worth the experimental costs. As for the space, the amount of energy saved by simply using a few acres of ocean area would supply a large amount of California. The loss of birds by windmills is tragic, but not significant enough to matter all that much. 4,400,000 birds were killed in 1998, but that number is quickly increasing due to better technology in wind energy. All of these issues will be further discussed in my paper, and it will be interesting to see how it will fit together.

Outside Reading #3

In My Sister's Keeper, tension is beginning to rise in the sense that Anna feels threatened by all her sister's illnesses because it directly affects her. "Lately, I have been having nightmares, where I'm cut into so many pieces that there isn't enough of me to be put back together"(Picoult 12). After the scene with Kate's mishap, Anna took a pouch of money and went to count it in her bathroom to be secretive. She counted $136.87 which obviously wasn't enough for whatever she planned to do. As a result, she turned to her brother, Jesse, for a ride to Campbell Alexander's Esquire office, but the matter of this visit remained unsolved throughout the chapter. Finally, after being discriminated based on her young age in the office, Anna reveals the true reason for her visit; she wants to "sue her parents for the rights to her own body" (Picoult 19) I believe this introduces one of the main conflicts of the novel so far, and it will continue to arise as the plot develops. The struggle for Anna to maintain her health and dignity to her sister and parents will continue to arise throughout My Sister's Keeper.