Not Much to Talk About...

The title says it all...nothing really exciting has happened since my last blog, and I don't expect anything much to happen this weekend, seeing as how I will be quarantined in my house until Monday. I am, however, feeling much better today than yesterday. I think the worst is over; I'm still not 100%, but I'm sure I'll be feeling much better by the time Greece rolls around.

Well, this is my final post for quarter 4. Lets reminisce the things that have happened English-wise over the past weeks:

• Read/finished/comprehended the Odyssey
• Read/finished/comprehended All the Pretty Horses
• Wrote a paper on the Odyssey
• Read The House of the Scorpion and blogged about it about 10 times
  
• Currently in the process of writing a short story following the 'hero quest' pattern

WOW what an eventful quarter! Roll your eyes at that last comment. Its been fun, but I'm so ready for a break. Only eight more days. We'll make it.

New Developments

So it turns out that the plague is actually influenza. This morning I woke up around 7:20 feeling horrible, my parents told me to go back to bed, and I slept until about 9 am. Then I went to the doctor at 10, where I was diagnosed with the flu. I'm contagious for the weekend, and I'm not able to go to school tomorrow. Supposedly I am allowed to return on Monday, and I feel like I have to since it is the end of the quarter and I've missed two and a half days of school already. But, my grandma thinks that I should stay home all week so I can rest and be better for Greece.

My doctor said that if I was going on a trip to the North Shore or something she would advise me not to go, but since it is a trip to Greece, I should go and risk being sore, lacking energy, etc. There is no way on earth that I would miss this trip and I'm going to do everything I can in order to get better.

The only reason I am on the computer is because I need to get my last two blogs in. I haven't been able to work on my chemistry write up or the English story because I literally slept all day today, and being in front of a computer screen would undoubtedly make my already aching head worse. I took an Advil earlier today, and it seemed to relieve most of my headache, and I'm actually feeling a lot better. I still have a fever of 100 though.

So thats the latest update on my health, not that its that important to anyone but me. I guess its good for my teachers to know, but since Mrs. West is the only one who reads this, I'll probably have to send out an email tomorrow to get assignments, ask for extensions, etc.

I hate being sick.

The Joys of Being Ill

SO I'm sick today. I wasn't feeling well most of this week, and today it was bad enough for me to leave school at noon. Basically I laid in bed for three hours and only slept for 45 minutes. It was a super fun time. But I guess it was better than stoichiometry in chem or indirect objects in Spanish.

Along with the plague, I have a severe case of writers block, and am really struggling to come up with an idea for my story. School is so frustrating! Well I guess I'll keep my eye on the prize and keep counting down until Greece. 10 DAYS!

All the Pretty Horses is done. I'm kind of glad because I don't always have to read at night, but I really did enjoy the book. I think that with any school book it becomes kind of a burden, reading to page X in one night, etc. I enjoy leisure reading more (who doesn't). I guess the ending of ATPH was a good one, because it leaves the reader wanting more, and with more questions than ever. I want to know what happens to John Grady and what he ends up doing with his life. Will he return to Alejandra and run off with her? Will he leave the U.S. - since he said himself that it 'isn't his country'? How does his relationship with his mother end up? What does Rawlins do?

These are questions that can't really be answered, only assumed. Oh well I'll get over it. Enough blogging for now, my headache is getting worse.

GREECE and Others...

I cannot believe that in almost 10 DAYS I'm going to be in Greece!! (see right) Along with not believing, I cannot wait. I need a break from school and all of the stresses that come along with it. Plus it is going to be so much fun.

Even though I'm going with the orchestra on a school field trip - with the orchestra, and it isn't as long as I'd like it to be, I'm not complaining because it is such an amazing opportunity. I'll be going with friends, and it'll be my first overseas trip.

Anyways, enough ranting about my SUPER EXCITING life [not really]. Its time to talk about All the Pretty Horses!

Overall, I am/have been enjoying this novel. I think that the story is interesting and compelling, and it was a pleasant surprise. I probably wouldn't have picked up this book at the library or at the book store, and after hearing that it was about cowboys/the wild west I wasn't all that optimistic about it.

It is very interesting to go over the character and setting development and changes throughout the novel. I liked coming up with the idea about the setting becoming familiar and safe, then to unfamiliar but still exciting, and at the end - so far - the setting became a little more familiar but dark and foreboding eg. being in the jail, losing Alejandra, etc. However, I don't enjoy the style and content in some parts. For example, while Alfonsa was talking for like ten pages I started to drift away from the story, and realize that I had just read an entire page but had no idea what was said. I don't think that its that big of a deal, because I understood the gist of the passage, but when reading a book you should read and comprehend it [for the most part]. Thats just my opinion and I'm kind of a hypocrite seeing as I don't do that half the time.

Thats all for now. Only 3 posts left!!

Final Important Quotes

SO these are my final important quotes for this book. I already have seven on the blog and I only need eight, but I'm sure I can find a few more than one. Maybe extra credit is in my future...

Anyways after this I guess I'll just blog about All the Pretty Horses and school and stuff...I guess. It probably won't be as interesting as the novels I've been writing though, since those are so intense.

Enough chit chat.

"'I can see we have our work cut out with you,' Raul said in a tight voice. 'I can see we have a nasty little aristocrat who needs to be educated about the will of the people!" Matt was amazed at the man's reaction." I believe this quote to be significant because now that Matt is in a new world, he has a new reason to be mistreated. Since the Keepers have no knowledge of him being a clone, they label him as an aristocrat - someone who thinks he is better than everyone else. In their world, which is very communistic, each person is equal, and those who have earned it [themselves] are allowed luxuries. I inferred, however, that being an aristocrat is nowhere near as vile as being a clone.

"The other boys were shouting and cheering. They surged forward, forming a ring around the Keeper and his two attackers. " (319) This quote is when the Lost Boys in the plankton factory revolt against the Keepers. The resurgence is led by Matt, and his true leadership qualities are shown in this part of the book. After this occurrence, Matt is deemed a hero by the other boys, and is seen as a threat by the Keepers.

"They were interrupted by a shriek. A girl in a white party dress streaked through the door and threw herself into Matt's arms. 'Oh, Mother! Oh, Mother! It's Matt! He's alive! He's here!'" (362)

I believe this quote is important because it shows the true feelings that Maria holds for Matt. Earlier in the novel she had said that she loved him and that she would 'probably go to hell for it'. Both the excitement in seeing him again, and saying that she would rather go to hell - a big undertaking for her religious family - that not love him shows her true feelings. One can only hope that she will begin to see Matt as a human being instead of a pet clone.

...well, that is a total of 10 quotes, so if one of them is unsatisfactory, I'll still have nine :] And this concludes the outside reading portion of blogs. Congratulations, David.

Circle Time

Hi, my name is David and I have something that I need to get out. I actually finished my outside reading book like two months ago...a week after it was assigned, and I've been blogging about it as if I don't know what is going to happen next.

There. So now, I'll just quickly summarize the rest of the book up in this post, discuss some important quotes in the next one, and then talk about ATPH for the last four blogs. Yay.

Okay, so a lot of stuff happens that shows how much people hate Matt, and its interesting if you're reading the book, but for the sake of time, I'm going to sum up the rest of the book fairly quickly:
After a near-fatal heart attack, El Patrón requires a heart transplant from Matt to himself, but is foiled when Matt's guardian, Celia, reveals that she has poisoned Matt with foxglove and arsenic, just enough that it would not kill the boy, but would kill El Patrón if he were to acquire Matt's heart. El Patrón dies, and Matt escapes the mansion in the ensuing chaos with the help of María. At this point in the book Maria and Matt confess that they love each other, though it is unclear whether Maria loves Matt romantically or simply as a pet. With the preparations that Tam Lin left for him, Matt manages to escape Opium to Aztlán, which was once Mexico. There, he comes across many events and places, such as a cruel environment for orphans. These orphans are called the Lost Boys, and Matt is sent to live with them. The "Keepers" operate plankton farms on the principles of communism, treating the orphans unfairly and irrationally. The boys are forced into labor, and demanded to eat "healthy and nutritious" plankton, even though all it does is give those who eat it terrible acne. The Keepers are allowed lavish quarters and delectable food, claiming that this is fair because they earned the right to do so by working hard during their childhood.

Matt is at first an outcast, and deemed an unwanted aristocrat by the Keepers. However, as his peers see that he is nothing of the sort, Matt is more accepted, and leads a rebellion against the Keepers making him a hero. Matt soon finds Maria after liberating the Lost Boys. After living in a convent with María and her mother, Matt learns from Esperanza [María's mother] that Opium is in a lockdown state. This means that nothing can enter or leave the country. The only way to end this state is with El Patrón's fingerprint and DNA. Matt's fingerprint is identical to the former drug lord's, and he is able to enter Opium. There, he finds Celia, his old piano teacher and Daft Donald. The bodyguard tells Matt that El Patron has had a funeral, and his family had gathered to celebrate his death, because they lived their lives in perpetual fear of him. They drank a special wine harvested in the year El Patrón was born, which turned out to be poisoned, killing everyone present except for Daft Donald, who had been guarding the place with Tam Lin. Tam Lin drank the wine as well, with knowledge of its poison, because he wanted to end his life, regretting all of the evil things he has done in the past [killing 20 children by accident with a poorly placed bomb that was actually meant for the English prime minister].

Esperanza leaves Matt with the impression that he can make a difference, and Matt is eager to start his new life as ruler of Opium. She offers him support as well as aid from both the United States and Aztlan, but only if he promises to destroy Opium. Matt agrees with this plan, ready to erase the pain from his past and revert all eejits back into capable humans.

Aaaand thats it.

More Important Things...Not Quotes

All righty here we (I?) go. Some important topics (vs quotes) are dealt with/revealed in the section I just summarized.

First of all, El Patrón's birthday party is another example of the power the old man still holds over pretty much everyone. Nobody likes Matt, most even hate him, but when he acts out, they can do nothing because challenging Matt means challenging El Patrón. If not for his 'father', Matt would have been dead ages ago.

As I said in the summary, the witnessing of another clone is a turning point for both Matt and the reader. So far, no other clones have been introduced, and so it is assumed that Matt is what they look like and behave. This could not be farther from the truth. In actuality, clones really are helpless, mindless bundles of organs - the reader finds out later that clones are created so if a transplant of any kind, heart, liver, etc. is needed, there is a perfect copy of the one needed at hand. With this in mind, the feelings and teachings held by the Alacrans and rest of the world are understood, but the way they treat Matt is in no way justified. He is smarter than most of them, and is a perfectly capable human. It made me feel even more for Matt because you understand what he could have been, and the thoughts running through his head must have been overwhelming.

The episode with the dog is simply another example of the cruelty of the Alacrans. They will do anything and go out of their way in order t o cause harm to Matt. Felicia killed the dog, and Mr. Alacran had Matt apprehended by force, and told him that he was never to see Maria again.