My Sister's Keeper

How do one's decisions impact others?
I am not too far into the book yet, but Anna has just committed herself to sueing her parents for control over her own body. She wants to own her body parts and be able to keep them to herself, because they are always given to her sick older sister, Kate. Anna had to pawn off her lovely necklace to get money to pay for the expensive $200/hr lawyer she needs to win her case. Her father had given it to her, something special just for her and she had yet to ever take it off. Anna doesn't think it's fair for her parents to never ask permission firts from her, and just use her to help Kate. The lawyer she went to thought nothing of Anna at first and wanted to shoo her away. But after listening to her story, he saw her point and also agrees that it's not fair. He is going to take her case.

Anna's decision to sue her parents will impact her whole family, and the relationship between them. Just this one choice can separate them forever. Anna's choice can kill her sister Kate when she will need it the most. So this decision doesn't just change Anna's life, but everybodys. The replationship between Anna and her parents could be lost forever, because they might hate her for this. They can say Anna would be killing their oldest daughter Kate. I wonder if one of her parents or siblings will take her side, and if that breaks up the family.

This book reminds me when my grandma lost her kidneys and was about to die. She needed somebody to donate her a kidney if she wanted to disregard dialysis forever and live. But there was either never a match, or too long of a waiting list. So she now has to drive to the hospital 3 times a week for 3 hours for kidney dialysis. This is like Kate, and how she needed lot's of donors to survive. But instead of her waiting on a list of finding the right match which could take a long time, she just had her sister. They made Anna to genetically match Kate perfectly, and Anna donated bone marrow and much more all the time. Pg. 25 "They went to special...genetic match." This proves that her parents matched the embryos perfectly to match Kates. Pg. 24 "The first time I gave something...blood stem cells." This also proves how much Anna has given to her sister Kate.

In Class Media

The Rwandan girl who refused to die & Children of Rwanda's Genocide

In the first story the author conveys and integrates imagery through the context used. They detail everything and make you picture the cruel murderings of the poor children and parents. Especially when they talk about the dogs coming in and eating the dead bodies, how she had to throw rocks at them to make them go away. Valentina sat in a room for 43 days with rotting corpses, that is hard to imagine. This story creates a depressing mood and makes me want to stop what is happening. They are conveying a sense of evil by describing the murders and the rotting corpses. It said that the Hutu's said they could spare people that gave them money, but they lied and still killed them anyways! That is evil. Also, when the leader says that you have to kill them like they are snakes, and the only way to kill snakes is to smash their heads! This whole article is evil, especially when talking about death. They set the mood also by using the words: crying babies, whinnying goats, and interminable crowing of roosters. It sounds brutal, and lonely. The part that mostly impacted me was when Valentina still has reoccurring dreams about her mother, and that Valentina is showing her her mutilated hand, what has become of her. But then she wakes up crying and realizes her mother is dead and gone forever. That really kills me, because I am the same age as her, and if that had happened to me, I wouldn't be able to even imagine what I would have to go through and how I would want to live. It's terrible what was done to her.

In the second story, it connects back with the first story because it also talks about the killings and feelings of the children of Rwanda. It makes me upset when I read or hear about this now, because I had never heard of these murderings before. It's something new to my brain but has a huge impact on it because I hate violence. In this article they say that 500,000 people had been killed. Half of the population! That is way too many people, and way too many children being orphaned to fend for themselves because their parents have died. The author has conveyed imagery by using numbers. There wasn't a lot to picture because it wasn't like the first story. This one really used large numbers of killings, or percentages to catch your attention and create that same dark and depressing mood for the readers. I think the authors are different in my perspective because in the first article it was like the author was using Valentina to show the sadness and evilness of the genocide. You really got in touch with her feelings and experiences because it shows it in detail and has you picture what is happening. But on the other hand , this other author doesn't use jut one specific person to take you through their horrible journey of the attack. it talks about in the stats and numbers of killings in Rwanda by saying 80% of children had lost at least one family member from the massacre. That is a big percentage, and it shows just how many people were killed. "The presence of the genocide is still here. It's still with the Rwandan children. " This statement is very true and impacts me the most because if it were me witnessing the killings in Rwanda, then I would wake up every night screaming or crying every night just like Valentina in the first article. The vivid images of people lying on the streets dying, and children helpless would haunt me forever, just like it will for these poor children who were the survivors of this terrible attack! People not involved would forget about this massacre easily and say it's all over and done with. But for the children, it will never be over, and they are all alone because of it.

The Cask of Amontillado

The techniques that the author is using are description because he describes the mood, and setting very well. It's detailed, and gets yourself in the story. He is also using foreshadowing, because I think he is dropping hints at the readers to let us kind of know what will be happening at the end. The main character wants revenge, and you know it right at the beginning. The setting is developed slow then rises to detailed visuals. The author is conveying evil imagery by using words to set the specific mood. Especially when i was listening to the speaker telling the story, it was the way he was reading it that told me the tone of it. I think that the character is the representation of evil, because he wants revenge. Some of the factors contributing to the characters actions were that he wanted revenge from Fortunato, and that made him do the things he did, like leaving Fortunato in the catacombs. I think that the evil is conveyed mostly through the imagery, and the setting. Especially at the end of the story it really starts to get dark and seem evil to me. But the part that impacted the most to me is the ending. He just left Fortunato there!

response

You have a good point talking about power. Try and bring in some more specific evidence to back up what you are saying. Bring in a quote to back it up. You may also describe what he was like prior to being corrupted so we can see how he has change. You do have a solid understanding of what has happened to Macbeth. Good work.

My Summative writing on my EQ

How far is one willing to go to get what they desire most?

Macbeth is willing to go very far in this third act. He wants to kill again! He is willing to kill his best friend Banquo because of the suspicions led by the witches. The three witches said that Banquo suspects that Macbeth is the murderer of King Duncan, and Macbeth cannot have that, so he seeks two servants to murder Banquo and his son Fleance just to keep his full power! Macbeth doesn't have to go this far, but he does it anyways. This connects with how does power corrupt because the power had corrupted him to do things he would have never done before his desire to be king, and desire to stay king. So in the end, Macbeth desires the thirst for power, and he was willing to kill again for it, even if he was risking a lot, like his best friend, and a risk to more people finding out he was the true murder!

Macbeth. Tragic Hero?

A tragic hero is a main character in a tragedy that had made a wrong move to lead into his or her downfall. I think that this is what Macbeth is. he is a tragic hero because he made some wrong moves, like killing Duncan, and Banquo. I think he would have never had even thought about those murderous actions if not for the three witches! They had ruined his life, I think, and made him die at the end. Lady Macbeth had also influenced him to kill and he should have listened to his own self. The power corrupted him in a way to make him kill, and therefore become a tragic hero, and it was a tragedy because he died.

Summary

I thought this might be a faster way for me to comment. I like the thought and honesty in your posts. You can see the learning and the confidence you are gaining as you have been working through this project. Your project was very original and creative to combine the two techniques and I am glad that you decide to challenge yourself and try the technology. As you are learning there are always some bumps along the ways. Similarly, Macbeth discovered that too, yet he kept after his goal to get and keep what he desired most.
Now do you think he is a tragic hero or not?