Blog 2...My Sisters Keeper

              In this book, Anna's mother fights to have Anna not Medically Emancipated. But it is all for her sister Kate. On page 88, Anna's mother says "Two weeks...Your honor, with all due respect, two weeks is a very long time, given the severity of my other daughter's illness". I think that quote just proves that the mom is only focused on one daughter. She does not see that Anna could be hurt as well as Kate. She does not look at it from Anna's point of view, only Kate's. 

               I think that its ironic that her mother is always wanting Anna for medical procedures but on page 90 her mother says "Anna, right now, you are the last person whose input i need or want." When it comes down to Anna wanting to say what she thinks about those procedures her mother does not want to here it. After the court session, Anna's mom is very rude to Anna.

               I feel like Anna's mother only cares about Anna when Kate needs something. In between Kate's surgeries, her mother does not want anything to do with her. As i said, its only when Kate needs something that her mother will give her the time of day.

                On page 99, it goes into detail on how Sara, Anna's mom, felt about when she got pregnant for Anna. She says "It's a girl!" to all the ladies in the salon but as she says it she was really thinking "I know everything about this baby, from her sex to the very placement of her chromosomes, including the ones that make her a perfect match for Kate." 

                 The fact that Sara does not say that out loud proves that she knows it is wrong. She knows its not right just to have a baby for Kate's sake. She even said on page 100 "I have thought of this daughter only in terms of what she will be able to do for the daughter I already have. I haven't even admitted it to Brian". She refers to Anna as "This daughter". She said her goal for Anna was too save her sisters life.

                 If I were put into Sara's position I'm not quite sure what i would have done. Everyone can have an opinion but no one will truly know what they would have done until they are put into that situation. Which no one should have to be put in.

My Sister's Keeper

        Just from reading the first few chapters of "My Sister's Keeper" written by Jodi Picoult, Its clear that Anna feels that she was only born to be a medical match for her sister Kate who has acute promyelocytic leukemia. 

       On page 8 Anna said, "It made me wonder, though, what would have happened if Kate had been healthy. Chance's are, I'd still be floating up in Heaven or wherever, waiting to be attached to a body to spend some time on earth. Certainly I would not be part of this family. See, unlike the rest of the free world, I didn't get here by accident. And if your parents have you for a reason, then that reason better exist. Because once it’s gone, so are you."

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       That quote is one of the first times she talks about how she was made only for Kate and her illness. It kind of makes you feel bad to read it, seeing as she doesn't even seem mad, just curious.

       Through the beginning chapters, Anna never seems mad about her being born for Kate. Anna talks about how Kate is the center of attention and how Jesse, Anna's older brother, and herself are kind of in the background. Anna said on page 9 "The truth is, I was never really a kid. To be honest, neither were Kate and Jesse. I guess maybe my border had his moment in the sun for the four years he was alive before Kate got diagnosed, but ever since then, we've been too busy looking over our shoulders to run headlong into growing up."

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        I think that parents need to give their kids equal attention. If you pay attention to only one of them, no matter if one has a health problem or not, it makes the other children feel left out. I don't think that’s right. In this case, Anna is used to feeling left out and same with her older brother.

     On page 10, Anna said something that made it seem as if she thought being born for a medical match was normal. She said "-a perfect sibling match. When Kate needs leukocytes or stem cells or bone marrow to fool her body into thinking its healthy, I'm the one who provides them. Nearly every time Kate's hospitalized, I wind up there too."

         I'm sure that as I read further into the book there will be more quotes from Anna that shows that she was only born for that one purpose. I think there will also be more quotes stating how she feels about the situation and how it plays with Anna's emotions. 

Blog 3

             I think a hero is someone who will do anything to help someone despite what may happen to them. A hero will help anyone in need and be brave no matter what the consequences. For example, People who run into burning buildings to help someone that is still in there. Hero's are willing to risk his or her life to help save someone else.

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             In the book "The Help", I think that Skeeter is the most heroic character. Skeeter is willing to write a book on "The Help" that discusses race and what it is like at that time and what it will be like in the future. She takes the perspective from 12 black maids, including Aibileen. Speaking of Aibileen, she is the one who helps Skeeter write this book. She allows these maids to have a voice, an opinion. 

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            Along the way, Skeeter finds out the truth about many things that she never knew. Hearing these stories opened Skeeter's eyes to how big the race issue was. Skeeter wrote this book and had it published anonymously, but she still had the courage to go against her friends and have her own say about this issue even after being secluded from her community for having a copy of the Jim Crow Laws in her purse. This book ended up being a national best seller and that’s when these ladies put two and two together and realized that they are the characters in the book. Whats even better is that Mrs.Skeeter donates the money she got from the book to"The Help".

Blog 2

                  As mentioned in my first blog for The Help, Parenting skills play a big role in this book. In my earlier blog I mentioned Mrs. Leefolt and her daughter Mae. As I read further in the book I realized that Mrs. Skeeter's mother demonstrates the same parenting qualities as Mrs. Leefolt. Mrs. Skeeter's mother is always trying to run her life; Her mother is trying to make Mrs. Skeeter do things that aren't in her interest. When they bring up Mrs. Skeeter’s diploma on page 64, her mother just calls it "a pretty piece of paper". Her mother wants her to be married, work at a bank and dress better just to better her own reputation. 

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                  I feel bad for Mrs. Skeeter, she is always trying to avoid her mother and change subjects when talking to her because she can't face her own mother; not even to tell her that she wants to be a writer. She also feels so insecure around her mother. Mrs. Skeeter says on page 65 "My own mother is looking at me as if I completely baffle her mind with my looks, my height, my hair. To say frizzy is an understatement." I don't feel like any parent should make their child feel like that. Mrs. Skeeter is always feeling targeted by her mother. On page 74 she said " I used to dash by, feeling like a dartboard, a big red bull's-eye that mother pinged darts at" "Eugenia, you know there is no chewing gum in this house" "Eugenia, go put alcohol on that blemish." "Eugenia, march upstairs and brush your hair down, what if we have an unexpected visitor?" I learned that socks are stealthier transportation than shoes. I learned to use the back door. I learned to wear hats, cover my face with my hands when I passed by. But mostly, I learned to just stay in the kitchen." That quote sums up how Mrs. Skeeter feels around her mother. I think being a good parent involves loving your child no matter what, giving them good attention and being supportive.

                   Mrs. Skeeter's mother doesn't have those parenting qualities. Mrs. Skeeter's mother is always judging her, finding things to say to bring her down or just saying things that make her feel terrible about herself. On the website "Family share" it discusses the difference between beneficial judgment and overbearing correction. http://familyshare.com/keeping-kids-open-minded-how-to-teach-children-to-be-less-judgmental. I think Mrs. Skeeter's mother is defiantly portraying overbearing correction after reading how Mrs. Skeeter feels when she is around her.

The Help

                            The first few chapters of the help demonstrate what it was like for the African American's who worked as the "help" in white households. When I first started reading this book, I got the impression that Mrs.Leefolt wasn't that great with dealing with her own baby. Aibileen is Mae Mobley’s caretaker as well as the "help". There are many qualities to being a good parent that Mrs.Leefolt does not have. In chapter one, Aibileen walks in on Mrs. Leefolt holding her baby and frantically saying "What am I doing wrong? Why can't I stop it?"(Stockett1). I thought exactly what Aibileen had said, "It? That was my first hint: something is wrong with this situation"(Stockett1). As she takes Mae 

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Mobley and bounces her up and down she starts to smile and stop crying. Mrs.Leefolt doesn't even pick up her own baby she ignores her. Which for one is a terrible thing to do because babies need attention and need to be played with. Babies cry as a way of saying, "I'm hungry" or "I need to be changed". On the "Everyday life" website there is an article called "What happens if you ignore babies when they cry?” It explains that if you ignore your baby crying, he/she won't stop until you do something. It says that by ignoring your baby while he/she is crying will cause unneeded stress for the both of you. I found this quote very interesting about the emotional side when a baby cries "Researchers at Oxford University discovered that a baby’s cry causes the human brain to issue an emotional response in 100 milliseconds. Mothers’ bodies respond when they hear their babies cry, so much so, in fact, that they have the biological urge to nurse. Oxytocin is the hormone that triggers milk to start flowing, and it helps mom to feel calm and relaxed. Some advisors tell parents to ignore a baby’s cries when behaviors are present that parents want to change, such as waking up to eat at night or crying for attention. However, this can be difficult for mothers to do when they are biologically programmed to respond to their children’s cries, states the Ask Dr. Sears website"http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/happens-ignore-babies-cry-9494.html. So the fact that Mrs.Leefolt isn't responding to her babies’ cries is very interesting due to the fact that she should be having an emotional response to her baby. Mrs.Leefolt seems to only care about herself and doesn't seem to even acknowledge the fact that she has a baby to take care of. Aibileen said on page 4 that "Miss Leefolt, she dress up nice ever day. Always got her makeup on, got a carport, double-door Frigidaire with the built-in icebox. You see her in the Jitney 14 grocery, you never think she go and leave her baby crying in her crib like that." Mrs.Leefolt is demonstrating very bad parenting skills. I think the quote that really shows that Mrs.Leefolt does not have good parenting skills or qualities is the one on page 4 when Aibileen says "Ever so often, I come to work and find her bawling in her crib, Miss Leefolt busy on the sewing machine rolling her eyes like its a stray cat stuck in the screen door". Its almost like Mrs.Leefolt is dehumanizing her own baby. And worst of all, its not just Mae's mother that is ignoring her; it’s the father too. On page 15 it says "Baby girl, she looking at the door her daddy slammed, she looking at her mama frowning down at her. My baby, she swallowing it back, like she trying real hard not to cry". I think that these parents need to show more attention to their child and step up and be a parent. They do not have good parenting skills what so ever.

The Kite Runner Blog 3

     

            The book "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hossenini and "Persepolis" by Marjane Satrapi are very similar in many ways. First, they both take place in the same part of the world. Persepolis takes place in Iran and The Kite Runner in Afghanistan so the history is similar.

These books also share the intense use of imagery. The way the authors describe different characters and different events are almost the same. They make sure that everything is very descriptive and that every detail is included.

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 Also both authors characterize their characters very well. In The Kite Runner, Khaled takes the time to introduce ever character and give them their own personality. Khaled puts Amir in different situations to show what kind of person he is, same with Hassan. In Persepolis, Marjane gives Marji a lot of personality and I think that the graphic novel pictures captured it by her facial expressions. She also took the time to give characters some one on one time to show their personalities and how they are as a person.

These books also look back into the history of their country to give you some more understanding. In the Kite Runner they give you the history by introducing what Amir found in the history books at his house. Amir brought up the different religions, social classes and how they are not equal and how they are supposed to interact to make it socially acceptable. In Persepolis, they give you background information by having the parents and other characters tell their stories about what has happened in their country and what has changed in society.

All in all I think that these two books are very similar and share a lot of information. They both have the same literary techniques and the same use of imagery and characterization. Both Khaled and Marjane take time to introduce their characters and give them their own personalities. The Kite Runner and Persepolis also use background information to further the readers understanding of the book.