NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED!

I logged on today to make sure that I had all my posts- you said in class that we should have 6. When I logged on I noticed that only two had actually posted (I did all of them on time). I had a hard time getting the other four to post today, apparently there was something with the cookies of something like that; my dad had to fix the problem. He said that it probably explains why the others didn't post and only saved. After he fixed it I was able to post all of the other blogs.

Outside Reading #6

I recently started reading the seventh Harry Potter book. I have always loved the series and I love the concept behind it, as odd as it may be. I think that the fact that Harry has to fight for his life against a dark wizard at age seventeen is insane! No seventeen year old should ever have to fight for their life, no matter what the circumstances are. I think that the fact that Harry is not only fighting for his life but all magic that is good is probably a huge amount of stress. I'm sure he is well aware of the fact that if her fails, all good magic may go away. I was surprised when Ron left Harry and Hermoine in the woods. I never thought in a million years that Ron would ever leave Harry's side. When Ron came back, I can't say I was surprised, but I was a little bit. He and Harry were such good friends that I didn't think he could stay away.
I would never want to be put in Harry's position. He has an entire "culture" resting on his shoulders. I think it would be really fun to be able to do magic, not like the magic that magicians do, but the kind that Harry does. I think that it would be the experience of a lifetime.

Outside Reading #5

As I continued to read My Sister's Keeper, I kept being surprised. After learning that Kate had asked Anna to seek the medical emancipation, I thought that there couldn't be anymore surprises! But I was wrong, very, very wrong. As Anna keeps fighting in court, her case seems to be growing stronger and stronger- it appears that she may even win the case. At the same time, the judge was having a hard time deciding whether or not a teenager could make desicions about her medical care. I think if I were the judge, the choice would be really hard for me. If I chose to rule in favor of the parents, a young girl may still be used as a donor against her will because the mother wants so badly to keep her other daughter alive, which is very understandable, but very unethical. The other choice I would have is to rule in favor of the teenage girl, someone who doesn't necessarily know what her best interests are when it comes to medical care, but shoud have the right to decide if she wants to be used as a donor anymore.
I was actually surprised to find out that Anna won the case, she received her medical emancipation. But the part that really surprised me, and made me kind of mad was what happened on the wasy to the hospital immediately after signing the papers. The car that Anna was riding in was hit, Anna would be pronounced brain dead at the hospital. In the end, Kate did get her kidney. The thing that Kate said at the end was kind of interging, She said that she felt that becasue Anna had died, she was able to live. She felt that it was almost as if Anna had taken her spot. I think that for a teenage girl to think of that must be really hard, she would probably feel guilty about it for the rest of her life.

Outside Reading #4

I continued to read My Sister's Keeper this week, though it was hard to find time because I have been reading a lot for the AP World History Exam. As I continued to read My Sister's Keeper, I felt more and more connected to Anna, I felt more and more understanding as to what she was doing. As she continued to fight for her medical emancipation, things became much harder for Anna. Anna's mother wouldn't talk to her and could barely even look at her. As I was reading I felt really bad for Anna because she really had no where to turn. If it weren't for her father working at a fire house, Anna would've had to live at home in these difficult conditions.
Towards the end of the novel, the reader learns that the reason that Anna is seeking medical emancipation isn't only for herself, but also for her sister, Kate. The reader learns that Kate was the one who asked Anna to seek medical emancipation because she didn't want to put Anna through any more medical procedures and was in to much pain and wanted to go peacefully.

Outside Reading #3

The recently started reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter. At first, I thought it was going to be really interesting, but as I continued to read I became bored. I decided that I would then read My Sister's Keeper. I absolutely love the novel! I really enjoy reading Jodi Picoult books. I like how each chapter is from a different character's point of view. Because I can get bored pretty easily when reading books, it helps me want to continue reading because I'm always wanting to know what another character is going to think about what someone else did.
I think that if I were put in Anna's situation, I would without a doubt give/donate anything that my sister needed. I can understand where she is coming from though; Anna was never asked if she wanted to donate her marrow or even her kidney. I can see how this situation is difficult for her and her family; Anna is trying to seek medical compensation to have controll over her body, which her mother sees as trying to stop donating vital things to her sister Kate.

Outside Reading #2

I just finished reading Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult. I thought the ending wasn't really the end. The novel just kind of stopped, almost like there should have been a few more chapters. I felt like Picoult left out important parts of the novel by just ending it. For example, a good portion of the novel is about Paige and trying to find herself (similar to Animal Dreams) and trying to win back her husband Nicholas after she leaves to find her mother and find out why she left. In the end though, you never find out if they get back together or not, it kind of leaves it up to the reader to decide. But with that, I also feel that there should have been more.
The novel I started reading today is The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I have only read a few pages of it, byut so far it seems really good. All I have read thus far is that this doctor's wife has gone into labor (1965) and she gives birth to twins, one of each a girl and boy. The boy is born in good health whereas the little girl is born with downsyndrom. At the time, children with downsyndrom were immidiately shipped off to be raised with people "of their own kind" which is exactly what happened. THat is all I have read so far, but it seems to be a pretty good novel so far.

Outside Reading #1

I am currently reading Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult. I chose to read it because I absolutely love her books, and I hadn't read it yet. Harvesting the Heart is about a girl whose mother ran away at age five. When she grows up and becomes a mother herself, she feels she is no good at being a parent and leaves just like her mother did. She leaves her husband, who is a surgon so he is always at work, and her three month old baby at home. When she leaves, she goes out to find her mother. The novel explores the ideas of why her mother left her and how things like this have an long term effect.
"I had expected more from you. The words brought back the image of his father, standing over him like an impenetratable basilisk and holding out a prep school physics exam bearing the only grade lower than an A that Nicholas had recived in his whole life" (Picoult 270). I chose this quote because I think it shows the power of an adult figure, like a parent's, influence and opinion. As much as people want to say that they aren't influenced by what other people say, I think that deep down they care about what their parents say. Also, I think that the idea of falling below what your parents expect from you is also something that alot of people don't like the idea of.