Son: Week of Halloween!!!

Title: Son
Author: Lois Lowry
Pages:109-145
Prompt: How does the book compare to our society?

The book is very different from our society clearly. Everything is in order so it is a form of a Utopia. People basically grow up and are chosen their job for them by the council. While in our world you have a variety of choices depending on your situation and wants. No one has feelings like we do in our world, where we experience pain, sadness, anger, loss, and love. The only ones that feel pain are the birthmothers because well I think you get the point. But these traits make family units not what we would think of family. Like when you think of your mom and dad, you think of love and need while in this world they apply for a spouse and all they do is stay together and usually raise children. Claire the main character is the only one who feels this loss because she can't be with her child Gabe. At least she thinks she is the only one. Remember she does not know about Jonas or the Giver. There is a bit of sadness and support to one another but the emotions are more like if your pet goldfish died after 2 days is the most they feel or like the support of a teammate or friend. These aren't extremes like feelings for your family or the loss of a family member.

The people there do not see color, nor do they differentiate to much from one another. They all are the same body types and style of hair and clothes. Life there is very dull and Claire begins to realize this. There is nothing to do, no time to hang out with friends, have parties, or have people come over. All the things we do each day aren't available to the people in this community. They can't have a crush on someone, or have very harsh feelings because they are restricted. They have no clue either so everything just goes on in this long ever lasting cycle. It is also different because they don't exactly have a government. I guess you can call it a oligarchy because it is run by a group of leaders. The people have no say, they do what they are told and if they act in a rebellious manner I don't think it will end well for them. Unlike us they have no access to the outside world. And by that I mean outside of their community. We literally in our society have access to know stuff outside of our world, meaning planet Earth. All they know is their community.

Claire is feeling what no one else feels, which is loss. She misses her child and figures out why he has these feelings. She stopped taking the pills that the entire community takes, to make feelings go away basically. She finds out her child Gabe is not going to be given to a family unit. She is devastated and cannot comprehend what she has heard. Then it gets a bit weird because all she remembers are slight memories as the ceremony has begun. There were alarms and panic in the community.She remembered seeing the caretaker yell for his son, Jonas. He said that he had taken Gabe with him to elsewhere. Then she remembers running and crying barefoot and ending up on a boat. The descriptions of it were that she crashed and no one survived but her. In the book it is spilt and I am on Book 2 I guess. The start is a bit confusing but she has landed ashore on a new place. She doesn't remember how she survived or got picken up. But this women is asking her questions and she is like a medic of some sort. Finally Claire says "My name is Claire." She is in a new place.

Montresors End

50 years after the disappearance of Fortunato.

"We have brought you here to talk about the disappearance of Mr. Fortunato." Said one police officer. 

"I know no such thing about the disappearance, in fact for a while I was quite concerned about my dear friend." replied Montresor.

"We have a witness who has come forward and said he left with you the night of the disappearance." said another officer.

"I have no idea why you would question me of this." stated Montresor. 

"He was never seen with anyone else or anywhere?" questioned the first officer.

"I think your whole story is a hoax!" retorted Montresor

"How could any of this be a hoax?" Asked the second officer.

"I saw Fortunato because I was telling him about this Amontillado I had found. But Fortunato had a mask on so how could the worker have even known if I had even seen or spoken to him?" Montresor felt he had an established point.


"So you think this women is framing you? But why would she wait so long to do this then?" the officers were confused.

"I think she was hired by Fortunato's wife. You see I visit her often to see she is doing well and well about a week ago we got into an argument that resulted with some harsh anger from her." Montresor felt this story was very strong and began to feel even more confident.

"And this argument was about?" retorted the first officer.

"Well Fortunato and I had some money in this vault of their house and she had taken it and spent it on herself when much of it belonged to me. I was a bit intoxicated myself so I said some harsh things but she became very angry so I think she is framing me because she is running out of money so she is upset and jealous that I still have money." Montresor was not lying about the argument but he was about the whole framing thing.

"So you believe she was bought out to snitch on you? But how does it effect her if you are in jail or dead?" 

"You see in my will she knows I have much money left to her and Fortunato because I have no family. She wouldn't kill me herself because she fears getting caught but knows if I were charged with Fortunato's death I would die." Montresor felt the whole story coming together in his head.

The officer took a deep breath, "So are you suggesting she killed Fortunato?"

"No, No of course not I am simply suggesting she has chosen to frame me." Montresor said innocently.

"I saw Fortunato the night of Carnival but he left me after I said I was going home and later was burdened to find out my friend was gone." he said with a sad look.

"So you were at Carnival and you saw Fortunato but he didn't leave with you?" the second officer asked.

"No of course not. And I had no reason to kill my dear friend, one of my only friends. We were close and had nothing against one another. I did not gain any money or items of value after the disappearance of my friend. I am innocent." Montresor grew more and more inpatient. He wanted to leave but had to wait.

"We may let you go now but will probably ask you to come back in for further questioning once we gather more information." said an officer as he was reading the notes.

"Thank you. I told you I have nothing to do with the murder of Fortunato. May I please leave now?"

"Hold on a minute, we never said anything about murder?" The officer had a new spark in him.

"Ummm I meant disappearance. I told you he left my house and I never saw him again. leave me alone!" Montresor said without thinking.

"Wait earlier you said he didn't go to your house. Montresor what are you not telling us." The officer was driving for answers.

"Hehehe, I did it, hahaha, I killed him. I deserved my revenge. He is dead in the catacombs of my house. You and the women who confessed deserve to be buried down there as well, hahahehe." Montresor had admitted.

The officers cuffed him and realized that Montresor was mentally unstable. Montresor was later convicted with murder and was hung for his wrongdoings. 

Son: Week of 10-20-14

Title: Son
Author: Lois Lowry
Pages:84-118
Prompt: Hoe does this story connect to the Giver?

*SPOILER ALERT*

Claire is the main character in the book Son. Son is the follow up book on the The Giver. Son and The Giver are two stories from different views but the events that happen match. She is at the beginning just like anyone else in the community. Now she has found her son and continues to learn and experience new things. The only thing she knows about her child is that he is number 36 in the list of new children. Then she heres one of the care takers call him "Abe" and she now thinks she knows his name. His real name is Gabe. Yes Gabe, the one that Jonas's family takes care of in the Giver. And that caretaker is Jonas's father that is taking him home. So she has visited the care place for the children and now knows Jonas's dad. In fact they are talking and he says his son is getting chosen his job at the next ceremony. She finds out that this child named Jonas was selected for something and that it was a big deal. But she still does not know it is the son of the caretaker which will add an interesting twist I think.

It is also like the Giver because they refer to what is called "Elsewhere" and they give you more of an idea about what it is like outside of this community. She runs into a sailor who is from elsewhere and she is very surprised. His experience just from their small conversation is very different. His sounded more like how we live today. Claire said that they were required to learn to swim in the pool when they were five. The sailor said that his father just threw him in the pond. The sailor also talks about how it was weird for them to have a women on board of their ship and Claire was confused. She was confused because he said that it was more of a mans job. Claire had never heard of such a thing, men and women jobs were the same. I felt like in some parts she thinks very much like Jonas. She doesn't really care about the community very much. She desires more out of her life then just be a role in the community. At one point Claire thinks but doesn't really consider about stealing her child and hiding him. This is what Jonas later does when he takes Gabe and runs away.

The new ceremony has just passed. Claire's desire for her child have grown and grown. So much in fact that she has several times dreamed of him being with her. She has been welcomely invited back to the nurturing center like she has in the past. She is happy about this because it means she gets to see her child. Claire has never really thought about elsewhere until now. She hasn't though about what goes on in other places. Until one day she does and learns a little about what its like from a sailor. It seems more like what we live in because they talk about a dad throwing his kid in a pond to make him learn to swim. They also show some discrimination or difference between the men and women. This Claire had never heard of before. She also learns about an odd event at the ceremony of 12. The elder had skipped a child and later apologized when he was called up. They didn't know what happened with him though.

Time Travel Blog

Q: Where would you go?

A: I would stay in the US but go to Utah.

Q:To which year or period would you travel?

A: The date to be exact was on June 14, 1998.

Q: Who would you want to meet or what event would you want to witness?

A: The event I would want to witness was in game 6 of the 98 finals when Michael Jordan hit a game winning shot with 5.6 seconds left to put the Bulls up by one point. They had won their 6th championship in 8 years and was Michael Jordan's last game with the Chicago Bulls.

Q: Where would you find this person or see this event?

A: I would have seen this event in Salt lake City, Utah. The name for the Utah Jazz's stadium at the time was called the Delta Center. 

Q: Why would you want to meet this person or witness this event?

A: I would want to witness this event because I would want to see Michael Jordan's last game. But the main reason would be to see that last shot that he took to win. I have watched the video over and over on youtube and have the picture of him shooting that shot.

Q: How might YOU change history?


A: For me I wouldn't have gone there to change history, save anyone, or change a decision because I have no idea how that would turn out but I would be there to see the greatest player ever make history and win his last championship.

Son: Week of 10-14-14

Title: Son

Author: Lois Lowry

Prompt: How does the experiences and community effect the character's actions

Pages read: 50-84

Claire's community has no violence, criminal activity, or much change. Everyone basically plays a role in this society and help carry out the community. Claire may be different though. She was originally assigned birthmother but something went wrong and she works at the Hatchery. Everything runs kind of as one big machine in her community, so there really aren't any problems because people can't vote on anything. Everyone has their jobs chosen for them so Claire gets a bit bored. In fact in one part she even says "I am, I am lonely." She feels that there is basically a higher purpose in life than working at the hatchery for years.

When the birth of her child went wrong she was curious and remembered his number which was "thirty-six" and one day it becomes important. She decides to kind of lie to her director. In her community, lying is not tolerated but she feels it wasn't a total lie. So she goes over to the nurturing center and talks to a girl who was in the same year she was in. She finds the room her baby was in because they are numbered off. She finds "thirty-six" and held him in her hands. From that moment on everything changed. She could no longer thing of anyone else besides her and the child. She felt a new feeling, a feeling she had never felt before and she couldn't quite explain it. 

I feel that Claire becomes capable of lying because she becomes interested because of the incident that occurred. I feel that if she would have stayed with the birthmothers she would just be another piece of the puzzle. Claire also begins to risk getting into trouble to see her child. This is probably because of the strong connection she feels toward it which is this simpler feeling of love. In "The Giver" they say that the people in the village did not know the feeling of love. This is because they have all been deceived and given the idea that what they are told is right and that they only have the right to do what they are told to. Claire is getting over this idea of listening and staying in line. She changes the second she leaves to the Hatchery. She becomes a new Claire.

1st Quarter Blog Reflection

     Throughout the first quarter I have become more aware of what is happening in the world today. Specifically I've learned a lot through the AoW's that we have done. The two that I have learned the most about and have developed the most were the articles on ISIS and Ebola. ISIS progressed throughout the year through threats upon the US and other nations. I first heard of them after the beheading of an american reporter and gained further knowledge after reading the article on it. I first learned about Ebola I think through the article. I learned about the quarantine and how many people were dying. We even reflected on whether or not we should be concerned. And now Ebola is in the US.
     My methods of research and finding arguments has improved throughout the first quarter. I am able to find evidence and arguments to support a claim or idea the the author or speaker is saying to the reader or audience. In a speech by Malala's father, we had to find arguments and write a sentence about what the main point in the paragraph was. It comes much more easier now to me because we have practiced it so many times.
     I am currently on my 5th book for the 40 book challenge. My reading ability has much improved before and throughout the quarter. I am now reading more and able to better understand and comprehend what I have read. In this past month I took the MAP test for selective enrollment high schools and there were challenging things on the test. I had a better time though than I would have before and since then I have learned some of the things I was more confused about. Since that test I was very interested in finding out the things that I had not learned yet.
     

Son: Week of 9-29-14

Title: Son
Author: Lois Lowry
Pages Read: 0-48
Prompt :Describe the author's writing style

     In Lois Lowry's book, Son, the style of the book is very obvious. The point of view is from 3rd person. You can tell because the narrator says phrases like "Claire nodded" and Claire thought" showing how he knows what the characters feelings are and what their actions are. The style of the book is a narrative because the author is telling a story using characters, setting and plot.  The main character is Claire, and she is a birthmother. This book is in the same series as "The Giver" which we have all read. Like in "The Giver" much of the book is dialogue. Also much of the book so far is expressing Claire's feelings towards a subject or event. The style that Lois Lowry uses for all the characters is very precise and proper language. As I learned in "The Giver", precision of speech is very important to their community. So every character does not use any slang or sort of accent.

     A large part of the book I feel is based off of mood. Your emotions somewhat change but not too drastically so far. Basically the entire book so far you just feel sympathy towards Claire. At the beginning of the book she is giving birth so you feel much sympathy then for her pain. Then as it progresses you feel bad for her because she does not fit in and is confused. Right now I feel better for her but I feel like she doesn't feel quite comfortable yet. The tone of the book has been kind of neutral because they describe some stuff as bad and others as good. It is a very basic society so it is hard to develop too much description and depth on certain things. For Claire the tone has been more negative because she feels unsure and is nervous. But when they describe other things like the community or the people they use much kinder words that re more positive.

     So Claire has given birth. Since it is a birthmothers job to produce children they are not allowed to see their babies. Something goes wrong because they have a sudden almost panic and Claire passes out. The one thing remaining from that is her scar. When she talks to the other birthmothers they are rather confused and say that they have no scar. Well one day Claire is called to the committee and they tell her she will be placed somewhere else for her job in the community. She is confused and once again feels like she had lost something like she had when she gave birth. She is moved to fish hatchery. She feels very nervous because it was extremely rare and odd for someone to be moved to another place of work. She begins to settle in and make new friends. Now she is looking for a way to sneak out and ask some questions.