The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Pages 51-137

Summary:

As Miss Jean Brodie tells the girls of her prime, she talks to them about the lovers that she had during the time as well. She talks about one of the girls in her set betraying her and telling her secret. The headmistress Ms. Mackay gets the girls and divides them in order for them not to be influenced by each other. She starts to question them about Miss Brodie but to my surprise none of the girls tell her anything that would help her take Miss Brodie out of the school.

After Miss Brodie decides to confide in one of the girls that she teaches in her sect. Out of all the girls she chooses Sandy. For some odd confusing reason, Miss Brodie wants one of her students (Rose) to become lovers with Mr. Lloyd and Sandy to become the person who delivers information on the affair. In the end, Sandy ends us having a sexual relationship with Mr. Lloyd and Rose becomes the informant.

Aside of all this sexual stuff, the students of Miss Brodie’s girls are now all grown up and 17 years of age. They were now able to view her as more than just a teacher but also observe and admire her womanly side.  A new girl, Joyce also starts to admire Miss Brodie just as all the other girls do, but with more intense acknowledgement. She took Miss Jean Brodie’s ideas and views on politics very seriously and disappears from school and ends up dying in an accident in Spain.

            As Miss Brodie still had a great impact on these girls, one of the main things that Miss Brodie was basically overseeing was the relationship between Sandy, Rose and Mr. Lloyd. Since Sandy was the one that was having sexual relationships with Mr. Lloyd, when Miss Brodie says that Rose and Mr. Lloyd will soon be lovers, it really angers Sandy. Instead of being brainwashed by Miss Brodie’s ideas, she begins to think that Miss Brodie was instead trying to act like God and control her and her actions. Mr. Lloyd was in fact in love with Miss Brodie himself, he would draw canvasses of her student Sandy but each time they would resemble Miss Brodie. Years later when Ms. Mackay and Sandy meet they start talking about Miss Brodie. Ms. Mackay says that she is afraid that Miss Brodie put to many ideas into their young head. Sandy say’s that there were many ideas that Miss Brodie influenced them with. Since Miss Brodie has a new sect now Ms. Mackay would need ideas that she would use set to set each year. Those ideas were politics, since Miss Brodie had the same ideas since she was “born”.

            In that same summer Miss Jean Brodie was forced to retire because she was teaching Fascism. She then wrote a letter to Sandy telling her what had occurred. She says that Sandy out of all her sets is the one who would never betray her. But in fact, it was Sandy who betrayed Miss Jean Brodie.           

Quote:

“‘It’s only possible to betray where loyalty is due,’ said Sandy” (Spark 136).

Reflection:

When Monica told Sandy that Miss Brodie thought it was her that betrayed Miss Brodie, Sandy said that she didn’t betray her because you cannot betray someone when there is no loyalty that you are trying to show someone. When Miss Brodie was in her prime all of her students were loyal to her because that was when she was their teacher. After years past, the loyalty disappeared with it which was why Sandy believes she didn’t betray Miss Brodie, although in my opinion she did. When someone trusts you and you go behind their back and say things that you’re not supposed to your betraying that person and that was exactly what Sandy did.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Pages 1-50

This book The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark begins with boys on bikes that are talking to school girls which they distinguish by the way they wear their hats. These girls are called the Brodie set which was a group formed when they were in Miss Brodie elementary class. This school, taking place in the 1930s whose teacher Miss Brodie is known for her unconventional teaching ways. She taught her student about rennisance painters and foreign words such as “menarche”. Since many of these students of Miss Brodie are considered outcasts, they themselves have a unique bond they share with themselves and their former teacher, which many consider suspicious. Members in the group are ostracized as well as are given names that explain them in a general matter.

            Miss Brodie invites the sets to dinner to tell them all about a new plot to cause her to resign. The students, unlike many have her interest at heart while many others feel as though she should teach at a different more modern school. She disagrees and insists in staying at the school because she is the only one that can make a difference. She is said to be only removed  my assassination.

            Afterward, Miss Brodie tells the students about the information that one of the students in the set Mary Macgregor who they call “ the nobody that everybody can blame”. After the start of World War II, Mary joins the Wrens. She continues to be blamed, and is even left by her new boyfriend. Miss Jean Brodie who is in her prime is looked upon as a crucial member in their society.  The people in the book look to things such as sexual intercourse as a weird thing, which cannot be talked about, further demonstrating that the time period has a great effect on the way characters act in the book.

 Quote:

“ They had no team spirit and very little in common with each other outside their continuing friendship with Jean Brodie” (Spark 2).

Reaction:

Miss Jean Brodie is a very large impact on the lives of these students. She taught them things about the world that no one else would teach them. Other teachers in the school did not appreciate the close bond she had with her students and they felt as though they should make Miss Brodie resign. By Miss Brodie leaving, it would leave all these children in the dark. She is the one that brings all these diverse individuals together.

Aol.com Pages: 235-318

Summary:

With the continuing problems that AOL was facing, hope in the company seemed to diminish. The pornography case went all the way to the Supreme Court and had advocated from both sides fighting furiously for each of their beliefs. Most of those advocated were people from different organizations who fought for children’s rights. Their main goal was to fight for children and protect them from things that might be harmful to their well beings. These advocated were trying to make it part of the law for these pornographic materials to be removed from the internet. AOL the largest internet provider was facing these serious charges and although they specifically weren’t being targeted as distributing these materials, simply because they weren’t, the images, files were still part of AOL’s internet database causing great embarrassment to the company.

After the debate between congress and the advocates for children’s rights it was voted that the “indecent” material would be kept out of the internet, it was passed down to the Supreme court due to the fact that it was against the first amendment(freedom of speech). This all went public and times even created a magazine that displayed AOL on the front cover. It was an embarrassment to the company, but they were able to get over it due to the sales they were still receiving. It was just a bump on the long road that AOL was on.

            Months later, AOL went back into action and went back into the competitive scene with Microsoft. They assimilated with a company called CompuServe, once their biggest rival. This made AOL the largest online internet server once again and it basically crushed all of its competition. It was amazing how this company was one pronounced “dead” and all of a sudden only a few years later they were the top internet providing company that defeated most of its competition.  Competition that was once impossible for them to compete in. Steve Case must have been very proud of his company and the milestones him and his company keep setting.

            So by the end of 1997, AOL was able to add millions of more customers, and create a large boost in the company’s profit. Even then Steve Case was not able to rest. He still couldn’t relax at the thought that things could take a turn for the worst at a time in this success streak the company was going through. Maybe he just needed a little faith?

Quote:

“Just six months before, AOL had been the laughingstock of the online world. Now it was the conqueror” (Swisher 304).

Reaction:

The AOL company went through a lot in the many years it’ been in the business. They went through many situations, both good and bad but that didn’t stop any of the employee’s. Every single day they came back to work and fought to make their company the best company. With their hard work and dedication, they made their company what they always dreamed it would be. Going from a laughingstock to the conqueror of the entire internet world is a wonderful accomplishment; one that I believe should be admired by all tech lovers.

Aol.com Pages: 170 - 235

Summary:

AOL’s good luck streak was quickly ending, especially when they found out that their company was not coming up with the money that they needed in order to keep them running efficiently. They noticed that each day, copious amounts of their customers were cancelling their accounts and leaving AOL. The big question was where all of these costumers were going and what was causing them to leave. This was the question that the executives of AOL had to figure out and fast.

            They came up with the supposed answer. Users did not want to pay for their internet service by the hour. They were not happy with the pricing, which is why many of them were leaving the service. Investors had to come up with ideas to both make money and keep AOL from losing its valued customers. So they developed a scheme where the subscribers would pay a flat rate for certain amount of hours and after they used all of those hours, they would have to continue paying the hourly fees. Many subscribers were unhappy with these problems and other growing problems and some even took it to the next level by filing lawsuits against the company. These problems were just another beginning for AOL.

            One day while one of the executives of AOL was on a vacation in Italy, he went to a nearby café and got a newspaper and on the front cover it read “AOL É Morte” and he didn’t have to be Italian to understand that it meant AOL is dead. What in the world did that mean?

At the same time, Steve Case the president of AOL was at his house also having difficulties connecting to the internet. He went to the nearby facility and saw that the whole system was down, and no one could figure out why. They fixed the problem eventually, but it didn’t stop the names and the mocking. List after list the names just grew, “America Outtaline”, to name one and surprisingly most of this came from 14-15 year old high school students who had a good grasp of internet programing.  

            The problems continued for AOL especially with more lawsuits coming their way. One of the most horrible was one that was brought up about child pornography surfacing throughout the internet. Since it was illegal, pictures of these sexually explicit acts should not have been floating throughout the internet, but they were.

More and more people were starting to disprove of AOL and the things that was running through their internet services. The problem escalated and it became a Supreme Court case. Steve Case, president of the company was becoming more and more overwhelmed at the problems his company seemed to be racking up. He was tired of it and so were many of the other employees of AOL. Unfortunately, they had to face problems because they all knew it was not going to stop anytime soon.

Quote:

‘“At least for them, when the shuttle comes down, the mission is over and they can relax. We never can.”’ (Swisher 179).

Reaction:

When AOL’s online service crashed, they knew they had a huge problem. Millions of their customers depended on them daily, and this would be an enormous setback to all of them.  Matt Korn, an AOL employee compared his job to working on a space shuttle mission, but unlike astronauts their missions never ended. They would always have to monitor everything precisely and make sure that everything is running well at all times. Being an employee at AOL meant you always have to be patient and be willing to understand that you’re always going to have to be prepared for the worst and also be prepared to deal with it.

Aol.com Pages: 105 - 170

Summary:

            As Bill Gates was now in the war with AOL he partnered with an online service called Marvel.  It was going to be designed as an “AOL killer” in taking over much of the popularity AOL got with its new programs within its system. Ted Leonsis, a partner with Steve Case in running AOL made all of the employees interested in their new mission of not letting Microsoft dominate their territory. They started off my expanding their company and buying other small companies that would be to their benefit right under Microsoft’s noses by offering to pay more money. They wanted their company to be very well know, just as how Coca-Cola bottles are everywhere you go, they wanted AOL to have the same effect on costumers.  While they are planning this Microsoft is on to some very cool developments.

            Microsoft wanted to create a system where the costumers would be able to use an online service with the purchase of Windows 95 computer. Since Microsoft had many users, AOL was overwhelmed by the fact that they would be getting a lot of costumers throughout the unveiling of this product. This new system would be called The Microsoft Network also known as “MSN” and was said to being able to attract millions of new subscribers when it is launched.

AOL was seriously trying to compete with this determined company, and they did their best to try to make their system as efficient as possible. When “MSN” was finally released, AOL employees waited in anticipation to see what the outcome would be. Instead of the projected “millions of subscribers”, Microsoft raked in 100,000 new users in the first week and it turned into 190,000 by the end of the first week. After that great start, growth started to become very slow due to the lack of advertising on Microsoft’s part. In celebration they rented a blimp over festivities highlighting that AOL would always be “hovering over them”.

To make matters even more “weird” AOL, after a while made a partnership with Microsoft because it seemed that they each had what the other wanted. After the partnership was announced, AOL’s stocks rose even more. Things were looking really good for AOL. They were expanding their company and at the same time they were developing more skills to make their company one of the best, and on May 30 1996 they announced that they broke the six-million-member mark, making them the largest online provider on the entire globe.

Quote:

‘“I underestimated us and overestimated the competition”’ (Swisher 128).

Reaction:

Whether it’s a about a company or yourself, underestimating yourself is never a good thing. You should never believe that you are unable to do something, especially if you haven’t tried it yourself. When AOL believed that just because Microsoft was owned by one of the richest men in the world, they thought that it would mean that he would have the better services automatically. But that wasn’t true, in fact in the end AOL was the company that came up with the better ideas and was also successful. This proves the well-known saying, “never doubt yourself” and in this case, the company.

Aol.com Pages: 51- 105

Summary:
            Bill Von Meister did not let many of his failures bring him down. If he did he would have never reached any success. One of his earlier projects that he spent a lot of time with was his work with the company CVC (Control Video Cooperation). Before Bill was very interested in creating a way to get data from companies and send it off to their consumers in their homes. He noticed that a lot of money would have to be put in, in order for these companies to first send of the materials, and then the data. So he collaborated with CVC a video game company, since the video game industry was booming. He wanted to be able to allow consumers to download games from the consoles themselves and then pay for them via credit card. It would save them the hassle of going out and buying games at the stores instead, they would be able to do that at home.
            Bill, having many connections sought out the partnership with many investors. By having investors pour money into their project it would have a higher success rate. Although the project with CVC was going so well, the gains of the project had a turn for the worst and they started to lose money. They noticed that the video game industry was crashing, and video games were no longer being purchased at the rate they used to be purchased. Mr. Von Meister did not seem to think that it was such a big deal, like always he was already on to the next project, unlike those at CVC who were worried about getting their company back on their feet. To make matters even worse, Bill who about to lose much of his support at CVC was bought a brand new Mercedes sedan. He was off spending his money, while the company was thinking about ways to get money. That was the end at CVC for Bill Von Meiser.

            Unlike CVC, things for AOL were taking a turn for the better. They started to receive more investment deals from very rich people, such as Paul Allen, former vice president of THE Microsoft Company. He wanted to make an investment in this growing company, but to his surprise those at AOL declined his very nice offer. They didn’t want one person to own so much of their still small but growing company. They were also afraid that Paul might be a secret spy sent out to get information about the AOL Company in order for Bill Gates himself, to create an online internet based company like theirs. So either way, they did not want to work with either Paul Allen or Bill gates.

            The biggest surprise was in July on 1993, Jan Brandt and employee at AOL called her boss with an interesting advertising suggestion. She wanted to mass produce 250 million disks that had the AOL software and then make them assemble to the consumers by placing them in cereal boxes, letters etc. By the almost end of 1994, AOL had gained close to 1 million users from it’s before close to 7-10 thousand. In that short amount of time, they were able to gain so much achievement and it opened up a new competition between AOL and Bill Gates.

Quote:

“‘I can buy 20 percent of you or I can buy all of you. Or I can go into this business myself and bury you’” (Swisher 77).

Reaction:

This threat from the world richest man, Bill Gates was what opened the company AOL’s eyes into understanding that their company means a lot to them and they were not going to let some rich man buy them and all of their achievements. Although what Gates supposedly meant was that he really wanted to work with this very rapidly increasing company, AOL did not take advantage of his offer because they wanted to continue with their own personal achievement and keep their successes inside the company instead of handing it over to the guy who they are now having competition with. Which leads back to the point of having confidence and self-trust, if this company did not believe that they were going to get somewhere, they would have not have all of the success that they received.

Aol.com Pages: 1- 51

Summary:

Internet is one of the most popular things in the world. Whether it’s about connecting online to use chat rooms or to connect with old friend’s internet is the way to get to all these things. The book I am reading “Aol.com: How Steve Case beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads, and Made Millions in the War for the Web” by Kara Swisher is about how the internet got started.

            The book starts off with the founder of AOL also known as America Online on his way to Bill Gates house for a meeting with CEO’s of different companies. As he is on a boat on his way to Bill Gates house, he reminisces of how his company even got to a point where they made a lot of money. Being in the house of one of the world’s richest men, it surprised him that he would be in such a category with all these influential people, considering all the ups and downs his company went through.

            The AOL Company, although founded by Steve Case was the seed idea of a man named Bill Von Meister. Being born 1942, even when he was young he was coming up with inventions that no one would have ever thought about.

They called him very creative and smart, considering that even at his young age he came up with a red signal that would indicate when his father was on his way home in order for them to be able to make tea for him as the important figure of the house. But that was only the beginning. Von Meister spent his whole life going from invention to invention, and making thousands off of each. Although none of his inventions lasted long and he ended up dying with tons of debts, his only legacy was thought to be inspiring the creation of AOL which is ironic because no one knew that except for the founder. The author of this book jokes around by saying that if Bill’s name was to be mentioned in the picnic that AOL employees were having, none would ever be able to point out his collaboration with this company.

Quote:

“‘I’m going to make a mark,” said Billy Von Meister. “Just you watch’” (Swisher 12).

Reaction:

Bill Von Meister was a very confident man. He spent most of his time trying to create an innovation that would bring both success and fortune towards him. He never let any of his failures bring him down, which is what led to most of his success. By being a person who never listens to others, and works hard in trying to achieve personal goals, you will achieve most of your goals. You just have to have confidence and respect for yourself and those who are working with you.

Reaction to the Film Review

After I watched the movie, I decided to read many film reviews not only because I had to but because I wanted to see whether people has the same views and opinions on the movie as I had. Mr. Scott whose last name I am using because I have no idea what his first name is, basically summed up my entire view of the movie in about a page. “In modern day commercial fiction, and in Hollywood movies, childhood mortality is handled with sometimes cynical care” (Scott). I thought that what he was trying to say was that trying to capture the death of a child in a family is hard to do in Hollywood movies, because each director has his own view on the subject. While some might try to show the family hurt and divided by the death of the child, another can show this as a chance to change the way the family is by making them appear to become successful off of the death of a loved one, as in this movie as opposed to the book.

“The director, Nick Cassavetes, has in the past, in movies like “The Notebook” and “John Q,” attempted a kind of honest manipulation, wringing outsize waves of emotion out of more or less ordinary situations, and trying to hold on to some notion of realism in the process”(Scott). I also agreed with this point because before I watched the movie, I was hoping for some intense emotional scenes that would cause me to tear up and become very inspired and at the same time saddened by the events that occurred in the movie. As I was in the middle of watching the movie, it was not like what I expected. The sad scenes just made me frown as opposed of tear up. I noticed that although leukemia is not an “ordinary situation”, I thought that the director was probably trying to get more emotion out of these situations, which I thought were just not as emotional as I thought it would be.  

‘“My Sister’s Keeper” takes on a very tough subject — and has, in Anna and Kate, two pretty tough characters played by strong young actresses — but ultimately it is too soft, too easy, and it dissolves like a tear-soaked tissue’ (Scott). Overall I thought that this movie was a good movie, but like Mr. Scott said it was too soft and probably did not get the entire theme of sadness throughout the movie. One of the good things about this movie is that the roles were played by good actresses and actors which played their roles very well. And when it comes to the review given by Mr. Scott I agree with many of the points that he emphasized through his film review.

                

Scott, A. O. "Movie Review - My Sister's Keeper - My Kidney, My Life: Siblings in a Tough Spot - NYTimes.com." Movie Reviews, Showtimes and Trailers - Movies - New York Times - The New York Times. 26 June 2009. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/movies/26sister.html>.

Reaction to the Film : My Sister's Keeper

The film adaptation to the novel My Sister’s Keeper was very sentimental and touching. The film began with a medium shot of the main character Anna. Since the book was written in different point of views for each section, the first to narrate the story was Anna. Afterward to allow us to understand the story behind why she was born, we see extended flashback shots of memories that the family, mainly the two sisters had together. She narrates how she was an engineered baby who was brought to the world to save her sister. The music that was used during these particular scenes was sounds that gave you a very relaxing sense, allowing you or perhaps the characters in the movie to remember their memories.

When dialogue begins through the characters, we see Anna going to the local pawn shop to sell the necklace that was given to her for doing so many things for her sister. The use of a close up allows us to see the reaction of Anna when she was giving away the special necklace that was given to her. Whenever something occurs or bad news is given, the close up shot allows us to see the reaction of the character.

As Anna goes to Campbell Alexander to sue her parents for medical emancipation, we view this scene through medium shots. The use of the medium shot allows us to see the reaction as well as the actions they do when they hear the news. When the family hears the news of Kate locking her in her room they all ran up to the room and a dolly shot was used to show them running and the camera is following them. Since Kate was now in relapse again, the parents were talking to the doctors in the room about Kate so they could do something to help benefit her, a long shot is used to show Kate all the way in the room as well as frame within a frame to attract your eyes toward Kate.

Toward the end of the film Anna and her mother are together and her mom is saying sorry for everything she did to Kate, but Kate tells her mom not to be sorry of anything she did because Kate lived a good life. A long shot was given to zoom out to show Kate and her mother laying together, and that night was the night when Kate stopped breathing and died.

Differences from the Book:

In the film, there were many changes from the book. Some of the difference that I noticed was that in the book Judge DeSalvo is a man, referred to as he or him. In the movie, Judge DeSalvo is a woman. I feel as though I understand why they chose a woman to play this role because a woman would be able to understand the emotional level of this story and of the Judges daughter’s death better. A major difference from the book was toward the end of the movie, in the book Anna dies of a car crash and Kate survives using Anna’s kidney. In the movie, Kate dies and the rest of the family continues on living their life such as the mom returning to work to become a successful lawyer, the father taking an early pension and counsel’s troubled youth, and Jesse, Anna’s brother goes back to school and gets a scholarship to an Art Academy.

Final thoughts:

Overall, I really enjoyed reading and watching My Sister’s Keeper. I love watching movies or books that are emotional/sentimental because I am able to really be focused on the details and even get a personal reaction toward it. Between the book and the film adaptation, I would chose the movie because it has a better outcome in the end. Although Kate dying is not a better outcome, I feel as though it is worse then the surprising twist of having Anna die when she was also the one suffering the whole time. Personally, the movie is better and makes me tear up a little less than the book.

My Sister's Keeper 283-423

Summary:

After the deal was rejected, the trial begins. The first witness that is called up is Anna’s mother, Sara. Of course since she is the opposing side, Campbell’s job is to go hard on her and that was exactly what he did. He asked her many things about the procedures that Anna went through, and some of them she was told to describe how the procedure went. Most of the things that she said were facts that could have been used against her which is why she stood up for herself and said that she loves both of her daughters equally and the only reason why Kate was her main focus was because she is the sick one.

The next part of the story is a flashback of Sara’s when she remembers her daughter Kate’s first love. One day while Kate was in the hospital waiting for her treatment, she met this boy, Taylor who was on the other side of the room waiting for his treatment. Her mother remembers Kate starting a conversation with this boy, the first time she did anything of that nature. Immediately Kate became very fond of Taylor and gave him her phone number hoping he would call. When they go home she Kate tells her mother that she felt as though something bad was going to happen. Her mother was very puzzled by why her daughter would say such a thing and Kate replied to her by saying that every time something good happened in her life like Taylor something bad always happens to balance it out. Her mom thought it was a very outrageous belief but three days later after a checkup, Kate was told that she was going back into relapse. When Taylor comes back to the hospital to see Kate he asks her to come with him to the hospital dance for the sick children. She agrees, and goes dress shopping with her mother and sister. When she finds the prefect dress and hair to go with it her and Taylor go out and Kate’s family couldn’t have been much happier. A couple of days after the dance, Kate isn’t worried about the treatment that she is getting but about why Taylor hasn’t called her in the three days that passed. Her mom goes out to ask the nurse where he was and she was told that he died that morning…

The day of the hearing comes and Campbell’s last chance is for Brain, Anna’s dad/ Sara’s husband to explain to the judge that he disagrees with his wife on making Anna continue being a donor for her sister although she didn’t want to. But instead of disagreeing, he agreed with his wife and the only hope that Campbell had left was to have Anna testify although she clearly said in the beginning that she didn’t want to.

After many people testified, Anna’s guardian aid is called up to testify. The reason for her being placed with Anna was because they needed someone from the outside to provide Anna with the guidance she needed with making her decisions. For the first time ever, Julia did not have a recommendation to what was best for Anna.

When Anna decides to testify, it’s a surprise to everyone. Ever since Kate’s condition worsened, she was been more ok with the thought of dying. Her mom was the one standing in the way of letting Kate go. Kate just wanted to be free, and the reason why Anna filed for medical emancipation from her parents was because…Kate asked her to. After Anna told the court this her attorney, Campbell had a seizure. She then told Anna the truth of why he needed Judge his dog. Judge was a service dog that managed his seizures. Julia who was there for Campbell ever since they were in his school made sure that Campbell was ok, which is when she told him that he wouldn’t leave her anymore but that she would, in another fifty-sixty years.

            One of the last things they do that day with the judge is take a trip to the hospital to see Kate. After everyone is done talking to her, Sara stays last and apologizes to her daughter for everything, but Kate says it’s ok because she lived a good life.

            The next day after the closing statements are given, the judge makes his decision and says that Anna is medically emancipated from her parents and Campbell was put in charge of following that through. After the case is over, they all go and Campbell offers to give Anna a ride and she accepts. They leave and after a while her parents were about to leave too but Brain got called in for work because of a car accident that occurred. When he gets there he takes the victims out the car and notices that the guy he pulled out the car was Campbell Johnson and in the passenger seat was his young daughter, Anna. When they bring her to the emergency room, the doctor comes out and says that she is not responding to the medication given because she is brain dead and they asked the parents if an organ donation is something they would like to consider. Campbell who has the right to decide told the doctors that there was a girl upstairs (Kate) who needed one, and as for Kate she survived and thrived off of the second chance her sister gave her, and even after eight years didn’t have a relapse.

Quote:

“I take her with me, wherever I go” (Picoult 423).

Reaction:

            Anna’s death was the most surprising thing that occurred in this book. I would have never, ever pictured an outcome of this sort, which makes this book so wonderful. When Anna died, Kate was given the organs that she needed in order to survive. If Anna survived, I doubt that Kate would have been able to live. After Kate’s kidney transplant, she now is able to thank her sister every day for the second chance that she has given her. Kate is able to remember this every day of her life because of it being part of her body, and is demonstrated through the scars she has and will see for the rest of her life.

My Sister's Keeper 141-283

Summary:

            After the court hearing was over, Anna is assigned with a guardian aid which would help her make wise decisions since she is too young and her mother is not allowed to talk about the case with her. Julia is a woman who happens to be Campbell Alexander’s former girlfriend. Since Julia is going to play an important role in the court case it would be very important for her to get to know everyone in Anna’s family. When she came to the hospital, Sara was not glad to see her. She said that Kate would not get better knowing that Julia was only there because Anna did not withdraw her lawsuit yet. This leads Julia to think of other things to ask Kate that wouldn’t bring that issue up. One of the things Julia asks Kate that surprises her is what Kate wanted to be when she grew up. No one ever asked her that because they just didn’t think she would make it that far. Kate tells Julia that life is very hard on Anna because of all that she has to face due to her sister’s medical condition.

            When yet another paper comes to Anna’s mother stating that a restraining order was placed against her, Anna becomes very confused once again. Each time pressure is placed on her, she doesn’t want to disappoint so she lets the whole thing go… even if it’s not what’s right for her. Campbell gets on her case about this and she replies that all she really wants is to not be treated like a pet and to be given the chance to explain her feelings toward this whole situation.

            For the first time Julia actually gets to talk to Anna’s older brother Jesse (the addict). He describes to her how life in his family is very hard to live because they forget that he is even there. They never give him the time of day, which is exactly what causes him to do all the rebellious things he does, just to get the attention of his parent even if it meant in a negative way.

            After Campbell gets those important feelings out of Anna he goes to the fire house and talks to her dad. He wants Brain, Anna’s father to also testify against his wife and agree with Anna that she had the right to a choice. It seems that all Campbell really cares about winning the case and not actually getting the right answers and solutions.

            Another one of Sara’s flashbacks is about when Anna was again placed in the hospital to get bone marrow drawn from her body for Kate to put her back into relapse. After the procedure is over Anna is in the hospital room and she asks for her mother. Since her mother is with Kate she cannot come down. It bothers me how Anna does this whole procedure for her sisters benefit and her mother doesn’t come down and see how her young daughter is doing. The only person who acknowledged her was her father who got her a necklace for helping her sister so much.

            Back in the current time, Anna and her sister are playing a crossword puzzle and the needed the answer for a “four-letter word for a vessel”. Just then the doctor walks in and tells them that Kate is having renal failure. He says that she only has a week since the availability of the kidney is still under debate. When Sara starts crying Anna tells her mom to stop and her mother replies with “No, Anna. You stop.”(Picoult 251). Anna then replies by saying that a four letter word for a vessel is Anna. When she said that it showed her feelings toward everything that is occurring because she feels like she is being used.

            When the trial is started up again, Anna’s mom Sara asks the judge if she can offer a deal with her daughter and her attorney. That deal is that Anna would provide this kidney for the transplant and that would be the last thing that she has to do for Kate. This decision is very important, which is why Campbell says they need to go discuss it, although Anna already made up her mind about that question and the answer was: I can’t.

Quote:

“You could take a conversation about the frigging Red Sox and somehow turn it back to Kate” (Picoult 267).

Reaction:

Jesse was very young and when he got into trouble with his school his mother had to pick him up instead of doing her bedside vigil she was keeping for Kate. While she was lecturing him, she started to compare everything to Kate and all the struggles that she faces. He became angry because he felt as though all his mother ever thought about was Kate and not anyone else. It shows how Anna is right for trying to get her own say at things because her mother will always make Kate her top priority.

My Sister's Keeper 1-141

Summary:

Since we are reading books that have been developed into films, this term I decided to read My Sister’s Keeper by: Jodi Picoult. So far this book is about a young girl named Anna who is trying to figure out where she belongs in life. Unlike all other children who were born to their parents, she was born for a specific reason: to help treat her sister’s long battle with leukemia. She talks about her parents, her mother who is very over protective of her older sister, her brother Jesse who moved into the garage and started doing bad things like smoking and drinking for attention. Since her brother lives out in the garage she never goes out to him, but all of a sudden she went to her brother “house” and asked him to give her a ride. She ended up going to the office of a lawyer. Obviously when she went to the lawyer’s office he thought it was a joke since she was only thirteen, but since a major decision about her was about to be made she thought she had a right to a choice. That decision was whether or not one of her kidneys should be given to her dying sister. This is why she wants to sue her parents for the rights to her own body.

Since this book is written in different point of views the next person who is speaking is Campbell Alexander who is going to be her lawyer. She tells him how they never pay attention to her unless they need something for her sister. This prompts him to file a petition to grant her medical emancipation from her parents which would mean that she has to go to court and face her parents which is something that a normal thirteen year old would be terrified to do.

Anna’s father Brian is a firefighter. Even though he is supposed to be working he takes the time to eat with his family. At dinner that day they notice that Anna is not at the dinner table in time for dinner. When she comes, they notice many things that are strange about her such as the way she is speaking to people and the fact that she wasn’t wearing the necklace that was given to her as a very important gift from her dad. This causes her father to be alarmed, but her mother thinks that the other children are higher priorities since compared to them Anna is doing fine.

Days later while Anna, her mother and her sister Kate are at the hospital for Kate’s Dialysis sessions, the sheriff comes and delivers papers to Anna’s mom Sara. She finds out that she is being sued by her own daughter. Even though you might think that both her parents might have been outraged, Anna’s father seemed to understand that it’s not a crazy idea for something like this to happen, but her mom thinks it all for attention.

At the court hearing, a lot of misunderstandings occurred causing each side to believe that Anna was agreeing with them. Since she is living with her mother, it is very hard to come out and just say what she wants but on the other hand she wants to continue the case because it is important to her.

In all of the flashbacks that Anna’s mother has, she is able to take us through the journey of her daughter’s life from when it all started crashing down. These flashbacks help us understand what led her to making the decisions of “creating” Anna and making her a donor to her sister.

Quote:

“If you have a sister and she dies, do you stop saying you have one? Or are you always a sister, even when the other half of the equation is gone?”(Picoult138).

Reaction:

When I first read these sentences, it caused me to really think about what the right answer really is. Anna is doing the exact same thing. She doesn’t want to lose her sister but she also doesn’t want to get used and not have a say in it. This quote allows us to have an insight to the kind of thinking she has to be doing.