Jordan Individual Post #4

This book is really interesting to some extent. I have really enjoyed the progression of Matt along with some other characters. To me he is a really interesting character because he threw out the book he goes from believing he is a normal boy, to being treated just above an animal, and then back to becoming an almost a normal boy. He has really showed us that the worlds opinion no longer matters to him even though he knows he can never really be treated the same way because he is a clone. The most interesting thing I ever noticed about Matt was that he knows what is wrong with El Patron and how he is a cruel and demonic person, but yet deep down he loves him. This to me was really odd but also quite interesting because Matt knows that El Patron is an evil person whom is using the market of Opium and slaves toake him richer and richer. Another point to this was how different Matt and El Patron are even though he is an exact clone. Matt is a caring person whom although he is a clone still generally feels for the people whom are "eejits". People like Rosa who treated him so cruelly yet he still wants to try to help her. This really shows a lot about Matt and to me it really showed that he is nothing at all like El Patron. I think this really shows that Matt is an incredible character that has a very odd personality.

Free Write Blog Post #4 Jamie

So far, in chapters 1-25, this novel is interesting.  It's starting to pick up pace, and I found Matt's

development the most interesting.  It reminds me of a song by Pearl Jam, "Amongst the waves", because

of one line in particular.  "Suddenly the channel changed, the first time you saw blood."  While Matt 


hasn't seen a physical war, he's realizing what the Opium Empire is doing to humanity.  Certain characters 


in the novel have proved to be inhumane, and I would go as far as to say, unknowingly evil.  I don't mean


 that they don't understand what they're doing is wrong, but that it's programmed into their brains as


 nothing more than a routine.  It's programmed into their minds.  These "eejits" were people at one time.


  Matt hasn't even seen evil, he's been completely oblivious to the Opium Empire that, as a kid, was right 


outside his window.  Being raised as a good kid, he has a hard time defying El Patron in order to ensure


 the right thing is being done.  The second he sees the inhumane treatment of these 'eejits', he knows it's 


wrong.  However, it shows the power of dictatorship, and how hard it is to defy a powerful leader.  I 


would even relate this to World War II.  Hitler was a powerful leader, and though many knew what he


was doing was wrong, they couldn't defy him.  He was only one person, but because of the mind games,


 the tricks he played, not one of them could stop him.  I think Matt has realized that the price of protection


from El Patron might just come at a deadly cost.    

Jordan's Individual Post #3

Personally human trafficking and illegal immigration has never been something that has directly affected me until now.


When I heard Celia’s story in the book I really realized that this is happening to people. People of any age and gender are


being promised to be allowed to move to a new country and have a better life. When really they are being sent to complete


different countries in boxes and being forced to do god knows what. This issue really hit me up side the head that some one 


was having a better life promised to them and being sent to a worse one. When researching this topic I found an article that


was talking about how the United states is finally taking action in this and putting a stop to it. This article really made me


happy because so many of the other articles I looked at simply stated that this was the illegals fault, they put their trust in 


Coyotes and illegal immigrant personal. I found this almost repulsive because they are saying the fact that they have


dreams to move to a better life, is their fault? I didn’t think so, so I kept looking and found this article which made much more sense to me. This was an article about a political debate in which the were saying that any one working or helping


out with human trafficking would be immediately prosecuted and sent to jail. This was amazing to me because this 


meant there was a room full of politicians saying that this would not be tolerated. I think this really related because in the


book Maria said “He promised us safety and a better life, we were sent off with all of our belongings, but to nothing like 


he promised” (Farmer 140-143). This was a part of Celia's story in which she is talking about the Coyotes who promised


her and a few other villagers just before being sent to El Patron. This article really relates to that exact sentence to me 


because the article is saying these people are being promised something and then having it ripped away from them and 


they have no control of it They cant stop where they are sent because they are originally being promised to be sent to the


States not a possible drug farm like Celia...

http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/15/human-trafficking-a-national-security-issue-obama-task-force-told/

Jamie's Individual Blog Post #3

The House of the Scorpion novel by Nancy Farmer has several aspects, many of which relate to our grade 9 studies this year.  The one in the forefront of my mind during this novel is immigration- specifically of the illegal type.  The first thing that hit my mind was the slave trade, and how "slaves" used to go underground to get to other countries illegally.  However it took a lot of thought to make the connection to  the current date.  After a lot of thought I realized it happens all the time.  Unfortunately it's portrayed so negatively in the media, it's hard to see other perspectives on the issue.  In fact, in Canada there has been a recent incident of immigration illegally.  The case can be found at "http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/news/canadian_news/2012/03/12/3374.html"  and talks about a man 'organizing entry' into Canada.  The problem I see with articles in the news about illegal immigration is that they fail to see a different side to it.  They use words like "smuggling", which are intended to change our opinions.  The fact is, nobody (in their right mind) wants to just willingly be smuggled illegally into a different country if their home country is perfectly normal.  We are all human, and this is something the media never quite grasps.  They are not "aliens," nor are they "evil," they are simply people trying to get through.  In the book, Celia tells her story and refers to the smugglers as "coyotes" (Farmer 142).  They have to be secret, because our government refuses to see people in need of help from persecution in their home countries sometimes.  These are people risking their lives to come to our country, shouldn't we be flattered?  Understandably, there is an issue of space.  This leads me to believe that the government isn't evil, just concerned about their people's needs.  My only problem with this is that they focus on our wants more than our needs.

Jada's Blog Post #2

Farmer describes Matt through his thoughts, interests, actions, and how others view him; she does not describe Matts physical appearance. I found this incredibly interesting since most authors will start off by saying, “The tall tanned blonde known as John said…” or “Rogers bright blue eyes captured each aspect of…” One way or another the character is always described based on physical traits, Farmer however, has not. My imagination projects Matt as a dark skinned boy with mid length dusty brown hair, big curious blue eyes, and a skinny physique; Farmer in no way described Matt this way, it is just what I see based on the facts she has stated about the boys personallity. She brought Matt to life through thoughts and emotions he feels, along with the people around him, it is not what most authors will typically do making it all the more interesting to read. The reason I picture Matt the way I do is he is speaking of nature most of the time and is surrounded by it for the first six years of his life, this gave me the impression that Matt would be a very humble kid. Having only observed people most of his life I figured he would be shy and anti-social (Which was proven after he was put in Rosa’s care, since he refused to speak to anyone with a fear of being punished) towards anyone older or younger than him. This way of character development is strange to me, that is probably why it keeps me intrigued.  I can picture Matt however I want without worrying about getting it wrong. That's what interests me the most so far.

Jordans Discussion #2

Farmer has done lots of little descriptive things with the book that I feel make it that much better. I so far have most enjoyed the development of characters, especially Matt. Farmer has done an excellent job on changing Matt's personality based on things that have happened to him. The way he was stuck in a litter box and told he was a bad clone really changed him. Matt went from a sweet little boy who did what he was told, to actually believing he was a dirty, horrible clone. The way he went from being himself to almost being what every one else wanted him to be. I thought the way Farmer did this really made you feel bad for Matt, because he is actually begging to believe and accept that he is a monster and an animal.

Stephanie's Discussion #2

Nancy Farmer has done a wonderful job on providing excellent visuals in her writing. I would have to say one of my favourite quotes from the book regarding the setting would be "The poppies, now blue in the long shadows of the hills, stretched away in all directions." For me, this quote really paints a visual image in my mind. I can see fields of white. However I am confused because I have always thought that Mexico was like a desert.  So they must be growing poppies for opium specifically.  I imagine a hostile place filled with sand, dirt and too dry to support any life or greenery. Yet, poppies still grow there so, then again I think that there must be some sort of greenery.