Persepolis 2: 2nd blog entry

3. Why is adolescence an especially difficult time to move to a new country? Or even to a new city? What is universal about Marjane's high school experience? What is unusual about her situation? Compare/contrast her high school experience to your own.

Adolescence is a difficult time to move a new country/new city because its a totally different experience. There are a lot of things that come to the mind of adolescence. They wonder about the types of people they will meet, will they like it/hate it, get adapted to it, etc. When Marjane moved from Iran to Australia, it was a different experience for her. She was staying in a boarding house run by nuns and she had to share a small room with somebody who was always waking her up in the morning with her loud hairdryer. Then she made friends with some of her classmates, had a couple boyfriends, and started smoking and drinking. Her high school experience compared to mine are both similar and different. I have similar friends to Marjane's. Marjane had friends who drank and smoke and I have friends that do that. Marjane is very intelligent, she gets good grades and I get good grades. She had her rough times, there were periods where she was depressed and didn't care about anything or anyone. That is because she got hurt several times by her boyfriends and people in general. I think that is the part where I found myself connecting with her the most. I never had a boyfriend but I have gotten hurt by a boy who I was madly in love with and thought felt the same way about me. He ended up breaking my heart and for a long time I was dealing with pain and deep sadness. I have also been hurt by people and friends a lot too that there came a time where I didn't care. The only thing that's different between my high school experience and Marjane's is that I don't smoke or drink.

Persepolis 2: First Blog Entry

I think Marjane's high school experience would be similar or possibly different in the U.S and in my hometown. I think it depends on the type of friends she has. In Austria, she had friends who did a lot of partying, smoking, she experienced intercourse, relationships so I feel that she fell into that trap because that's what her friends did. I also feel that in my hometown she would be doing the same things if she had friends like the ones in Austria. However, her life could possibly be different in the U.S. Maybe she would meet a group of people who are not involved in those types of things. She could be involved in after school activities, join clubs and make friends there too. I would have befriended her because I admire her intelligence and confidence. And as her ex-boyfriend Marcus put it, "her rebellious side and natural nonchalance." I think her and I would get along very well. She could talk to me about her culture and I could introduce her to our culture in the U.S. 

                         

The Help: Final Blog

    

At the end of, "The Help," Aibileen is fired from Elizabeth. At this point in Aibileen's life she is no longer raising white babies anymore. I found the last scene between Aibileen and Mae Mobley to be touching and sad at the same time. Mae Mobley looked up to Aibileen as a mother and she didn't have that kind of relationship with her real mother. Her mother didn't really care to be around her a lot. In fact, Elizabeth ignored her daughter in certain situations. For example, when Mae Mobley wanted Elizabeth to hold her she completely ignored Mae Mobley and walked the other direction. She was just trying to show her mother love but her mother wouldn't give it back to her. I felt bad for Mae Mobley because she tried hard to get her mothers attention but her mother just wouldn't give her the time of day. Elizabeth was always giving her daughter the cold shoulder and when a parent does that to their child, it makes them feel neglected. Aibileen was always there for Mae Mobley and raised her like she was her child. She could make her smile, laugh, and comforted her when she was sad or scared. When Aibileen told Mae Mobley she was leaving, Mae Mobley was crying her eyes out. Before Aibileen left she told Mae Mobley to remember this saying; "you is kind, you is smart, you is important." That would impact her for the rest of her life. Aibileen also told Elizabeth to take care of her while she was gone and raise her. I feel that Mae Mobley will grow up to be like Skeeter and Mr. Johnny. Skeeter and Mr. Johnny's childhood are similar because they were raised by black maids and they had great relationships with them. They did not grow up to be racist at all. I can picture Mae Mobley not become racist when she gets older; I can picture her being like Skeeter or Mr. Johnny. 

The Help: Second Blog

Like Hilly, Skeeter's mother is a prime example of someone deeply flawed yet somewhat sympathetic. She seems to care for Skeeter-and she also seems to have very real feelings for Constantine. Yet the ultamatim she gives to Constantine is untenable; and most of her interaction with Skeeter is critical. In my personal opinion, I think that Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic person. She may be critical towards Skeeter but I believe when a mother is critical to her daughter, she cares. I think she only wants the best for her daughter and tries to look out for her. When she is critical, I don't think she is trying to hurt her feelings I think she is trying to help her like every mother would do. I can understand Skeeter's frustration with her mother sometimes because she feels that no matter what she does is never good enough. I don't think her mother means to make her feel like that. Personally, I feel that if a mother is not critical towards her daughter, the mother doesn't care about what her daughter does, or wears, etc. Therefore, I believe that Skeeter's mother is a sympathetic person. 

I think that Skeeter's mother really liked Constantine. Constantine was a great maid and did so much for their family. She raised Skeeter and Skeeter looked up to her as someone she could talk to about anything. Constantine always gave her the best advice on whatever problem Skeeter had. They had a close relationship. When Skeeter's mother fired Constantine I think it killed her inside. She probably felt like she had no choice because she was surrounded by a business group of woman who were bossing Constantine around. It seemed like she was pressured into doing it so that she could show the other woman she was in control. And later on in life, she sent her son to go find Constantine and hire her back but Constantine died. That to me shows that she missed Constantine and felt sorry for the ultimatum she gave her. That's another way I feel that she is a sympathetic person. 

The Help First Blog: Racial Segregation/Jim Crow Laws

Racial Segregation began with the Jim Crow Laws. These laws mandated separate but equal for African Americans. Jim Crow Laws were ordinances established between 1874 and 1975 to separate the white and black races of the American South. In theory, it was to create "separate but equal" status treatment but in practice Jim Crow Laws condemned black citizens to inferior treatment and facilities.

The most important Jim Crow Laws required that public schools, public facilities, water fountains, toilets, and public transportation, like trains and buses, have separate facilities for whites and blacks. These laws meant that black people were legally required to attend separate schools and churches, use public bathrooms marked "for colored only", eat in a separate section of a restaurant, and sit in the rear of a bus. 

The book, "The Help" takes place around this time period. It goes back to 1962, in Jackson, Mississippi and the characters are Aibileen ( far right) and Minny(next to her on the left). They are both black maids and the story is about what it was like to work for white families and the struggles they had to face in the process. Not only that but also what it was like in the 1960's when racism was going on and how a person was treated for being African American. Minny works for Miss Hilly ( far right) and Miss Hilly never wants Minny to use her bathroom because she looks at African Americans as being full of diseases. There is a bathroom outside that was built for Minny, so that ties in with the racism, separate bathrooms. Also, Aibileen and Minny went to an all black church since back then the churches were separated. Also, they had to ride on separate buses in order to go to work and go home. 

My Sisters Keepers Last Blog Entry

  In the book My Sisters Keeper written by Jodi Picoult, it is told by many different viewpoints from the characters of the story. Kate is one of the characters and she goes through a battle of leukemia throughout the entire book. The other characters are Anna (her sister and her bone marrow donor), Sarah (mother), Jesse ( brother), Brian (father), Campbell ( lawyer) and Julia (child activist). Every chapter is a characters point of view. A character talks about their feelings and emotions and their sides of the story throughout this whole process of Kate having cancer. I think thats the reason why the author wrote the book this way, to show readers the characters sides to the story and how they all deal with this tough situation. I also believe that she wrote this because it relates to real life and what a family goes through when somebody has cancer and how it changes everything. Everybody has their own thoughts when it comes to these situations. 

From left to right; Sarah, Kate, Anna, Jesse, and Brian. While I was reading the book, the characters did kinda change my opinions of them and the situation. Sarah was very supportive of Kate and was always there for her. I felt bad that Kate was going through such a life-threatning disease but I also felt bad for the rest of the characters. From Sarah's perspective, she seemed like she was a good mother and had a nice relationship with her family but when Kate was diagnosed with leukemia, all her attention went to her. From Anna's perspective, Sarah hardly gave any attention to the rest of her family. Also Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate and had to go through so many surgeries to prepare for the transplant. This affected her social life because she never really talked about having friends nor would she have the time to be with friends. Also, this situation had affected Sarah and Brian's marriage. Anna changed my opinion on Sarah because even though she was trying to be a good mother and support Kate, she still should've had time for Anna. It seemed like Sarah only cared if Anna was the donor for Kate and didn't seem to understand how hard a transplant is to get done and what the risks are. She just figured the more medications Anna took, the easier it would've been to get through the transplant.

My Sisters Keeper Second Blog Entry

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003009.htm

This article talks about the procedure of a bone marrow transplant. In the book, My Sisters Keeper, there are two sisters named Anna and Kate. Kate has been battling leukemia since she was little and her sister Anna, is conceived as a bone marrow match for her. There are so many steps to go through with this procedure that its crazy. A bone marrow transplant is a procedures to replace damaged or destroyed bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells. Bone marrow is the soft, fatty tissue inside your bones. Stem cells are immature cells in the bone marrow that give rise to all of your blood cells. Before the transplant chemotherapy, radiation, or both may be given. There are two ways this can be done; ablative treatment and reduced intensity treatment. Ablative treatment is high-dose chemotherapy, radiation, or both are given to kill any cancer cells. This also kills all healthy bone marrow that remains, and allows new stem cells to grow in the bone marrow. Reduced intensity treatment is when patients receive lower doses of chemotherapy and radiation before a transplant. There are a lot of risks that one must be willing to take for this procedure. A bone marrow transplant may cause chest pain, chills, blood pressure may drop, fever, weird taste in the mouth, headaches, hives, nausea, pain, and shortness of breathe. Your healthcare provider will ask about your medical history and will perform a physical exam. You will have many tests before treatment begins. Before someone goes through the transplant, they will have one or two tubes ( catheters), inserted into a blood vessel in their neck or arms. This tube will allow the person to receive treatments, fluids, and sometimes nutrition. The doctor or nurse will then talk about the emotional stress of having a bone marrow transplant. It's good idea to meet with a mental health counselor as well. It is also important for someone to talk to their family to help them understand what to expect. While in the hospital, you may receive medications to prevent or treat infections, you need many blood transfusions, and you will be fed through a vein (IV) until you can eat  by mouth and stomach side effects and mouth sores have gone away.

I personally feel that Anna is too young to be giving a bone marrow transplant. I understand that her sister has cancer but 13 to me is a young age to be going through that process. I think they should ask a different member of the family, someone older. If I was Sarah, I would not make Anna go through that process because its torture. The symptoms after a bone marrow is terrible. I wouldn't want to have Anna to have pains in her chest, or her blood pressure to drop, or nausea, or even shortness of breathe. Its just too risky and what if things go wrong? Why can't Sarah ask someone who's older? I don't mean to sound that way but Anna is too young. The fact that she has gone through blood transfusions and surgeries just bothers me. I know that this is all for her sister and she's helping. She is a strong girl, I just feel bad.