Romi Journal Entry 4

Journal Entry 4:

The Novel is starting to get much more interesting as it progresses. At first the book was slow, and it was repetitive. Every couple of chapters in the first half of the book it was the same old thing, maria and the rest of the family would come, there would be a celebration for something (a wedding, or birthday or something). But now as the book is progressing it gets more interesting and there is more intense things happening. My favourite chapter at the moment is 25 because near the end, when matt is almost at aztlan there is this epic and intense chase between the farm patrol and matt. I was thinking that matt would get caught and be taken back to the estate, but he has finally made it to the outside world. I think it may be hard for Matt to do things in the outerworld since he knows almost nothing about it, he also has no money since the farm patrol stole his back pack during the chase. Matt will start to have more challenges as he progresses through this part of the book.

Sam Individual post 3

I think that people would want to leave their country in secret would be to find a better life for their family and escape poverty. Mexico has always been poor and the United States has been viewed as a place where you can do anything you dream of. Celia says that the factory she worked at was always poor and that she dreamed of a life in the United states where no works more then 4 hours a day "We lived in a big grey building with windows so small you couldn't put your head outside" (farmer 141). If I had the choice between a life of poverty and a life of wealth I would take the wealth. This would be the driving force as to why so many people cross into the american border in the book and in real life. Most people in Mexico live in poverty and in fear of the drug wars ravaging the country and this is another reason people would try to sneak past the border.

Arash Individual Post 3

Possible Website: http://www.digitalhen.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-15098593

This article describes that many illegal immigrants came to the USA, but were arrested because they had criminal records. I think that the US did a good thing, because these people could've been a threat to security. But I wonder why those people would've came to the US even though they knew they might be thrown in jail? I think that they were wanted and they thought that if they could make it to the US whoever was hunting them might get lost on the trail. This is actually a rather strategic move. Because the US is a rather populated country, and it is also a free country. This means that if you can get there safely, you can make a new identity for yourself and start your life over again.

This is rather like what happened to Celia. She was living a rather bad life, and thought that if she could escape to the US, her life would be better. I think that might be what is happening with these criminals. They might be trying to escape their past life (for whatever reason), and come to the US with the hopes to rebuild their life, and live better than they did before.

Though some questions that I have are:
-What will happen to these people, will they get deported, go to jail, have a trial....
-Has something like this ever happened in Canada before?
-What were their motives for coming to the US?

Justin Individual Post #3

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/world/illegal-immigrants-with-long-expired-visas-remain-tough-to-track-decade-after-9-11-attacks-141539393.html

This article describes one man who was apart off the 9/11 attacks whose visa was overstayed for 2 years before the attacks. El Khalifi was arrested just last month for possession and distribution of marijuana.  There are estimated over 11 million people living in USA with illegal immigration or overstayed Visas. A problem that the USA faces is wether or not to create a system to track down Visas and the day they have activated it. I would think that it would be a great idea since it would allow for a high level of security in the country. The problem is, the American government thinks that overstayed visas are not a priority in crime. Also the price of creating a system doesn't appeal to the government for a problem that is growing by the day.

This is very much like Celia's story. The Coyote that lead Celia to the middle of no where lied to her. The exact same thing happened to the American government. When the government gives access to other people through Visas, they think that they are going to be trustworthy enough to leave when they were supposed to. The same thing happened to Celia. She thought that the Coyote was going to be trustworthy enough to take her to the border, but he didn't and caused her grief as did El Khalifi with his part being in the 9/11 attack.

RoundTable 3

Romis Blog Response #3

Immigrant: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43499929/ns/us_news-life/t/pulitzer-winning-journalist-admits-hes-illegal-immigrant/ - .T2OWIWbv538

This article is about a reporter who had come to America illegally when he was a young child. He became a journalist with fake documents and no one had noticed, until he had finally spoken out that he was done with running from being a illegal immigrant. He had worked hard and achieved many things while working, however he was not allowed to become a citizen even with these many achievements. This story really shows the human part of illegal immigration as opposed to the legal side.  I believe the reason why people immigrate from a country is mainly because they want to be successful, or live a safer, or better life than they would  be able to in their country. This is why I think Celia tried to escape Aztlan and go to America, she describes Aztlan as a dangerous, and very poor country and that it was not safe for her. I believe that the reason why immigrant’s like Celia would rely on a “coyote” to bring them across the border is because they believe that the risk of doing this is not as great as the reward, sot hey think that if they get across they will be very successful. Although as we saw with the story from the article that this is a very hard thing to do. When you are illegally in a country you don’t have many opportunities as someone who is legally there, also they are in danger of being deported if their documents are fake. 

TAM LIN PLAYLIST

Tam Lin Songs:

1) Eye of the tiger (survivor)
We chose Eye of the Tiger because Tam Lin is a military man and speaks of soccer as a field of battle. He says he finds "great pleasure in watching people bump heads together." This almost directly matches the lyrics of eye of the tiger for the main chorus. This also sounds like a song he would listen to due to the overall character of Tam Lin.

2) Man I used to be (K-OS)
When Matt meets Tam Lin it has been many years since he joined El Patron in Opium and he sees Matt as a younger version of El Patron or in other words the son he never had. He tries to steer Matt away from the evil of El Patron as a bit of redemption for himself for the 20 kids he killed. This is shown when Tam Lin says "It's like the old vulture was being given a second chance" (farmer 69). In the song K-os tries to get back to his roots. "Back into the man I used to be. I tried it, I couldn't fight it"

3) Never Say Never (JB.)
We chose never say never because Tam Lin isn't someone who would give up. When Matt went down to the Eejit Pens, he found two other people named Ralph and Hugh who knew who Tam Lin was and what he had done in the past. Matt said that ""Soccer sounds a lot like war" said Matt. "It is lad. it is"said Hugh (Farmer 175).  Whenever he got his head smashed, he would get right back up and keep going. The song says: I will never say never, I will fight till forever. I believe the main line of this song perfectly rein-acts to what Tam Lin is as a bodyguard in this book.

4) Dance with the devil (breaking benjamin)
This is because on a consistent basis, Tam Lin is El Patrons Bodyguard. And though he doesn't like him and he thinks of him as a bad man, he is still forced to serve and work for him. This is why it can be portrayed as "dancing with the devil" (this is a direct literary connection). In the story (farmer, page 70): Tam Lin says "El Patron has his good side and his bad side. Very dark indeed is his majesty when he wants to be. When he was young he made a choice, like a tree does when it chooses which way to grow. He grew large until he shadowed the whole forest, but many of his branches are twisted". Even though he thinks these things, he is still forced to work for him and remain in his hoard.

5) Through the fire and the flames
We put this song in due to the fact that Tam Lin has had to go through a lot of hardship is his life and he sees Matt as a way to redeem himself. The song is about the journey to escape from a horrible land to be free and that is what Tam Lin wants for Matt. He tells Matt this "I've spent years benefiting from the horrors of Opium and now I have the chance to make things right." (farmer 244). This is also the main reason that we choose this song as it is about the struggle to do the right thing. 

6) Rock You Like A Hurricane (The Scorpions)

Our group picked “Rock You Like A Hurricane”  because we think that since Tam Lin is a rugged man, this song represents him well. This song is about being a strong powerful man, and that is what Tam Lin is described as in the book. Tam Lin is known to be a brutal fighter, and the songs lyrics are somewhat reminiscent of this so this song is a good match for Tam Lin.  We also found it cool that the bands name is “The Scorpions” in correlation to the books title “House Of The Scorpion”.

7) What i've done (Linkin Park)
This is because for many parts of the book, he deals with a lot of self angst. This is because he consistently feels guilty about the terrorist actions that he has done and he feels as though he must suffer the consequences for what he did. A quote from the book is "He was guilty of a terrible crime when he was young, and he could never forgive himself. He believed this last act would make up for everything" (page 377 [of house of the scorpion, written by Nancy Farmer] beginning of paragraph 4)


8) We are the champions (?)

We Picked this song as Tam Lin has survived a lot to get to where he is today with Matt. He “keeps on fighting until the end” like in the song and won’t give up until Opium is destroyed and the eejit’s are set free. He has some scars from his fights “Tam Lin’s ears appeared chewed, they were so misshapen” (farmer 63). He also wants Matt to succeed and be the champion like the title of the song.

9) Scottish bagpipes last song
We as a group picked a bagpipes song because we believe that Tam Lin would like a little bit of culture in his playlist. ""I picked this lot in Scotland, breaking heads outside a soccer field" (Farmer 63). Bringing a little bit of scottish music into the playlist reflects the culture and place that Tam Lin is a part of.  Also Tam Lin was a scottish elitist/terrorist, so he definitely thinks highly of his scottish heritage and would most likely participate and enjoy his homelands culture and music.


10) Stronger (Kanye West)
I believe that Tam Lin would listen to this song because, he is all about being a strong a tough man.  He also has been through a lot and this song is about basically becoming stronger from your experiences, as we see Tam Lin is very experienced with survival skills. He most likely got his knowledge of survival from personal experiences, this is reminiscent of a line from the song “That, that don’t kill me, can only make me stronger”  (Quote from song) Tam Lins experiences has made him have a stronger sense of survival.  

Character Cast

Tam Lin (Justin):

I picked Jason Statham to be Tam Lin. First of all, Tam Lin is Scottish while Jason Statham is british. They sort of share the same accent. I also photo shopped his ear because his ears appear to be chewed off. "Tam Lin's ears appeared chewed, they were so misshapen. But when Matt looked into Tam Lin's eyes, he was surprised to see a glint of friendliness." I picked this picture of Jason Statham because his face is shining in the light, so I thought that it would show a glimmer of friendliness.

El Patron (Romi):

I chose Mark Margolis because i think he is what El Patron looks like. I believe this because El Patron is described as a frail old man "Matt saw that what he had taken for an armchair actually contained a man. He was extremely thin, with shoulder length white hair neatly combed beside his face so seamed and wrinkled, it seemed hardly real." Although in this picture Mark Margolis does not have shoulder length hair, he does have white hair, and a wrinkly face. El Patron is also described to be hospitalized and needs medical attention, the picture above shows a man who is needing medical assistance. El Patron is also a drug lord, and the actor in the picture above plays a old drug lord in the show that this picture was taken from.

Rosa (Arash):

I chose Fiona (the link to the article: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/movies/item_ZgaSwXOxWsxlk15YKlIx6N), because she resembles the description of the of the book " all the servants wore black dresses, with white aprons and  but another woman also seemed to be a severe woman with deep caresses on the mouth)". However, someone that fits her character almost directly would be aunt petunia from the harry potter series (played by Fiona Shaw). This is because Rosa is rather vicious and mean to Matt, and Aunt petunia is likewise to Harry. However, Rosa takes it to a much higher level of cruelty.

Matt (Sam);

I choose this boy because he looks like Matt did when he was younger and this likeness was key in my choice. This would be one of the rare moments where Matt is happy being with Celia, Maria or Tam Lin and I prefered this over one picture where he looked sad. Matt would be one of the easer characters to find as there are many boys who look like him but the other characters are much more specific in their characteristics.  (farmer )

Sam's Individual post 2

I think that the most important literary aspect that Farmer has shown the theme of trying to become human . This is shown through the fact that Matt tries so hard to do good at school and earn others respect. But no one can get over the fact that he is a clone and not a normal human being. It shows that few people care for you if they believe that you are a sub-human or a animal.  This is apparent when Rosa keeps Matt prisioner for 6 months and treats him like a pig or chicken. This theme is kept apparent for the first nine chapters as only a few people actually care about Matt while the rest hate him for being a clone. This is why the theme is the most important literary aspect of the book as it convey's the main lesson that Farmer is trying to show.

The other main literary aspect is the setting which helps convey the theme to us. The border between Mexico and the U.S is a ripe setting and the big house is a great setting to meet the rest of the family. This setting helps us understand the characters and why they are here. Each of the room settings move the story along and the writing gives you a vivid picture of where Matt is at all times. The setting helps impact the theme of the story as the time period is 100 years in the future and this means that cloning is possible. The combination of the theme and the setting help realize the literary aspect of the film.

Romi's Blog Response #2

In this second section of the novel (chapter 6-9) Farmer mainly uses characterization to help progress the story, as well as a bit of setting. We saw in the first section how she used setting changes to show how the characters change, and how their psychology works. For example when Rosa had locked Matt away for the 6 months, we saw how he changed from the happy, caring, and  naive little boy, to a quiet, depressed child. These changes in Matt's character also happen because of a change in the setting Matt goes from his cozy and safe home, to the vile dark and scary room. Obviously this change of scenery makes Matt change because he is not used to this treatment and area, he is scared of the unknown area that he is in.

  As the story progresses in this second section we see that Matt is scared from his experience with Rosa. We see how the experiences have traumatized and had a great toll on him. From seeing how Matt changes in his experiences I believe that Farmer demonstrates that Matt is definitely a dynamic character, and that he will change through the book just like in the first section.

We see that Most characters have foils in this book, for example Tom is a foil to Matt, and Rosa is a foil to Celia. Tom is a lot like Matt in terms of age, size, however in terms of how they act they are very different. Tom is a rude, spoiled, mean child, and Matt is a kind hearted caring little boy. The same is with Rosa and Celia, Rosa is a vile and hateful maid, and Celia is a motherly and caring mother figure to Matt.

Farmer also uses characterization when showing how the characters interact. For example we see that all of the other children don't like Matt and don't talk to him because he is a clone, except Maria who is Matts friend and tries to comfort him, this shows that Maria does not care what others think and does what she herself thinks is right. We see that Tom always hurts maria or torments her, and he is rude to Matt. I believe this is how Farmer shows that Tom is a ruthless, bully and is the opposite of Matt. "Tom Insisted on playing with Maria. He made her cry, but she always forgave him. He followed her to Celia's apartment in spite of- or perhaps because of- Matt's hostility. He seemed to like being where he wasn't wanted."  ""Its Nice here" Tom Said picking up Matts treasured teddy bear. "Catch Maria." He swung the bear viciously by one of its ragged ears and smacked her in the face. He tosses it on the floor" These quotation's shows how Tom is a mean character who doesn't care about his friends, or peoples property.

Justin Individual Post 2

What literary aspect is most interesting to you so far (chapters 1-9). You may want to examine Farmer's setting, characterization, them development, use of metaphor, figurative language in general, etc. Don't forget to use specific examples and quotations from the novel to support your thinking.


The most interesting literary aspect that appeals to me so far is her characterization. I'm very surprised that Farmer has introduced many characters in the first couple of chapters. In chapter one, she established Eduardo and Lisa who so far are both ending up as flat characters. In chapter two, she established Matt (protagonist), Celia, Señor MacGregor, and Steven and Emilia. By the end of chapter 9, they have now introduced Tam Lin, El Patron, Rosa, Tom, Willium, Mr. Alacran, Maria, Teacher, and Felicia. My question to her would be, why so many characters? Aren't you afraid that everybody is going to get confused with the characters? I sure did. At the beginning, trying to keep up with the characters was quite difficult. I found myself looking at the character list at the beginning of the book many times.


I also wonder why the first chapter was there. Why didn't you put the section about the cells in the Prologue. This just puts the book in an awkward position because now, you have created 2 characters to be never talked about again in the book. I also find it interesting that Farmer would decide to introduce the protagonist (Matt) in the second chapter. 

Arash's 2nd Blog Post

In terms of literary theory the thing that I am going to be talking about is characterization. Matt is the protagonist of the book, seeing that the whole story is centred around his life. Though he is a rather interesting character because, he gets a lot of angst from his fellow peers.  He seems to the people who don't consider him an animal (such as Tam Lin), to be a shadow or reflection of El Patrons past. He is obviously a very round and dynamic character, as he experiences change frequently. I find the way that Farmer introduced Matt to be very good. Matt is a very kind hearted human being, who for the most part does not enjoy seeing other peoples sadness and pain.

Farmers setting also causes all the change that occurs with matt both psychologically, and physically. In the prison that he is trapped in with the vile Rosa, he undergoes physical change through the pain in his feet, and also the other conditions gained from his "nest/kingdom". However the worst is the psychological changes. He became a more quiet and depressed character (containing many thoughts and feelings), aside from the naive kind-hearted protagonist that we knew at the beginning of the story. This can be found from the quote Matt said after Celia and Maria came to the prison to rescue him. The quotation is: "They were an unwelcome intrusion in the orderly world he had created"

Round Table 2

Here is our second round table discussion:

Sam Individual project 1

•   What you wondering about? 

I wonder why Matt was kept in the poppy fields for the first six years of his life. Celia seems to be worried that he will hurt himself if he leaves the house even though she is not her mother. I also wonder why clones are regarded as animals and treated as such. Matt seems like any other boy his age and when the kids learn that he is a clone they are disgusted by him. The fact that he was kept in a cell for six months shows how little anybody cares about him. I wonder weather Matt will find anyone who can look past him as a clone and more as a human.

•   Has anything struck you about this section? 

I was shocked at how they made the clones as they are born from the womb of a cow. It seems that no one wants to carry a clone in her belly for nine months. I also find it odd that Mr. Alacran was angered so much by Matt’s presence in his house and that his blood got onto his carpet. I was stunned at the conditions that Rosa kept Matt, this seemed more like torture then keeping a clone healthy. It does seem wired that Matt was kept all alone in the Poppy fields with only Celia to watch him.

Why is Farmer making the choices that she is in this first section?

I think that the author is trying to show the reader how tough it is to be a clone and how you would be treated. She also shows that Matt was kept isolated so that no one would know he was a clone. Farmer uses the beginning to introduce the important characters in Matt’s life. This helps us make a connection to Matt and feel his plight when he is trapped in the cell. We also understand who Matt’s friends and enemies are.

Justin - Individual Post 1

What was I wondering about?
Throughout the first couple of chapters, I felt like the story was all over the place. One day, Cecilia magically goes off and the kids come that day and take him away and towards the end of the section, Cecilia magically appears to come save Matt. I was also wondering why the father of Steven and Emilia knew who matt was and automatically thought that he was a beast and a terrible person. Matt has no knowledge? He was playing in his prison with bones as dolls and playing with worms. Why didn't anyone teach him what is right and what is wrong?

Has anything struck me about this section?
What struck me the most about this section is how everybody treats Matt like he isn't a human being. I totally agree that he's not, but he appears human, so why would they all obey the father because he's "the boss" or the father. Somebody should be standing up for whats right. I'm glad that maria took on a role of trying to save Matt because he isn't that bad of a person.

Why is Farmer making the choices she is in this section?
I believe that Nancy Farmer is making the choices in this section because she wants to gradually tell the story. She starts out as matt being born from a cell that was cloned from the "real matt." She then put him into a house with Cecilia, his guardian. And as they keep the story going, he makes his way into the Rich Kid's house and he manages to start growing with his character. He starts building a sense of being a human. The problem is, he doesn't know the difference from being wrong or right.

Arash's individual Post

Arash: February 29, 2012

Personally I wonder why people are so mean to Matt? I mean it shouldn’t be a big deal that he is a clone. Also why was his mind kept in tact when all the other clones' minds were not? But regarding what I was wondering earlier, I mean technically clones share the same genetics as humans, so if the are biologically like, and behave like humans than shouldn’t the clone be treated normal? Also, if they extracted the intelligence of clones, then what is the point of making clones in the first place? Why was Matt so special that he was able to not lose his intelligence unlike the rest of the clones? I found it interesting the changes that he had gone through when he was in the prison he was in. I wonder how his experience would have differed if he didn’t learn he was a clone?

Some things that struck me in the story were of course the amount of hate that Matt got. Also how psychologically insane he had become when he was in the prison. That by our standards of course is inhumane. I can understand why he was becoming so damaged, and that also kind of tore my heart. He was kind of referring to the prison as his kingdom whereas if he were thinking straight, he would have thought it the opposite. And also when Celia came to rescue him, he was unhappy to be taken from his kingdom. This of course is another example of how insane he had become, because in reality he would be overjoyed to see Celia. But of course that is to be expected if a young boy stays in a prison for half of a year, with no one, not even the only family he ever had to talk to.

I think that the author introduced the characters and plot in the beginning like this because, it allows us to get to know the main characters, and also some important history of Matt. I also think that the author used the prison setting in order to establish the feeling of the dark psychological emotions that he was going through.  This was also used to show the development of his character, and also the loss of connection between himself and Celia.

Romi's Blog Response 1

Romi’s Blog Response

What are you wondering about? 

From reading the first few chapters I have been really intrigued about why people dislike the clones. Why would people make clones if they are useless? According to most of the characters in the book they refer to clones as “dirty animals” and other names which make me ponder at why we would even use these clones in the first place. I also wondered about why El Patròn would need  a clone like Matt, is it for his own amusement? What is he planning to do with matt in the future?  It also amazed me at how Rosa treated Matt, she treated him worse than most animals are treated. The thing that bothered me more about this was Matt wasn’t really ever rude to Rosa at all yet she basically tortured him, both physically and mentally.

Has anything struck you about this section?

 The way that people acted when Matt got injured. At first everyone was nice to him and helped him clean his wounds, then out of the blue they got so scared and horrified that they had to dump Matt on the grass because “He was bleeding on the sheets”. Why do they treat clones like this I wonder? It also  made me feel outraged when Rosa put Matt in the chicken coup and made him stay there. Why did Rosa treat matt so inhumanely? Maybe Rosa had a bad experience with a clone in the past and that is why she treats matt as if he isn’t worth anything.  I think that as the story progresses people will start respecting matt more. I also think Matt may escape the country of Opium when he is older and start a new life somewhere else, maybe Matt does something to make El Patron mad and needs to escape later on.

Why is Farmer making the choices that she is in this first section?

I believe that farmer makes choices in the first section based on how she wants to introduce the characters.  For example she shows matt as a kid who is socially awkward, because he hasn’t been out in public and hasn’t really talked to anybody other than Celia. Farmer also hints that Celia is hiding something from matt, or hiding matt from something because she tells him that there are monsters and other un-desirable things in the outside world. Celia takes even more drastic precautions to keep Matt from the outside world by barring the windows and doors, and tells Matt never to talk to anyone outside the house. This is obviously set up by Farmer to show that there is something in the world that Matt is being hidden from. Later in the section she shows how Matts psychology changed when he is imprisoned by Rosa and is treated dreadfully by everyone else in the house. It shows how he goes from a happy, shy, and innocent little boy to a depressed child who is deprived from basic needs. These choices really show how Matt reacts to his surroundings and it shows how he thinks about the world around him.