Reading Response 6: The Clone Codes

In the futuristic world of 2070, clones are a common sight. Clones, much like slaves in the past, are believed to be sub-human and are servants. Leanna is thrust into a battle between freedom fighters and the government due to her mother being a freedom fighter. Leanna doesn't know what to think, but she has to make a choice since the government is soon to be after her when her mom is arrested.

Leanna is a normal girl, at least she thinks she is. Sandra, her best friend, and herself spend most of their time on what is frisk. What I find interesting is that Leanna isn't so normal. There are foreshadowing hints from what I have read so far that Leanna is important to the freedom fighters that call themselves The Liberty Bell. Leanna used to have a twin, but when they were in an accident, her twin died. I have the feeling that Leanna's mother broke the law by cloning a child, and that Leanna is the clone. I figure if this is true, then they were probably cloned as children. That's what made me choose this picture to represent this response, a baby and the clones of it!
Double the duty, the horror! I get this feeling due to Annette, Leanna's mother, saying, ""Clones are human beings. We have proof of this,"" I just have that feeling, but it could be my suspicious or paranoid nature to jump to that type of conclusion, though.

I can't help but think of that sheep, Dolly, that people cloned in the past, the poor thing. I just can't think of humans being cloned as the book has talked about. It just feels wrong to clone a person, let alone multiple times! I hope we don't ever really go down this route, even if we get the technology.

My research project

My project is about video game addiction. I will be going into the positive and negative effects of this addiction, as well as some symptoms. I will also go into treatment options since this is actually a pretty serious topic for the twenty-first century. I will be using articles from these sites: scienceblog.com, webmd.com, today.colostate.edu, addictions.com, huffingtonpost.com, tellinitlikeitis.net, livestrong.com, symptomfnd.com, and bada.hb.se. Another resource that I will be using will be my family, as my parents are definite video game addicts. My brother might be one, but the only reason I don’t believe my sister and I are addicts is because we use the computer to read more often than not. If you find any other sites that aren’t blocked at school to use, then I would be happy to take a look at them!

Reading Response 5: A Sword In Her Hand

This book is a book about Marguerite, a countess in the 1300s. She defies tradition throughout the book from sword fighting to writing left handed. All of these things were frowned upon by the general populace during these times, which occur before and after the second attack of the Great Plague.

Marguerite is comparable to the tomboys of the modern world. She refuses to just sit idly and participate in what she deems as a boring waste of time. These wastes happen to be embroidery, art, and a few other lessons she has to take as a countess. I knew for sure she would be a tomboy during this little exchange when she was a child, ""Quiet," says Willem, trying to calm things down. "It's just something we have to do on our own, Marguerite."
"Yes, this is men's work," boasts Hendrik. "Unless you're a man and can pee against a tree standing up, we don't want you."
"So if I can pee against a tree standing up, I can come?" I ask.
"Yes, if you can do that, you can come," Hendrik blusters, far too confidently.
Willem looks at Hendrik angrily, as if to say, "Did you really have to promise that?"
"What?" Hendrik asks, his hands spread in certainty that I won't be able to perform his task in a hundred years.
But I've already turned around. Standing in front of a tree, I use one hand to hoist up my skirts, while with my right hand I do something the boys can't see. And in a beautifully curved stream, I pee against the tree." This excerpt from the book is a fairly comical and lighthearted example of how she shows that she is a tomboy. Later on, Marguerite also gains a rapier with her namesake on the hilt. Her namesake is the flower shown below.

This book is a beautiful and creative rendition of how Marguerite of Male's life might have been. This is a historical fiction that has the main character as a real person instead of them being fictional. I wish I could know whether she actually acted the way she was portrayed, or if she was like most other women of the time. I recommend this book to people who enjoy extrapolations about largely mysterious historical people's lives.