My sisters keeper review

Brief Outline 

This book is a story about a family torn apart by cancer, the story is told from the points of view of the family, lawyer and legal guardian. It's situated in modern day America with a few flashbacks from the parents point of view in the short time of a week and a half. It starts in 1990 when Kate is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukaemia, she starts chemotherapy immediately but her parents, Sara and Brian, are soon informed that she may need a bone marrow transplant and a member of the family would be the ideal donor but no one is a match. Therefore Anna is brought into the world she was genetically designed to have the same genetic make up as Kate so she could be a suitable donor. Sarah mainly narrates the next few chapters and talks about the pain Kate is going through and the procedures Anna has undergone to keep Kate alive. Then the real story begins when Anna seeks legal representation from Campbell for medical emancipation because she doesn't want to give away her kidney. But it isn't just Anna who is pushed to the side but their eldest son Jesse, who also acts out at Kates single mindfulness on Kate.

A Character you found interesting

I found the character of Anna to be interesting not because she seems to be the main focus in the book, but because she isn't. When Anna first announces she wants medical emancipation she is told not to be so selfish and irresponsible and is just brushed to the side as childish and it would all blow over, the focus isn't even on Anna like why she wants to seek medical emancipation but what the repercussions for Kate will be. The story unfolds as she continues the lawsuit, things such as the real reason she decided to seek medical emancipation come to light. I admire Anna because of the courage and love she shows for her sister, the courage of being able to stand up to her parents and to live a life that involves her ending up in hospital every time her sister is there. And the bond Anna and Kate with the mischievous incidents the two of them get up too.

A Theme That is Explored

The theme of conflict is evident through out the novel between Anna and Sara, Sara and Brain, Campbell and Julia and many more. Another example of conflict is between Jesse and himself. Jesse fights with himself when he lights the fire as to why he really does this, as a cry for attention or a pyromaniac habit. Conflict is mainly due to Annas lawsuit, as Anna and Sara clash as to what they believe is right, this is also the source of conflict between Brian and Sara when Brian takes Annas side.

Insight you Gained into the World of the Text

From reading this novel I've discovered life is full of decisions and sacrifices and not to take life to seriously as everything could be gone tomorrow just as Anna was lost in the blink of an eye.

What Type of Vision or Viewpoint does the Author have? Is it a dark/bright insight of the world?

I believe Jodi has a bright insight of the world, that even though Kate does have cancer life can still be happy such as when she meets Taylor, she can still fall in love like everybody else. And the high moments in the book of mischievous behaviour between Kate and Anna such as when they go into the hair dressers and ask will they give Kate a perm even though she has no hair. But there are moments of dark insights like the way Kate continuously relapses or the loss of Anna. 

Comment on the imagery in the novel

The books imagery is supported by the fact that there is a movie to help you along. Even though the book doesn't have the exact same story line the main parts can be examined in the movie and the book. The imagery in the book cam be quite hard to get a hand on because she swaps between past and present and there isn't a constant protagonist. But in general the imagery is good.

Do you like the novel? Would you like to live there?

The book is situated in modern day America, I am living in the present day which there isn't much I can do about. But living in a house where my sister would have recurring cancer would be horrible. As I have a sister myself I relate to not wanting to lose her and that if I had the chance of donating anything to keep my sister alive I would jump at the chance. I absolutely enjoyed this novel, I was glued to it finishing it in three days, I would definitely recommend it to someone who doesn't mind a big cry.

Lollipop Day

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Last Friday we were all invited into Town to fund raise for the esophageal cancer Fund by selling Heart shaped lollipops and pins. In school before we left we each got a top and a cap to wear when fundraising. I paired up with Eilís and we stood at the beginning of Grafton Street. We shook the buckets and shouted different things like "Support the OCF", "Support lollipop day buy buying a lollipop" or "Buy a lollipop for 2 euro to support lollipop day" and these seemed to work very well as loads of people bought lollipops and pins off us we even had to refill the box because we ran out. 

And of course when in town we went for lunch in McDonalds, since we hadn't had anything since breakfast we devoured our food in 10 minutes we were starving! Then we returned home after all our hard work but it was worth doing for charity!

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The Musical

It's been about two weeks since the musical and school has returned to normal after all the excitement. Aoibheann, Niamh and I were dressers for the main cast and Eilís and Rebecca G were dressers for the boys. It was difficult during the dress rehearsal trying to get a hang of things at the beginning  which made me nervous for the opening night.

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At six I returned to Gaa to help in preparing for the show, and the show began... Lauren didn't have any changes for act 1 so I had an easy enough job but I helped in changing Roisin when needed. Act two was when Lauren had to change in nearly every scene which way mayhem but we got through it and improved each night. The final night went on without a hitch we was a brilliant thing to experience and had so much fun in the process! Here's a few pictures from the show.

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Percussion Workshop

Today in school we got the whole day off for a percussion workshop lead by David from Jabba Jabba Jembe. When the bell rang we headed down to the library to start the session. Firstly we had to go out to his van and carry in a drum for each of us. 

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To begin with we started with some simple techniques and we learned how to hit the drum properly. so we each had to hit the drum once and we continued in a chain and each time we started the chain we added another hit until we reached four. Next we done the same but with a mini drum roll.

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When we came back after break we started again but this time we learned different rhythms and we stringed them together to make a song. I had two drums, such as the bigger two above, and controlled the bass line and I had a drum stick in each hand to hit the drum with. Then other people on different drums playing different beats and they all melded together to form a song. Ms.L recorded it so I'll put the video up later. We took a little break from playing the drums to watch part of a documentary Bob Geldof made about life in Africa, it shows the unique economic system they have and how certain laws prevent it from progressing.

After lunch he showed us this video about rhythm, its put together brilliantly and well worth the watch. Then he showed us another video which showed us how to create different rhythms and we created another song. After all this it was time to pack up, we put the drums back in their bags and into the truck and fixed up the library. It was a brilliant and very enjoyable experience.

Book Review

Paper Towns

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Brief Outline

This incredibly hilarious book written by John Green is about Quentin Jacobson, the narrator of the book, and he lives in a subdivision in Orlando, California. The tale starts off with a discovery made by preschoolers Quentin (a.k.a Q) and his childhood best friend Margo Roth Speigelman. The story then jumps to high school where she barely even glances at Q. Then Margo goes missing. Without giving too much away it accounts both the adventures and misadventures of Margo and Q and his friends on their journey to find the mysterious Margo Roth Speigelman.

   A Character you Found Interesting

The Character I found interesting and my favourite was Q. He intrigued me in the way he gave up everything to try find Margo even though they hadn't talked in over 10 years not including the joint adventure pre her status of missing was raised. He becomes very selfish in his search for Margo and he threatens the friendships of his true friends who he has known most of his life. But also in his search for Margo she teaches him a few things which allows the real Q to come to life in all his glory.

A Theme That is Explored

Appearances. This theme is most obvious with Q's perception of Margo, his first "idea" of who Margo is would be typical of a teenage boy, she is seen as his wonderful, perfect, hot neighbour and thinks she is about as deep as a puddle. His understanding of peoples appearances evolves with the book and he realises that Margo isn't just some girl next door but a person with feelings and thoughts.

Insight into the World of the Text

In Paper Towns exterior fronts are displayed by one or two characters so they blend into the typical crowd of American teenagers. But you learn who the real people are under all the layers of protection they have put up to block out the judgement of their peers.

What type of vision/viewpoint does the author have? Is it a Dark/Bright insight of the world?

The book is told from the viewpoint of Q so everything is seen through his perception of the world. He has the typical outlook of a teenager at the start of the story that everything is boring and he can't wait to get out of school but strangely one outlook different to a typical teenagers is he hates prom and the idea of prom. This sets him aside from most of the American teenage population. But his viewpoint changes at various stages in the novel with highs like the night he spent with Margo before her apparently typical disappearance and lows when Margo disappears and the unending trail of dead-end clues Margo left behind.

Comment on the imagery of the novel

The novel is very well described by the author John Green and it really brings the story to life and intensifies the humour within the book. Since the novel is based in today's era its a lot easier to visualise the novel as we live in this world so are accustomed to many of the references and situations.

Did you like the novel? Would you like to live there?

I loved this novel it is another brilliantly written book by John Green with numerous humorous points, sudden plot twists and a few tear jerking moments this book was an extremely enjoyable read. The question would you like to live there doesn't really fit this novel as it is a modern novel. I think the question Do you look forward to living there? is more fitting for this circumstance. This is because he was going through having to study for his finals which I will encounter in the form of the leaving cert, and I will probably encounter many similar situations in this novel such as relationships, college, graduation and many more but I hope not to have to deal with a friend going missing. Overall I really enjoyed this novel it is now on my favourites list along with many other John Green books. 

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Technology

In technology we made a clock which was our Christmas test. We had to draw the template on the piece of plastic using set squares and protractors. We then had to saw off the edges as close as possible and file it down using the rough file. In pairs we had to drill a hole in the centre of  the clock, then we had to use a bigger drill bit to make the hole bigger to put in the clock parts. Then we used the smooth file to neaten the edges. To give it the bent shape we used a hot wire to soften a part of the plastic to allow us to bend it. 

We also had to design a "centre piece" for our clock. I couldn't really come up with an idea so I decided to make a dog, it didn't turn out too bad to be honest... 

Fine Dine At Mine

A week or two ago Ms.H approached me asking if I would like to enter a cooking competition where I have to take my favourite takeaway restaurant meal and make it healthier, I chose to do a chicken curry. Ms.H sent me a recipe with lots of vegetables and I added in some mushrooms too. I also used wholegrain rice to make even healthier for you. The competition isn't all about the recipe I also had to make sure my presentation of the dish was appealing so I moulded the rice in a ramekin dish and put the curry in a bowl. I put a lot of effort into it I hope I get through 

Calamity Jane

Ms.C asked some of us to help her with painting the backdrop for the musical. I was a bit nervous at first because i'm not very good at art, but it wasn't as hard as it looked. Claire and I started off by priming the boxes with wheels that the boards with the background on them. We primed them with white paint on all three of them. 

While we were painting them white the others traced on the different scenes such as the cabin and the fire place. In the fire place they had to sketch out a rock pattern and different ornaments such as candle sticks and a pheasant and a flag along the side.  On

the two other boards for the cabin they sketched a window scene with a view of the mountains and on the other board they had a dear head and two rifles.

When they were dry we had to paint them to match two of the boards which had a wood panel background. When the paint was dry we had to measure the boards and match them up with the holders, then we had to rule the holders so the board would blend into the holder. 











Firstly we had to mix the paint to create the three different colours, a dark tone brown, medium tone brown and a light tone brown. Using the dark tone we did a sort of border then blended in the medium tone and lastly the light tone brown, therefore giving it a worn out effect. Then Niamh painted wood rings on the wood. 

 

Ms.C asked Claire and I to paint the back of the boards white for the other scene they will be used for such as the Adelaide Adams scene in the musical. Originally we painted them a duck egg blue and added a gold design. But after it was finished it didn't match as different people had drawn different parts of the boards. So instead we covered the boards with a warm cream tone. Niamh made a stencil of a rose to paint onto the board. So Sophie, Catriona and Kyra. They look so vintage and fit in perfectly. I don't have a picture at the moment but I'll put one up later! 

Mini Company

On Tuesday we had our schools final and it was stressful to say the least. I had a lot of work to do he night before typical... I had to make the poster and glue down the information I'd printed, then I had to print off more instruction cards and labels and cut them out to have as our display on the day, I also volunteered to bring in a microwave so I tested a brownie in a mug in it so we had the right timing so it would taste perfect for the judges. And finally I had to prepare my speech part for the presentation. It was about 1 before I got to bed as usual.

The nest day trying to carry in the microwave was a nightmare as it weighed a tonne and I also had to carry the poster in, then when the others arrived we started to wrap some mugs for the display. We had to go to the first few classes before the competition then we headed to the library to set up. We set up our display as above, and then the judges arrived and my nerves elevated by 100%  Firstly the judges came around to us individually to take a look at our display, then we had to do our display in front of everyone.

It was nerve wrecking going up to talk and even more putting the brownie in the microwave hoping it wouldn't overflow or explode,, thank god it worked out perfectly and tasted great. Then the judges went to deliberate the results, and Candy Blossom were picked as the winner, congrats, their display was great and so was their presentation. We won a mini award for best marketing plan also. Good luck to Candy Blossom in the regional final.

Girl Rising

As part of our religion mini company Ms. L asked us to make a movie about Girl Rising.This is my video below, take a look!

I chose to focus my movie on Suma who was a Calamari in a third world country. It's the story of how she was freed from slave labour and helps free other Calamari's. You can help by donating to charities to help educate these girls.

Junk Kotoure

Yesterday we were informed of the results of Junk Kotoure. Our dress came first in our class! we also were awarded for most original idea, guess all the hard work really paid off!

SciFest

We've been preparing for scifest since September when we were divided into our groups. I ended up doing the project myself due to some problems but it turned out fine. My project was called

"Twirls, Whirls, Spins and Turns the Science of Dizziness"

It Involved me spinning 15 people on a chair four times... which was difficult to say the least. But everything came together in the end, I did end up staying up till 2 am the day before but it had to be done.. I got to school as usual but the room was packed everyone was rushing to try get the finishing touches to their projects which added to my nerves. When the bell rang everyone headed to the hall to set up.

Thank god I had brought blue tac or else the poster would've been leaning against the wall rather than on it. I got a figure of the ear and the inner ear to put on my table along with my project book and laptop which had a slideshow on loop. 

Twirls, whirls, spins and turns the science of dizziness

Then the judges arrived, there was four of them and they separated heading to the different projects. One of the judges went to the project beside me called "Low Fat Vs. Full Fat", so I listened in to try hear what sort of questions they asked to prepare myself. Then she came to me next I introduced myself and shook her hand and I began. I told her about my projects and she asked me a few questions and moved on. The next judge didn't come for another hour, it was another woman and she was lovely and she asked the same sort of questions and moved on.

Then the judges left for lunch, some of the other project groups had said that all the judges had visited them which made me anxious. When they returned from lunch the other two judges came and asked about my project, I felt I got better at explaining my project after each time the judge came. The judges then exited the hall again to deliberate, but we were told we wouldn't know the result until last class. In the mean time some of the other year groups had come in to take a look at the projects. At lunch we ended up taking a few selfies on my laptop typical. 

Last class had finally come, we had to tidy the hall first and put away all the tables and pack up the projects, then we were all gathered onto the benches for a mini presentation. First they called out the 13 projects that are eligible to enter Scifest in Tallaght. Then from the 13 finalist they called first, second and third. In third place was Sorcha, Ailbhe and Grainne with Commerical V Organic in teeth whitening, In Second was a second year group called Colours, Cookies and Cutlery. Then in first place was ..... Rebecca with the science of dizziness!! I won ! I was so excited and happy all the hard work paid off, We got given a prize of a one for all voucher each to celebrate. And thank you to Ms. O'C for organising it all :) 

St. Brigids Day

Yesterday was St. Brigids day, so in religion Ms. L brought in rushes for us to make St. Brigids crosses. I already new how to make a St. Brigids cross so I made two, I brought on home which ended up going to America with my aunt, and Ms. L asked would I give the other one to our principal, I was more than happy to oblige! 

Our mini NGO

This week in school is our awareness raising week for our topic "Educating Girls".  Each morning in the announcements there will be a fact read out about educating girls. This mornings fact was 

"60 million girls are out of education at the moment."

We take for granted that we get education for free and so many girls around the world are illiterate and refused their right to education. To raise awareness we had to create posters to put up around the school to get people thinking.

Our awareness raising action was to hold a screening of girl rising showing one chosen story from the film. We each gave 50 cent to buy popcorn to give to the first years attending the showing we decided to show the story of Amina from Pakistan. Here is the trailer ..

These are the heartfelt stories of girls fighting for their education around the world. If you have the opportunity to watch the movie I would recommend it. Another project we are doing as part of our mini NGO is "Walking to school",  they created a video of the girls walking to school, here's the video.

This inspired us so much we are going to make our own version of walking to school and happy dancing...

Let me know what your thought are from watching the videos or if you have seen the movie comment below :)

TY

Mrs. L chose Aisling and I to prepare a speech to preform for the the third year parents. Me and aisling then got together over the next coming days to bring a speech together, we talked about all the trips we have been on, the projects we've completed and what TY has done for us.

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This was our speech which we read in front of over 200 parents, I've high lighted the main points in green.

Hi im Rebecca and im Aisling we are current ty’s, I chose to do ty for a number of reasons. I wanted to get more involved with the school, make more friends and expand my skills. We also wanted a break between the jc and lc, and to also get a taster of all the subjects to make sure we would make the right decisions for the leaving cert. In saying this it is not a doss year.

            

We started off the year with workshops for the first three Wednesdays to familiarise ourselves with our new class and year group, and to prepare us for the working world. We learned etiquette, positive thinking, and massages for the stressful times and confidence building. Then came the TY trip to Carlingford. It was a brilliant experience From swimming in the ocean to a blindfolded walk in the dark it was the time of our lives. We took part in many things in Carlingford like low ropes course, laser tag, body zorbing and a version of the crystal maze, all this helped with our team building.

Weve been on many trips so far such as institute of technology Tallaght for science week, Pádraig pearse museum for irish, the national history museum, national art museum and the national library for English, for maths we went to ratbaggen lakes to solve real life maths problems, for religion we went to city west for schools across borders and interacted with other TY classes, We went to punchestown expo centre for the Kildare road safety show, we fund-raised for the ISPCC in town and we just went to the BT young scientist last week. This makes TY most enjoyable, and we still have 5 months to go…

We complete many projects in TY. We began our year in geography doing a project about the counties of Ireland and then expanded our course to a trip around the world project. In Irish we did a powerpoint on ourselves, in English we focused on the late seamus Heaney and have started the lc book list.

The more strenuous projects include Sci Fest, Junk Kotoure and Mini Company. They tested our limits and showed how much we could push ourselves. Scifest is not all about work but can be fun too! My Sci Fest project is electric fruit. Mine is dizzy people. Although it can be hard to find 15 people to partake in your experiment and get everybody organised. Last week we had our junk couture fashion show it gave us  a chance to show off our out fits out of recycled materials and strut our stuff down the catwalk. Mini company is as the name suggests. You start your own business from the ground up!!

TY didn’t mean we stopped learning, we continued our learning using different techniques and skills. We’ve learned how to research, apply our learning to everyday life and to be honest I feel weve be learning and researching in a fun environment without the stress of exams.

In the first three years in st.w I feel all my energy was focused on my jc like I was training for the Olympics and the Olympics was the jc. During those three years I was a very quiet student. Ais talked a lot.  I was also self conscience and stressed at times about exams and results. I found it hard to mix with others because of exam focus. TY for me has given me an opportunity to make new friends, to learn in a relaxed manner, to enjoy a taste of LC subjects without the excess stress of exams, I have gained confidence and am capable of making wise subject choices regarding my Lc.

Through work experience and time with careers guidance I now feel focused for what I want in the future. From learning to cope with children and learning to cope with difficult customers in shops. Work experience was a great lesson. We’ve even learned a few moves from partaking in Zumba.

The fact that we are able to stand up here tonight infront of this crowd shows how much we have changed.

Ty encourages students to use their initiave, build self esteem and become mature independent learners.

All of these things come about through participation in group work, guest speakers, projects and interaction with each other. I’m very glad I did TY, for me I’m going forward in life with a positive outlook and the skills to cope with what lies ahead. I learned how to work as a group, gained confidence and learned to overcome disagreements.

But one thing to remember, TY is what you make of it, being involved in all aspects. TY is as good as you make it.

From my experience of TY I think it's brilliant and its worth the extra time. If you had asked me to do that speech in third year or after going straight into 5th year I don't think I'd be capable of doing so. I hope this helped you make your decision if you've any questions just comment :)

Mo thaithí oibre

Chaith mé mo thaithí oibre i Decobake i mBaile Átha Cliath. Thosiagh mé ag obair ar a dó dhéag agus fuair mé an bus ar a deich a chlog gach Céadaoin.

Bhí mé ag obair i éineacht le Gillian, Amy, Viv agus Sinead. Bhí mé ag glanadh an siopa agus síos an staighre sa íoslach. Ghlan mé na cuntairí, scuab mé an t-úrlar agus bhí me ag chuir snas ar na cuntoirí freisin. Thug mé cabhair leis na daoine sa siopa freisin.

Chuaigh mé ar an lón ar a trí a chlog agus fuair mé McDonalds nó píotsa. D'fhil mé an siopa ar a ceathar. Chuaigh mé abhaile ar a cuig a chlog.

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Girl Rising

For schools across borders we have to choose a topic to base our mini NGO on, to inspire us Ms. L wrote to intel to ask if they would send us the movie... and they did! We got Monday evening in school off to gather in the library and watch the movie. We did know that the movie was about girls in the developing world and how they are denied their right to education, but we weren't expecting the terrible things that happen to some of the girls.

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Below is the story of Suma, she was forced into labour at the age of six and was denied an education unlike her brothers who were attending school. It displays how educating a girl doesn't just change her life but her community as well. 

Junk Kotoure

Last Friday we hosted our Junk Kotoure fashion show. I was in a group with Lauren, Ciara and Catriona. Our dress consisted of a head piece, wings, corset and skirt. Our corset was a second hand one from a charity shop and we painted it black. We places sliver serving dishes from the Chinese on the side to catch the light. Then we added a line of batteries along the bases to add an electrical touch. In the center we placed bottle caps in co ordination. Using tissue paper we created some texture along the bust. 

The skirt was made from an old umbrella that we turned inside out, we cut newspaper in strips and frilled it and glued it along the bottom of the umbrella. Under the umbrella we folded cardboard and placed it on string to hang underneath to puff out the skirt. 

We made wings out of wire and soldered it into shape. We attached them to Laurens back using unravelled the wire from the top of a calender and laced it through and around Laurens arms . And to top it off we wrapped a wire around Laurens waist and draped the end of it over her shoulder, and voilà our dress is complete.

Everyone put lots of effort into their dresses and it really showed with the impressive dresses that were on show at the fashion show. Here is some of the other dresses. 

Heres a collage of the photos of other dresses it may not be the 

best quality as they were taken on my phone.