Twilight 3- Last ONE!

I just finished twilight and it was such an intense last couple of chapters. By the end of the novel, Bella gets tricked into a phone call from the evil vampire thinking it was her mom, but it was only a recording. She goes to the ballet studio where the vampire is supposedly holding her mom captive and there is a huge scene there. The vampire tricked her so that he could suck her blood, but before he got to, Edward came to save Bella. he came and Bella was almost dead because of the venom that the evil vampire had put into her, so he had to suck her blood. This was so intense because Edward could not control himself, but he finally found something inside of him that told him to stop and he did just before Bella almost died. The next day, Bella was in the hospital because she had been badly hurt, but Edward said something very sweet to her. He said that he would not have turned her into a vampire because she is lucky enough to live a normal life and to be a normal human being which is something that he'll never have the chance to be. Bella still doesn't quite understand Edward, but she knows that she wants to be with him for the rest of her life.

Twilight 2

I am continuing on my reading of twilight and am on the middle of chapter 14. Bella and Edward are having a romantic scene in the forest and it was impossible to put the book down! My favorite quote from the recent reading i have done is when Bella watches Edward in amazement as he quickly moves from tree to tree and thinks: "He'd never been less human . . . or more beautiful" (264). In my opinion, this quote shows lot about how gorgeous and perfect Edward is and how uncontrollable Bella's love for him is becoming. Also while reading, i love when they spend an entire page comparing the love that Edward has towards Bella to someone who is addicted to heroin. This seems interesting because i feel like Edward is trying to say that she is his addiction and that he is constantly thinking of her and constantly wanting to be with her.

So far i am really enjoying this book and i am beginning to read it before i go to bed and i can't put it down! I am in love with Edward Cullen and he is the ideal man that i want in my life. I am so jealous of Bella! Even though her and Edward are really cute together! :)

Twilight 1

I have now finished the Odyssey, but the reason it took me so long is that i have been reading twilight as well! I first saw the movie twilight, and thought that it was amazing and began obsessing over it, but now i am reading the book, and it is way better than i could have ever imagined!

I'm going to just give a little background as to who the main characters are in the novel. Bella is the main character who is also the narrator. She is a shy, timid girl who used to live with her mom in Phoenix, but had to move to her dad's house which is in a town called Forks. The boy that Bella falls in love with in Forks is named Edward. He is very good looking and has a certain attitude that draws Bella in. At first, Bella didn't know that Edward was a vampire, but as the book continues, she eventually finds out, but that doesn't stop her from loving him.

I am currently about half way done with Twilight and i am in love with Edward, which is not a surprise at all! I am at the part where Edward takes Bella up to the woods/mountains area to show her what he looks like in the sunlight and Bella just stares at him in amazement because of his beauty.

The Odyssey Blog 7

I have just finished book 12 of the Odyssey and i am also half way through Twilight. For this blog, i am mainly going to focus on the Odyssey because this will be my last blog on that book. The last time that i blogged, i was just finishing book 11 and a lot has happened in this final chapter that i am reading. 

In the story that Odysseus is telling the king and queen, Odysseus has continued on his voyage home to Ithaca. Before he returns, he stops to see Circe, and she tells him of all the obstacles that he will have to face before he reaches his home. On his trip home, Odysseus and his troops get into many tough obstacles but one that caused the most issues was when Zeus caused a huge storm that ruins the ship and kills all the men on the boat, except for Odysseus. Odysseus survives the huge storm and the storm moves him all the way back to the Ogygia which is Calypso's island. 

This is the end of book 12 and i saw on Mrs. Jarrett's earlier blog posts that the rest of the class didn't read books 13-24, but separate groups read one book and then picked out important parts from the reading. So, i am going to read those posts online, so that i will know what happens in books 13-24.

Now i can read Twilight! :)

The Odyssey Blog 6

The last time that i posted, i had just finished book 9 and now i have just finished book 10 and am beginning on book 11. The question that i had at the end of book 9 was whether Odysseus would tell the King and Queen who he was and what his story was. It turns out that he not only tells them his name, but he also told them the complete story of his adventure. Odysseus' journey with his troop to the witch-goddess, Circe, was my favorite. I thought this story was really interesting because the goddess tried to poison Odysseus and his troops so that they would never want to leave her island and return home: "But into the brew she stirred her wicked drugs to wipe from their memories any thought of home" (237: 259-260). Odysseus did not allow her to take control over them because he was confronted by Hermes, who gave him a plant that would protect him from Circe's drug. Odysseus listens to Hermes and is able to overpower Circe and becomes her lover and they stay there for a long time. But eventually, his men convince him that they need to continue on their way home, Odysseus and his men leave Circe's island and continue on their journey. The next place that they voyage to is Hades where, the blind prophet, Tiresias, lives.

The Odyssey Blog 5

I haven't had much time to read, so i have only gotten to book 9, but the book is getting more interesting as i read on. Just to give a recap as to what happened, Odysseus is staying with this royal King and Queen and they have offered to get him a ship so that he can continue on his journey to his homeland. Then, Alcinous calls a feast and a game to honor Odysseus. Odysseus originally was hesitant to fighting in the game, but then he is insulted by Broadsea who says: "I never took you for someone skilled in games..." (196: 185). After Broadsea says this to Odysseus, Odysseus quickly changes his mind about not participating in the game and decides to play the games. After they play for a while, Odysseus is invited back for a feast and receives many gifts from the people of the city to take with him on his journey. While they were at the feast, Demodocus, a blind man, began singing about the Trojan War and this made Odysseus very sad. So, Alcinous told Demodocus to stop playing his song because their guest was unhappy. Then, Alcinous asked Odysseus what his name was and to tell him why he became so upset when he heard about the fall of Troy.

This ending is a cliffhanger because i don't know whether Odysseus will tell them the truth or not and how the people will react to his response.

Ethics Research 1

Research question:
Is it appropriate for teenagers to get plastic/cosmetic surgery?


Shulman, Matthew. "Teens Getting Plastic Surgery: Be Cautious." U.S. News & World Report 1 July 2008.

The author of this article from the U.S. News magazine was Matthew Shulman. Shulman has written many articles for this magazine before, but the one he wrote about teens and plastic surgery is very interesting. In this article, one of the many questions that is asked is when is the right time for teenagers to get plastic surgery. The president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Richard D'Amico, said that if the teen is over 18, then they should have the right to make the decisions for themselves according to the law, but if the teen is under 18, then they need a parent's or guardians consent as to whether or not to get plastic surgery done. The doctor also stated that the teen needs to be in the right frame of mind to have the surgery done. This means that they need to be doing the surgery for themselves, they need to understand the procedure and the risk factors of it, and they need to have realistic expectations of the outcome of the surgery. If the doctor feels that the teen isn't quite ready for the surgery, he will talk with the teen and their guardians to make sure that it is something they are sure about and if it isn't, then the doctor tells them to wait and make sure they really want to go through with the surgery. One last fact that i learned from this article is that teenagers should not get liposuction because it can be a very dangerous procedure and it is better to just diet and exercise because their bodies are still growing and developing.


Peres, Judy. "Doctors Reminded Patients That Cosmetic Surgery Carries Risks." Chicago Tribune. November 13, 2007. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. Edina High School. 07 December 2008 http://www.sirs.com/.

In this article by Judy Peres, who is an author for the Chicago Tribune, she is saying that doctors have been trying to convince their cosmetic surgery clients that plastic surgery is a risky action to make. Doctor David Song, a plastic surgeon from the University of Chicago, says that people interested in plastic surgery need to check with their insurance companies because most companies only support reconstructive surgery and they don't support the cosmetic surgeries. This is something to look into because people are normally too interested in fixing the problem that they have with themselves that they don't do research to find a trustworthy surgeon. Dr. Song also said that surgeons can say no to any surgery that someone asks them to do if they don't feel like that client is prepared enough for the surgery. According to to a study in the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery journal, only 1 in 50,000 people die an accidental death from surgery, but it doesn't mean that its impossible and Dr. Song said that the more surgeries that a person tries to get done at the same time, the more risk that person is putting on their life.


Findlay, Steven. "Buying the perfect body." U.S. News & World Report 106.n17 (May 1, 1989): 68(8). Expanded Academic ASAP. Gale. Edina High School Library. 8 Dec. 2008 http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS.

In this article, written by Steven Findlay, who is a writer for the U.S. News Magazine, i decided to take the part of the article that talks about "Deciding Whether to Cut". In this section, the writer speaks with many doctors and psychologists about who is the correct candidate to go under the knife. Most of the doctors said that people first need to know that getting plastic surgery isn't going to change their social life and it really doesn't make that much of a difference in the way that people view you. They also said that the client needs to be in the right frame of mind and needs to be getting the surgery for themselves and not to please anyone else. Overall, the doctors believe that getting surgery is not worth the risk, even though there is only a slight risk of something going wrong, it is still dangerous.

Perestman, Natalie. "Making the cut: as plastic surgery becomes more accepted, experts warn teens of the risks involved.(LIFE: BODY SYSTEMS)(Cover story)." Science World 65.5-6 (Nov 10, 2008): 14(5). Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. Edina High School Library. 8 Dec. 2008 http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS.

In this article written by Natalie Perestman, who is a writer for the Science World Magazine, there is a story about a teenage girl named Stephanie, who was perfectly healthy, but decided to get plastic surgery done. This girl died from the surgery due to the reaction her body made to the anesthesia that was given to her. Although these deaths are rare, the doctors in this article remind people of all ages that plastic surgery is not reversible and it does have real consequences. Another interesting fact in this article is that only about two percent of teenagers 18 and under have gotten surgery because most surgeries that teens get are reconstructive to fix a birth defect or injury. In the state of Queensland in Australia, they have banned unnecessary cosmetic surgery for teens under 18 and many people around the world agree with the fact that teens should not be able to get cosmetic surgery done. If the teen wants to get surgery and they are not fully developed, then the surgeries affects could end up being reversed or the problem could get worse as the person develops. But the main concern that doctors have with performing plastic surgery on teens is that they are not mature enough to handle the effects of surgery and they don't realize that plastic surgery will not make all of the problems in their life go away.

Zuckerman, Diana. "Body Image: Teenagers and Cosmetic Surgery." Our Bodies Ourselves. Mar. 2005. 9 Dec. 2008 http://www.ourbodiesourselves.org/book/companion.asp?id=1&compid=102.

This article is written by Diana Zuckerman, who is the President of the National Research Center for Women & Families. In this article, Zuckerman talks about teens considering plastic surgery and all of the steps that need to be taken to make sure that a teen is ready for plastic surgery. Zuckerman talks about some of the risks of teens getting breast augmentation and some of these risks are scarring and infections. Another surgery that causes a lot of risks is liposuction and some of these risks include infections, blood or fat clots, damage to vital organs and nerves, and major fluid loss that can result in death. One of the main causes that makes teens want plastic surgery is seeing it being done on the television and seeing pictures of celebrities with "perfect" bodies. One tip that Zuckerman says will help parents determine whether their child is ready for cosmetic surgery is psychological testing. Another interesting fact that is in this article is that a study of patients age 11 to 18 showed that their body image satisfaction rates were highest at age 18, so this shows that teens under 18 should at least wait until they are 18 to see if they really want to get cosmetic surgery done.