Yara Sabri's Laramie Project Reflection

Question: How did The Laramie Project Make You Feel?

The world is an unpredictable place where unthinkable things happen. The Laramie Project, a story that takes you to a place like no other, is an insightful piece, which brings our deepest emotions to the surface and offers a hopeful message. When I read the play, I was completely caught off guard, interested, and hopeful for Matthew Sheppard. The drama is extremely revealing and leaves out no details. It is expected to feel sympathy for Matthew or feel hatred towards the killers. However, I was didn’t solely feel grief, but rather, I was inspired and elated. I was able to see the potential this story had to offer. The events that occurred were tragic and the testimonies were difficult to read. Ultimately, I was able to look past the negative and focus on the great potential Matthew’s death had to offer to society.

Montages of images were gathering in my mind as I was reading Matthew Sheppard’s crime scene. I was picturing the killers in the midst of their heinous crime, and the parents’ reaction when they found out that their son was killed simply because of who he was. The scene where Matthew’s father, Dennis, spoke face to face to one of Matthew’s killers, Aaron McKinney, was by far the most difficult scene for me to read. McKinney offered rationales to justify his actions, but in such a situation, no amount of explanation could justify what they did. This is the scene we were all waiting for. We pictured it in our mind and imagined what the parents would say or do the to killer of their child. It is hard not to put yourself in the father’s shoes and experience his feelings. Imagine losing your son because someone hated him for freely expressing his sexuality. Dennis’s words are hard to forget. He put McKinney in his place by bluntly telling him his actions were unforgiveable. Dennis told McKinney that he couldn’t discriminate against someone simply because of the lifestyle they had chosen. Mr. Sheppard was visibly shaken by the whole ordeal, but declared that even though he could never bring Matthew back, he would never allow what happened to his son happen to any innocent person ever again. In addition, intolerance was a powerful word Dennis used to describe the boys’ actions. Tolerance was a strong theme in the play and it clearly explains the boys’ naïve behavior. It is amazing to read that in a time of such tragedy, the people that were hurt the most were still filled with love and good judgment.

It comes as a harsh reality check that something so vile and heinous could occur in a supposedly ‘perfect’ city such as Laramie. The Laramie Project provided a wide array of perspectives allowing us to make many powerful emotional connections, which culminated in a poignant and memorable play. My first impression was completely wrong. I had no idea how explicit and eye opening it was going to be. I expected a typical crime story that had its good and bad parts. However, the details are what made the story exceptional, especially the testimonies. The openness of the story allowed for connection and sympathy from the audience. We were required to read this drama in class, and I was not interested in reading it whatsoever. But, as I write now, I realize how much I learned from this play as a whole. I came to the conclusion that it is extremely important to respect people’s beliefs and lifestyles. Having tolerance and respecting others is extremely important in bettering our society. This helps prevent tragic events like Matthew’s from reoccurring.

The House of the Scorpion: Blog Post Six

Well, here we are, my last blog on The House of the Scorpion. I have really enjoyed this novel so far and will miss writing these weekly blogs. This week I have decided to write about a very interesting quote that caught my eye while I was reading. It was very clear that Matt was different when the priest said, "This does not belong here!" the priest thundered. "This unbaptized limb of Satan has no right to make a mockery of this rite! Would you bring a dog to church (154 Farmer). When I read this quote it really shocked me because I realized how many people really despise Matt. I know that Matt is a clone but he seems like such a normal person and I didn’t think people would treat him so differently and view him as if he were a monster. There is only one girl who will accept Matt for who he is and that is his friend Maria. She stuck up for him when the priest was saying those negative things to Matt and she would always try to take care of him when others treated him horribly. Maria knows that Matt is a clone but she sees past that and loves him for him. Since the first day Maria met Matt she always had this love for him in her heart and went to many extents to take care of him when he was locked in the room or hurt badly. Maria treats Matt as if he is a real person and enjoys every moment with him. There is also another man, Tam Lin who loved Matt. When El Patron realized that Matt was living in the mansion he ordered Tam Lin to take care of Matt. Since that day Tam Lin and Matt had a close bond and he would teach him many things about life and Tam even explained to Matt who he was, what a clone was. However, the others all passionately hate Matt. When I read this quote I realized how much different Matt was then the others and the way people viewed him. Matt is a clone of a very important man and he demands that they all treat him with respect regardless of their emotions towards him. Many people are filled with envy when they see how spoiled Matt is from El Patron and he isn’t even a real person. Matt is good at many things, art, science, reading, English, Spanish…etc. so as I read the novel I imagined such a young innocent boy that had a great future ahead of him. It is shocking to me how the others were not willing to accept Matt. Whenever something bad happens they all blame it on Matt or they try all they can to make Matt look like he is the bad one because he is the clone. I find it so interesting how a clone makes such a difference to people. They refuse to treat him the same because of what he is and don’t take time to know who he is. From the novel I view Matt as a very sweet intelligent boy who fits in with all the others but is not wanted and rejected by the people. In the novel Clones are normally rendered mentally disabled at birth and are used for spare parts by the rich and powerful. But El Patron ignores the law and enjoys watching Matt grow up and seeing himself as a young man in him. Matt is much different then those people and I wonder if anytime in the novel, things are going to change and the people are finally going to start accepting Matt. Matt is a great person even though he is a clone and hope things start changing for him because he deserves to be loved just like all the others.

The House of the Scorpion: Blog Post Five

In the book The House of the Scorpion I have now reached the part of the book where the main character Matt is at an "old age" from 12 to 14 at around page 150.  The more I read the book the more the character Matt changes and I think I have come across a theme that fits the book, friendship. It seems as if it is very important to have good friendships and it is clear to see that through the character Matt because he is struggling to regain his friendship with Maria. Ever since El Patron came (the man you created Matt) and boosted Matt's self esteem about who he is, he seems to be a new person who really doesn't have sympathy for others and acts as if he is on the top of the world. Matt does these rude things and expects Maria to follow him and accept whatever he does. Matt will be mean to her friends and make Maria do things that she doesn't want to all because he feels that he has the power to do so. Matt does all these hurtful things to Maria, then gets upset over them and then created more problems. Matt was even accused of killing Maria's dog because he has become a whole new person and no one can trust Matt. Matt says to himself, "If only he hadn't put Tom at the baby table. If only he hadn't made Maria kiss him in front of the others. If only he hadn't gone to the hospital" (Farmer 137). Matt was piling up all of his regrets and if he hadn't done these things he would still be friends with Maria who was the only person that accepted him because he was a clone. Matt is trying to break Maria's friendships with other people so that she will only focus on him and give all of her love and attention to him. It seems as if he is a selfish person and does not want to share anything because he knows no matter what happens that El Patron is there to save him and stick up for him. I just think it is odd to see once Matt gets the care and the attention that he needs, he takes advantage of it and does not respect the people that loved him and cared for him the most. Friendship is important to Matt but he does not know how to handle his actions and respect others and accept the fact that not everyone can always just care for Matt but there are other people out there that have feelings and need to be cared for. Of course friends are needed to be there throughout our life and Matt is struggling because he can never keep a friend because he always pushes them away. It is very interesting to see the way the author illustrates the obstacles Matt faces to find a good friendship or regain the ones he lost because it is giving him the same characteristics of a human even though he is a clone.

The House of the Scorpion: Blog Post Four

I have been really enjoying my outside reading book The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer. As I was reading a came across a very important and interesting quote that I would like to analyze, "A long, long time ago some doctors took a piece of skin from El Patron. The froze it so it would keep. Then, about eight years ago, they took a but of that skin and grew it into a whole new El Patron. Only they had to start at the beginning with a baby. That was you" (Farmer 80). While Matt was staying at the big house he found out that he was a clone. However, Matt never knew what a clone was and just accepted the fact that he was one. One day his body guard Tam Lanin took him to this grassy area to have a picnic and told him how he was created and what a clone actually was. This really changed Matt because he finally knew what he actually was and why people reacted the way the did towards him.  

Since El Patron, the man who created matt, started to take care of Matt and make sure that people respected him Matt because a new person. Matt has kind of become very cocky and full of himself. Matt was very talented in everything he did, music, reading, languages, math etc. Once he realized what a clone actually was he seemed to not care what others said about him or how they viewed him because you new he was good at everything he did and if someone did something to him, El Patron always had his back. Matt has started to lose his best friend Maria because he is becoming more arrogant and not caring for her feelings. El Patron is spoiling him and I think it is all going to his head because it is not the same Matt that I knew a few chapters ago. I am not sure what this is all going to lead to and I think that Matt thinks he as at the top of all the people and regardless of him being a clone no one is better then him. The further along I get in the book the more I feel like Matt is losing friends and is trying to get people to be his friend in a bad way. He is lying to his friend Maria about who hid her dog and is just trying to get the whole world to love him no matter what extents he has to go to. 

On his birthday that Matt shared with El Patron I think that was when he was at his worse. He was acting as if he was the king and no one could tell him what to do because El Patron was there. When Tam sat Matt down and told him everything about a clone I thought it would change his thoughts and actions in a different way. I thought he would be shocked and be very sensitive to what people would say to him but he did the opposite and became more arrogant and treated people horribly. 

The House of the Scorpion: Blog Post Three

       I have now reached the middle section of the main character's life and have read up to chapter 8. So far the book has been a very interesting read. The character development of the protagonist, Matt, has given me the desire to keep reading. Matt is a rounded character and has changed dramatically from the beginning of the book. From the first chapter Matt was a a very enthusiastic child who loved new adventures and entertaining himself. Once he was imprisoned into the Big House he became a whole new character. As I have mentioned in the previous blog posts Matt was taken out of his home and locked into a room at the Big House. No one ever spoke with him and it was as if he was isolated in this room for 6 months. Matt loved his gaurdian Celia but the longer he was kept in the room the less he had feelings for her. Farmer describes, "He refused to think about her, or when he did, he quickly thought of something else to drive her image from his mind. After a while he forgot what she looked like, except in dreams (Farmer 42). This quotes shows how Matt didn't even want to think about Celia anymore or even have thoughts about her. Matt used to admire Celia and think of her as his mother and now after being locked in this room for all these months he has switched all of his feelings for this woman. This was a dramatic change in Matt's behavior.
       Matt has also created his own world while he has been locked in this compact room. His world was confined within the four walls of the minuet room. The author wrote, "Matt was frankly relieved to see them go. They were an unwelcome intrusion in the orderly world he had created. He could forget them now and get back to the contemplation of his kingdom. Since Matt was in this room for 6 months he created his own world and pretty much all he did was play with and admire bugs. Even when the woman that he used to love came and visited him from the window with his good friend Maria, he had no interest in them what so ever and just wanted to be left alone in his Kingdom. Matt had become a whole new person and created a whole new world. Once Matt was released from the room he was able to walk and be free and meet the person that created him, El Patron. Matt admired this person beyond belief and wanted to be juts like him. Anything he did mad wanted to do and love. Farmer stated, " El Patron had these foods were his favorites, and Matt decided they were his favorites too" (Farmer 57). Matt had a great passion of love for El Patron and he said there was just something about El Patron that made him so special. It was quite amazing how Matt admired El Patron even though he was in such a weird stage in life and had a different behavior. At that moment he still did not understand what a clone was. Another way that Matt has changed was that he would not speak. Although Matt wanted to speak, he just said he couldn't. No matter how hard he tried no matter who he spoke with or how much he loved a person he could just not speak. One day as he was working with his teacher he got so frustrated and started to shout at her. Surprisingly he said something and was able to talk and that was an important moment for Matt because he could finally get his emotions out and be once step closer to the old him and get out of the shock he was under from being in that room for so long. Matt has made some significant changes since the beginning of the book. He has developed in many ways, good and bad but overall has become a new person. I am excited to keep on reading and see how he further grows throughout the book.

The House of the Scorpion: Blog Post Two

Amazingly, the more I read the more I am engaged into the book. I have now read up to page 50 and from the way this book started I didn't think it would as interesting as it is now and the plot seems much different. As an example the book started out in a laboratory or a place where a man was testing on cows and now the story is all about this little boy Matt. From the chapters that I have read so far they have brought up many questions. In the previous chapters there were two kids that came to Matt's house while his guardian was at work and he didn't talk to them so they left. The next day they came back and Matt was very eager to play with them but the door and the windows were shut tight and he had no keys. Because of his desperation to play with these kids he took a pot and broke the window. Later on Matt jumped out of the window to get to the kids and his hands and feet landed on the shards of glass. Immediately the kids took him to their house, which happened to be the Big House where Celia worked. The maids were taking care of Matt and helping him until the children's father came and was very uptight, scary, and not friendly whatsoever. When he took a look at Matt's foot he found a code/tattoo on his foot and told everyone that he was a clone. That really confused me because Matt had no response to that and then all of the children had become very frightened of him. Matt acted as if it was normal and had no comment and the writing on his foot read "Property of the Alacran Estate," which I find very odd because that is the name of the home of the children. So what I can tell from that is Matt is a clone that was made at the house of the children. The father ordered everyone to leave and Matt was left alone. I just think it is very strange by the way that Matt handled this whole situation of being a clone and the kids would ask him questions and he answered normally and is seemed as if he knew he was a clone all along. However, in the book it said, “He wondered why El Patron was so frightening, since the man was said to be old and weak. Matt knew he was El Patron’s clone, but he was unclear about the meaning of the word. Perhaps El Patron had loaned him to Celia and would someday want him back (Farmer 37). From what I can tell is seems as if Matt knows he is a clone but doesn’t know what a clone is so that might be why he is reacting the way he is but I also think it is odd how Celia has never mentioned anything to Matt but it does make sense to why Celia said that Matt was only loaned to her. I also wonder if Matt is ever going to see Celia because she works at the house he is currently at so why wouldn’t Matt be able to see her and why are the people at the Big House treating Matt as if her were a prisoner? The more I read the more things make sense and sometimes I feel like I am trying to solve a mystery. What I am predicting for the next chapters is that Matt is a clone and he is going to be going on a journey to find who he really is. Also all of the children liked Matt until they found out he was a clone and since they realized that they have all been very distant and afraid of Matt. But there is one girl Maria who still likes Matt regardless and I think that is because they are about the same age, and there was a part in the book where Maria was constantly asking Matt question like if he grows hair and characteristics of a clone because she was scared of him (because he is clone) but still wanted to be his friend. So I think she is still going to be his friend throughout his journey on finding who he his.

The House of the Scorpion: Blog Post One

For this assignment I wanted to pick a good book that would keep me interested from start to finish. I was really excited to pick out a book and I decided on a book that one of my friends recommend to me. I am now reading The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer. My friend said it was a really good book and I will be glued to it! I am still at the beginning of the book but so for I think it is pretty good. The main character is Matt and I have learned quite a lot about him. Matt was a young boy that spent most of his time home alone and always tried his best to entertain himself to keep himself busy since the lady that was taking care of him, Celia, was working at the Big House. From what I have read so far I think that Matt seems like an intelligent child that has a lot ahead of him and kind of a confusing future. He questions who the women is that is taking care of him because she gets upset if he calls her mom and she tries to constantly remind him that he was loaned to her which causes him a lot of confusion. I haven't read enough to figure out more but I am sure the further I get along in the book the more things will make sense. As I was reading there was a part that really stuck out to me that made we think of the character Matt in a different way. The girl said, ""Maybe he's an idiot," the girl said matter-of-factly. "Hey, are you an idiot"" (Farmer 9). This was shocking to me because it showed how these rich kids from the Big House were really stuck up and had no respect towards other kids and immediately Matt replied that we was not an idiot. Matt has a weird and different personality. He seems as if he has a hard time interacting with other people but yet he is isolated in this house. I am interested to keep on reading and learn more about Matt and his journey.