The Gate to Women's Country: pg. 299 to End

Michael and Morgot come face to face for the first time in the entire book. Morgot had given the maps to the men, and they came to the exact place in order to be ambushed. 

The history of Women's country was revealed. The reason for the name of Marthastown came from the fact that Martha Evesdaughter was the woman to found the town 300 year ago. After the devastation caused by the men, Martha made the plan to breed out violence. 

The idea of women warriors was introduced in the reading. They started in order to act as men in the garrison, however apparently there are certain tricks and weapons, such as ninja star-like projectiles that the current women have access to. It was already revealed that all girls are taught self-defense, but some people along with the special servitors learned the new special way of fighting. 

The women seem to know a lot about the garrison, such as the murder of the previous commander and his cronies, which Michael had orchestrated.

A different side of Joshua came out, when he felt such jealousy, that he was satisfied by being the one to kill Michael, who believed the children of Morgot were his offspring.

Chernon does not seem like as bad of a person when the book is from his point of view. He seems to be very sure of himself in making these poor choices, however he had doubts about why the faces of women are never talked about in the sagas. 

The war orchestrated by the council seems to explain all the past wars. It had said that past wars were caused by ambiguous caused, which were probably methods of either population control, as part of the large trap was for, or for calming down the ideas of rebellion. The women always outnumber the men, in order to keep the women in power. The fact that a group of women could manipulate 1,200 men into marching off to their deaths seems extraordinary, however it seems to occur every decade. Such as with the war in which Barten died against Susantown. Perhaps the meeting between Morgot and the two women was not actually about food, but also included information on a planned war between the two garrisons.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapter 34- pg. 299

The big secret of why only servitors father children is revealed. Much like the Laplanders and the breeding of the docile reindeer, the women are working to breed out the men who are more warlike. Many of the men who come through the wall are respected, as they often are much calmer and less violent.
It was interesting how Septemius was able to see through the misdirection in order to see what was truly occurring in Women's Country. He puts the clues together, what with more men returning  many books on selective breeding.
The question of the ethicalness of the situation, what with men basically wasting their lives and never being told the truth seems like it would be an issue. Also, apparently some women are sterilized, in order to prevent them from having offspring if they are not ideal for having offspring in Women's Country. While men have a choice to return through the wall, the women who do not know about the plan have no choice in the matter of having children by a warrior.
Morgot's strange companionship with Joshua is truly explained. He is the father of four of her children, and acts almost as a husband except without the domination of the relationship as there is in the Holylands. Myra's differences from Stavia seems to be due to having a poor sire, who also fathered Chernon. This helps support the claim against Myra and Barten from being half-siblings, as Stavia was worried about if Michael had been the father.
Finally, Stavia seems to be entering into a stable romantic relationship not based purely off of selfishness, guilt and domination by Chernon. Corrig cares for Stavia, thinks about what she wants, and is very caring. Due to his long-feel, Corrig predicts their future, which includes saving the women from the Holylands.
After Chernon saw how terribly Stavia was hurt, and the flaws in the society of the Holylands, it seems incredible that he has the stupidity to spread ideas of enslaving women. While his views sometimes matched up with that of the men in the Holylands, the fact that he wished for it to spread to Women's Country made the reader lose their last shred of respect for him.
The women seem to face a lot of rebellions, which are always dealt with. Morgot seems to have a plan, as Michael received maps to go to a location in order to meet with other commanders, however it seems to be a ploy in order to make the "swelling go down".

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapters 31 -33

Stavia had been hit with a shovel in the last reading, and apparently she is in a very poor condition. She seems to be hallucinating or dreaming about her situation, however with reindeer instead of people. Stavia saved the females from the male stag, which mislead these females and wanted them just for show. It seems to have a lot of parallels between Stavia and Chernon's relationship, and also the way women are treated in the Holylands. The men just want to have a woman who they can mislead, own and dominate, despite not caring much about the women.
I found it interesting how Susannah was chastising her son, but her husband reprimanded her for being disrespectful. It shows just how little respect the women receive, that they are even lower than their own sons.
Susannah hanged herself, which may have truly been brought on by seeing how after only a short amount of time, Stavia was resembling the other wives. Wives were abused, hit, hungry, and shaved. Susannah finally snapped and was sick of being pregnant and beaten, and she did all she could do to take care of Chastity by putting in the implant. She had no reason to continue to live.
The servitors along with the help of Septemius Bird show their true power. Using Stavia's pain, they were able to track her down. To save her, they had an genius plan, based off of Septemius' ideas on magic and trickery. They dressed as demons, associating Chernon with the devil. Also, they found a way to make it look like an angel had saved Stavia. Not only did this terrify the Holylanders, but also prevented them from attacking Women's Country.
Morgot revealed a huge scandal at the end of the reading. None of the warriors actually father any children. Things have started to fall into place. Such as when Myra was getting ready for the summer carnival one time, and Morgot saw the implant in Myra and commented on the importance and usefulness of the implants. As the implant kept Myra from getting pregnant from Barten.

The Gate to Womens Country: Chapter 28- 30

Stavia decided to head back, when Chernon lit a fire despite Stavia's order not to. The extremely desperate men from the Holylands ended up finding the pair. Further information about some of the eduaction of Womens Country was revealed when Stavia said that all girls learned to fight. This small tidbit seemed interesting when the warriors view the women as extremely helpless.
The Holylands and there customs and the reason for some of these customs is explained. The men view a woman who is not covered constantly in clothing as indecent. The only time women undress is during bathing. Stavia looked at the customs of the land, and was able to tell that female infanticide had taken place based on the low female to male ratio. Stavia pointed out that polyandry, or the practice of a woman taking on multiple husbands. Stavia was angry at how women were basically objects, which could be owned by "whoever impregnates me, owns me".
Marriage customs are revealed. First, the woman's head was shaved. The Holylanders viewed it as a way to make a woman less desireable, however Stavia saw it as a method in which the men controlled the women. The women were violated and felt shame about their lack of hair. The wife is also brutally beaten before marriage, in order to remind the woman to do well in duty. This is yet another way in which the woman is dominated by the male elder, even after  the years of brainwashing.
Chernon goes from possesive to a violent, controlling animal within this reading. I more or less enjoyed the long romance between the two, however Chernon took a turn for the worse. Chernon manipulates the brothers into letting Chernon remove the implant. Perhaps for his own selfish reason, of obtaining a son.
Not only does this make Stavia pregnant, as it seems when she is the only woman not to have her period for weeks, but also offers an advantage on the sid eof Chastity. Susannah begged Stavia to put it into Chastity, as Chastity would soon be going into marriage and having a couple of years to grow up before having a child would make a large difference. It seems like the only people who actually enjoy the set up of the society are the elders, who prey on large numbers of young women. The girls sre forced to spend their lives bearing children, and the younger men are unmarried for long periods of time without enough women for all of them.
For a second time, long feel is coming of use. Corrig and Joshua were able to detect that Stavia was hurt in the Holylands, and gathered other special servitors in order to retrieve her.
One thing I found interesting, was how the Council already seems to know about the impending rebellion.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapter 23- Chapter 27

Capable, Dutiful and Reliable are three new characters. They are the son's of Susannah, and are the people spying on Stavia and the camp. The beliefs of these three men is that while the devil exists in everyone, women especially have the devil. Servitors are viewed as captives, who would have to be killed, unlike the women, who could be tamed. It is odd that since women are so objectified in the Holylands, that being sexually appealing is seen as a bad idea. In order to be a decent woman, a woman would cover themselves and shave their head.
Stavia felt the eyes of the three men, and asks Septemius to give a report on the presence of other people to the south along with the sheep dogs. Stavia chooses not to go south with her exploration, as it would be unsafe without warriors.
Septemius decides it is time to settle in Women's country. Stavia gave him advice on how to become a resident, by staying in the itinerant's quarter for a couple years, and then applying for a residence along with Kostia and Tonia.
The short snippet of the play was a good preface to the chapter following it. Achilles tried to exert his power over Polyxena however as she is dead, Polyxena cannot be controlled by him.
Stavia met up with Chernon, who basically raped her. Despite that encounter, Stavia still seems to forgive him. The relationship between the pair had changed alot, with "a large part of their emotion toward one another was hostility." Stavia only truly gave up her dream of being with the boy Chernon, not the man Chernon, after an argument about pregnancy. Chernon asked for a son, however Stavia pointed  out that she got an implant in order to prevent pregnancy. Of course, Chernon gets angry, thinking that it was meant for Stavia's servitor partner, however Stavia points out that women were often raped by bandits. Chernon points out that one of the reasons he agreed to come was to have a son, who was definitely his. Stavia is a strong, knowledgeable woman and points out the flaw in his logic.  At this point, Stavia emotionally left Chernon.
Once this happened, Chernon had very little control over Stavia without his emotional hold over her.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapter 20- 22

The Holylands (as referred to by those within them) or the badlands (as referred to by those from Women's country) are introduced. The Holylands have what seems to be even stranger customs than Women's country.
Women are very objectified in the culture of the Holylands. They are pieces which can be traded away for other. At the age of 14, the woman is often given to a man in marriage. Often the man is much older than her, and if the woman is widowed and childless, she is given to a younger man. However if she is widowed and had a child, then the woman lives out her life on her own. Apparently the old men do not enjoy being married to someone "after another had had her." In Women's Country, there is no mention on what happens during women's periods. However, menstruating in the Holyland merits being called unclean, and the hanging of a red kerchief. Once married, women's hair is shaved off, which makes no sense. The women's sole purpose is to produce more sons. Susannah was pregnant 11 times in 15 years.
Female infanticide seems to be extremely common in the Holyland. However, the result of such actions is beginning to cause problems when there are not enough wives for the bachelors. Girls were often left for the coyotes, and the occasional weak boy too.
The Holylands are regulated by a set of laws called the Scriptures. While the women in Women's country pray to the Lady, the only god figure in the Holylands is All Father. It gets to the point that Susannah wishes for a female deity to pray to.

Chernon and Septemius interact. Septemius tries to point out the flaws in Chernon's logic about how the Council is secret, by pointing out how in the garrison many of the same practices are exercised  yet Chernon accepts them.

Stavia seems to be close to interacting with the people of the Holylands. Dogs from the Holylands had joined the flocks of sheep, protecting the sheep from the coyotes. After the sons in the Holylands suggested breaking a woman's legs after taking her from Women's country, I am extremely concerned for what will occur in the future. Someone is going to die, however it will not be Stavia as 1) the twins specified so 2)Stavia is still alive at the age of 37. Chernon seems like a likely person, however Septemius and the twins, or perhaps if Stavia befriends Susannah, Susannah may be killed.

The Gate to Women's Country: pg. 182- end of Chapter 19

The garrisons of the cities seem to be planning rebellion. Michael has become commander, and ensured that all the other garrisons would either follow suit with their own cities, or will not attack the Marthatown garrison. In the current year, there was a larger harvest. Both of Michael's conditions for rebellion have taken place, and he decided to wait until after the harvest and trade. The only part which could possibly mess up their plan is the weapon, which the men still know nothing about.
Exploration teams are being gathered. The last set of teams brought back bugs and a type of tea plant. The different jobs of the different teams are set up.

• South- 2 people (one servitor, one woman) The south team will find botanical specimens and see how far north the strangers have come. 
• North-  The group is to see the limits of the ice.
• East- The group is to investigate into the desolations, and whether or not they have shrunk.
• West- They will take a boat  and explore the shore.

Some workings of exploratio teams seem to be that young people without children, and with training in a useful field tend to be sent. Medical training and a knowledge in gardening make Stavia a perfect choice. It seems like finding people for these teams would be difficult, after Kostia and Tonia point out the irregularity that someone of Stavia's age would not have had a child yet. 

While Kostia and Tonia's abilities were already shown by their having some sort of long-feel, they chose a different way of presenting the information than Corrig. They used cards in order to tell Stavia her future, while Corrig uses his power of long-feel to suggest that Stavia does not go on the expedition.

Chernon seems to be a very complex character, who simultaneously loves Stavia yet also uses her in order to fulfill his duties to Michael. He convinces her to bring him on her expedition, instead of a servitor.

The Gate to Women's Country: pg. 161 (Chapter 15)- pg. 182 (Chapter 18)

This reading introduced/elaborated on some characters:
Septemius

• It is mentioned that Septemius traveled all over Women's Country, and he has information such as that Marthatown was the first town of Women's country. Septemius provides a comparison to the play, when Polyxena decides to grieve for the loss of cakes, wine, and dances. Septemius too is saddened with the lack of spices and flavoring from the tropics, which the twins are confused about when they had never even had them in their lifetimes. 

Kostia and Tonia

• Kostia and Tonia appear to have some sort of long-feel, as shown through their ability to perceive Stavia's distress, along with extracting her name without being told. I found it interesting how suddenly they made the decision to settle, after a lifetime of travel. 

Myra

• Myra provides a parallel between the passage in Chapter 18 from the play. Hecuba comforts Cassandra, who was distressed after no one believes her, and Cassandra views herself as only defined by her ability to see the future. Hecuba  pointed out how Andromache and herself (Hecuba) were defined by their husband, and that with the death of their men they lost their own identities. However, Cassandra has her own name and identity for herself. Myra, much in the way of Hecuba and Andromache, had her identity completely dependent upon Barten. Even after his death, Barten's ideas and view of the servitors remained. It got to the point that Myra moved out of Morgot's house, after Morgot refused to get rid of the servitors.

Some details on Women's country came to the surface. Not only was Marthatown being the first town an interesting detail, but also that Annville seems to have been a town from preconvulsion times, explaining its power plant and factories from old times. Kostia and Tonia question why the cities do not become larger, which Septemius explained of as being able to grow and harvest things within a close range in order to support the city, and avoid bandits. This brings up the question as to if there are any other reasons for the smaller size. Perhaps the convulsions led to trade declining, making some communities unable to support themselves, however the smaller size allowed for better self-sufficiency. The exact size of Marthatown is revealed to be 15,000 with 2-3,000 servitors, and 4,000 boys and men in the garrison. Servitors seemed a lot less common, as the idea of honor and pride and how the majority of men stay in the garrison seems to be dwelt upon quite a bit. However, the numbers show that about a third of the men actually choose to go to Women's country.When the croplands are forced to extend in order to support the population, a new town is set up, however there is only so much available space, and the desolations are making harder to have available croplands.
One interesting thing about the garrison sparked Stavia's interest. The fact that in their freetime, men took up a certain craft, such as basket making or carving, which seem to have been within the realm of women's studies are actually quite common.
Also, it is revealed that all women must study a craft, an art, and a science.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapters 14- pg. 160

Chapter 14 was all about Chernon, and what was going on inside his head. At the time, he was 15.
The idea of honor, at least how the warriors perceive it is played with. The warriors view the women as only worth protecting in order to have sons, as sons were everything to the warriors. Habby points out that "They want you to stay, so they call staying honorable." Using the idea of honor is one way in which the warriors are held together, when everything else seems to be a reason to return to Women's Country.
The warriors view several acts as dishonorable. The worst was returning to Women's country, however making a girl a gypsy is also dishonorable, despite the weird pride that Barten apparently got from it.
Chernon's view of Stavia as more than just an assignment is interesting. He is upset when she leaves for nine years for the medical program, and the hurt that he feels he blames on Stavia. Chernon wanted to get Stavia to get the rules, because without the ordinances, the women have to rely on the men. Chernon also imagined leaving the garrison, and traveling the world honorably with Stavia as his companion.
Corrig, who is a servitor in the time of present day Sstavia is introduced. Everyone views him as strange and crazy, with his ability to know things. It seems as though Corrig too has the long-feel.
The beginning of chapter 15 jumps to a new character, Septemius Bird. He meets Stavia, who is now a 22 year old medic. His nieces Kostia and Tonia, along with his father Bowough are all itinerants, who perform magic tricks. He seems to be a peculiar character, with eccentric views on his life via a metaphor of being a piece of flotsam while flowing through the river. Such thinking apparently arose when the numerous adults in his life all sought his approval.
The relationship between Septemius and Octobra has parallels with that of Chernon and Stavia. Both saw each other in a friendly, family, and slightly romantic light.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapters 12-13

The play seems to be both important to adult Stavia, and her views on Dawid, along with young Stavia. Even at 13, Stavia knew alot about the impact of war on the women.

Morgot always seems calm and composed,  which she reveals to Stavia that is necessary when one is in a position of power. Much like the phrase fake it until you make it, Morgot points out it is more important to seem calm than do something frantically.

The explanation for a seemingly inexplicable war between Susantown and  Marthatown from Morgot is that as there are more food shortages, people as a whole become edgy, and eventually war breaks out.

The ordinances seem to regulate every part of life. Especially when it comes to war, and the interaction between warriors and the women.  Warriors are unable to be attended on by doctors while in battle, yet doctors treat the men if they get diseases from the gypsies, since Morgot says “they choose battle”. It seems to have parallels to the play in that the women are separated in order to not be harmed by the aftermath of any war. The warriors are required to fight at close range in order to see the blood and gore of battle, in order to make the choice of staying a warrior without a lot of responsibilities.
Barten's death came as a real shock. He no longer performed an important function with Myra, as she had already carried his baby. However, the fact that he was speared from the back, which Stavia calmly observes only occurs in two cases 1) Barten was fleeing the battle (making him a coward, or 2) Barten was so unpopular with his own garrison, that he was stabbed from behind.
Donal is the new servitor, who seems to have the function of revealing the inner workings of Women's country. While servitors are not part of the council, servitors can form fraternities which can give the council opinions.
Joshua seems to be using his long-feel more and more, at least more openly around Stavia. He senses the tensions between Chernon and Stavia, and gets Stavia to manipulate Chernon into giving the book back. Also, it is revealed that Habby chose/will choose to go to Women's country in Tabithatown.

The Gate to Women's Country: pg. 105- Chapter 11

Joshua’s true power is displayed in the chapter. Servitors were viewed as feminine and weak, however that is not the case. Morgot and Joshua decide to bait in a group of people, who Joshua can sense as following them. In a  seemingly peaceful society, at least in Women’s country, taking that sort of violent and tactical initiative seems at odds with the domestic calm of life in Marthatown. Stavia is forced to take an oath of never speaking of what occurred while Morgot and Joshua "baited" the men in. Joshua quickly and efficiently kills six of the seven men, using a blade connected to a long chain (perhaps similar to a nunchuck?). Morgot's crueler and calmer side comes out, when she rids the area of all evidence of the bodies, along with hiding the tracks and fires. It is scary that two adult were so easily able to commit murder and leave no incriminating evidence, and they both felt no emotion about the happenings.
Michael seems to have been extremely busy in this reading. First, he continues to coach Chernon into manipulating Stavia. Stavia refused to give Chernon books, which upsets Chernon. Michael tells Chernon to act hurt enough that Stavia feels like she needs to make it up to him. While spending time with Michael, a man, Besset enters the area.
Besset joined a group of gypsies, and his group was going to attack what turns out to have been Joshua, Morgot, and Stavia. Besset was scared that the women have a secret weapon, perhaps form preconvulsion times. Yet, the knife on a chain seems less like the weapon than the long-feel of the servitors, which allows them to anticipate attacks.
The story took a turn when Marthatown enters into a war with the Susantown garrison, despite the recently formed trade agreement. It is unclear whether the garrison exists purely for these type of wars, or if they also perform another function.
Barten will have to fight, since he is actually twenty-five. It seems that centuries of 100 men may sometimes have too many people, and are then moved down a century by age. Barten was in the 24 year old century, however he will still have to fight since he is actually 25. Morgot reveals that Myra is not Michael's daughter, making it more socially acceptable for her and Barten to be together. However, this brings up the question as to who the father is. Michael mentioned that he was the only one that Morgot had carnival with.
I am proud of Stavia at the end when she refused Chernon books. She put the ordinances before her own personal feelings for Chernon, going against what Michael predicted.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapters 9- pg. 104

Details of the Society:

• the play was acted by the Councilwomen of the city
• servitors are clean shaven, warriors wear beards
• some women that leave the town do not join the gypsies, some become wanderers
• servitors know information
• Servitors are able to go to servitor school, and since they start later than the girls, they are allowed to specialize
• deer are bred and released annually after some survived the convulsions
• bleak devastation- lands where nothing grows, and are filled with radiation  made by a some people with "their evil weapons"

Myra develops as a character in the reading. Myra became upset once Marcus lost his resemblance to Barten (Marcus had blue eyes and black hair, but the hair fell out and his eyes turned hazel). Morgot becomes so fed up with Myra and Myra's belief in the opinions of Barten, that Morgot suggests that Myra moves into another house on her own. Myra seems needy and desperate for attention, when it is revealed that Myra participated in the carnival with Barten even when she was six months pregnant, just in the hopes of keeping him to herself. 

Joshua  truly becomes a person in this chapter. He shares his opinion that Myra will not change from her state of rebellion. Joshua shares the reason why he left his garrison and the warriors. Joshua's friend Cornus was killed in battle, and Joshua was able to feel Cornus's pain. He called it "long-feel/time-feel", and said that the warriors who have it tended to become servitors. Joshua was apparently amazing at the war game Battle-Ball, and as a result was treasured and kept safe for the game. However, Joshua found out that nothing changed based on the war games, and after a large battle between two garrisons for no real reason, Joshua made the choice to leave the warriors. Perhaps the thing that Joshua founded out while on messenger duty will play an important role later on in the story.

It seems like the women are currently going through hard times. The council plans to cut allotments (which seem to be rations , but only for those within the city, and not the garrison. The town needs more glass jars, however they lack the power from the watermills in order to do so along with all the other things which need to be produced. First of all, this would make Michael's wisdom on not taking on the city while in a time of hardship seem even wiser. Also, it is revealed that 200 babies were born in Marthatown in a year, yet not enough people died to balance out the population increase, leading to the food shortages.

What kind of men return to women's country? Why? When?

Men return to women's country when they are 15 and choose to, or if the lifestyle of a warrior becomes too much, the man can leave. Some of the men who return are into learning and knowledge, others have the long-feel like Joshua. 

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapter 8

How has this culture accounted for regeneration/children?
The culture accounted for children by hosting a twice yearly celebration, called carnival, in which the warriors and the women that choose to can have sex for basically all month for fun and perhaps in the hopes of future offspring.
What do you think about this solution?
The solution is a bit odd, with your family members knowing that you leave the house and go and just drink and have sex for a month. While a necessary part of the culture in order for them to survive as a community  your parents knowing that you have been planning to go out and lose your virginity to someone is a bit awkward from my point of view.
Why are boys denied books?
Boys are denied books since 1) they are unnecessary to the warrior lifestyle 2) may distract the men 3) the boys may wish to know more, or see the flaws in the warrior lifestyle
Who breaks this injunction and why?
Chernon breaks this injunction after he feels ignorant after talking about genetics, and he expresses his wish to read books about science or other women's studies.
Who helps him get books?
Stavia helps Chernon get books.
What value do women place on education? Why?
Women put a huge value on education, along with their jobs, women are constantly learning and studying. After the convulsions, a lot of books were gone and knowledge lost, so the women made it their mission to make knowledge widespread and common among the women and servitors.

Things I found interesting:
In this chapter, Chernon mentions Vinsas forcing one of the boys, leading to the discussion about gay syndrome, and how for the most part, homosexuality was eradicated from the population. Such an idea helped contribute to this almost The Giver- like utopia, where everything including the small "imperfections" in society is removed. While I understand how homosexuality could cause problems in a society set up the way as the one in the current book, the idea never occurred to me that the women would go out of their way in order to prevent homosexuality.

Taming of the Shrew Act 4 Scene 3 to End

Act 4 Scene 3

• Katherine wants food
• planning on clothes to buy

This scene feels like the first true turning point for Katherine in her "taming". Katherine admits to being hungry and tired, and tries to get Grumio to get her food. Petruchio and Katherine meet with a tailor on some beautiful gowns, however Petruchio pretends to be disappointed with them, in order to manipulate Kate. Katherine begins to lose more and more control as Petruchio threatens not to go to Bianca's wedding and have them go in their current attire.

Act 4 Scene 4

Act 4 Scene 4 overall was long, and boring. There was little to no character development, no humor or interesting verbal wordplay. What occurred could have been summarized within a few lines of dialogue with "Vincentio" being introduced, and then Baptista going to meet with "Lucentio" and "Vincentio" over the dowry.

I felt like the whole scene with just Biondello and Lucentio was unnecessary to the plot, except for Biondello announcing that Lucentio could elope with Bianca, which could have been combined into Act 5 Scene 1. Otherwise, nothing interesting occurred.

Act 4 Scene 5

The humor of the play finally truly appeared in this scene. Katherine truly gives into Petruchio, allowing herself to admit to Petruchio's claim that the sun is actually the moon. When Lucentio's father, Vincentio appears, Katherine plays along with Petruchio's ploy. She greets the old man as if he were a young woman, who she hugs, after which Petruchio points out that Vincentio actually was an old man. All of this was confusing, yet undoubtedly humorous. 

Act 5 Scene 1

This scene speaks a lot about identity, and how it can easily be reaffirmed by those around us. The fake Vincentio was only truly believable after numerous people could attest to his being the real Vincentio, while the real Vincentio was almost arrested for impersonation due to his lack of support.

Act 5 Scene 2
The end of the book seemed rather sudden. The chapter only exists in order to prove that the shrew truly was tamed, and to such an extent that all other women are not as obedient or as loyal as Katherine. I was irritated by the fact that Katherine lost all of her personality and spunk, in exchange for a woman who looks up at everything that a man does. Since Shakespeare wrote this play, as a man in the time, he found obedience to be attractive. The viewpoint of the writer was definitely from a male, as men are portrayed as these fantastic god-like figures who know and do all, along with having wives who should essentially worship them. Basically, I hated the ending. 

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapters 6-7

What role do the servitors play?

• The servitors assist the women in Women’s country. They are placed in a certain household, and are both employee and friend to the women.

How do the women seem to feel about them?

• Usually the women see them as good confidantes and workers, who care for the family (such as carving the napkin rings). Some of the servitors are quite old, and have known the women since they were girls.

How do the other men feel about them?

• The other men look down on the servitors. As Myra recalls how Barten viewed the servitors “men who did come home were cowards and tit-suckers.”

These two chapters revealed more about the society

Men:

• they are not allowed to fight until they are 25, which brings up the question who/wwhat are the men fighting
• most fertile from 18-25

Women:

• some women give up and leave Women’s country, becoming a gypsy
• gypsies seem to be the equivalent of prostitutes
• warrirors from the men’s side visit these women, often giving them infections or diseases
• as a result, Morgot checks and swabs each gypsy, in order to check whether or not they have
• gives clean seal on forhead
• something, and whterh or not it’s curable
• if the disease is curable, the woman goes into quarantine
• if the disease is chronic, a woman cannot return back to women’s coutnry or stay near the city
• some girls become gypsies when a warrior takes them by convincing them
• ex: Tally and Barten

Mentions of the disaster:

• cannot cure cancer, got close once
• unable to treat things that were once curable before the convulsions

Why are these men and women so drawn to an ancient story and model?

• The story is used as a reminder for what would happen should they break the ordinances as a community. The characters are easily identificable. Dawid is compared to Achilles, when he decided to stay with the warriors, Iphighenia was killed, not a hind as is told. Achilles thought that Artemis would save Iphighenia, yet it only ended in her suffering. Also, the warriors look up to Telemachus and Odysseus, while in the play, Odysseus is one of the antagonists in a way, taking Hecuba away with him.

The Gate to Women's Country: Chapters 1-5

At what age are boys sent to Men's country?

• At the age of 5, boys are sent to Men's country, where they stay except for twice a year, when they visit Women's country. Once they turn 15, boys/men either choose to stay in Men's country, or rejoin Women's country.

How does Stavia constantly describe herself?

• Stavia constantly describers herself as having two personalities. Her normal daily self, which freaks out easily at crises, and her other daring, acting self. This part would take over, allowing Stavia to remain calm and make good choices at times of stress.

Why do we see her as both an adult and a girl?

• Stavia is seen as both adult and child due to her childish nature at some moments. Also, the numerous flashbacks from her point of view allow the world of the book to be seen through her eyes as a child.

The Taming of the Shrew: Induction

Induction Scene 1:
What happens:

• sly passes out
• lord tells players to put on play, not to laugh at sly
• lord plans for page to act as wife, persuading sly that he went mad for 7 years as a beggar

My reaction:

So far this definitely seems like a comedy. I mean, this lord is going all out in order to pull a prank on some random drunkard. With beautiful clothing, a play, and even some wearing of drag in order to make it even more fun.  When people think of Shakespeare, they think of proper and stiff characters, not the funny and crazy schemes of someone with too much time on their hands. So far, I am enjoying the story. 

Induction Scene 2:

What happens:

• lord dresses up as one of the servants
• offer paintings, activities, delicacies to sly
• convince him that he was mad for 15 years
• tell him that he talked to people who never existed
• get "wife" (page) to come in
• Sly wants to have some alone time with his wife, however the page quickly covers up by saying that they would wait so he does not go mad again
• Sly and his "wife" go to watch the play

My reaction:

And so begins the next part of the tale, after this frame story. The frame story was actually quite interesting however. It is interesting because the story of the Shrew could either teach Sly a lesson, or be completely random, yet I have no way of knowing.

The Arabian Nights: Reading 12

Tales Read:
Jullanar of the Sea
My reaction:
A recurring theme of this book if for people to be transformed into animals. King Badr alone has become a bird twice.
Also, all that people seem to do is motivated by sex.
The queen turned into a bird just to satisfy her "needs" with another man who she had turned into a man.
I found it interesting how there are many female enchantresses, however the old man is the first magic-practicing man that was in the entire book. At least important ones.
Women only seem to have power through either witchcraft or good looks, while the men go on adventures and fight battles.
While each tale is unique, the themes are a common thread through such a mish-mosh of compiled stories. Character types come back, as do certain quotes on how people should live their life. Whether its on not being curious, or being nice to everyone, these are important both in the tales and in the culture from which these tales developed.

The Arabian Nights: Reading 11

Tales Read:

·         Jullanar of the Sea

My reaction:

I realize that this is an entirely fictitious work of literature, however the fact that someone can fall in love after hearing a description of someone, is just not possible. I actually like Jauhara, because she does something to get back at Badr for her father. While changing a guy into a bird isn’t optimal, I still respect her for not just giving up. She would have killed him too, if the maid had not put him as a bird onto the nicer island. 

The Arabian Nights: Reading 10

Tales Read:

The Story of Jullanar of the Sea

My reaction:

This king has issues. Jullananar refers to hims as a kind and pious man, however the moment he bought her, the king basically ripped her clothes off. At least Jullanar doesn’t have a unibrow like that one girl in the third dervish’s tale. While I understand why Jullanar doesn’t talk (from missing her family), I personally would never be able to be quiet that long. How does the king not realize she was pregnant? When she finally talked, she was at least 6 months pregnant. I feel like the story does not teach important values. What it teaches:

1.      It is okay to fall in love with someone, and then take their virginity an hour later

2.      You can’t buy love, but you can buy a slave to love you

3.      As a king, you can disregard the problems of the kingdom, so long as its is because you are in love with a woman

The readings just end up irritating me more and more. I just want the characters to grow up and solve problems for once, rather than having their fortune handed to them on a silver platter.

The Arabian Nights: Reading 9

Parts Read

• Finished Third Dervish's Tale

This third dervish irritates me. He makes the tale borderline unbearable. Learn some manners, follow your instructions and promises for once. Wait the 40 days. You were fine in waiting 40 days to kill a young boy. Now you can't wait one day to not go into the room. There are chambers of beaches and riches, and instead you have to ride your little pony for fun. Yeah, no wonder the dervish admitted he brought this upon himself. He needs to make better choices as a person. The blind men tell him not to ask, he still asks. Don't go into this room, and you get to be rich, and have a great time with 40 sisters. 40! What more could a guy want? So just wait the time. One thing I didn't understand was why the other blind men refused to let him stay, if all of them did the exact same thing. Where is the fairness in that?

The Arabian Nights: Reading 8

Tales Read:

• The Third Dervish's Tale

My reaction:

Wow. This guy is a real idiot. Reasons why I believe this to be true. 1) He can't follow instructions

2) He obviously does not know to be cautious when dealing with fate

He had one job. To not invoke god. Literally, that was the only thing he couldn't do. Of course he has to pray, and ends up on the little island. Also, after hearing the fate of the boy, why wouldn't he just leave for a day when he was scheduled to kill the boy. Instead of screwing around with knives and crap. Oh, and I almost forgot how stupid it is of him to not listen to instructions yet again. The young men tell him not to ask about their conditions, but as in all tales it seems, they have to be curious. So he decides at the end to figure out about their blindness. The third dervish as a person just irritates me. For a king, he does not have much sense. 

The Arabian Nights: Reading 7

Stories Read:

• (The end of) The Second Dervish's Tale
• The Tale of the Envious and the Envied

My reaction:

What. the. crap. The reading begins with the demon cutting off the woman's arms. First off...wow that is a huge punishment for one night of being faithless...to a demon...who kidnapped her. How does she deserve that? And of course the dervish has to beg for his life to be saved, because he is the guy who left his love to be tortured. So then there is this story that he tells, in the hope of being spared. However, it was a waste of breath, since he was turned into an ape. Of course, his seemingly random talent for chess and calligraphy comes in handy, and the king wishes to appoint this ape vizier. And so of course every influential woman has to be either kidnapped or a witch, which the princess is. She recognizes the prince, turns him back, fights the demon and kills it etc. End result: dead princess, one eye on the dervish, a pissed king. And the dervish goes, shaves his beard, and meets his bros. The end. Wow. Okay. That escalated quickly. It got really confusing with all the shapeshifting in the battle. Especially since they changed the gender whenever the princess took on a male animal form.

The Arabian Nights: Reading 6

Tales Read:

• First Dervish's Tale
• Second dervish's tale

My reaction:

Wow. The First Dervish's Tale was a prime example of things escalating quickly. One day all is fine and dandy and then the next, there is betrayal, incest, and he loses an eye. How can a vizier so easily reach into someones eye, just to gouge it out? Ugh...i'm gagging just thinking about it. Control yourself. Next, onto the incest. That is just weird. I love how the prince's uncle is just explaining how the brother and sister were madly in love. Of course, he is one of the more sane characters in this tale. He actually tried to stop it by keeping the sister away from the brother. But they still ended up sleeping together. Ew. Just no. Who comes up with this sort of thing? And just to improve the story, somehow the vizier managed to take over the city. And of course everyone had died except for the prince. Death toll: 4+? Father, uncle, cousin (male), and cousin's sister...I think that is it.

So far, the Second dervish's tale is not nearly as bad. It of course has a demon stealing a woman way from her marriage. Stereotypical much? This happened to the woman who king Shahrayar ran into. Seriously, these demons must not be very attractive, if they can't even marry once in a while. And for having someone who is technically "stolen goods", demons are really protective of the women. Besides calling them whore and slut of course. My final reflection; i have no idea what is going on with this whole striking her head off thing....so I will analyze that one once I actually understand the situation.

The Arabian Nights: Reading 5

Stories Read:

• Tale of the Enchanted King

My reaction:

I am really starting to question Shahrazad. A lot of the tales include unfaithful  women, who in one case, enchant the king by turning him into stone. That will not teach King Shahrayar to trust women, and spare their lives. The story of the Enchanted King was odd, since a man could survive for so long with such a bad wound. Also, the enchanted king went to kill the black man, yet spared his wife. Which is different than what king Shahazman and Shahrayar did, since they killed the wife. Of course she has to be amazing at magic, and turn a man into stone. Which would get awkward if he needs to poop...since it's only his lower half. Just because her lover was injured, this woman has to transform a whole city into hills and a lake and the people into fish. So it would have been borderline cannibalism if the king had eaten the fish, which the cooks had made.

The Arabian Nights: Reading 4

Stories Read:

• The Tale of King Yunan and the Sage Duban
• The Tale of the Husband and the Parrot
• The Tale of the King's Son and the She-Ghoul
• Continuation of the Tale of the Fisherman and the Demon

My reaction:

It got really confusing. Shahrazad is telling a story about the Merchant (and the Demon), which led into the story of the Fisherman and the Demon, which led to the Fisherman telling the Demon the story of King Yunan. In which King Yunan and his vizier swap the stories about the She-Ghoul and the other one about the Parrot. How does she keep all this straight?

I found the repetition of certain ideas to be really interesting. The line about "I did a good deed but was rewarded with an evil line" Also that "Spare me, and God will spare you; destroy me, and God will destroy me." There is a lot of stuff having to do whether or not someone deserves their reward or punishment.

King Yunan irritated me. First of all, how did the story of the Son and the She-Ghoul help make up his mind about Duban? And how was he so easily persuaded to kill someone who helped him and he wanted to befriend? The whole gross thing with the talking chopped off head, and poisoning the king through a book was gross and odd. Was it necessary for that to happen? Couldn't God have punished the king directly by striking him with lightning? Also, the Fisherman story with the woman coming out of nowhere while the fish were being cooked was very confusing. Hopefully the reading for tomorrow will help clarify everything.

The Arabian Nights: Reading 3

Parts read

• Second Old Man's Tale
• The Story of the Fisherman and the Demon

My reaction:

What is with people and being so jealous that they want to kill people in this book? First the old man's wife wants to kill the mistress. Now the second old man's brothers want to kill him because of his wealth. These are people, and murder is not a legitimate reason to take away their lives. People also have some odd ways of getting revenge. Changing people into animals is apparently a bad fate. Sure its not ideal, but couldn't they just go to jail or something instead of making them into a deer or dog. Third of all, what are demons exactly? There was the nice she-demon of god but then there are demons so bad that they are in a jar for 800 years. Alot of levels into the story happened by the end of the Fisherman and the Demon. Shahrazad, the old man telling the Demon, the  Fisherman, who is going to start telling a story. Wow. That is very confusing.

The Arabian Nights: Reading 2

Stories Read:

• Merchant and His Wife
• Merchant and the Demon
• First Old Man's Tale

My reaction:

In the Merchant and His Wife, the merchant puts his wife in her place by beating her, and the people celebrate afterwards. What sort of lesson does this teach? Gender inequality and domestic abuse, that is what it is. 

The Merchant and the Demon was only interesting in the fact that it set up another frame story, with the old man within the story telling their life tales, in perhaps the hope of saving the merchant's life.

The old man tells us his odd tale with his mistress and son becoming cows, and his wife being slaughtered. However, his wife ends up becoming a deer. Like its an everyday sort of occurence. And of course the woman is to blame, by being jealous. No wonder, because she was happily married and the old man decides to have a mistress, who manages to have a child. I understand where she is coming from, especially when childbearing was basically really important in that culture.

The Arabian Nights: Reading 1

Sections read:

• Foreword
• Prologue
• The Tale of the Ox and the Donkey

Major Plot points

• Shahzaman finds wife cheating, and kills her
• Shahzaman sees Shahrayar's wife cheating with Mas'ud
• Shahzaman and Shahrayar plot to catch the wife
• the brothers decide to roam the world in the hopes of finding someone with worse luck
• Black demon
• woman sleeps with 100 men despite being locked in a box in an ocean
• Shahayar marries a new girl every night, and kills her in the morning
• Shahrazad wants to end the killing by having her father (the vizier) let her marry Shaharyar
• ox beaten down
• donkey tells the ox to pretend to be ill
• the merchant understood, and has the donkey used instead of the ox
• the donkey wishes to be back the way it was

My reaction

These characters are crazy. Finding your wife to be cheating on you does not mean you can kill her. Yes, it is not a positive thing. However, this is all a very gender biased way of looking at women. Just because some women choose not to be faithful, does not mean that all women are cunning and cheating. Men in the story can just go and have concubines, screw around a bit, and they are not killed. And just because you are angry at your one wife does not give you the right to marry a new girl every night, and then kill them in the morning. First of all, that is wasteful. Of your resources, your subjects, your future generations will suffer. No body even bothers to tell the king to chill, instead they just let him kill every girl in the area. What about women's rights and not wanting to be married off to their death, just because they might not stay faithful to their husband of one night. The characters in the story just really are irritating. They only think of themselves, not of the common people and how they are destroying their kingdom. Also, the king must really be a sex addict if he needs to sleep with a new woman each night. I realize that all of the girls are supposed to be virgins, but there has to be a serious risk of getting STDs, especially that one woman who slept with 100 men. She needs to control herself. 

A Separate Peace: Chapter 13

If I were the author, I would have perhaps left out this chapter. I personally did not find it necessary to the plot, although it provides some reflection on how Finny's death changed Gene, and the war changed his friends. The whole part with Brinker's father wanting to be young to be in the war was just pitiful. I felt bad for that man who felt that someone's whole worth and existence depended on their role in such slaughter. The whole line where Gene said he never killed anyone in the war, and he never hated the enemy was because he killed his enemy at school. He never points out exactly who his enemy was, whether it was the darkness in him or Finny. Gene talks about how Finny was the best because the worst never game out in him because he never had an enemy, but Gene's enemy was not brought on by the war but rather Gene conquered it before. I was not a fan of this part, because while it makes the reader think, I felt that it really detracted from the plot.

A Separate Peace: Chapter 12

Important Plot Points:

• Finny has re-broken leg
• Gene tries to sneak in and talk to him
• Finny goes to have leg set
• Finny dies

My reaction:

NO!!!!!! Why? Why is this necessary to the plot. We were one chapter away from finding happiness. It really made me sad. Finny admitted he applied to a bunch of military branches, but they all rejected him. Which is why he refused to believe there was a war. And even though Finny knows the truth about Gene, he still forgives him. It would have been a happy and nice resolution. But no. Finny has to die while having his leg set, and the doctor completely did not seem to carry about Finny as a person. Instead he just referred to the war, and the coming of more deaths. The worst passage of all to read was about how Gene felt like attending Finny's funeral was like attending his own. Gene was literally crazy in love for Finny, wanting to be him and thinking about Finny all the time, and his one true love dies through his fault. No. It's not okay for this to be the second to last chapter of the book. 

A Separate Peace: Chapter 11

Important plot points:

• Finny stops believing in his conspiracy
• Gene is put "on trial"
• Finny falls down the stairs

My reactions

1) What is wrong with Brinker?

Honestly, why does he constantly have to push Gene? First he hints to Gene that Gene is to blame. And then for some reason he finds it necessary to hold that trial. What sort of friend does that? Why didn't he just let it be? Brinker gains nothing by holding the trial. All it does is hurt people who he is friendly with.

2) Leper's return left me confused

How would he be allowed to return, if he is so crazy. First off, he deserted the army, so it would be unacceptable for Devon to accept Leper to return. Also, why would his mother allow him to leave? 

3) Irritation at the author

Why did he have to make Finny fall? Why can't Gene have been the one? Honestly, Finny's life already sucks enough. It is not necessary for him to fall again.

4) Anger at Gene

This kid seriously has some problems with telling the truth. He lied so many times during the "trial" and then there was that whole thing about him being from the South, which he had just said he had grown up from. But then only hours later, he goes around lying.

A Separate Peace: Chapter 10

I found the reading to be confusing, and very dark considering the light attitude of the past chapter. While there weren't any particularly important moments for the plot in this chapter, the development of Leper as a character was very interesting. It was revealed that Leper ran away/ deserted the army, as they were going to give him a Section Eight. Section Eights are worse than dishonorable discharges, mean that the person can never get a job, and are only given to those who are "psycho". Leper's lack of sanity is exhibited by his hallucinations, and complete personality change. Leper accuses Gene of knocking Finny out of the tree.
Gene is not exactly the best under pressure and first knocks Leper over, and later leaves Leper alone while the two were on a walk.

A Separate Peace: Chapter 9

I enjoyed this reading, even if it got confusing at times.
The truly persuasive nature of Finny is shown when Gene too begins to believe in peace. While Gene does not believe in Finny's crazy theory, he notices how distanced he is from the war.

The two important things of the chapter

• Leper leaves to join the army.
• Finny holds the Winter Carnival

The chapter ends with the boys going crazy with joy during the Winter Carnival, and Gene doing extremely well physically. When a telegram from Leper arrives asking Gene to help Leper, as Leper has "escaped". Honestly, I found this really scary and dark. What would cause Leper to get so desperate as to "escape" the military after he had so willingly joined.

A Separate Peace: Chapter 8

The chapter opens up with Phineas and Gene beginning their first conversation since Finny came back. The two go to bed, and when they wake up, Brinker Hadley comes into their room. Brinker asks Gene if he is going to enlist, when he notices Finny. Brinker makes a reference to his joke about Gene trying to get rid of Finny. Gene interupts with explaining that he was going to enlist. And then the cutest thing happened. Finny was shocked and wanted Gene to stay. So Gene being the good friend he is, makes his choice to stay.
Not going to lie, I was really happy about this. First off, Gene and Finny make the cutest couple...even if they do not know they are gay yet. Secondly, Gene needs Finny to keep his life exciting and worth living.
Later on in the day, when Finny and Gene visit the gym, Finny tells Gene that he wanted to be in the Olympics. Finny decides the train Gene for the 1944 Olympics. One day Gene is running, and he gets his rhythm and does much better. Mr. Ludsbury comes out and tells the boys that exercise is meant to be used to get ready for the war, not the Olympics. Again, the idea of the war comes up. An important part of the war is the fact that Finny refuses to believe in its occurence. Finny has some crazy idea that it was created as a way to control the young people of America. Since he has that magnetic of a personality, Gene begins to believe it. While I understand where  Finny is coming from, I do not see how it fits in with his suffering and personality. Yes, he likes to break rules, but he does not seem like one for large scale conspiracy theories.

A Separate Peace: Chapter 7

Chapter 7 started with Gene mentioning that his "baptism" took place in the river with Quakenbush. I found it funny because there was nothing religious about the experience, he had been fighting and fell in, however its really a point of true change between the summer and the winter. Brinker Hadley came and visited Gene, and joked that Gene "fixed" the problem of sharing a room by causing Finny's injury.
Of course, Gene is socially awkward and filled with guit, and the pair go down to the Butt Room. One line in particular really tied the book to the story of Cain and Abel. Talking about Finny "Doing away with his roommate....Rankest treachery...Practically fraticide." Which is the kill of one's brother. Some of the boys theorized that Gene pushed Finny off the branch, before Gene left the Butt Room.
Gene reflects on the changes of the war, which include the students working to pick up apples since the harvesters had gone into the army. On a later assignment, the boys helped clear the train tracks, while Leper went skiing to look for a beaver dam. A troop train passed through the tracks, which led to Brinker deciding he was going to enlist. Gene too contemplates the idea, until he walks in on a returned Finny. Things once again seem to be building up to a point, which is good because the reading is more interesting. It seems that enlisting and staying with Finny will be a hard decision for Gene to make.

A Separate Peace: Chapter 6

After the events of the past couple of chapters, the beginning was well...boring.
Gene reflected on the differences between summer Devon and winter Devon. He seems to get really sentimental with all these strange images brought to mind about gypsy summer with music and such.
Cliff Quakenbush enters the picture, when the two get in a fight once Gene takes a job that normally disabled boys take. Gene hits Quakenbush, and the two fall into the river. Gene initially claims he fought it for Finny, yet realizes it was more for himself.
Gene seems to have been fond of summer term when he feels he should have "taken advantage of the situation", however he had earlier referred to it as a time of hate and darkness. The difference in how he views it seems to be centered around Finny's falling and the end of their rivalry.
Finny seems to refuse to believe Gene tried to hurt him, and Finny and Gene talk over the phone. Finny gets irritated with Gene for him not participating in sports, and when Finny tells Gene to play them for him (finny), Gene says "this must have been my purpose form the first: to become a part of Phineas." Literally the creepiest sentence of the chapters if not the book. Sort of like his whole trying on Finny's clothes phase. Just weird. Who does that even?

A Separate Peace: Chapter 5

Chapter 5 was hard to read. Thankfully, Gene finally seems to actually feel some real emotion other than hatred. It seemed at bit crazy when Gene tries on Finny's clothes, and feels like he is Finny. I don't understand how that advanced the story at all or added depth to his character other than the fact that it officially makes this boy delusional. I found it interested how Gene only truly feels regret when it is established that Finny will no longer be able to play sports. Sure he could have died, and his legs are shattered, but the fact that you stripped him of his biggest talent, in which so much of his personality and identity come from, and now he cries.
Gene finally comes around to telling Finny, an entire month later. As he leaves, Gene seems to get all melodramatic when he promises that he wont live by the rules "and that was the most false thing, the biggest lie of all." While compared to the other problems and lies, this is minor, this is the one which is the worst to Gene. Maybe because it truly separates his world with Finny from how he acts without his friend.

A Separate Peace: Chapter 4

I felt like everything snowballed very quickly in this chapter. The confusing and fast series of events occurs.
1. Gene flunks his test
2. Gene goes crazy.
When I say crazy, I mean paranoid and just really really seeing the world differently from the way it is.
He decides that Finny wants to wreck his studies, and truly begins to hate Finny. Gene feels that since they are equal in their different talents, Finny is jealous and therefore created Blitzball and the Super Suicide Society. It gets to be that Gene is so defensive, that he begins to analyze his other rivals (Chet Douglass, the other academic rival).
Gene describes how he was "thoughtlessly slipping back into affection for him again." as if it is a mistake, an error on his part to once again love his best friend Finny.
3. Gene says no
For once, when Finny proposes that Gene attends a Society meeting, Gene exclaims that he has to study. Finny is surprised, and Gene realized that Finny thought that Gene's academic success came the same way sports came to Finny. Gene realizes that there never could have been a rivalry between Gene and Finny, as Finny was not jealous.
4. The jump
Finny and Gene decide to jump at the same time, however Gene jounces the limb.
Finny falls, and Gene fearlessly jumps into the river.
The way that Gene jounces the limb is so cold, calculated and emotionless, especially when he so easily jumps into the river just after causing his friend to fall.
The chapter was fast paced, interesting, confusing, and ultimately disturbing.
The parallels between the bible passage of Cain and Abel and A Separate Peace are shown in the jealousy, which results in harm of the "better" person.

A Separate Peace: Chapter 3

Chapter Three only supported evidence to make everyone love Finny.
Finny and Gene really begin the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session. The club met nightly, and despite Gene's wish against jumping off the tree, he continues to do so daily. He explains that he could have chosen to not attend the meetings, however at the time he did not feel able to. I understand that feeling where just saying no seems so wrong, so crazy that I would never consider it to be an option.
Finny creates blitzball, which grows to be extremely popular. If put in that situation, most likely I would have become very irritated with the sudden changing of rules.

I love the writing style of the book. It matches my sort of thought process. There is the story with branching off moments of personal reflection. Such as when future Gene talks about what moment he lives in forever, with the color of the time being green and the way the world is.

As a swimmer, I found Finny's breaking of the school swimming record to be interesting. It is very hard to break a record, however Finny  only takes personal pride in his accomplishment. Finny decides that he does not want anyone else to know. Gene is confused, but I understand Finny's side of the story. He is used to being great at sports, and breaking that record was a moment to test himself.

The chapter ends with Gene and Finny breaking the rules to go to the beach for the afternoon. It is hard to imagine just leaving school and riding my bike to have a day in the sun. The memory was only really happy for Finny, and Gene felt negative towards the whole thing. It would be one of those memories in ones friendship which would be unforgettable. And Finny feels the same way when he tells Gene that he is his best friend. I feel sorry for Finny because Gene has already become jealous enough that he can not admit to reciprocating his feelings.

A Separate Peace: Chapter 2

Chapter 2 continues to develop the characters of Finny and Gene.
Finny is shown as persuasive and adept at conversation. There are numerous instances when Finny could have been in trouble, yet manages to escape with his speaking ability. One teacher comes because of the skipped dinner, and the headmaster Mr. Patch-Withers almost gets angry at Finny's use of a Devon tie as a belt. However, both times Finny manages not only to escape punishment, but win over the teachers. A similar situation occurs when Finny wears a pink shirt that no one else would wear for fear of being made fun of, however Finny uses it as a sign of pride for the United States.
Besides that, the two boys create the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session by jumping off the tree for a second time. In a tense, and scary moment, Gene almost falls, but Finny grabs  him. At the very end of the chapter, Gene realizes if he had fallen without Finny, he would have been seriously hurt, if not have killed.
The reading was funny, interesting, intense all within one seemingly random chapter.

A Separate Peace: Chapter 1

From the first page, I found the book to be extremely interesting. The descriptions of the place simultaneously allow me an accurate mental image with sensations, sights, perspectives, sounds, and even smells, while not over describing so I am overwhelmed. While nothing of importance has happened yet, the main character is introduced to us (Gene). He visits his old school, and reflects on how so very little has changed since he left. The observations he makes on the calm harmony of the place is mentioned to be something he wishes in himself. There is a very fast, almost disorienting time switch back to his time at Devon. Gene's friend Phineas is introduced as an athletic, confident daredevil when he is the youngest person to jump off the tree into the river. Gene is then pressured into jumping after Phineas, however Gene refuses Phineas' teasing. The chapter ends with the two boys wrestling, missing dinner, and going to bed.
Most of the time, by this point, I would have found the book to be boring and uneventful, however the way it is written is engaging and foreshadows to future conflict.

The Bible: Exodus Chapters 9-15

The reading was long, confusing, and repetitive. I personally have preferred all the other books we read this year. While content wise, the bible is actually quite interesting with the 10 plagues, murder, and miracles, the way it is written makes it dull. In chapter 9, God brought boils and hail upon the Egyptians. Next were locusts,  darkness, and the death of the firstborn  God told the Israelite to put the blood of a lamb upon their doors, so their firstborn sons would not die. The Israelites were finally allowed to leave, and their bread was unleavened. As a result, God said that every year for a week, unleavened bread will be eaten. God leads the Israelites through the land as a pillar of clouds/ fire, and they end up right next to the Red Sea. As he has done throughout the tale, God once again hardens Pharaoh's heart, and the Egyptians give chase. As they reach the Israelites, God parts the Red Sea, and the Israelites escape. When the Egyptians attempt to follow, they are swallowed up by the sea. The reading ends with the Israelites getting water from trees in the middle of a desert, which seemed random. The need for the hundreds of deaths by drowning seems unnecessary, and God was hardening the Pharaoh's heart the entire time. It was irritating cause it felt like a waste of resources in repeatedly killing livestock and crops of the Egyptians, and later on, the people of Egypt.

The Bible: Exodus Chapters 1-8

Things I found interesting:
I found Moses' lack of speaking ability to be interesting, since Aaron did most of the work. Moses almost acts as a telephone, telling Aaron the messages from god, but Aaron talks and often performs the miracle by moving the staff over the waters and such.
Also, the fact that Moses is a murderer, yet he is never punished by God is interesting. Moses did have a reason, but just because he ran away does not make him better, or worthy of saving the Israelites.
Things I found confusing:
Everything was repetitive, and chapter 6 seemed to only cover Moses being worried. The language at some points was very difficult to understand.

The Bible: Genesis Chapter 4

In Chapter 4, Eve has Cain. And Cain gets jealous of his brother Abel, and kills him. I was disturbed by the absolute lack of emotion and detail in Abel's death. All it says that in the field, Cain killed Abel. God punishes Cain in an odd way, he makes Cain a fugitive who cannot use the earth to farm (maybe?). Cain says he will be killed, however the birth of more humans was never discussed. Also, the reason as to why God would make it so that whoever kills Cain has vengeance sevenfold is weird. If Cain were to be killed, how are they killed sevenfold? The reading was boring, confusing, and left much to the imagination.

The Bible- Genesis Garden of Eden Chapters 1-3

The bible begins with God creating the earth and the things which are found on it. The way in which it was written is very different from the way other works of literature are written. While creating the things the format starts as "And God..." and many phrases are repeated when referring to that which he makes, and "it was good" is used to describe everything. The way that the characters speak is very different with an indirect use of nouns such as "man" instead of Adam and when God punishes Adam and Eve, the punishments seem unfair and indirectly described. Eve has to be ruled by Adam and have painful childbirth, and the pair is kicked out of Eden because God does not want them to live forever. That which is written in the three chapters could have been summarized much faster. First, god creates stuff (including man), God tells Adam not to eat the fruit, makes Eve, and the two eat the fruit and recieve their punishments.