Bless me Ultima #20 Ch.22 Prt. 2

I loved the ending even though Ultima and her owl died.

So, I came to the conclusion that Ultimas Owl was her spirit, When Tenorios third daughter died she confessed to him that the only way to kill Ultima was to kill her owl, and he did. He later died as well. My favorite words that Tony told Ultima was "Bless me Ultima", he said that to her because he did not want her to die.

This book symbolized the clashing of religion, the different point of views of people, and how everyone should be respected.

Bless me Ultima #19 Ch.22 Prt. 1

So I decided to divide this chapter into two because it is TOO LONG!

Tony and his dad speak about religion, Tony asks if new religions can be made and his father tells him something very important, that there are much more religions than the Catholic Church, and that he can create his own religion if he wants.

This part is very crucial to the book, because his father is answering his questions and confusions about what God to believe in, I can relate to his uncertainty sometimes in that i wish God could speak to me, just like a ton of people say he speaks to them.

What i liked about this section is that Tony gets to go with his uncles the LUNAS, and work the fields. He also goes there to see if he is really meant to be a priest.

Bless me Ultima #18 Ch.21

This has got to be the saddest chapters of them all, as i was re-reading it, i couldn't help but let out a sigh of sorrow=[...Florence the kid that is the same age as Tony was swimming in a lake with Horse and some other kids from school, Florence decides to dive, he never came back up and when he did he was already swollen and dead.

What i found interesting about this is because Tony was about to tell Florence the secret of the Golden Carp, as he's looking for him, he witnesses his death, because he came at the precise moment when he flouted up. This is the third death Tony witnesses, the first being when Lupito got shot in front of his eyes, then Narcisco and now Florence. I find it unfair that a child so young can witness such horendouse things in a short period of time.

What i also found interesting about Florence's death is that he did not believe in God, maybe God took his life away from him because he did not believe in him, or maybe the Golden Carp and the mermaid took them away, because right when Tony is going to tell him about the Golden Carp, it turns out he's dead!

Bless me Ultima #17 Ch.20

In this Chapter Tenorios second daughter is in her death bed. She has already put a curse on Tellez, another man that has found out about the sisters witch craft. I found this story very interesting as well because this time its spirits gone insane that are haunting the Tellez family. Tellez asks Ultima to go to his house in the town of Las Aguas Negras which used to be the homes of the comanche Indians. Underneath the house that Tellez lives in there was three corpses buried, they were not given confession when they died and they had a brutal death, so Tenorios daughters took advantage of that and awoke them from death. Now thats why crazy things are going on in Tellez's house. Ultima goes and puts them to rest. Later on the news spreads that Tenorios second daughter has died.

This is important in the book because it is Tenorios second daughter that dies, so his revenge is growing more and more. At this point he wants to kill Ultima no matter what.

Bless me Ultima #16 Ch.19

Tony finally does his First Communion. I found it funny when Tony was in line, and horse was in front, he had taken the body of christ, Tony asked Horse what he felt and Horse said he was hungry.

Then it was Tony's turn to take the body of christ and he had this whole mind set that God would finally talk to him and help him solve all of his problems but instead he heard nothing, he felt horrible because he was waiting for something that was never going to happen.

Bless me Ultima #15 Ch.18

In this Chapter, Tony is about to do his first communion, it is Ash Wednesday a day when you get ashes rubbed in your forehead. Tony and his friends decide to play the game of Confession.

This game is horrible because the little kids start telling their sins to Tony and how they have witnessed some nasty things.

I thought it was hilarious when the character of Horse confessed that he made a whole and that he could see the girls going to the bathrooms, he's a sick kid.

They then call up Florence up for confession, and he tells them he has no sins, the kids want Tony to punish him, but Tony refuses so the kids end up punching and beating up Tony.

I love how Tony stood up for his friend, what a real priest would do.

Bless me Ultima #14 Ch.16-17

Chapter 16 is short, but it's just Tony going to is first communion class, there he meets a kid named Florence. I was shocked when i read that Florence did not believe in God. The town of Las Pasturas is extremely religious and if anyone finds out that Florence doesnt believe in God, then the towns people will hang him.

Chapter 17 is when it gets more intense because Tony is so into his first communion and especially because he gets to receive god in his soul, so he does confession and gets ready to do his first communion.

This is a very important part in the book because Tony is going to find out for himself if God does really speak to people.

Bless me Ultima #13 Ch.15

In Chapter 15, Eugene, and Leon come back. They come back running away from the law, I didn't like how they just came and then decided to leave, this time taking Andrew with them. This again shattered their dads dream to move to California.

The reason why i think Andrew left with his brothers this time is because he must have felt guilt for not helping Narcisco out when he needed it.

Now Tony is the only man in the house and he is stuck with the two worlds of his parents. His mom is still stuck with idea of making him into a priest, so that he could be the pride and joy of his Luna family.

Bless me Ultima #12 Ch.13-14

Chapter 13 was short, all it mentioned was the burial of Tenorios daughter, they had to throw sulfuric acid instead of holy water which i thought was crual, but she deserved it.

Chapter 14 is the climax of the book. Narcisco won't let Tenorio get Ultima, and when he finds out that Tenorio has a plan to kill her he goes to tell Andrew, What Tenorio doesnt know is that Tony is following him, so he follows him to Rosies, not knowing why he'd be going to that hor house. He is surprised when he hears Narcisco yelling the name of his brother to get out and likewise Andrew comes out of the house with a half naked girl. Since Narcisco is a drunk, Andrew did not believe him and he slammed the door in his face.

This was very important in the story because it was proven to Tony that his brother is a sinner, and in the story of the Golden Carp, the more sinners the faster the whole town will drown.

So while Narcisco is on his way to warn Ultima, Tenorio comes out of nowhere and shoots Narcisco twice, killing him cowardly.

This is Tonys second time witnessing a death, Tenorio sees Tony and points and shoots, but no bullet comes out, he curses Ultimas owl, because she is his protector. Narcisco calls Tony and begs him to pray for him so he could go to heaven, Tony having expierience with Ultima prays for him and Narcisco dies...=[...

This is the climax to the book because it is the first time Tenorio kills someone that gets in his way. If he has killed once he will do it again, so he is a murder on the loose and thats not good. The book is getting so freaking excited at this point!

Bless me Ultima #11 Ch.12

This Chapter is were the rising actions is close to the climax. One of tenorios daughters is to the point of death so he tells all of the town that Ultima is a witch. So the whole town goes and hunts down Ultima at Tony's house. Tony's mother and father don't let anyone come close to Ultima, so in order for the people to believe that Ultima is not a witch she has to pass the witch test. This test meant for her having to go into a house with a holy cross in the door. She passes the test and the people rebel against Tenorio. Ultimas owl then attacks Tenorio and makes him lose his eye, he seeks vengeance and will do anything to kill Ultima at this point because he just got the news that his daughter is dead and since the whole town knows she is a witch she cannot be buried in holy ground and can't have mass at church.

Anaya is clever in his system with writing his stories, I love how he leaves the reader wanting to read more and more. That is why when i first read this book i couldn't put it down until i finished it. The fact that Tenorio led a mob to kill Ultima and then the mob turned against him really kept me entertained and relievd that Anaya chose to keep Ultima alive for this part of the book.

Bless me Ultima #10 Ch.11

I loved this chapter, It is the first time that Tony gets to meet the Golden Carp. Since Samuel is gone, Cico takes him to see it, since it only comes once a month. When Tony first sees him he is amazed on how big and shiny its golden scales are. Cico tells him that only certain people can see the Golden Carp and that you have to be the chosen one in order to know about him, The golden carp chooses who he wants to be the chosen one. Cico then tells Tony the story of the mermaid and how she is hidden deep beneath the ocenas surface.

- What i found most interesting is when Tony mentions that God's power failed to cure Lucas sickness but Ultima power did, he is confused as to who to believe in, God, Ultimas healing powers, or the Golden Carp. I find this interesting because Tony is young and the whole world seems to be unfolding in front of him, this reminds me of myself, when i found out that babies come from girls and not from birds. So i could definitely relate with Tony.

-Then Cico goes on to tell Tony about the secret of the Town of Las Pasturas, it is all surrounded with water and if the people from the town keep on sinning they will all drown just like the people who ate the carp did! So again this is another thing that Tony has to worry about.

Bless me Ultima #9 Ch.10

Chapter 10 is were the rising action starts to build, so Tony's mother receives the unfortunate news that his brother Lucas had been bewitched, and that it was the work of a bruja (witch). he was so sick that he was now on his death bed. They said that he witnessed the witches dancing around a ball of fire and that to silence him they chose to curse him, a curse that caused him to have his mouth clamped shut, preventing him from eating or talking. Tony's mom pleaded to Ultima to help her brother out and she said yes. She told Tony to come with her.

Ultima then tells them that it was the work of Tenorios daughters, they are known as the three brujas who work at a hair salon. They fulfilled their curse one day when Lucas went to cut his hair at their salon, they saved a piece of his hair and with that the potion was complete. I found it so interesting how Anaya tells his stories, they are so interesting and make so much sense that i have memorized them. Anyways back to the story, Ultima goes to visit Tenorio at his house, she tells him to tell her daughters to take the curse off of Lucas, he laughs at her and tells her shes crazy. Ultima threates him with the life of his daughters, he laughs again and throws her out of his store.

Ultima then goes to the house in which Lucas is in, he is fragile. She gives him a whole lot of potions until he throws up a ball of hair, the hair that the three sisters used to curse him. It takes three days to take this curse off, and Lucas is saved. Ultima puts a curse on the three sisters. Since i already read the book I know that the three sisters will die because of the curse that Ultima placed on them.

Bless me Ultima #8 Ch. 9

Chapter nine starts off with Tony having a memory of his brothers going into Rosies, which is pretty much a whore house. He pleads for them not to go in but they do. He wakes up terrified to the thought of his brothers becoming sinners. I didn't really like the first few pages of this book because Eugene and leon leave. By doing this they leave their mom and dad heartbroken, Andrew can't believe they left so soon. Andrew is the only one who stayed and he decides to take Tony to school, again the Vitamin kid shows up and challenges them to a race, they lose of course. Then when Tony get's out of school, he meets up with Samuel. They mentioned that fishing for carp is bad luck. He told Tony the story of Jason's Indian and how he told Samuels father a story about carp and why it is forbidden to eat them. I found this story very interesting, I put it in my own words like this:

- So he mentions that the carp were put in the river and were not to be eaten, one day the world flooded and the only thing to eat was the carp so the people ate it, the gods got mad and cursed the people, they were about to kill all the people for what they did, but then there was one god that stood up for them, so the gods gave the people a second chance and instead turned them all into carp. The god that saved the people is known as the Golden Carp, he still roams the rivers. I found this passage interesting because Tony is a Catholic and by believing in this new god he is breaking one of Gods amendments, You shall not have any gods before me. Tony is confused and does not know who to believe.

Bless me Ultima #7 Chapter 7-8

Chapter 7 starts off by talking about the war being over, this means that Tony's three brothers will soon be coming back from the war, and likewise they come back. Their names are Leon, Eugene and Andrew. At the end of this chapter Tony says that his brothers have came back and that now his household is complete. What i found interesting about this chapter is how Tony mentions that his brothers came back completely different people, they are his dads most prized possesion because they helped build the house they are in, and now he was going to be able to have them home again.

Chapter eight, "I sensed their restlessness, and i began to understand why the blood of spring is called the bad blood. It was bad not because it brought growth, that was good, but because it raised from dark interiors the restless wild urges that lay sleeping all winter. It revealed hidden desires to the light of the new warm sun" Pg. 65. He is talking about his three brothers, and how the war has affected their sleep. I find it very interesting how Anaya mentions war a lot, especially the after math of war and what it does to people. Tony's father has a dream to move to California with his family, already Eugene and Leon are starting to argue with their father saying they need to go their own path! I feel bad for the dad because his sons have just came back from a near death experience and they now want to leave again. This reminds me of my dad and his dad because when my dad used to live in Mexico, he was the only one who helped out his dad, so when he chose to come to the US, it devastated his father,

Bless Me Ultima #6

It's Tonys first day of school! This is Chapter six and what I loved about this chapter is that Anaya describes Tony's emotions just like mine in my first day of school. As Tony is walking to school, the owl is looking after him, singing him a song. This is significant in that owls are supposed to be nocturnal. The Vitamin Kid always races everyone, and Tony was challenged to a race and he lost because this kid was just to fast. The Vitamin Kid plays a major role throughout the book. At the end of the chapter is when i could relate to Tony, he says that when at school, he wanted to run away, to hide and to never come back. But that he could not because he did not want to shame his parents.

Bless Me Ultima #5

In Chapter five, Tony goes to visit his mom's side of the family; The Lunas. That side of his family lives in a town called El Puerto. What I found interesting from reading this passage for my second time is at the end of the chapter, when Tony talks about the Witches dancing around a ball of fire, now I understand why Anaya chose to put that there, it foreshadows the events that are about to take place.

Bless Me Ultima #4

Chapter four is all about Ultima and Tony getting to know each other. Something that I underlined and found interesting was Ultimas great connection with Tony. They would go to the mountains together and observe plants. " For Ultima, even the plants had a spirit, and before I dug she made me speak to the plant and tell it why we pulled it from its home in the earth" Pg. 39. Ultima is teaching Tony her ways as a curandera. What I liked the most about this chapter was how Ultima said that plants have spirits, and i made the comparison of plants to human beings because we to have spirits.

Bless Me Ultima #3

Chapter three starts with, "The men of the llano were men of the sun", I took it as "Men of the llano" meaning farmers, and "The sun" symbolizing how they are hardworkers, this talking about the Marez. Then he makes another comparison. " The men of the farms along the river were the men of the moon", This referring to The Lunas in that the river nourishes their plantations at night when the moon is out. One thing that i forgot to add about Chapter one was Lupitos death, This is crucial throughout the book becauses it is the first murder that Tony and Ultimas owl witnesess. Lupito is a veteran from war, and he has gone insane, so one day he went to a cafe and shot one of the most loved sherrifs from the town of Guadalupe in the head. So this caused the residents to kill him. This chapter is all about Lupitos funeral. I didn't like how they had to kill him, they should of put him in jail, death should never be an option.=[... I started crying when i read this the first time because I wasn't expecting him to die!

Hamlet essay

Worked on my essay from 1-2:30! So far so good!


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Bless Me Ultima #2

So i finished the book, I got to excited, and so i decided to reread it! I left of from my first blog, talking about the distinction between Tony's family; The Marez and The Lunas. These two families are very conflictive throughout the book, The Marez meaning ocean and Luna meaning moon, two very different things. In chapter one of the book Ultima comes to live with Tony and his family, she is a curandera, the best of her kind. She is living in an isolated pueblito known as Las Pasturas, Tony's mom and dad decide to let her stay at their home, honoring her with the name of "LA GRANDE", The Great one in english. Ultima and her owl play a major role throughout the book. Ultima helped Tony's mom with all of her child births, Tony's birth being special in that he was to become a Luna. One thing that I found really interesting from this second time in reading the book is that when Tony has a flashback about his birth, Both the Lunas and Marez are present, they argue whether Tony will be one of either of them, they then start talking about the blood from the after birth, the Marez wanted to burn them and let the wind take them because they feel man should not be tied to earth but freed from it. The Lunas on the other hand wanted to bury the remains of the afterbirth in their fields to renew their fertility and make him one of them.

BLESSS ME ULTIMA, I am officially engaged!!!

I chose Bless Me, Ultima not only because the author has the same last name as i do....(=]) but because i came upon the summary and it seemed perfect, exactly what i was looking for. I wanted a book with adventure and in this book there is a lot of death and revenge that is taking place so that really had me hooked already! I can also relate to this book in many ways, coming from a Mexican background, brujeria is common so i wanted to see what Anaya had to say about it. Also this book is really heavy on religion, so that made it that much more interesting!!! I already started reading it, and so far i love it! This is a must read for just about anyone!=]

Bless Me, Ultima #1

The book starts off with a boy named Tony remembering the first day Ultima came into his families life, he also talks about some sheriffs death. I'm confused in what time period this takes place in because Tony's mom wishes he becomes a priest when he grows up, so I'm guessing it was a while ago but not sure when. He start talking about his parents last names, Lunas and the Marez. luna coming from his mother and Marez from his father/ Marez in spanish means ocean and he says that The Marez are crazy like the ocean and that the Lunas from his moms side are calm just like the moon up above. Im interested to learn about these two families, and their clashing beliefs.

Kite runner

"People say that eyes are Windows to the soul" I really like how the author put this together. When i read this i instantly thought about how every single thing that we see can affect how we think of things. If we didnt have eyes how could we have an imaginTion, wed be empty inside. Wed have feelings but not know why. This passage really made me think about how important our eyes aré to us.


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Location:Mission St,San Francisco,United States

The Kite Runner #1

Amir the main character seems very suspicious. He left me wondering about what exactly went on in that mysterious year of 1975. So far he doesnt give any clues. The other thing that left me puzzeled as well was when he started talking about the kites, and how they reminded him of his friend Hassan becasuse of his lip. What does a kite have to do with his friends lip? Maybe it could symbolize his friend Hassans freedom. This passage left me wondering.

TEWWG

The ending of this book was extremely shocking! I can't believe Janie shot and killed Tea cake. Wow...it must have took a lot of courage to do that to the love of your life. If janie wouldnt of killed him Tea cake would of killed her because he had raibies and was completely nuts. Janie also talks about wraping herself with the horizon which left me puzzled i did not understand why she said that.

TEWWG

"She tore of the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length , the glory was there" pg. 87 This passage was very strong and meaningful to me. That kerchief that she had on her head symbolized no hope, emptiness, like a jail cell. Janies hair to me symbolizes freedom, when she was with jody she always had to wear that kerchief because she was jailed by him. Now that she has taken that horrible rag off her head she can finally be free.

TEWWG

Ch. 7 has got to be my favorite chapter so far. It made me extremely happy when Janie had the courage to talk back to Jody, after all of those years of silence, of neglect. This shows that Janie still has that fighting spark inside of her, a side that she hasnt shown in a while! She's already forty so time passed by really quick! My favorite was passage was....." Humph! Talkin' 'bout me lookin' old! When you pull down yo' britches, you look lak de change uh life." pg. 79. When Janie chose to talk back to Jody this started a new change in her life, hope that the old fun and energetic Janie can come back . She made fun of him infront of people of the town, humiliating him with the subject that most men are sensitive about! GOOOO JANIE!!! she really nailed it with this one.

TEWWG

This part of the book made me really happy for Janie. When she met Joe Starks, she describes him as a handsome guy and i can't believe that she had the courage to leave Logan! It made me happy because Janie deserves better and Logan was not making her happy he pretty much made her grow up way to fast. Joe starks seems like a good man and he seems really smart since he wants to make his own town. He seems a like a confident man because if he's willing to take the responsibility to run his own town, then he's going to have to set some time aside for Janie.

I found it very rude when Joe did not let Janie give her speech, his excuse was that women don't give speeches. SO then what are we supposed to do? Be quiet all the time!!! This is a sign of Joe being a controlling freak. Hopefully Janie won't let him dominate her life. This chapter really made me mad.

TEWWG

Its so sad that Nanny had to die even though she did die knowing that her granddaughter was in good hands. From what i am reading its as though Janie doesnt like Logan because shes young and old men and teens dont mesh, especially if that old man your married to has feet that smell like death and rotten eggs. Poor Janie has to stay home and work 24/7 because thats what Logan is used to doing. I love this book so far!

TEWWG

I was shocked when nanny told Janie that she had to marry Logan kilicks, just because she kissed Johnny Taylor!!!! Nanny really went over board. Poor Janie now has to live with an old saggy man. Even though he does have a ton of money for a colored person especially in those days when the white man dominated everything. Janie doesnt really have a say in this decision that her grandma has made for her, her Nanny feels as though she has found a good catch for janie when in reality Janie deserves much more than that old fart.