Chapter 38: The House of Eternity

Answer the questions below by commenting on this post.

1. Describe what happened at El Patron's funeral. What does this make you think about El Patron? What kind of leader is he?
2. How did Daft Donald survive?
3. What happened to Tam Lin? Why do you think he made this choice?
4. What does Matt find at the end of the chapter? What does it look like?
5. What does Matt vow to do?

Chapter 37: Homecoming

Answer the following questions by commenting on this post:

1. Use three adjectives to describe Esperanza.
2. What are lockdowns in Opium? How many have there been and what is different about this one?
3. Describe Esperanza's plan. What is Matt's role and why is he needed?
4. Who does Matt see when he is in Opium?

Chapter 36: The Castle on the Hill

Answer the questions below by commenting on this post:

1. What are the costumes like and which one does Matt recognize?
2. Who stopped the fight with the Keepers at the hospital?
3. What did the Aztlan police discover?
4. Who is responsible for the shriek at the end of the chapter?

Chapter 35: El Dia De Los Muertos

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1. What happened to Matt at the Colorado River?
2. Who helped the boys and where were they taken?
3. What day is being celebrated? Why?
4. How will the boys use this to their advantage?

Chapter 34: The Shrimp Harvester

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Shrimp!

1. What is Matt's situation?
2. Matt worries that Jorge is coming back and that he won't be able to escape him. Who arrives to help?
3. How do they get Chacho out?

4. Ton-Ton keeps says the Keepers are asleep. What does Matt realize?
5. What do Matt and Fidelito decide to do?

Chapter 33: The Boneyard

Answer the questions below by commenting on this post:

1. Why don't they take the tape off Matt's arms and legs?
2. What piece of Tam Lin's advice does Matt remember to help him get out of the boneyard?
3. Who does Matt say Tam Lin is?
4. Where are the boys at the end of the chapter?

Chapter 32: Found Out

1. How is Jorge acting? What is his purpose? Why would someone act this way?
2. What do Matt and Chacho do?
3. Matt seems to be observing and understanding everything that is happening and the control the boys have. Do the other boys realize their power?
4. What does everyone find out about Matt?
5. Who sticks up for Matt? Why is this significant?

Chapter 31: Ton-Ton

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1. How would you describe Ton-Ton? What does Matt think about him?
2. What do Ton-Ton and Luna think about the Keepers' lifestyle?
3. What makes a big sign "FREEDOM" flash through Matt's mind?
4. What do you think of Matt's character? How has he changed since the first chapter?
5. How does making friends with Ton-Ton benefit the boys?
6. Why does Matt start sobbing? What does Chacho do? What does this say about his character?

Chapter 30: When the Whales Lost Their Legs

Answer the questions below by commenting on this post:

1. Use five words or phrases to describe Fidelito.
2. Use five words or phrases to describe Chacho.
3. What do Matt and Chacho find?
4. What happened to the whales?
5. What is the purpose of targeting Matt with accusations every night?
6. Why do you think the other boys participate in this?
7. What lesson does Matt learn from Ton-Ton's beating?
8. What makes Matt finally confess and get beat up?
9. How do the other boys treat him afterwards?
10. When Matt is in the infirmary, what does he take?

Chapter 29: Washing a Dusty Mind

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Cleaning a Dusty Mind...

1. What is the message of Jorge's bed time story?
2. Why didn't Matt not contradict the bed time story?
3. Who is Ton-Ton and what does he say?
4. Why do you think this self-criticism is encouraged?
5. What happened to Matt? Why would the Keeper want this?
6. What made Matt feel better after everyone had left?

Chapter 28: The Plankton

1. What is an aristocrat? Why might everyone be calling Matt this?
2. What does Raul do to teach Matt the value of labour?
3. Where are Matt, Chacho, and Fidelito sent?
4. What do you think the beehive symbolizes?
5. What does everyone eat? What do you think about this meal plan?
6. What happened to the whales in the Gulf of Mexico? What does this tell you about the future of humankind?
7. So far at the plankton factory, is there equality between the boys and the Keepers? Give evidence to support your answer.

Chapter 27: A Five-Legged Horse

Answer the questions by commenting on the post below:

1. Who are the Lost Boys and Lost Girls?
2. No one likes the Keepers. Can you think of why? Who says openly that he hates them?
3. What is Opium called and what do people think about it?
4. What do the orphans think has happened to their parents? What does Matt think has actually happened?
5. What are the boys doing?
6. Is individualism promoted in Aztlan? How do you know? What reasons are there for this kind of attitude?
7. Describe what happens between Raul and Matt. What does Matt say that causes Raul to react badly? Do you agree or disagree with Matt?

Chapter 26: The Lost Boys

1. Where does Matt end up?
2. What are the guards of this place called?
3. What name does Matt give for himself?
4. Why do you think they are interested in Matt's skills?
5. Matt doesn't want to tell them the truth. Why? What is his cover story?
6. What do you think a "holo-game" looks like? Why doesn't Matt know what this is?
7. What does Raul keep repeating? Do you believe him? What is his motivation for saying this phrase?
8. What exactly is a keeper?

Chapter 24: The Final Goodbye & 25: The Farm Patrol

Answer the questions below for both chapters:

1. What does Matt think Tam Lin is going to do with him?
2. What is Tam Lin's real plan?
3. Did Celia become an eejit?
4. What do you think Tam Lin means when he says he can't escape the moral consequences of his actions?
5. What does Tam Lin mean when he says that El Patron developed and kept Opium frozen one hundred years in the past?
6. Where is Matt going to go? Where does Tam Lin tell him to go once get gets there?
7. After climbing the mountains and traversing the wilds, Matt passes into another world. What does he see and hear? (Farmer, 254-255)
8. Who does Matt see and have to get past? Does he succeed?

Chapter 23: Death

1. Use your summarizing skills to write a summary of this chapter. Remember, a summary should:

• Be in your own words.
• Include main ideas, such as: important events and the names of major characters.
• Avoid including minor facts.
• Avoid including explanations for characters' actions (this would be your opinion and inference, not what is in the text).
• You can start with, "In Chapter 23 of The House of the Scorpion,"

2. After your summary, analyse El Patron and describe your thoughts about El Patron and his actions.

MATH WEBSITE

PATTERNING

Follow this link when you are finished the Unit 4 "Do You Remember?" section in your math textbook.

Website 1: Bitesize http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/number/number_patterns/play/

Website 2: http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/me5l/html/Math5.html

Chapter 21: Blood Wedding & Chapter 22: Betrayal

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Ultimate Betrayals

1. Who is getting married? What is the truth behind most weddings in the Alacran family?

2. How does Maria react when Matt shows her Esperanza's picture?

3. What happens to El Patron at the wedding?

4. Who ruins Maria and Matt's plan to escape?

5. Why do you think these people chose to hand Matt over to El Patron? Can you think of how this benefits them? What would you have done?

6. Choose two words from the list below and define them. Then, use both in a sentence that shows the context of the word.

- seethe

- queasy

- adjoining

- confined

- stealthy

- murmur

- corrupt

- pustule

- devastate

- animated

- embroidered 

- hysterical 

- dire

- treacherous

- sinister 

Chapter 20: Esperanza

Answer the questions below by commenting on this post:

1. Where does Matt go during this chapter?
2. What does he consider while looking at the mountains. Would you go?
3. What does Matt discover about Esperanza? What does Matt plan to do with his new knowledge? Do you think that's a good idea?
4. What do you think Celia means when she talks about dosage?
5. Who does El Patron think Matt is?
6. What keeps Matt from escaping?

Chapter 19: Coming-of-Age

Answer the following questions by commenting on the post below:

1. What happen to Matt's voice?
2. How many eejits have dies in the last 100 years?
3. What does Matt realize in this chapter? How does it make him feel about El Patron?
4. Does Matt think he will have the same fate as the other clones? What do you think?

Chapter 18: The Dragon Hoard

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1. Why did Matt feel sick? Use evidence from the book to support your answer. Do you have any guesses as to why Matt is feeling sick?
2. What has happened to El Patron?
3. What is a piggyback donor? Why couldn't the doctor's perform a full heart transplant?
4.What brings back the colour to El Patron's cheeks?
5. What is a dragon hoard? Does it make the dragon happy? Would it make you happy?

Chapter 17: The Eejit Pens

Answer the questions below by commenting on this post:

1. What word does Matt use to describe himself (it's in italics)? What does this word mean?
2. Matt tries to talk to Rosa every day. What does this say about his character?
3. What does Matt learn from the book, A History of Opium?
4. What does the author of the book, Esperanza, say about El Patron? How does Matt react?
5. What does Matt say he will do when he is in charge?
6. On his way back from the oasis, where does Matt go?
7. Who lives in the buildings?
8. Who finds Matt and how do they treat him at first? What does Matt do to change their behaviour towards him?
9. What is "dead air"?
10. Why do the eejits sleep in the fields some nights?
11. What does Matt discover about Tam Lin?

Chapter 16: Brother Wolf

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1. What room do Maria and Matt find?
2. Why does Maria call matt Brother Wolf?

3. What does Maria say that Matt doesn't have? What are your opinions on this?
4. Maria finds the truth about Furball. What is it?

Chapter 15: A Starved Bird

1. Where is Maria now?
2. Who does Matt see in the stables when he orders a Safe Horse? How has this person changed?
3. What does Matt find at the oasis? What does Matt realize about Tam Lin when he reads the letter?
4. What does Matt find out when he gets back to the house?
5. How does the priest treat Matt at the funeral?
6. Who stands up for Matt?

Chapter 14: Celia's Story

Answer the questions below by commenting on this post.

1. Is the Alacran estancia modern? Provide evidence from the text to support your answer.
2. Matt feels like his regrets are piling up on one another "until Matt's thoughts were running around in his head...." (Farmer, 137). Finish the sentence and tell what type of figurative language is being used.
3. Why is Matt so upset about Tam Lin having to leave? How did Tam Lin treat Matt differently than others and what does this treatment mean?
4. On page 139, why is the ceiling blurry?
5. How did Celia come to work for El Patron?
6. What happened to the other people who came from Azlan with Celia?

Chapter 13: The Lotus Pond

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1. Matt thinks about the doctor's words again: "Clones go to pieces when they get older." What do you think this means now?
2. What is Felicia's story with MacGregor? Why is she still living at the estate? Who is Felicia's son?
3. How is MacGregor's clone different from Matt?
4. How is McGregor's health?
5. What does Matt steal (two items)? For what purpose?
6. What was the result of Matt's plan?
7. How does Tam Lin react?
8. Who do you think is really responsible?

Chapter 12: The Thing on the Bed

Answer the following questions by commenting on the post below:

1. What restriction is placed on Matt's activities?
2. Who comes to visit Matt? What does this person say?
3. Who really arranged the meeting between Matt and Maria?
4. What do Maria, Tom and Matt think is in the room? What is in the room?
5. To whom does the thing in the room belong?
6. Why do you think Tom staged this meeting?
7. Do you think this encounter will change Maria's opinion of Matt?

Chapter 11: The Giving and Taking of Gifts

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1. What did Matt change at the tables? Why?
2. What does Maria do in response to Matt's change?
3. Give evidence that shows that Tam Lin isn't impressed with what Matt has done.
4. Why do you think Matt is acting like this? Do you think he could have expressed his feelings in a better way?
5. What do El Patron and MacGregor discuss? Do you think this is odd?
6. How is El Viejo related to El Patron? Why is this unbelievable?
7. What does Mr. Alacran say that makes everyone surprised?
8. Describe what happens when Matt opens his gifts. How does he treat Maria?
9. Does Matt understand what he is doing and how it is making Maria feel? What do you think he is showing by acting this way?
10.What present does Maria give to Matt?

Chapter 10: The Cat With Nine Lives

Answer the chapter questions by commenting on the post below:

1. Whose birthday is it?

2. How old is El Patron? How is he behaving? What question does he keep asking?
3. What does Celia tell Matt to do if something bad happens? What does "furtive" mean?
4. What happens with Furball and Tom? What are your opinions on this event?

5. Who is Mr. MacGregor? What impressions do you have of him?
6. What is the state of El Patron's health when he arrives?
7.  Almost everyone cheers, but Matt is surprised by one comment. What is the comment?
8. Why does the audience look bored when El Patron starts speaking?

Chapter 9: The Secret Passage

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1. Is Matt a good student? How does he learn without his teacher?
2. Why does Matt feel a hollowness?
3. What does Matt keep dreaming about?
4. What makes Matt upset when he sees Furball?
5. Who is Felicia? What does she do every day? Does she seem happy?
6. What does Matt find in the piano room that is exciting?

7. What does Matt witness in the secret passage?
8. What hidden talent does Matt discover in himself?
9. What accomplishments does Matt achieve in his learning? Why does Matt want to learn so much?

Chapter 8: The Eejit in the Dry Field

Opium Poppies

Answer the questions below by commenting on this post:

1. Where are Tam Lin and Matt going? Why?
2. Describe the farm working using descriptive adjectives. What are they doing?
3. What happens to the man lying on the ground (p. 77)? Based on this, how valuable do you think clones are in this world?
4. Why doesn't the horse leave the farm area? What are your opinions on this?
5. Where so Tam Lin and Matt go? Why is it a secret place?

Desert Oasis

6. Matt asks how he was made. How does Tam Lin describe it?
7. What is an "eejit"? Can you give examples?
8. How is Matt's education going to change now?

Chapter 7: Teacher

1. How do the servants treat Matt?
2. How does Tom treat Maria? Describe Tom using five adjectives.
3. Do Tom and Matt get along?
4. Use three adjectives to describe Tam Lin.
5. What do you think this means (about El Patrón): "He grew large and green until he shadowed over the whole forest, but most of his branches are twisted" (Farmer, 70).

6. What does Tam Lin say about choices?
7. What do you think the doctor means when he says, "clones went to pieces as they got older"? (Farmer, 71).
8. How does the teacher act?
9. What makes Matt finally speak?
10. What does Matt say about himself? What do you think this says about his self-esteem?

Chapter 6: El Patrón

1. What is the setting of this chapter? What does Matt have that he has not had in a long time?
2. Describe El Patrón. Use full sentences. 
3. Explain what happens with Rosa. What does the doctor do?
4. What is Aztlán?
5. What exactly is the relationship between El Patrón and Matt?
6. What do we learn about scorpions?
7. Where are Celia and Matt now living?
8. What is Maria's job?
9.  How long was Matt in his prison with Rosa?
10. How does everyone feel about Matt?
11. Who is to keep Matt company from now on? Why?

Chapter 5: Prison

Answer the questions below by commenting on this post. Look out for the questions that ask for details from the book!

1. Where are Emilia and Maria?

2. What impression do you get of El Patrón from the beginning of this chapter? Use details from the text to support your answer.

3. What makes Rosa begin to treat Matt differently? Be specific in describing how she changes Matt's life.

4. How does Matt pass the time? What do you think is his state of mind? Describe some of his thoughts.

5. Who is Tom and what is the interaction between him and Matt?

6. When Celia arrives, she calls him mi hijo. What does this mean?
7. How does Maria explain Matt's behaviour? Do you think she is right? How do you think you would handle yourself in Matt's situation? Would you do anything differently?

Chapter 4: Maria

Answer all nine questions below by commenting on the post. After Youth 0-6 (pages 2-49), you will receive a reading comprehension mark.

Make sure you are using details from the book, and, when possible, try to create answers that are thoughtful and unique to your own personal opinions.

1. Matt overhears Steven and Emilia talking. What do they think about clones?
2. What words are people using to describe Matt?
3. Where is Matt taken in this chapter? How is Rosa treating him?

4. Use THREE adjectives to describe Rosa.
5. What helps Matt to fall asleep? What do you think Farmer means when she writes, "...something let go inside of Matt" (p.29)?
6. Who comes to visit Matt?
7. Describe Maria using adjectives and descriptive phrases. Why does Matt think she is different from the other children?
8. Why do you think Celia told Matt all of these stories about La Llorona, chupacabras and other monsters?

9. Matt's life has changed significantly in the last few chapters. What do you think he is thinking and feeling?

Chapter 3: Property of the Alacrán Estate

In this chapter, Matt finds out that he is property of the Alacran estate, but he doesn't know exactly what this means.

Answer all nine questions below by commenting on this post.

1. When Steven and Emilia come back to the house, why is Maria there?

2. Why can't Matt go outside?

3. What does Matt do to communicate with the children?

4. What is a chupacabra? (You might need to look this one up!)

5. When Steven and Emilia leave, why does Matt jump out the window? What happens next?

6. Where is Matt taken?

7. What does it say on Matt's foot? How does everyone's attitude toward him change when they see this marking?

8. How does Steven's father react to Matt being in the house? What happens to Matt after all?

9. What questions do you have after reading this chapter?

Chapter 2: The Little House in the Poppy Fields

Answer the questions below by commenting on this post.

1. Create a t-chart to describe Celia on one side and Matt on the other (complete as you read the chapter).

2. Where do Matt and Celia live? What surrounds their house?

3. What do you think mi vida means? Why do you think this?

4. Brainstorm all of the items in Matt's home (his toys, furniture, food, entertainment etc.,)

5. Besides Celia, who is Matt's only connection to the outside world?

6. What did Matt see and hear outside the house one day when Celia went to work? What was his reaction?

7. What does Matt call Celia that makes her upset? Why does this upset her?

8. Why do you think Celia says that Matt has been loaned?

Chapter 1: In the Beginning

Chapter 1: In the Beginning

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1. What is the setting of the story so far?
2.  Is Eduardo the only person in the room?
3. What is Eduardo trying to do?
4. How old are the frozen cells?
5. Where are the cells implanted?
6. Eduardo is worried about his cells surviving. Do any survive?
7. What is about to happen to Eduardo’s clone? Why doesn’t it happen to this clone?

Introduction to The House of the Scorpion: Cloning

After reading the article as a class, answer the questions below.

1. What have you learned about cloning? List at least three items.

2. What questions do you have about cloning? Write two.

3. Do you support the idea of cloning? Why or why not?