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The House of the Scorpion
By Nancy Farmer
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Nancy Farmer Born in 1941 in Phoenix, AZ
Grew up in a hotel on the Arizona-Mexico border, where she worked behind the front desk as a child. The Arizona landscape inspired the setting for The House of the Scorpion This was during the Cold War in the 1950s. Occasionally she could see the atom bomb tests being carried out in Yucca Flats, Nevada. Joined the Peace Corps after college and was sent to India ( ) Worked in Africa as a scientist for 17 years Has won many awards for children’s literature, including three awards for The House of the Scorpion
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Point of View The House of the Scorpion is written from a Third Person Limited point of view. a narrator reports the facts and interprets events from the perspective of a single character The narrator reports Matt's thoughts and feelings, without telling us about the thoughts and feelings of other characters.
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Main Setting: Opium The House of the Scorpion is set in the drug country called Opium, a strip of land between the U. S. and what used to be Mexico, but is now called Aztlán. Opium is ruled by a powerful drug lord called El Patron.
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Secondary Setting: Aztlán
The name Aztlán comes from the mythical place of origin of the Aztecs. In The House of the Scorpion, Aztlán is the new name of Mexico.
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Important Vocabulary incubator – an environment that promotes growth or development (3) implant (v.) – to put or fix firmly in a body or mind (3) implant (n.) – a device or material used for repairing or replacing part of the body (3) blunt – to make dull (4) crucifix – a cross viewed as a symbol of Jesus‘ crucifixion (8) desolation – deprivation of companionship; loneliness (9) eejit – an idiot, in this case a “zombie” with a computer chip in its brain to control it (17) clone – an organism that is genetically identical to the organism it came from (26)
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Essential Questions What is truth? Is truth the same for everyone?
What does it mean to be human? What is the value of life? Who gets to decide the value of life?
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Opium Opium comes from the dried juice of unripe pods of the opium poppy (a type of flower). Opium contains up to 12% morphine, which is often processed into heroin for the illegal drug trade. Harvesting and processing of opium plays a huge role in this novel, as El Patron is the ruler of an entire country dedicated to producing and distributing opium.
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Chupacabras Chupacabra means goat sucker. The creature's name originated with the discovery of some dead goats in Puerto Rico with puncture wounds in their necks and their blood allegedly drained. They are reported to live throughout the Caribbean, several countries in South America and even in Florida. They are said to have killed thousands of animals in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Legend says the are about four feet tall; large red eyes; grey skin that is part fur part feathers; short arms with claws; legs like a kangaroo Seeks out farm animals and sucks their blood, sometimes taking internal organs with them What mythical creatures do these beings remind you of? ...
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Clones A clone is an exact genetic copy of a person, animal, or plant.
They are not just science fiction; clones exist today. There are no human clones. Most types of cloning involve either DNA or stem cells, though it is possible to clone entire animals. Cloning questions? Check out this great resource:
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Arsenic naturally occurring element
Poor Furball… naturally occurring element used in the production of insecticides, rat poison, and wood preservative highly poisonous to humans and animals
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Laudanum Laudanum is an opium-based painkiller prescribed for a range of aliments. This drug was popular during the Victorian Era, and it was not uncommon for upper-class women, such as Felicia, to become addicted to the painkillers. Laudanum was often mixed with sugar and alcohol to make it easier to drink.
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Durango and Celia Durango is where El Patron, the original Matteo Alacran, was born. His last name is a tribute to the people of Durango, who are called “alacranes” or scorpions. Celia, the cook and Matt’s mother figure, is also from Durango. She was saved from becoming an “eejit” because El Patron recognized her accent and kept her on to cook traditional dishes for him.
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Venn Diagram Matt El Patron
Compare and contrast the two Matteo Alacrans. What important differences and similarities can you see between them? Do they become more similar or more different as the story progresses?
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Venn Diagram Matt El Patron
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friendship survival hope child abuse technology
Choose one of the following themes and find three examples of it in your reading thus far. friendship survival hope child abuse technology
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Current Events Connection: Enrique’s Journey
Sonia Nazario has spent more than 20 years reporting and writing about large social issues in the U.S.–hunger, drug addiction, and immigration–most recently as a projects reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Nazario wrote a Los Angeles Times newspaper series that won two Pulitzer Prizes. She later expanded this project into a book called Enrique’s Journey, which was published in 2007. Enrique’s Journey for young adults was published in 2013 and is aimed at 7th graders and reluctant readers in high schools. There is a teaching guide available for this version, geared to the new nationwide Common Core Standards in schools, available here:
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Enrique’s Journey This story recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Braving unimaginable peril, often clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains, Enrique travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and corrupt cops. But he pushes forward, relying on his wit, courage, hope, and the kindness of strangers. This sounds very familiar after reading about Matt and the other orphans who made the border crossing in The House of the Scorpion!
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Enrique’s Journey – The Daily Show!
On July 28, 2014, Sonia Nazario spoke with Jon Stewart about why many immigrant children coming to the U.S. are refugees, deserve full fair immigration hearings, and why our political leaders must do right by these children.
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Other Connections Science: Cloning, DNA, Technology, Organ Donation
Social and Political Issues: Illegal Immigration and Border Crossing, Drug Trade, Ethics of Cloning, Child Labor, Ethics of Microchips (for eejits) Spanish: Language and Culture, Dia de Los Muertos Holiday
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Media Connections: Movies
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An American Tail This movie tells a story about a mouse immigrant family from Russia that has been promised “there are no cats in America and the streets are paved with cheese!” Compare to stories people hear in The House of the Scorpion about people only working four hours a day and going to parties all the time in the United States. The boys at the plankton factory all claim that their parents successfully crossed into the U.S. and are making lots of money in Hollywood.
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Never Let Me Go This movie is set at Hailsham, a children’s boarding school in the English countryside. The children are constantly told that they are “special,” but not why. Eventually a conscience-stricken teacher reveals that the children are clones, created and raised to be vital organ donors for “originals” – original human beings. After three or four organ “donations,” they will “complete,” or die. This is probably the best direct comparison to what Matt is created for in The House of the Scorpion.
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Pinocchio We all know the story of Pinocchio, the wooden puppet who wanted to be a “real boy.” The blue fairy tells him that if he is “brave, truthful, and unselfish,” he can become a real boy. Early on in The House of the Scorpion, Matt believes that if he works hard and is successful in school, he can earn people’s respect and love.
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Artificial Intelligence
David is a child-like robot who has been programmed with the ability to love. Unfortunately, his family finds him a little creepy and abandons him in a forest. David knows the story of Pinocchio and is determined to find his own blue fairy to turn him into a real boy, so his family will love him back. Again, we see this hope of “earning” love from a family that rejected him, both in David and in Matt from The House of the Scorpion.
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Surrogates In the future, people have life-like robots that act as surrogates for them. Humans stay at home while these strong, attractive, remote-controlled robots allow humans to live their lives, work, and interact with others without leaving the safety of their own homes. Only one character questions this lifestyle– is it really life if you are living through someone (or something) else? Compare to El Patron perpetuating his life through the organs of clones.
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The Island In this movie, a group of people live in a safe, secure, controlled environment. Each month one of them wins a one-way trip to an island paradise. One character eventually discovers the truth– there is no island. He and everyone he knows are actually the clones of people out in the real world. He was created to be an organ donor, or an insurance policy, for his original. A “trip to the island” simply means that someone’s time is up, and their organs are needed by their originals. This is very similar to Matt’s situation in The House of the Scorpion, although all other clones in Matt’s world have their intelligence blunted at birth.
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