Things Not Seen pages (125-251)

In the last half of Things Not Seen by Andrew clements multiple investigations go on. Bobby's and Alicia's parent investigate what happened to Bobby, Bobby's school investigates where Bobby is and Bobby and Alicia investigate his situation also. After being absent from school for a long period of time, many weeks, his school gets antsy and people are sent to Bobby's home to find out if Bobby was ok, his mother is forced to lie many times saying that Bobby was in Florida with his aunt and that he had the flu. Bobby's and Alicia's super prfessor dads think of theories of what could have happened and Bobby and Alicia do the real action and write down the facts. With the help of Bobby the two fathers figure out that the blanket was the cause of the invisiblity and with Alicia's help Bobby figures out that to reverse his condition he needs to sleep with his blanket again to turn visible again.
Quotation: "go turn on the blanket and take a particle bath--you can't get morte invisible--maybe it'll be like two negatives make a positive." pg 227
Reaction: my reaction to this quote is that it is a great idea and why haven't the genius dads thought of it. Maybe if they have seen the movie Stand and Deliver they would have remembered that "a negaitive times a negative is a positive".

Things Not Seen pages (1-125)

In the book Things Not Seen by Andrew Clement the protagonist  Bobby Phillips wakes up one morning and he is invisible. As he struggles to adapt to his new condition  he grows up little by little. Throughout his struggles to be seen he continuously notices how his mother and father try to control his life, making many of his decisions without consulting him. When his parent are done freaking out and leave him home alone Bobby decides to visit the library. Because it is the middle of winter Bobby enters the library totally bundled up with no skin showing, and while in the library he goes to a rarely used bathroom strips down and walks around the library with no eyes on him. He goes around for a while and gets hurt a couple of times but when he sees the times he rushes back to the bathrrom bundles back up and tries to run out of the library to beat his father home. As Bobby is running he crashes into a blind girl who he later becomes very close friends with. When Bobby arrives home he is too late, his father had already arrived and now was pretty mad. On his fathers way back home again from picking up Bobby's mother they get into a car crash and Bobby gets a house call from a doctor who says that he needs to get someone to take care of him. Knowing that no one should see Bobby in his condition Bobby's mother lies to the doctor and says that her aunt is watching Bobby.
With his parents in the hospital and nobody at home Bobby decides to go back to the library but these times he goes totally invisible. And there he meets the blind girl again. Her name is Alicia. Between this meeting and the next ones they develope a sarcasm full relationship where they talked about thier lives. Alicia's mother soon begins to worry and her parents eventually find out about Bobby though how they found out was alot easier than when Alicia herself found out.
Quotation: And he stutters, and squints, and passes through all the phases that Mom, Dad, and Alicia have: fear, confusion, disbelief, and then amazement that levels out to a steady curiosity.
Reaction: This is Leo's, Alicia's dad, reaction to finding out about Bobby being invisible, and my reaction to his reaction is that my reaction to someone being invisible would be a bit different. If I found out that someone I knew was invisible and in front of me I wouldn't be scared per say but I would probualy go straight to the amazement. 

pages 161-196

Even as the first colonies to be formed, the Caribbean islands were some of the last to decolonize. This included Puerto Rico which is still a colony today. The paths to freedom include, “independence, integration to the metropolis, and full autonomy in association with the metropolis” for many of the colonies, but for Puerto Rico none of these tactics have worked. All of these paths seem to be blocked off to Puerto Rico, deterring the colony from reaching independence or even self government. Even as it was considered among the most stable entities Puerto Rico’s status is not at all great because of its smaller degree of self government. Puerto Rico’s condition is nothing to gloat about and it isnt geting much better. Especially with the lack of power given and the dependence the citizens of Puerto Rico have for the United States.
Quotation: only 19 percent of residents can speak English with relative ease, and another 23 percent can speak it with difficulty. to the remaining 58 percent, english might as well be chinese.
Reaction: This is believeable. If i was guess what age group spoke english I would say those in highschool middle school and college. My sisters in Puerto Rico have learned to speak some english and they are learning more and more everyday.

Puerto Rico; the trials of the oldest colony in the world pages 120-160

Once upon a time in Puerto Rico during the times of industrialization, Puerto Rico was among the developing countries with the highest long-term rates of growth. But then the early 1990’s came, between 1991-1996 Puerto Rico rate of growth. But then the early 1990s came. Between 1991-1996 Puerto Rico note of growth was below many other developing areas poverty level, unemployment was high and drug smuggling was moving about. In Puerto Rico there are group of people (more or less). Those who are “poor, drug-ridden, in poor health, insufficiently education, and unemployed, then there are those who are prosperous, well-schooled, hard-working, and enterprising”. The latter group had a much smaller population. In most population difference such as these create gap and alienation and thus particular gap as moving and increasing. Through almost a country of American rule political advancement has been lacking, While other colonies have become independent Puerto Rico has been living with out liberty, The only power they have received after years of please was an elected legislature with limited powers, an elected governer and the ability to adopt a local construction. In a hundred years that is all that they have achieved. The U.S. is no prepared for what to let P.R. be but in and in the mean time they ignore P.R. It is as if they do not even live in a colony, and some Puerto Rico show think this is indeed what they think, years and years past and Puerto Rico is still a colony.
Quotation:  “The president  of the United States and executive appointees negotiate treaties and take other actions which affect Puerto Rico without consulting it.”
Reaction: From what I have read so far this does not surprise me but it is still a bit shocking. The United States has had all this power of Puerto Rico for about a century and they do not want to share. If the U.S would give Puerto Rico some power over itself then the island could start getting ready to become independent but because it has not given it any power Puerto Rico can not prepare for independence.

(The annexation of Puerto Rico 21-87)

The history of Puerto Rico’s and the United States relationship began with the US’s interest in the Caribbean. It started with the consideration of 5 American presidents deciding whether or not they should invade Cuba. After all of the years of having Cuba almost in sight from the US, they decided that they could not allow any European power, such as Great Britain and/or France to attempt to take power over Cuba, this is why the US favored the continuation of Spain’s control over Cuba and Puerto Rico. When the Monroe Doctrine was proclaimed on December 2, 1823 Cuba was with great affect considered. This Doctrine was introduced by James Monroe and declared “that any European nation’s effort to extend its dominions in the hemisphere or act contrary to the independence of the new republics that had been colonies of Spain would be seen as unfriendly and dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States.” Simón Bolívar wanted to spread independence to Cuba also but once he was sternly told by the US that they opposed Cuba’s and Puerto Rico’s independence he. Simón Bolívar was a known hero and liberator for Latin America freeing many countries and giving them independence.
Quotation: “The united states had not bothered to consult the people of the Philippines and Puerto Rico as to their annexation…..”(McKinley says) Do we need their consent to perform a great act for humanity.” Page 26
Reaction: These lines made me stop reading. How could the U.S take power over Puerto Rico and not tell them, that is horrible to here, and then he says they did them a favor. Was the favor keeping them as a colony even today? I guess that is what he thought back then and maybe at that time it could have been a good thing.

Puerto Rico; The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World (pages 87-119)

In this chapters of the book José Trías writes about the Jones act, the Jones blues, the 30's, the elective Governor act, the establishment of the commonwealth and the big sleep. Just like what has happened when Spain was in control of Puerto Rico and with what is happening now with the U.S's control Puerto Rico was not payed much attention to. The Democratic Party began losing interest in all the colonies, though in 1904-12 it favored the independence of the Philippines and in 1904-1908 they favored a territorial government for Puerto Rico. In 1913, in Woodrow Wilson's presidential period, Woodrow's held that idea the the island should not be let go unless they were ready for independence, though he did not believe statehood was an option for any of the two states. he believed that they should train Puerto Rico and that it would one day be ready.
     Born in 1849, in Virginia, democrat William Atkinson Jones played a large role in helping both islands. he wanted to grant the Puerto Rican citizenship through a blanketed(collective) process. in 1912 he filed a bill that would provide a civil government for the island. They bill was refiled in 1914 after Jones had become chairman of the house committee on insular affairs. like his bill there was another bill set at the same time called the Shafroth bill which offered Puerto Rican citizenship through individual naturalization, but the Bureau favored the collective naturalization.
Quote: "Industrialization was almost nonexistent (page 99)"
Reaction: though it does not seem serious that industrialization was almost nonexistent, it is. In history i have learned that industrialization was taking  place almost in most places, and if they did not have it they started because it would would create jobs and money for the country. We also learned that even as the southern part of the U.S was based on Agriculture they still have some industries and that places like the North of the U.S was based almost solely on industries. with such a big success in industrializing i am surprised to find that Puerto Rico has not had any good effects but bad. As I read in the book earlier, in 1947 when industrialization begun the unemployment rate was at 11%, in 1994 it stood at 16%.

Puerto Rico; The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World (pages 1-20)

     The rich history of Puerto Rico's starts with its original Taíno natives and continues today today with the U.S's control over what is known as the oldest colony in the world. The book, Puerto Rico; The Trials of the Oldest Colony in the World, was written by José Trías Monge a native of Puerto Rico who graduated from  Harvard University with a M.A and L.L.B and a S.J.D from Yale. José has played an active role in Puerto Rico's government and politics since the 1930's. He was one of the people involved in the drafting of Puerto Rico's Commonwealth status, and he was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Puerto Rico.
     On November 19, 1493, Christopher Columbus, the first European on the island, found a land occupied by the Taíno Indians. The Taínos were Arawak Indians, at the time when Columbus came they had a hierarchical political structure, organized agriculture techniques, hunting and fishing skills, and could count to twenty (they counted with their fingers and toes). However they had no calender or Writing system, and have not yet discovered the wheel, creating an easy concur by the Spaniards.
     In 1508 when the ecomienda system was placed upon the island indians were distributed within the Spaniards as slaves. This cause the Taínos to disappear, most dies in great number, and the surviver moved to the hill or even left the island. though they did mix with the Spaniards creating mulattos. Howver when the Taínos disappear the Spaniards just brought ovber Black slaves. The census of 1530 on the Island included 327 white families, 2,242 slaves(black) and 473 indians(not including those outside of the encomienda system). though, even with the Disappearance of most of the Taíno's they didnt leave without leaving thier mark. Alot of Spanish words are from the Taíno's tounge, examples would include tobacco, barbecue, canoe and hammock.
Quote: "The Spanish language had to compete with English for a long time to assure its survival as the primary language of Puerto Rico.(pg. 19)"
Reaction: This is an interesting quote because it is still true today. Even though Spanish seems to be the language of the island, english is still taking its toll on the inhabitants. Now in Puerto Rico, students, such as my two sisters, learn english in school, just like i'm currently learning spanish in school. It is hard to keep a certain language alive when there is always one that you will know better. I do know how to speak spanish and I do get to practice outside of school at home, when I go to Puerto Rico and when I have a family member move to the U. S who does not know english, but I still know Englash far better. It is sort of like the U.S's problem in decideing the National Language, yes almost every person in america speaks english and yes english is the language of most companies and conversations but, as a diverse country who has alot of other language being spoken, the U.S has not declared a National Language.