{Post A Week 2}

phlebotomist(31):a nurse or other health worker trained in drawing venous blood for testing or donation.

asbestos(38): a fibrous mineral, either amphibole or chrysotile, formerly used for making incombustible or fireproof articles.


"Trailing her spine, like a line of small blue jewels, are a string of bruises."(28)
This is figurative language because the bruises on Kate's back are being compared to a line of jewels. This is the first sign of Kate possibly having more of illness than just a cold.

"Tonight, Sara makes roast beef. It sits on the table like a sleeping infant as she calls us to dinner."(38)
This is an example of a simile because of the use of the word "like" to compare the what the food looks like sitting on the table to a small child.

"Look at my child, at the shine of her flyaway curls and the butterfly flight of her smile--this is not the face of someone dying by degrees."(34)
This is really good imagery for what Kate looks like as she is going through multiple tests to see what exactly is wrong with her. The mother, Sara, realizes that you don't have to be awake to cry when her young anesthetized daughter is crying on the table.

SIGNIFICANT QUOTE:

"This is when I realize that Anna has already left the table, and more importantly, that nobody noticed." (40)
I thought that this quote was really significant because this is essentially what the book is about...Anna feeling like the only reason she is part of the family is just to be her sister's lifeline.Anna goes out by herself and finds a lawyer to try and regain rights to her own body because she hates that every single time her sister ends up in the hospital, she does too. When Anna comes to the dinner table, obviously upset, her family barely seems to notice, and just continue what they were doing. It is her father who says the above, and realizes that there just might be something going on (considering Anna isn't wearing the locket that he gave her, and that she has rarely taken off since she was young).

PROBABLE THEME:

I think the theme is how tightly does family obligation bind one and to what extent should a person allow it before demanding freedom?