...“Wake up! They are attacking! Get to the temple as fast as you can! Kill yourselves as soon as you arrive. They must not obtain us!” I heard screaming but my eyes were blurry with sleep. Father Jones’ (Polk) voice was blaring over the loudspeakers again (Dittman). I was not sure if this was a real suicide call or another White Night (Rothenberg Gritz). I could not find my mommy or daddy and I had never done this alone before. They told me to be brave, to accept what was going to happen. They never told me how, or why it had to happen, just that it would. They just said that we were all going to have to die eventually. Remembering my mama's and papa’s words, I ran to the Temple. My friend, Amilia, a Mexican girl around my age, was running...
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...I heard a scream. It wasn’t like the ones you hear in horror movies; it was like the howl of a wolf. Hesitant, I waited for a few seconds before approaching the noise. As I walked down the stairs, the screaming got louder. I tiptoed into the living room and took a peek. I saw nothing. Then I strolled into the bathroom. My father, crouching on the floor, was leaning against the toilet. Clenching his heart, he told me to listen. I pulled in close to him and heard his chest bubbling and boiling. People often tell me that I seem calm in stressful situations, but I knew that my face was anything but calm. “Do you want me to call 911? Do you need to go to the hospital?” I panicked. “No, I will be fine! If I go to the hospital it will cost a lot of money, and we do not have the money to pay the medical bills” I looked at my father in disbelief. I was certain that he needed help from a doctor. I sat on the floor and observed his condition. Five minutes had passed and his breaths became shorter. My face went pale as I wavered between whether I should call an ambulance, or obey my father. What had I studied in health class? Did anyone inform me about what to do in this situation? My father’s eyes became cloudy, and he started to look like a zombie. I couldn't take it anymore; my conscience told me that the best option was to go to the hospital. I ran to the telephone and dialed 911. The operator asked for my address and I opened the door. The EMT’s stormed in with a stretcher. Two bulky...
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...I was six years old at that time and never before had I felt as helpless as I did at that very moment. I started crying I could hear his feet hitting the rocks as he got closer to me; I was terrified I did not know what he was going to do to me. All because of a silly accident that was not intentional. He grabbed my skinny little arm, lifts me up with no effort, and dragged me to the water. He pushed me into a strong current; he was trying to drown me. I did not know how to swim; therefore I panicked. I thought I was going to drown. My feet searched for something to stand on but the rocks were very slippery. I was trying to stay afloat because for a moment I thought I was going to die. My sister took me on her back and she swam us both back...
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...“Ma’am, did you see who hit you?” The officer asks. I hold onto my phone tightly, bringing my hands into my chest. I would love nothing more than to put an end to this charade, but if I talk, everyone I love will die. Going against all my beliefs, in a shaky voice, I reply, “no, sir. It all happened so fast, I didn’t see.” “Okay, ma’am, this EMT will bring you to the ambulance to check you out,” the officer stated. I nervously nod my head as I follow the EMT to the back of the ambulance. The EMT directs me where to sit and I comply. So many thoughts enter my mind as the EMT looks over my body. I cannot take a simple breath without Master dictating that. When will this be over? When will this nightmare end? I lose myself in my plaguing thoughts as Preston rushes up towards me. I leap to my feet allowing myself to fall into his embrace as Preston cradles me, “thank God you are okay. I wouldn’t know what to do if I lost you.” Tears of sorrow flood from my eyes, as I hold in our embrace. In his arms is the only place I feel safe at this moment. Preston leans back, cupping the sides of my face in his hands, “everything will be alright. We will get through this like we do with everything else that is thrown our way.” I know what he says is out of love, but if he knew the truth behind it all, he wouldn’t be so sure. Unable to answer, I just sob wishing this outlandish dream would end. “Would you like to go to the hospital?” The EMT asks. I silently whisper, “no, I’ll be fine.” Preston...
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...Susan Williams told Amy Ro from “Good Morning America” that the day before Robin committed suicide; he gave her a precious gift the day before. She said Robin was so amazing, that she believed he was getting better. “And it was the perfect day. We just did what we loved to do together. And I know now that he gave me that perfect day. He gave us that perfect day.” It was almost as if he knew this might be the last time they will ever be together and he wanted it to be awesome and memorable. The night before, she said that Robin came into her bedroom and offered her a foot massage. She said she thanked him but turned down his offer. “And I said, ‘It's OK, honey. Not -- you know, it's OK. You don't have to tonight.’ And I'll never forget the...
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...Treat me, how you want to be treated or else! Death can bring out the worst of behaviors out of people in mourning. I’ve worked in the Death Care industry in one way or another my whole life. I’ve experienced some very rude and offensive people during one of life’s darkest moments. I’ve been cursed at, lied on, and even threatened with violence from grieving families. I’d like to tell you a couple of times, I was very offended by customers I was serving. When a person dies, depending on the circumstances surrounding the death, many changes can occur to the remains. I once had a case where the deceased had been on a ventilator for over a month, while family members argued over pulling the plug. This caused a major case of edema, which is an excess of watery fluid collecting in the cavity or tissues of the body. As anyone can figure out, this caused a great amount of swelling to all parts of the body including the head and face. The Funeral Director advised the family of the outcome and what could be done from an embalmers position. Against the professional opinion of the Director, the family opted for a public viewing anyway. Upon the family’s arrival for the private viewing time with their loved one, they entered the chapel and started ranting and raving, that the person in the casket was not their loved one and how they were going to “sue our asses”. If ever there was a time I felt unsafe it was at that very moment. They began to vandalize the facility and really trash the...
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...Whenever I glance down and find the surgical scars on my abdomen, my mind floods with memories of a hospital visit that almost ended my life in the 6th grade. My first year in middle school had just begun and resembled an incredible beginning. I was the only student in my class to be invited to play with the Varsity soccer team, while still being able to participate in the Science Club and the Mars Rover team. As soon as we finished our experiment in the Science Club, I ran over just in time to join my soccer team for our routine stretches. A sharp pain started to attack my lower abdomen, which I immediately presumed were pre-game butterflies. As our first game commenced, I remember having to walk off the field due to the growing pain in my stomach. Since my parents were not convinced that I was experiencing muscle cramps, they brought me to a Methodist Emergency Center. After an abdominal ultrasound was taken by a technologist, the reading physician diagnosed me with acute appendicitis. The ER staff quickly put my stretcher on an ambulance and rushed me to the Texas Children’s Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. Upon arrival, I remember rolling into a large OR where a surgical team was impatiently waiting. I was asked to count backwards from ten to one. The curiosity of my surroundings assisted me in getting to five. It seemed like a rapid recovery. I had moved from the SICU to another floor in less than a day. Besides the lab tech who could never find my veins...
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...therapy will consist of looking at positive exceptions in therapy. Positive exceptions will involve my sister exploring patterns relation to anxiety for example, describing the times when she does not experience anxiety. Scaling will also be helpful for my sister, such as on a scale of one to ten what is her anxiety. Furthermore, how can she move that anxiety level to a lower rating on a one to ten scale? I think by exploring the rate of her anxiety my sister will be aware that she can control the anxiety that she experiences at different times of the day. In general, solution focus will help with, disrupting behavioral patterns, change outdated beliefs, and amplify exceptions to behavior than my sister previously believe was unchangeable. Narrative therapy focuses on the “stories” that are told and retold in families. Describe one of these stories from your family. How has it shaped your life? The only story that I can think of that was told and retold was how my stepdad was banned from a store for stealing when he was a teen. The story is often told to prevent other family members who younger from engaging in criminal behaviors. In addition, to teach a lesson that what can impact you as a teen can lead to future consequences. For instance, not only was he banned from a store, but he also went to jail as a result. I think this has influenced my decision in life. This story has prevented me engaging in any behavior that is unmoral or illegal. For example, as a teen when my friends...
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...“'The Weight of Perhaps Ten or a Dozen Human Lives': Suicide, Accountability, and the Life-Saving Technologies of the Asylum.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 90 (2016), 583-610. Project Muse. Retrieved on 14 February 2018 from: muse.jhu.edu/article/642726. In her paper, Kathleen Brian describes how the antebellum asylum asserted ownership over the prevention of suicide. This led to suicides and their families being treated with “increasing compassion” (Brian 589) but also required a tremendous amount of energy and resources. As such, it “contributed directly to a loss of confidence in . . . treatment, as well as to its ultimate decline” (Brian 610). An exploration of the happenings at the New York State Lunatic Asylum, Brian's piece is descriptive and well-researched. The claims...
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...beyond anything that I have actually experienced. Accounts of how a French scuba diver nearly drowned to death in a pursuit to save the life of another diver followed by the scary reality of death among the lives of senior citizens in hospice care are only some of the many intriguing stories that inspire me write for radio broadcasting. “How A Woman’s Plan to Kill Herself Helped Her Family Grieve” written by Alex Spiegel is another story that specifically captures the listener within the confines of its broadcast. Sandy Bem had Alzheimer’s disease—a disease that corrupts the mind’s capacity to remember important family members, read, and write. This disease left Sandy feeling helpless and depressed, later causing her to “commit” suicide—assisted suicide. As Sandy’s health began to deteriorate her feelings of helplessness grew to the point of despair. After wallowing in sadness for countless months, Sandy felt death was the only way to relieve her suffering. Sandy planned a closure ceremony where family and friends were invited to celebrate and relinquish countless memories with and of her that she now couldn’t remember. After hearing Sandy’s decision her daughter, Emily, didn’t like or understand her choice but later came to the realization that this was the best possible grieving...
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...The primary purpose of historical narratives is to report as accurately as possible what happened at each particular place and time in history. But each of the writers in this unit (De Vaca, Bradford, and Equiano) went beyond merely reporting the facts; they had other, more personal reasons for writing what they did. Each of them had a personal agenda. Equiano’s personal agenda in The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano was to shame his white audience into abolishing the slave trade by describing the horrible events that took place on the ship. While he did state facts about the ship, Equiano described personal experiences to persuade the audience more. For example, Equiano describes the smell of the hold as being “…so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to...
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...focus of our interest is modernist literature which is a subdivision of modernism and begins during the early stages of the 20th century, being seen in opposition to the traditional values promoted until the first World War. Many branches develop during this period (psychology, philosophy, political institutions etc.) and the realism of the earlier times is now rejected and replaced by the idea that everything is relative. Things take a new shift and the absolute truths vanish, leaving room for multiple interpretations and personalized opinions which are presented now, in writing. But how can one define something that has no clear conclusion? An element of this sort cannot have a finality, therefore, it is understood according to one’s personal background and experience. Modernist literature will always raise serious issues concerning the purpose and form of literature, questioning its former aspects. What are the reasons for writing a novel and what should a novel consist of? For example, the notion of “novel” becomes ambiguous in the mind of Virginia Woolf, who declared after writing “Mrs. Dalloway” that “I’m glad to be quit this time of writing a novel, and hope never to be accused of it again.” Next to Virginia Woolf which is believed to be one of the greatest modern authors, the faithful readers come across names like James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence, Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, or as in the case of the Romanian literature: Camil Petrescu, George Calinescu etc. These are...
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...A woman’s agency is her right to make her own choices and live the way that she decides. According to Malalai Joya’s narrative of her life in Afghanistan, women during the time period of 2000-2009 did not have much freedom to practice their own agency, even though they would undoubtedly try. Some women would continue to study and receive an education, even though they were being targeted and could get killed. Some women practiced agency by going to Joya and other political and media sources to voice the injustices inflicted upon them. However, some women took a very direct and final approach to reclaiming their own agency: suicide. Women are not given many opportunities to claim and practice their own agency, so suicide was a common way of...
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...place in Monterey, California sometime between the Great Depression and World War II. The story is based on “his non-teleological acceptance of what ‘is,’ his ecological vision, and his own memories of a street and the people who made it home” (Shillinglaw vii). Steinbeck lived during the Great Depression and his experience affected the tone within the story. Steinbeck chose to write using third person narrative within the story which is an omniscient point of view- this allows the reader to know what the characters are thinking and feeling. The author wrote this story for the soldiers entertainment throughout battle. Steinbeck uses a unique style to construct this novel by periodically incorporating anecdotes and vignettes within the book, which allows the author to paint a overall picture in the reader’s mind of the reality of this time period. The major aspects within Cannery Row are loneliness, suicide and the development of characters. In the story Cannery Row, loneliness can be considered a major aspect of this book. Loneliness describes many of the characters in this narrative- especially the character Doc. Although Doc is much loved by his peers and has many friends, he is lonely. He spends most of his time listening to music on the phonograph. The text explains that “'He was a dark and lonesome looking man' No one loved him. No one cared about him” (Steinbeck 6). This statement creates a sense of sympathy for the character. One of Steinbeck’s anecdotes at the end of the...
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...treasure in which Japanese culture and wisdom is portray through. It is the victories, and failures of these heroes that teach the world of Japanese traditions and honor. However, these men were not created for the education of the world, but rather for the centuries of Japanese people whom these figures represent. Warrior tales of Minamoto no Tametomo, Minamoto no Yoshitomo, Minamoto no Yoshinaka, and Minamoto no Yoshitsune have a greater purpose than to provide entertainment to the people of Japan, these men provide a Japanese education on personality, values, morals, and Japanese customs. The three types of heroes that Varley examines in his book differ from each other slightly, but contribute greatly to the history of Japan in an exciting narrative of the honor and customs of the ancient Japanese warrior. The greatest loser-hero in Hōgen Monogatari is Minamoto no Tametomo (Varley, 56). A real life Japanese warrior, Minatomo was contributed with a number of attributes that are believed to have been not true in the effort to immortalize him as a warrior. Said to have stood two feet taller than the normal Japanese man, and endowed with a left arm six inches longer than the other – making his ability to shoot a bow an amazing and powerful feat – Tametomo was a grand character of Japanese imagination. His ability to wage battle made him an esteemed Japanese warrior, and this is important in regards to Japanese war customs in which many times the most elite warrior of each side would...
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