...that could be used to describe Rebecca Skloot’s nonfiction writing of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta, wife of David and mother of four, had cells taken from her body without her consent. The Lacks family did not know this until a much later date. Henrietta’s cells are now referred to as HeLa which is the pattern of which most doctors used to label the cells they took from patients, willing and unwilling: First two, Last Two. This hides the identity of the patient. Throughout this memoir you will be taken back and forth between 2 points of view, the story of Henrietta’s life as well as the struggles Rebecca Skloot goes through to contact and speak with the Lacks family....
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...The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Essay Prompt 2 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks details how one woman’s immortal cells brought forth a medical revolution, with advances in medical technology and the development of a polio vaccine. Years earlier, the Industrial Revolution generated a wave of major breaks in biomedical engineering and the surgical field, with the invention of x-rays, anesthetics, and antiseptics (Local Histories). In a time rich with major breakthroughs in science, one may wonder at what cost have these developments revolutionized modern medicine? And at what point do we cease to advance our knowledge in the medical field for the sake of science and helping others, and instead let greed and money motivate scientific pursuits?...
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...The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks [HeLa] by Rebecca Skloot is a very well written and insightful book that discusses the life of Ms. Henrietta Lacks as well as the journey that her immortal cells have taken since her untimely death. After reading the first half of the book, many conclusions were made about the author’s style of writing and ways of informing the reader on facts about both Ms. Lacks and her cells. One of the creative ways that were very much appreciated about the book’s layout is the fact that the author switches from one subject to another throughout the chapters. Instead of telling the story in a “straight line” so to speak, the author switches from telling the story of Henrietta’s life and death to her (the author’s)...
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...The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is uniquely arranged in a complex double plot line between Henrietta Lacks’ life story and the journey of discovery that the author, Rebecca Skloot, embarked upon in search of the truth behind HeLa (the cells of Henrietta Lacks). The narrative perspective of the work differs between both plot lines: the sections from the author’s point of view are spoken in first person, while the parts pertaining to Henrietta and her family have a third-person omniscient perspective. Beginning at Ch 29: A Village of Henriettas, the two plot lines of the novel converge, bringing together Rebecca Skloot and Henrietta’s devoted daughter, Deborah, as the two passionately collaborate to uncover the emotional shocking truth behind the mystery of HeLa. Book Context: Ch. 1-10 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks reveals the true story of the woman from the 1940-50s who was behind the miracle HeLa cells; these cells were the first to permanently survive outside the human body and they are still alive today in laboratories across the globe. Furthermore, these HeLa cells...
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...Professor: Dr. Lloyd L. Cannedy, Ph.D. Book Review of “The Immortal Life of Henriettta Lack” Student: Abraham S Lincoln “Henrietta Lacks, a young black mother of five children, entered the colored ward of The Johns Hopkins Hospital to begin treatment for an extremely aggressive strain of cervical cancer. As she lay on the operating table, a sample of her cancerous cervical tissue was taken without her knowledge or consent and given to Dr. George Gey, the head of tissue research. Gey was conducting experiments in an attempt to create an immortal line of human cells that could be used in medical research. Those cells, he hoped, would allow scientists to unlock the mysteries of cancer, and eventually lead to a cure for the disease. Until this point, all of Gey’s attempts to grow a human cell line had ended in failure, but Henrietta’s cells were different; they never died.” (USF 2013-14 Common Reader, The immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Pg1) The cells, called HeLa, became one of the most important tools in medical research, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Less than a year after her initial diagnosis, Henrietta’s cancer was too much for her to bare, and the cancer took over her body. Because of her poverty she was buried in an unmarked grave on her family’s land. She was only thirty-one years old. Her family never knew, at that time that a portion small piece of Henrietta was still living, and that small piece would change the course...
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...Karen Plascencia Dr. Joe Puterbaugh English 101 11-03-12 Essay –Analysis of Rhetorical Strategies Rebecca Skloot’s book Rebecca Skloot’s book is an extraordinary and interesting book that narrates the live of Henrietta Lacks. The women who suffered from cervical cancer and later on died because of it. Doctors took out her cells without her family consents. Without knowing that those cells never die and the Doctors were getting multimillionaires. This book is really fascinating because it has several examples of how Henrietta Lacks used to live. Rebecca Skloot uses a rhetorical strategy to make this book even more real, she gives several supporting evidence when she spent few hours researching and trying to locate her family. She also, makes us feel what she feels about Henrietta Lacks and her family by explaining each moment of Henrietta’s life when she was alive and how this situation affected the family and she uses a clear tone to explain us how hard it was for Henrietta Lacks to be black and sick in those times and no getting the same treatment as whites. These strategies are: Logos, pathos and ethos. Rebecca Skloot uses logos in this book because she gives us supporting evidence about Henrietta Lacks. Since she was in school she heard about Hela cells, how they were reproducing every single minute and never die, but she was interested to know who was the person whom they took out the cells from. She asked to her teacher about the name of the person and her teacher...
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...Two sets of research will be covered in this paper first we have prevaricator, John D’Agata with his research article Lifespan of a Fact and second Rebecca Skloot book/research, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The purpose of this paper is to detail the day and night between the two pieces, the literary analysis and the overall attitude felt by the authors. Starting off from a quote out of D'Agata's article "I'm not writing for public office. I'm trying to write something that's interesting to read.” That's D'Agata summed up in one sentence. He is merely writing for entertainment and sport. Not interested in the truth in the least but how he can bend the truth to fit his story so it sounds good. While on the other hand Skloot gives a nice story in chronological order. Not only that but she gives us history of the time period in which she is investigating. She also gives a nice genealogy of Lacks life and family. This is something not found in D'Agata's research, this is actual facts about the person being researched....
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...Running head: TESTING WITH A POSSIBLE DEATH SENTENCE Testing With a Possible Death Sentence (An analysis of American mal-practice stemming from the Henrietta Lacks story) Testing with possible death sentence We can perceive past and future medical advancement through two very different lenses. One lens is clean and colorful and paints an innovative and hopeful picture of the present and future, and therefore many folks enjoy looking through it and broadcasting it. The second is foggy, dirty and colorless, and depicts a sad and appalling look at a frightening past. This perception threatens us, as the haunting past often does. Needless to say, most people choose not to look the old lens and is rather kept occult. This is probably the reason that aside from bits and pieces of unethical experiments in our part of the world, I was simply not well-educated on the subject and never expected to hear about so many terrible incidents catalyzed by one patient’s cells. The historic lens shows us that “historically, the health care institution has failed, humiliated and ruined lives in the effort to improve medicine” (Robbennolt, 2009) , and it is important for us as social workers to look through that gloomy, grim lens and envision interventions that would have prevented it from becoming so. In a twisted irony of life, one woman’s ill fate, gave way to many discoveries that have saved many lives, but unfortunately at a heavy price for others...
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...Julian Jane Atim, MBChB, MPH Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG) Stephanie Cantu Harvard Medical School Jonelle Wright, PhD, RN University of Miami Introduction This module consists of four (4) sections. After completing the training, you will take a short quiz on the training content. After completing the quiz, we ask you to answer a few optional questions to give your view of this training module. Learning Objectives By the end of this module, you should be able to: Describe the concept of Cultural Competence in Research Explain the importance of Cultural Competence in Research Describe ways to enhance the engagement of diverse populations and communities in research Identify cultural competence challenges faced by researchers when working with culturally diverse populations Cultural Competence in Research Culture is fundamental to everyone's perceived identity. It is a mix of one's values, beliefs, standards, norms, behaviors, language, communication styles, and thinking patterns.[1] Cultural competence refers to understanding the importance of social and cultural influence on the beliefs and behaviors of the patient, student, colleague or client.[2] Cultural competence in health care describes the ability of systems and health care professionals to provide high quality care to patients with diverse backgrounds, values, beliefs, and behaviors, including communicating effectively and tailoring delivery to meet patients' social, cultural and linguistic...
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...Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Bloom's Classic Critical Views alfred, lord Tennyson Benjamin Franklin The Brontës Charles Dickens edgar allan poe Geoffrey Chaucer George eliot George Gordon, lord Byron henry David Thoreau herman melville Jane austen John Donne and the metaphysical poets John milton Jonathan Swift mark Twain mary Shelley Nathaniel hawthorne Oscar Wilde percy Shelley ralph Waldo emerson robert Browning Samuel Taylor Coleridge Stephen Crane Walt Whitman William Blake William Shakespeare William Wordsworth Bloom’s Classic Critical Views W i l l ia m Sha k e Sp e a r e Edited and with an Introduction by Sterling professor of the humanities Yale University harold Bloom Bloom’s Classic Critical Views: William Shakespeare Copyright © 2010 Infobase Publishing Introduction © 2010 by Harold Bloom All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information contact: Bloom’s Literary Criticism An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data William Shakespeare / edited and with an introduction by Harold Bloom : Neil Heims, volume editor. p. cm. — (Bloom’s classic critical views) Includes bibliographical references...
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