As I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I could not help but think about the immense amount of research that had to have gone into the piece. Rebecca Skloot devoted over ten years of her life to create this book and make Henrietta and her family’s story available to the world. After finishing the book, I read the acknowledgements and the notes Skloot provided. She contacted hundreds of people for interviews, dug up mountains of information, and kept years of notes, tape-recorded interviews, and artifacts to put all of the pieces of HeLa back together.
The heavy medical information struck me the most in the reading. For me, someone who has only a basic understanding of cells and other medical topics, I usually have to read and re-read anything that deals with any medical jargon (I can only imagine how the Lacks family felt trying to understand those things as well). On page 28, Skloot begins to describe various types of cervical carcinomas writing, “Cervical carcinomas are divided into two types: invasive carcinomas, which have penetrated the surface of the cervix, and noninvasive carcinomas, which haven’t. The noninvasive type is sometimes called “sugar-icing carcinoma,” because it grows in a smooth layered sheet across the surface of the cervix…” I found Skloot’s descriptions of Henrietta’s procedures, other doctor’s experimentation, among many other medical topics easy to understand. I think Skloot’s background in Biology afforded her the ability to easily convey these ideas to readers. Medical journals and doctors sometimes get caught up in the heavy medical terms which I think make it difficult for people to understand especially when they are not familiar with those topics. I believe that was something Skloot did effectively while compiling her research into the text.
I like to think that writer’s are detectives but in a different context than solving a crime. Skloot shows this detective work when she was in Baltimore having difficulty reaching the Lackses; that was when she realized she was seeing the same view Michael Rogers described in his article in Rolling Stone, and she began to call numbers in the phone book of everyone named Lacks. That led her to Tuner’s Station and got the ball rolling on her adventure. Skloot got up and got out, looking for any and all information that could lead her to the Lacks family and closer to finding out about Henrietta’s life. She immersed herself into the Lacks family, becoming a family member herself as she developed a strong relationship to Deborah. I think that those parts of the research are the most important to creating a successful story. The story was essentially there for Skloot, but she had to uncover a vast amount of information to find it. This teaches me a lot about myself as a writer. I need to be more assertive and not be afraid to ask questions when I’m creating a story because I never know where it could lead me.
Also, Skloot used multiple resources to find stories for one sliver of the story. Since George Gey had passed many years before Skloot began her research, she had to work around that. She talked to his lab assistants and his co-workers. She pieced together him as a character in the story even though he wasn’t around to help create it himself. That is another very valuable form of researching; if the story isn’t available one way, you have to go a different route to find it.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
My Writing Life
My writing habits have developed into an orderly routine. I like to create rough outlines for any writing I start. Having a fairly concrete idea of where I’m headed in my writing (no matter what writing I do) makes me feel better about the process. If I am writing a memoir piece or an academic piece for another class, I always seem to outline my ideas prior to diving right in. Although, there are times where I want to include a scene in my piece, and for scenes I like to just get right down to it. I enjoy building scenes and incorporating a lot of details. Anytime I think of an idea throughout the course of my day, I try to write it down immediately. When I’m in the process of writing a paper, I have post it notes covering my desk and my note board above my desk. I’ll admit I’m a slow writer. I’m also a slow reader. I’m a slow person in general, but sometimes writing forces me to take long Facebook breaks and stare at the computer screen hoping an idea pops into my head. My writing has improved immensely throughout my studies. When I revise longer pieces now, I completely change the structure and information, and sometimes the piece travels a different direction than when I first outlined. Finding topics is always an area of writing that causes me heartache. I want to find a good topic and it find relevance with readers, but I don’t want to bore myself to tears throughout the entire process to create it. I like to start with what I know, what I like. What are my friends doing? How does it affect their life? What do I enjoy? Why do I enjoy it? What are some of the questions I have? By exploring some of these questions, I’m finding more outlets for ideas and ways to further enhance my writing.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Lab Assignment
Autism's First Child - The Atlantic
Story from The Atlantic
Autism’s First Child
By John Donovan and Caren Zucker
Out of all of the stories I researched for this lab, this was by far my favorite. First, the subject was incredibly interesting; autism is a pretty contemporary diagnosis with a lot of research and activism prevalent in today’s medical community and to read about the first person associated with the disease is eye opening. The authors wrote the story on Donald Tripplet, the first person ever diagnosed with autism. This piece also contains a video with some insight from the authors on how the story was developed. My favorite areas of the piece are the interjections of the scenes where the text focuses on Donald. Readers gain a great insight into Donald’s life, his passions, they way he engages with others, and how autism has affected his life. What inspires me about this piece is the way the writing doesn’t feel like a report, but the authors make the subject feel real and build the character so readers understand more about the subject. Although the text is full of facts and medical history at some points, I do not feel like I’m reading a boring medical journal. I feel like I can learn how to report on a subject including the important facts while showing the reader a character, rather than telling the reader about the subject.
Parallel Play-The New Yorker
Story from The New Yorker
Parallel Play
By Tim Page
I enjoy author Tim Page’s recollection of his life prior to his Asperger’s diagnoses. I think this piece approaches multiple angles. First, Page delves into childhood memories that demonstrate his “differences,” but he also weaves medical history of the syndrome within the memoir moments in the piece. Most of my writing has been mostly within memoir, so I think this piece provides me with an example of an author writing on their own experience while making the piece about more than just their life. Page’s structure isn’t so chronological, which is also something I would like to experiment with. I tried with my 25 page assignment in my last writing class, but the piece ended up working better with a chronological frame. Although, I think that is part of my own writing style. I like when things flow and seem to follow right after the other, which is why I am so fond of the chronological writing structure (even though sometimes it’s boring).
Navigating Love and Autism-The New York Times
Video/Story from The New York Times
Navigating Love and Autism
By Amy Harmon
-This story incorporates a five minute video about the subjects of the piece. The story follows Jack and Kirsten, two college students from Massachusetts who both have Asperger’s syndrome. What inspires me about this piece is the video aspect; it’s provides a different method and outlet to tell a story using video and pictures. The video does not include nearly as much information as the supplementary article, but it shows the essentials of Jack and Kirsten’s relationship. I think I can learn a lot about the more visual aspect of contemporary nonfiction. With our society’s increased dependence on the internet and advanced forms of media, I want to acquire a better understanding of digital media within writing and reporting.
Free Write
For this free-write, I am trying to “try on” the voice of the authors in Autism’s First Child to create a scene and build character. The scenes within the piece focusing on Donald have quick sentences that are descriptive but to the point.
“Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas, Mario! Come here, and give me a hug.”
Mario, my godson, opens up his little arms and walks towards me. I bend down and pick him up. He’s almost too big to carry around anymore.
“Can I have a kiss, please?” His light brown hair swoops across his face; it’s almost too long to see through, but he doesn’t like the process of a haircut. He closes his lips, shuts his eyes, and gives me a big kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Mario, you’re so cute.”
“Your welcome!”
I put him back down on the floor, and he makes his way around the room saying hello to the rest of the family. Mario walks into the kitchen clutching his Buzz Lightyear toy tightly in his hand. He rolls a kitchen chair out from under the table.
“Mario, want some chips?” His mother asks.
“Chips. Chips, chips.”
She opens the bag of Lays potato chips and sets it down on the table. Mario, still holding his toy, starts eating his chips one by one. He counts each chip and smears the salt from his fingers onto his blue jeans. Potato chips are Mario’s favorite food. He’s allergic to wheat, eggs, and peanuts, so every food he eats has to be checked to ensure he isn’t allergic to any ingredients. Now that his allergies have developed, it is difficult to get him to try new foods. He won’t eat things he has never tried and even getting him to touch new foods is difficult progress.
After Mario finished his chips he went into the dining room. I stayed in the kitchen helping my grandma cook dinner. A while after, I noticed Mario wasn’t in the dining room. He wasn’t in the kitchen or the living room either.
“Gabriella,” I called to my baby cousin, “let’s go find your baby brother.”
Gabriella and I walked up the steps to the second floor. The light was on in the bedroom at the top of the stairs. We stepped into the room to find Mario, still gripping tightly onto Buzz, lying on the bed singing.
“Mario, what are you doing?”
“Hi!” he says back.
I sat down. Gabriella jumped onto the bed behind me. Mario sat up; his eyes open wide, a big, bright smile grew on his face. They started to jump on the bed and pretended to fight each other. Even though Mario is only four, and Gabriella is two years older than him, he is still much bigger than her.
“Oh noo!” Mario yells as he plops onto the bed. The two get up and fall down and laugh. Mario has the most infectious laugh. They laugh so hard they can’t even catch their breath. He loves playing with his sister.
Their jumping is interrupted by a loud voice from the kitchen saying dinner is ready. Gabriella jumps off the bed and heads straight for the door. Mario lies back down in the middle of the bed, holding Buzz, and playing with his feet above his head.
“Come downstairs, Mario. It’s time for dinner.”
“Noooo!”
“Come on. Me and Gabriella are going downstairs. The faster you eat your dinner, the faster we can open Christmas presents.”
“No!”
After a little begging, Gabriella finally persuaded her brother to come downstairs. Since he couldn’t eat the seafood and pasta everyone else ate for Christmas, he had gluten-free pancakes and sausage. He didn’t want to eat any of it. Instead, he laid on the coffee table in my grandparent’s living room watching cartoons. He stayed just like that, lying on the coffee table, hanging onto Buzz, for the rest of dinner.
Lying on flat surfaces is Mario’s habit when he needs to calm himself down. When he gets upset it’s best to leave him alone and allow himself to calm down. Mario has autism. He was diagnosed when he was about two years old, and since then we’ve become accustomed to his habits, his likes, and dislikes. He absolutely adores Toy Story, and he seems to always have Buzz Lightyear or Woody in his hand at all times. When he answers a question, if he answers at all, it’s always a very short answer. He repeats himself a lot. He has outbursts and becomes attached to things and won’t let them go, like Buzz. Despite his social quirks, he is intelligent for his age. Ahead of most of the children in his daycare class, he can read, count, spell, and understand concepts that children a few years older than him have yet to learn. With help from counselors and therapists, Mario has improved through his social differences. Each time I see him I can tell he’s getting better. I remember when he used to cry every time I held him as a young toddler, but now he gives hugs and kisses and tells everyone “I love you!” He gets better expressing himself and engaging with others. Even though he still has some adjustments to make, he’s the happiest boy I know.
Story from The Atlantic
Autism’s First Child
By John Donovan and Caren Zucker
Out of all of the stories I researched for this lab, this was by far my favorite. First, the subject was incredibly interesting; autism is a pretty contemporary diagnosis with a lot of research and activism prevalent in today’s medical community and to read about the first person associated with the disease is eye opening. The authors wrote the story on Donald Tripplet, the first person ever diagnosed with autism. This piece also contains a video with some insight from the authors on how the story was developed. My favorite areas of the piece are the interjections of the scenes where the text focuses on Donald. Readers gain a great insight into Donald’s life, his passions, they way he engages with others, and how autism has affected his life. What inspires me about this piece is the way the writing doesn’t feel like a report, but the authors make the subject feel real and build the character so readers understand more about the subject. Although the text is full of facts and medical history at some points, I do not feel like I’m reading a boring medical journal. I feel like I can learn how to report on a subject including the important facts while showing the reader a character, rather than telling the reader about the subject.
Parallel Play-The New Yorker
Story from The New Yorker
Parallel Play
By Tim Page
I enjoy author Tim Page’s recollection of his life prior to his Asperger’s diagnoses. I think this piece approaches multiple angles. First, Page delves into childhood memories that demonstrate his “differences,” but he also weaves medical history of the syndrome within the memoir moments in the piece. Most of my writing has been mostly within memoir, so I think this piece provides me with an example of an author writing on their own experience while making the piece about more than just their life. Page’s structure isn’t so chronological, which is also something I would like to experiment with. I tried with my 25 page assignment in my last writing class, but the piece ended up working better with a chronological frame. Although, I think that is part of my own writing style. I like when things flow and seem to follow right after the other, which is why I am so fond of the chronological writing structure (even though sometimes it’s boring).
Navigating Love and Autism-The New York Times
Video/Story from The New York Times
Navigating Love and Autism
By Amy Harmon
-This story incorporates a five minute video about the subjects of the piece. The story follows Jack and Kirsten, two college students from Massachusetts who both have Asperger’s syndrome. What inspires me about this piece is the video aspect; it’s provides a different method and outlet to tell a story using video and pictures. The video does not include nearly as much information as the supplementary article, but it shows the essentials of Jack and Kirsten’s relationship. I think I can learn a lot about the more visual aspect of contemporary nonfiction. With our society’s increased dependence on the internet and advanced forms of media, I want to acquire a better understanding of digital media within writing and reporting.
Free Write
For this free-write, I am trying to “try on” the voice of the authors in Autism’s First Child to create a scene and build character. The scenes within the piece focusing on Donald have quick sentences that are descriptive but to the point.
“Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas, Mario! Come here, and give me a hug.”
Mario, my godson, opens up his little arms and walks towards me. I bend down and pick him up. He’s almost too big to carry around anymore.
“Can I have a kiss, please?” His light brown hair swoops across his face; it’s almost too long to see through, but he doesn’t like the process of a haircut. He closes his lips, shuts his eyes, and gives me a big kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Mario, you’re so cute.”
“Your welcome!”
I put him back down on the floor, and he makes his way around the room saying hello to the rest of the family. Mario walks into the kitchen clutching his Buzz Lightyear toy tightly in his hand. He rolls a kitchen chair out from under the table.
“Mario, want some chips?” His mother asks.
“Chips. Chips, chips.”
She opens the bag of Lays potato chips and sets it down on the table. Mario, still holding his toy, starts eating his chips one by one. He counts each chip and smears the salt from his fingers onto his blue jeans. Potato chips are Mario’s favorite food. He’s allergic to wheat, eggs, and peanuts, so every food he eats has to be checked to ensure he isn’t allergic to any ingredients. Now that his allergies have developed, it is difficult to get him to try new foods. He won’t eat things he has never tried and even getting him to touch new foods is difficult progress.
After Mario finished his chips he went into the dining room. I stayed in the kitchen helping my grandma cook dinner. A while after, I noticed Mario wasn’t in the dining room. He wasn’t in the kitchen or the living room either.
“Gabriella,” I called to my baby cousin, “let’s go find your baby brother.”
Gabriella and I walked up the steps to the second floor. The light was on in the bedroom at the top of the stairs. We stepped into the room to find Mario, still gripping tightly onto Buzz, lying on the bed singing.
“Mario, what are you doing?”
“Hi!” he says back.
I sat down. Gabriella jumped onto the bed behind me. Mario sat up; his eyes open wide, a big, bright smile grew on his face. They started to jump on the bed and pretended to fight each other. Even though Mario is only four, and Gabriella is two years older than him, he is still much bigger than her.
“Oh noo!” Mario yells as he plops onto the bed. The two get up and fall down and laugh. Mario has the most infectious laugh. They laugh so hard they can’t even catch their breath. He loves playing with his sister.
Their jumping is interrupted by a loud voice from the kitchen saying dinner is ready. Gabriella jumps off the bed and heads straight for the door. Mario lies back down in the middle of the bed, holding Buzz, and playing with his feet above his head.
“Come downstairs, Mario. It’s time for dinner.”
“Noooo!”
“Come on. Me and Gabriella are going downstairs. The faster you eat your dinner, the faster we can open Christmas presents.”
“No!”
After a little begging, Gabriella finally persuaded her brother to come downstairs. Since he couldn’t eat the seafood and pasta everyone else ate for Christmas, he had gluten-free pancakes and sausage. He didn’t want to eat any of it. Instead, he laid on the coffee table in my grandparent’s living room watching cartoons. He stayed just like that, lying on the coffee table, hanging onto Buzz, for the rest of dinner.
Lying on flat surfaces is Mario’s habit when he needs to calm himself down. When he gets upset it’s best to leave him alone and allow himself to calm down. Mario has autism. He was diagnosed when he was about two years old, and since then we’ve become accustomed to his habits, his likes, and dislikes. He absolutely adores Toy Story, and he seems to always have Buzz Lightyear or Woody in his hand at all times. When he answers a question, if he answers at all, it’s always a very short answer. He repeats himself a lot. He has outbursts and becomes attached to things and won’t let them go, like Buzz. Despite his social quirks, he is intelligent for his age. Ahead of most of the children in his daycare class, he can read, count, spell, and understand concepts that children a few years older than him have yet to learn. With help from counselors and therapists, Mario has improved through his social differences. Each time I see him I can tell he’s getting better. I remember when he used to cry every time I held him as a young toddler, but now he gives hugs and kisses and tells everyone “I love you!” He gets better expressing himself and engaging with others. Even though he still has some adjustments to make, he’s the happiest boy I know.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Final Project Ideas
I’ve brainstormed a few topics for my final project. As I sat thinking, I tried to develop ideas that were relevant to today’s culture and would interest readers. It seemed even more difficult for me to come up with a topic since I could pick any topic I choose. You would think that I would be able to come up with a topic the moment I began thinking, but that wasn’t the case. Oh well! J Here’s what I have so far. I brainstormed a few just to jot down my thoughts in case I forget any.
1. Store Loyalty Cards: I have about six store loyalty cards on my keychain, which is only a fraction of the amount I have strewn across my room, in my desk, and in my purse. Some of which I have neglected to activate and use EVER. Of the six on my keychain I only use two consistently, my Giant Eagle Advantage card and my Wellness + card for Rite-Aid. I have always been interested in the benefits of these cards to the consumer and the business providing them. Is it really worth it to buy multiple items just because they’re 10 for $10 dollars with my Store Loyalty card, even though I only really need one? Also, how does this affect our culture’s affinity for saving money and getting a deal when making purchases? Are we really getting a deal? What about reward cards you have to purchase? What’s next in our society’s obsession with saving? I would try to include information about the couponing habits of people as depicted on TLC’s Extreme Couponing, and how these couponers utilize couponing blogs and websites, along with store loyalty cards, to get the most bang for their buck.
2. The Cupcake business: Flipping through the channels, I’ve noticed an abundance of shows about cupcakes and cupcakes bakers. My first thought was YUM I love cupcakes. My second was who cares? Why do I care about this bakery in Washington D.C. that makes only cupcakes and expensive ones at that? Over the summer, I went on vacation with my roommate and her family to Plymouth, Massachusetts where we came across Cupcake Charley’s, a bakery that had been on Food Networks Cupcake Wars. I bought four cupcakes and spent almost $15. They were delicious, but ridiculously priced. It seems every time I turn around there is a new business opening up selling extremely expensive baked goods. What happened to the small town bakeries where you could buy fresh cakes and cookies without breaking the bank?
3. Kiddie pageants: Youth pageants have exploded into popular culture. Now, it seems like an extremely lucrative business. Pageant kids have tanners, flipper makers, make-up artists, dress designers, hair stylists, and pageant coaches, all of these things cost a pretty penny. Shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and Little Miss Perfect have really showcased the world of Kiddie pageants: the pageant moms, the snotty kids, pageant preparation, and the competition. The pageant world has really evolved since the early days of pageants. I have heard before that pageants should be regulated as part of child labor laws and thought that was pretty interesting. Do the pageants really offer young children anything? What is there to gain from these types of television shows? How much has the Kiddie pageant business grown and where is it heading?
1. Store Loyalty Cards: I have about six store loyalty cards on my keychain, which is only a fraction of the amount I have strewn across my room, in my desk, and in my purse. Some of which I have neglected to activate and use EVER. Of the six on my keychain I only use two consistently, my Giant Eagle Advantage card and my Wellness + card for Rite-Aid. I have always been interested in the benefits of these cards to the consumer and the business providing them. Is it really worth it to buy multiple items just because they’re 10 for $10 dollars with my Store Loyalty card, even though I only really need one? Also, how does this affect our culture’s affinity for saving money and getting a deal when making purchases? Are we really getting a deal? What about reward cards you have to purchase? What’s next in our society’s obsession with saving? I would try to include information about the couponing habits of people as depicted on TLC’s Extreme Couponing, and how these couponers utilize couponing blogs and websites, along with store loyalty cards, to get the most bang for their buck.
2. The Cupcake business: Flipping through the channels, I’ve noticed an abundance of shows about cupcakes and cupcakes bakers. My first thought was YUM I love cupcakes. My second was who cares? Why do I care about this bakery in Washington D.C. that makes only cupcakes and expensive ones at that? Over the summer, I went on vacation with my roommate and her family to Plymouth, Massachusetts where we came across Cupcake Charley’s, a bakery that had been on Food Networks Cupcake Wars. I bought four cupcakes and spent almost $15. They were delicious, but ridiculously priced. It seems every time I turn around there is a new business opening up selling extremely expensive baked goods. What happened to the small town bakeries where you could buy fresh cakes and cookies without breaking the bank?
3. Kiddie pageants: Youth pageants have exploded into popular culture. Now, it seems like an extremely lucrative business. Pageant kids have tanners, flipper makers, make-up artists, dress designers, hair stylists, and pageant coaches, all of these things cost a pretty penny. Shows like Toddlers and Tiaras and Little Miss Perfect have really showcased the world of Kiddie pageants: the pageant moms, the snotty kids, pageant preparation, and the competition. The pageant world has really evolved since the early days of pageants. I have heard before that pageants should be regulated as part of child labor laws and thought that was pretty interesting. Do the pageants really offer young children anything? What is there to gain from these types of television shows? How much has the Kiddie pageant business grown and where is it heading?
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