Last Class

It has been a long semester, and i really enjoyed this class. I feel that our class was so small that it was easy to become comfortable with each other. I made new friends and lost countless hours of sleep, however i still enjoyed class almost every time. I have also improved my writing as well. I feel i have gotten better at using quotes and explaining them as well as well as bringing out the main idea when i write. I feel this class was beneficial because it prepares me for what is to come in the future during college.

The Pura Principle

This interesting story deals with a single mother and two boys, one of which that has cancer. I found this story very interesting because it was a STORY and it held my attention. IT is nice to be entertained by stories every now and again (true or not) because it seems like now that Im in college all my readings seem to be about studies, facts and statistical information. This story was told in the voice of the brother without cancer, and his observations of his family's coping ability with his brother's cancer situation. I feel the author did a good job of drawing the readers in with the interesting story, and that allowed the message to come across nicely.

Waltz with Bashir

The scene from the movie Waltz with Bashir that stands out in my mind is the one where the guy is the only survivor on the beach and his unit left him stranded. I found it amazing that he was able to hide and not be found for hours and then swim for so long at night ultimately ending up with the unit he belonged to. Out of ALL the places he could have ended up he happened to land with his group. I know if I were in that situation I would have probably died because I'm not the best swimmer and could not have made it that far. It showed the kind of determination this man had to live and make it to safety

Annotated bibliography

1)Bojanowski, Jennifer. "Sickle Cell Disease." The Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders. Ed. Laurie J. Fundukian. 3rd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale. 1395-1403. Gale Virtual Reference Library. 2010 Web. 3 Apr. 2011.

This article goes into detail about the disease. It also speaks of treatments and medicine used by SCA infected people. It also provides more symptoms than i have found previously.


2)Kristin Moquist, et al. "Transition Planning for Youth With Sickle Cell Disease: Embedding Neuropsychological Assessment Into Comprehensive Care." Pediatrics 126. Health Source - Consumer Edition. EBSCO. 3 Dec. 2010. Web. April 3 2011.

This article goes over the risk of neurophysiological impairment caused by sickle cell. It suggests alternatives strategies for addressing the needs of youth with this disease.

3)Virgil C. McKie, et al. "Neurophsychologic Impairment in Children With Sickle Cell Anemia." Pediatrics 84.Health Source - Consumer Edition. EBSCO. 6 Dec 1989 Web. 3 April. 2011.

This article discusses the intellegence scores of SCA people compared to normal people.It shows that sickle cell infected people scored significantly lower on cognitive measures.

4)Thomas R. Konrad, et al. "Risky behavior in teens with cystic fibrosis of sickle..." Pediatrics 101.Health Source - Consumer Edition. EBSCO. Feb. 1998 Web. 3 Apr. 2011.

This study does research on the risky behavior demonstrated in sickle cell infected teens and normal teens. The study showed that sickle cell infected teens were more cautious and took less risks.

5)Elliott P. Vichinsky, et al. "Neuropsychological Dysfunction and Neuroimaging Abnormalities in Neurologically..." JAMA Vol 303 No. 18.jama.assn.org. American Medical Association. 12 May. 2010. Web. 3 April. 2011.

This article was also done to research IQ levels. It is trying to bring to light possible brain disorders that are ofter overlooked and overshadowed by the other symptoms.

John Quincy

From 6:30 to the end of the phone call
and then the last video






I find the best scene the conversation between John and his son. This most definitely appeals to the viewers pathos. The son is struggling to survive and unbeknown to him, his father is doing everything her can to ensure his son is helped. This scene shows the son realize the seriousness of the situation, and John breaking down when he considers the negative side of this scenario. Tho other scene that caught my attention was when John explains how he will not accept the fact his son is going to die. This is another example of pathos; John explains why his kid is a good kid and deserves another chance. He is willing to give his life to save his son's The first scene shows the vulnerability and compassion John has towards his son, and the second shows the love and selflessness he has.

Research Log

Carlton Dampier, et al. "Quality of life among adolescents with sickle cell disease: Mediation of pain by internalizing symptoms and parenting stress." Health & Quality of Life Outcomes 6.(2008): 1-9. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 Mar. 2011.

Shows scientific data about pain, and stress in the anemics, and their caregivers


Jerilynn Radcliffe, et al. "Negative Thinking as a Coping Strategy Mediator of Pain and Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease." Journal of Behavioral Medicine 30.3 (2007): 199-208. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 1 Mar. 2011.

correlates negative thinking and pain ( uses pain journals)

Random

So i went home this past weekend and happend to catch the end of John Q on TV. I forgot how great of a movie it was, and am glad that we have to read it for an assignment for class. Other than that i have just been chillin, trying to keep my grades up for this semester. Im also trying to teach myself the harmonica...

Philadelphia

My favorite scene in the movie Philadelphia would have to be the either the opera scene or last hospital scene. I feel both show pathos and stir up emotions in the viewers. I like the fact that in the opera scene, Denzel seems to finally understand Tom Hanks' character and from that point on he seems to become more than just a lawyer, but a true friend ( who really seems to care). This is also shown in the hospital scene when Denzel touches Hanks because it shows by the end of the movie how much his character has grown, and how we the viewers have also grown. I feel that Denzel's character represents the audience members who aren't very knowledgeable about AIDS and through the course of the movie, they are able to grow and understand it.

Sickle Cell

Sickle Cell Anemia is a Disease that occurs in people of African and Mediterranean descent. It is also seen in people from South and Central America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. I chose to write about this topic because it relates to people of my race, no one else chose to write about it, and not many people are aware of its effects. That being said, sickle cell anemia is an inherited disease that causes people pain for lengths of hours, to days. Questions I could answer in this paper include: where did this disease come from?  How long has it been around?, and questions of that sort. 

One celebrity with sickle cell is T-Boz-

3 potential topics

It was tough for me to come up with three topics, however i found that hypertension(stroke), diabetes and cancer. 

1. Hypertension seems to be a good topic to discuss because my grandmother died from it. I would have liked to meet her, but she died when my dad was 7. One could ask what causes her high blood pressure in the first place? The intended audience could include students going into the medical field, or even kids/teens with family memebers facing this problem.

2. Diabetes would also be a good topic because i have a few diabetic friends and an uncle (close family friend) who is diabetic that i could use to base my paper on. Someone could ask, if diabetes doesn't run in your family are you still susceptible to get it? Are there certain habits that increase that risk? The intended audience may again be a med student here, or someone who know people diagnosed and would like to be informed.

3. The last topic, cancer, would be a great choice because i have known/still know cancer patients (4 in total, 1 who is still struggling, the other 3 have passed away).  One may again ask are there any prevention steps used for this mystery disease? Is there any hope for those patients diagnosed with cancer? The audience for this may be a cancer patient, a family member, a student, or just anyone in general.

Reflection on Arthur Frank’s“Tricksters and Truthtellers"

Arthur Frank’s article “Tricksters and Truthtellers” was an interesting article. I found it interesting that he didn’t find any books he was looking for, and ended up to writing the kind of stories he was searching. I found his description of Audre Lorde’s excerpt great, because he goes into detail about how her story was empowering, and may motivate anyone going through a mastectomy. I also really enjoyed the way he ended the article by saying “tricksters”, care more about the well-being of others than their own, referring to Mrs. Lorde. He described what a trickster is and gives familiar examples to help us understand the concept of a tricky character (such as Br’er rabbit). I sorta wish the author would have reflected on his own illness some, but im sure he does somewhere in the actual book. Speaking of tricky...

Confession vs. Apology

In my opinion, confession is a more extreme step than an apology. I feel that apologies happen out of ones free will, based off of home training (if you will). For example, when kids are growing up they are forced by an authoritative figure to apologize when they wrong someone. Although they may not understand at the time why they are doing it, they eventually learn that its the right thing to do, and it becomes instilled in them. HOWEVER, confession (excluding Catholicism, and any Christian belief for that matter) is the act of "spilling the beans when you get caught" or a more formal definition (thanks to dictionary.com), " to reveal by circumstance". Not until after the confessor gets caught or his/her secret is jeopardized be revealed is the confession made. To me, confession is one's last attempt to save face, it includes an apology but its so much more than that. Confession, can also include revealing information that is frowned upon and admitting to some kind of information. My roommate used the analogy if an apology is walking, confession would be running.

Writing Autobiography

AYE! Well for starters, My name is Matt, and i suppose i would see myself as a creative writer. I remember during my seventh grade Language Arts class on Friday's we used to have 20 minutes of free write for warm-up. I looked forward to those every week because it gave me an opportunity to write about whatever was on my mind, or to be imaginative and create a story, or poem about ANYTHING. Since then whenever i have a free write assignment, i love completing them because they are original and give the writer little, to no, limits. I dislike writing about topics that do not interest me, and my writing seems to reflect that at times. I would say my writing skills improved the most in 9th grade english; my teacher was a tough grader and made all her students adjust to her style of teaching. Because of her, i have become a more descriptive writer and try to use more interesting modifiers to keep my papers from sounding bland.