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.