immigrants tend to mistrust the American health care system due to difference in medical remedies and the language spoken. I know first-hand that my mother would prefer to have a Ghanaian physician‚ as opposed to the general white American doctor. Anne Fadiman wrote a successful award-winning book called‚ The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down‚ which highlights how the cultural differences between the Hmong culture and American medicine jeopardized the health of a little girl named Lia Lee. The story brings
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down In the book‚ The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down‚ Anne Fadiman tells us the story of a little girl named Lia Lee‚ caught between the differences of two cultures. The differences in Lia’s parents’ knowledge‚ abilities‚ and understanding of the culture they were surrounded by and the rationalized facts that Western medicine and its culture provide bring us to the borderland of the two. When these two cultures meet Lia’s life is put in danger‚ not
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The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down”‚ a novel‚ written by Anne Fadiman‚ takes an inside look at the Hmong culture‚ their history‚ and trails Lia’s‚ a Hmong child of the Lees‚ medical experience with her American doctors and how a clash of two cultures impacted her outcome. Lia has epilepsy or as the Hmong say‚ “the spirit catches you and you fall down” (Fadiman‚ 2012‚ p. 30). The book focuses on Lia’s care‚ which results in brain death‚ the medical staffs’ actions/behaviors‚ what improvements
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Catches You and You Fall Down tells the story of Lia Lee‚ a Hmong child with epilepsy‚ whose tragic downfall reveals the dangers of a lack of cross-cultural communication in the medical profession. At the age of three months‚ Lia had her first seizure caused by the sound of a door being slammed shut‚ by her older sister Yer. Their parents‚ Foua and Nao Kao believed that the sound of the door had caused Lia’s soul to flee‚ they called her illness “qaug dab peg”‚ which means “the spirit catches you and
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Fadiman’s novel The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. The terminology and language within the novel clearly illustrates that the novel was intended for readers that have grown up surrounded by Westernized influence. The opening chapter of the novel depicts the typical birth methods within Hmong’s traditional beliefs. The language within this chapter specifically implies that readers must already understand modern medicine with Westernized influence for two reasons. First‚ Fadiman does not give
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Save as Many as You Ruin Save as many as you ruin is a short story by Simon Van Booy. The short story I characterized by the story line is focused on a short period of time for example is save as many as you ruin only focused on one single day with the exceptions of the flashbacks. Is also mainly focused on a little amount of people‚ which also is the coincidence in this short story. The location of the story and the main character is cold winter day in Manhattan. Our main character is Gerard and
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In Chapter 1 of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down‚ Fadiman demonstrates cultural relativism towards the Hmong culture by including very detailed history‚ facts and procedures found in Hmong culture. When explaining the long process of pregnancy and birth in Hmong culture‚ she does not make and claims for or against these rituals. She does not compare the cultures rituals to another culture. Fadiman simply states facts and explains the steps it takes for a woman to give birth to a child. She
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then it actually is. 2) In the beginning‚ I valued relationships more because I wanted to feel accepted by others and make friends. As I have progressed‚ I have become more focused on results. At this moment‚ I have learned that I value others opinions on topics‚ but not so much as what they think about me. If If I can make something happen in a productive manner that is for the good of all‚ I have no problem doing it even if it destroys some of the relations that I currently have.
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1. In her critique of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down‚ Janelle Taylor argues that Anne Fadiman’s portrayal of Hmong culture is problematic. Please explain how Fadiman’s story is problematic. In your discussion‚ be sure to consider: • How is the story set up as a tragedy? That is‚ if both the parents and the doctors are uncompromising in their quest for Lia’s well-being‚ how do they wind up colliding so tragically? • How are Hmong culture and Western medicine used as explanations for
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Would You Have Quit? If I was a soldier in the American Continental Army during the Valley Forge time period‚ I would probably have quit the war. The reason that I would want to quit is i wouldn’t want to fight in a war‚ at all. I don’t think that fighting and killing is the answer to a country’s problems. However‚ if i was in the war then I would have quit because times were hard for the soldiers and for the people who were supporting the war‚ the Americans were losing the war‚ and they were
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