Part One of our curriculum will focus on a provocative book titled The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.
Introduction questions
Copy these questions. Write short, thoughtful answers. We will discuss these questions in class. 1. What does it mean to be “immortal”? What are some ways we as humans can achieve immortality? Would you like to be immortal? 2. Rebecca Skloot, the author, spent “more than a thousand hours” interviewing people to write this book. Who are some people she interviewed? What is something you have spent a thousand hours doing? What is something you would like to spend a thousand hours doing? 3. What does Skloot mean when she says, “dialogue appears in native dialects.” Why did she choose to do this? 4. What does “HeLa” refer to? How is it pronounced? 5. The author begins the book with a quotation by Elie Wiesel. Why does the author begin the story this way? Conduct brief Internet research about Wiesel and the Nuremberg Trials. What does Wiesel mean when he says, “We must not see any person as an abstraction”? 6. Skloot explains that Lacks’ cells have "helped with some of the most important advances in medicine." What specific examples does she give? (pg. 2) What is a cell anyway? If you haven't studied biology recently or just want a review, here is a diagram and a video. The video is a rap! Cell diagram Parts of the cell rap Understanding Mitosis Watch these two videos to understand the process of Mitosis. Use your headphones to listen to the narration. Animation 1 Animation 2 What do "mother cell" and "daughter cell" mean? 7. "All it takes is one small mistake anywhere in the division process for cells to start growing out of control." Who says this? What is being described? (3) 8. How are Lacks' cells "different"? (4) 9. What does Skloot mean when she says, "HeLa cells were omnipresent"? 10. By the end of the Prologue, we have learned quite a bit about the story and the writing process. What have you learned about Rebecca Skloot? What have you learned about Henrietta Lacks? What have you learned about Deborah Lacks? What questions do you have? Vocabulary check: tumor cervical cancer mitosis The Exam 1. What do you think this chapter will be about? (Hint: look at the title; look at the timeline.) As you read, consider the setting (time and place) and characters. There are a lot of characters in this story. How are you going to keep track of them all? You might find it helpful to create a character list or character diagram. 2. In class we discussed Jim Crow era policies. What examples of Jim Crow era policies are mentioned? (15) 3. Make a list of Henrietta's medical history. What do you think is the most serious problem? (16) 4. Interpret this quotation: "Walking into Hopkins was like entering a foreign country where she didn't speak the language." (16) Vocabulary check: knot,lump,tumor 5. Before you continue, did you keep track of all the characters effectively? Check your comprehension: David Lacks Henrietta Lacks Margaret Sadie Deborah Joe/Joseph Howard Jones Internet research: Conduct some research about Johns Hopkins Hospital. When was it founded? What is its mission? Go to the Johns Hopkins Hospital website here. On the lower left part of the homepage, you can find "Resources". Read the "Patient Bill of Rights" and "Notice of Privacy Practices." We will discuss parts of these documents in class. Clover 1. What is the setting of this chapter? 2. The author goes backward in time. Why do you think she chose to write the story this way? Why didn't she begin at Henrietta's childhood and simply tell the story in chronological order? 3. Describe Henrietta's childhood. 4. How did Henrietta and Day meet? 5. How old was Henrietta when she had her first child? 6. What is unique about Elsie? What possible explanation is given for her condition? 7. At least two people did not agree with Henrietta and Day's marriage. Who are they and why did they disagree? 8. Interpret this quotation: "At the age of twenty-one, Henrietta stared through the train window at rolling hills and wide-open bodies of water for the first time, heading toward a new life." Geography check: Start here at Clover, Virginia. Locate Boston, Massachussets and Baltimore, Maryland (Hint: you will need to zoom out a lot.) Next, watch this short video to see the places in Henrietta's life. Diagnosis and Treatment 1. What does the chapter's title tell you? 2. Who is Richard Wesley Telinde? 3. Why is a Pap smear so important? How did it get its name? 4. Who are George and Margaret Gey? What was their goal? What difficulty did they have? (30) 5. How was Henrietta's cancer treated? (32) The Birth of HeLa 1. Predict. What will we learn in this chapter? 2. Who is Mary? Why was she hired? 3. "At first glance, the room could have been an industrial kitchen." (34) What is being described? If you looked around the room, what would you see? 4. What does "culture medium" mean in this context? (35) 5. What do "contamination" and "sterilization" mean? 6. Have you heard the expression "opposites attract"? This is a useful expression to describe George and Margaret. Why? 7. What did Mary discover two days after Henrietta went home? (40) "Blackness Be Spreadin All Inside" 1. Explain the title of this chapter. 2. "(She) made life come alive." Who said this? Who is she talking about? 3. What happened to Elsie? 4. "By the time she found out, it was too late." What is being described? 5. The next chapter is titled "Lady's on the Phone". Look at the timeline. Quickly scan the chapter (2-3 minutes). What is it about? "Lady's on the Phone" 1. Who is Roland Pattillo? 2. Page 50 presents some examples of discriminatory medical research. Explain these examples. Have you heard of any other examples in history? Could something like this happen in your country? 3. What advice does Pattillo give to Skloot? 4. Describe the Lacks family's attitude towards Skloot. Are you surprised by their behavior? The Death and Life of Cell Culture 1. How did Gey ship the cells? 2. Look up the word "exponential." How can this term be used to discuss HeLa cells? (In more than one way perhaps) 3. Look up the word "revolutionize." How did HeLa cells revolutionize medical research? 4. Explain this newspaper headline: "Death Perhaps Not Inevitable." (59) 5. Page 61 states, "no one had ever been able to replicate Carrel's work." What does it mean to "replicate (someone's) work" in science? Why is this important? 6. Explain this quote: "Tissue culture was the stuff of racism, creepy science fiction, Nazis and snake oil." 7. Read the first four paragraphs of "A Miserable Specimen". Think about the relationship between patients and doctors. Are you comfortable questioning a doctor's opinion or advice? Independent Assignment Finish reading "Part One: Life." Choose one of the following topics from pages 379-381: 2,6,8,11,15 Respond in approximately 250 words. Post your response on your webpage. Congratulations! You have completed the first section of the book. Recitation practice: Explain Part One to a friend or family member. What are the most important events? What did you find interesting? Did any part of the story remind you of something you have experienced or read about? What questions do you still have about Henrietta Lacks and her family, Rebecca Skloot , or HeLa cells? Listen to an interview with the author. She discusses The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and the popularity of this book on college campuses around the country. First, listen and take notes. Next, click on "See Full Story". Listen again and read along. Watch a documentary about Henrietta Lacks and the story of HeLa cells. This is the video Courtney Speed shows Skloot (75). This website has hundreds of free documentary films on a variety of topics. When you have a chance, why not educate yourself through film? Part Two: Death The Storm 1. This chapter describes a funeral ritual. Pages 120-122 describe a family graveyard. How is this similar or different from how the dead are honored in your culture? 2. Why is this chapter called "The Storm"? 3. Who says this and what does she mean, "Oh jeez, she's a real person." (91) The HeLa Factory 1. What does it mean to "clone" a cell? Why is this significant? (99,100) 2. Explain this quote, "Microbiological Associates and Sam Reader were an absolute revolution in the field." (101) 3. What were some uses of HeLa cells mentioned in the chapter? 4. How did Dr. Gey feel about the popularity of the HeLa cells? Helen Lane What do you think: Did Dr. Gey purposely mislead reporters who wanted to know Henrietta Lacks' true identity? Why? "Too Young to Remember" Henrietta's children faced problems immediately following her death. Choose one of the following children and explain what you know about their lives after Henrietta died: Lawrence Deborah Joe "Spending Eternity in the Same Place" Explain these quotes: "Her cells... lived longer than her memory." (118) "They spending eternity in the same place. They must have worked out their problems by now!" (122) Illegal, Immoral, Deplorable This chapter describes medical ethics, patient rights, the Nuremberg code and "informed consent." What do you think: Were Dr. Southam's actions "illegal, immoral and deplorable" or were they normal, acceptable and necessary in order to conduct research? "Strangest Hybrid" What do you think: Do you agree with the critics of Harris and Watkins who accused them of "men trying to be gods"? "The Most Critical Time on This Earth is Now" 1. Here we return to the lives of the Lacks children. What have you learned about Deborah, Lawrence, Sonny and Joe (note that in this chapter he is referred to as "Crazy Joe"). 2. Read the letter Joe wrote to the judge (147,148). Consider what you have learned about Joe's childhood. Do you think this should be taken into consideration by the judge? 3. Why did Joe change his name? 4. What do you think of Deborah's decisions in this chapter? 5. Reread the last sentence of this chapter. What is the author's purpose? The HeLa Bomb Stanley Gartler delivered some shocking news at a 1966 conference. What did he say and why was it significant? Night Doctors Skloot finally meets the Lacks family. 1. Which family member says this: "And I've always just knowed this much: they is the doctor, and you got to go by what they say. I don't know as much as they do. And them doctors said if I gave em my old lady, they could use her to study that cancer and maybe help my children, my grandchildren." (164, 165) 2. Who said this: "It's not fair! She's the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother so important to science, why can't we get health insurance?" (168) 3. Who said this: "Why didn't they say anything to the family? They knew how to contact us!" (169) 4. The title of the chapter is "Night Doctors". Where does this come from? 5. What did you learn about Johns Hopkins (the man)? "The Fame She So Richly Deserves" 1. Are you surprised by the way Dr. Gey spent the last three months of his life? 2. What did Gey tell Mary before he died? 3. What was wrong with the Russian cells? 4. Who is "she" in the chapter's title? Congratulations! You have completed the second section of the book. Recitation practice: Explain Part Two to a friend or family member. What are the most important events? What did you find interesting? Did any part of the story remind you of something you have experienced or read about? What questions do you still have about Henrietta Lacks and her family, Rebecca Skloot , or HeLa cells? Look at the pictures following page 206. How do visual images help you understand a story? If this book didn't have any pictures included, how could you find some on your own? Scan: Read the chapter titles for Part Three: Immortatlity Predict: What do you expect to learn? Listen to this Radiolab show featuring the author Rebecca Skloot. Watch the film Miss Evers' Boys. We will watch this film in class. Then we will read some opinions people have of the movie and the historical actions of those involved. Read some of the comments on the youtube page. Choose two comments to analyze, one you agree with and one you disagree with. For each comment, answer the following questions: Who is the author? When was it posted? What is the purpose of this comment? Who is the audience for this comment? Is it directed towards someone specific on the forum or a general audience? Is the language formal or informal? Provide evidence. In your opinion, is this comment inappropriate or insensitive in any way? If yes, provide evidence. Do you agree or disagree with the opinion? Explain why. Part Three: Immortality "It's Alive" 1. How did the Lacks family first learn about the Hela cells? 2. What do you think of the communication between Hsu and Day? (182,183) 3. Why did Deborah fear her 30th birthday? 4. Page 187 explains the concept of "risk" and how it changed in the "new era of genetic research." How did improved science change the idea of risk and privacy? Watch this video based on the research of Dr. Hsu. It clearly shows how HeLa cells were used in the laboratory. "Least They Can Do" 1. Who was the first journalist to contact the Lacks family? He was the same person who said this: "They truly had no idea what was going on, and they really wanted to understand. But doctors just took blood samples without explaining anything and left the family worrying." (192) 2. Who is "they" in this sentence: "They also became convinced that George Gey and Johns Hopkins had stolen their mother's cells and made millions selling them." 3. How did Deborah feel about the HeLa research? "Who Told You You Could Sell My Spleen?" 1. Who is John Moore? 2. What was the value of the "Mo" cell line? (201) 3. What did the courts rule? 4. Henrietta's family, John Moore and Ted Slavin (202) had different experiences with doctors and medical researchers. Explain. Choose two of these patients to write a comparison paragraph about. Breach of Privacy 1. Pages 207-209 provide an update on some of the Lackses. How are they doing? 2. What caused "Deborah (to fall) apart"? (210) 3. What is the Hippocratic Oath? Why is confidentiality beween doctor and patient important? The Secret of Immortality 1. Have you heard of the HPV vaccine? It is somewhat controversial. What are arguments for and against it? Can you relate these arguments to related topics such as birth control, condoms and sex ed classes? 2. Who said this, "I could never forget that tumor because it was unlike anything I had ever seen." (213) 3. Describe two perspectives to this statement: "HeLa (cells) are no longer human." 4. Find this sentence: "This process correlates with the age of a person." (217) What does the sentence mean in context? After London 1. Dr. Jones quoted Charles Dickens: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." (219) How does this quote relate to Henrietta Lacks and the scientific community? 2. How did Roland Pattillo honor the memory of Henrietta Lacks? 3. Who says this, "If anybody collecting money for anything, it should be Henrietta children collecting money for going to the doctor." (223) 4. What story did Deborah ask Mary Kubicek to tell? 5. Who is Cofield? 6. After reading this chapter, are you surprised the Lackses agreed to meet with Rebecca Skloot? What do you think you would have done? A Village of Henrietta's 1. Read what Deborah's husband says to Skloot on 232 and 233. Do you empathize with the family's position? 2. Deborah finally agrees to meet with Skloot on a couple conditions. What are they? 3. Interpret this quote: "She was fifty, but seemed both a decade older and younger at the same time." (234) 4. Interpret this quote: "...but for her the line between sci-fi and reality had blurred earlier..." (237) 5. Describe Deborah's mood at the end of this chapter. The "beautiful mosaic of colored chromosomes" described on page 234 are posted outside Susan Madera's office. If you haven't seen then yet, take a look this week. ----- Update ------ You will now need to look online----- Zakariyya 1. How did Skloot feel about meeting Zakariyya? 2. What is your opinion of Zakariyya's idea: "If He wants to provide a disease cure, He'd provide a cure of his own, it's not for man to tamper with." (246) 3. The author helps us get to know Zakariyya's ideas and history more deeply. Choose one quote from this chapter. Explain what it means and what your personal reaction is. Hela, Goddess of Death 1. When Deborah started googling "Hela", she found many different things. What were some of them? (254) Try it. Google "Hela" and write down the top 10 search results. 2. Reflect on Deborah's life experience. After finishing this chapter, take 5 minutes to write your impression of her. Did anything surprise you, impress you, or make you think? Are there any questions you would like to ask her? "All That's My Mother" 1. Who is Christoph Lengauer? Describe him. (260) 2. Deborah says, "Everybody always talking about cells and DNA, but I don't understand what's DNA and what's her cells." (264) How would you explain the relationship between cells and DNA? The Hospital For the Negro Insane Deborah was warned, "Sometimes learning can be just as painful as not knowing." (271) Do you think she regrets her decision to learn about Elsie? Why or why not? Support your opinion with evidence from this chapter. The Medical Records 1. Why had Deborah been so protective of Henrietta's medical records? 2. What does Skloot mean when she says, "I lost my patience with Deborah." (283) 3. What medical problems led to Deborah's mood swings? Soul Cleansing 1. Deborah's cousin suggests, "Dale, do something for yourself." (289) What does he mean? 2. Interpret this quote: "LET HER CARRY THEM." (293) Heavenly Bodies We had some classroom debate about the chapter title. After reading this chapter, what does the title mean? "Nothing to Be Scared About" 1. Why was the National Foundation for Cancer Reasearch conference cancelled? (299) 2. What health problem did Deborah suffer from? (299-302) 3. Where did Skloot give a speech? The Long Road to Clover 1. What happened to the town of Clover? 2. How do you feel about the way Skloot ended the book? Congratulations! You have completed the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. What do you think? Would you recommend this book to a friend? Who would be most interested in this book? Vocabulary List Throughout our weekly literature discussions, you have demonstrated your reading comprehension and have intelligently articulated your thoughts. You have also improved your academic vocabulary. Review these terms: immortal dialogue dialect interpret omnipresent tumor cervical cancer mitosis setting character policy mission contamination sterilization discrimination exponential revolution inevitable replicate racism specimen recitation funeral graveyard mislead eternity consent immoral shocking news significant poverty risk privacy confidentiality vaccine controversial correlate empathize condition cure tamper impression regret evidence patience mood swing transcript reflection Final Comprehension Check Read the Questions For Discussion on pages 379-381. You already wrote an essay about one of these questions. Choose another question that interests you. Lead your group through a discussion based on this question. Gattaca Watch the film Gattaca. We will watch this film in class. Then we will discuss some of the film's key ethical questions. Finally, you will write a summary and reflection essay about the film. Draft One of Gattaca movie summary and reflection is due Monday. Review your notes for Miss Evers’ Boys to improve your organization. With Miss Evers’ Boys, I showed you sample reviews and critiques (from the internet). This time, you should conduct your own research. Of course, you should not plagiarize (copy) other viewers’ opinions, but they can give you good ideas and model vocabulary. Some sources I like are: http://www.imdb.com http://www.rottentomatoes.com http://www.amazon.com Gattaca bonus questions: The name "Eugene" is an interesting choice in this film. Look at the name. What do you think it means? Conduct some research about the name's etymology and explain why the filmmaker chose this name for the character in the movie. Look at this page. Where does the name "Gattaca" come from? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Useful Links The Henrietta Lacks Foundation Rebecca Skloot's website An interview with Rebecca Skloot on the popular political comedy show "The Colbert Report" (5:47) An article on the book, the author and the writing process from "Politics Daily". An interview with Rebecca Skloot on National Public Radio. This interview is long but it is very good and has a transcript on the website. (37:12) An article on the Henrietta Lacks Foundation from The New York Times. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- An update on a settlement finally reached with the Lacks family from The New York Times. An interview with Rebecca Skloots discussing the long awaited recognition of the Lacks family. Another interview with Rebecca Skloots from 2013 discussing the the settlement and recognition of the Lacks family. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you find other online resources that are helpful, please email them to me at [email protected] Thanks. |
|