Book Review

(Paragraph 1): Introduction paragraph with fully developed thesis statement (Paragraphs 2 – 4): Exploration of at least three prompts related to the first part of th book. One paragraph per prompt For each prompt: Fully discuss the prompt Provide concrete example from the book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Incorporate other course concepts as appropriate (Paragraph 5): Discussion of what you learned from this section of the book (Paragraph 6): Conclusion which includes a summary of your paper Prompts (select three to include in your paper): In what ways do you do you see communication among the characters? Which dynamics do you find the most interesting and why? Describe the most salient cultures present in the book. What might be the explanations behind some of the Hmong beliefs about disease causation? What parallels do you see between Hmong cultural beliefs and western medicine? Janine Hilt was the only one who had actually asked the Lees what they thought was the cause of their daughter‘s illness. What, from a western medicine perspective, would be the value of taking the time to do this? What were your reactions to the account on p. 52 of a doctor calling Child Protective Services, accusing parents of child abuse because they refused chemotherapy for their son? Peggy and Neil, usually unflappable, felt enormous rage when they found out that the Lees were making decisions about Lia‘s medication. Would you feel such rage? Analyze all of its sources. What were the sources of resentment towards the Lees? Analyze the decision to declare Lia Lee to be a Dependent Child of the Juvenile Court, in order to place her in foster care. Throughout the course of the semester the class will be reading, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures, by Anne Fadiman. Students will write short (1 – 2) page book reports at intervals about their reactions to the book. Prompts will be provided for students to write the reports. Book report 1: Chapters 1 – 7 (pages vii – 92)