11-11-15
Dr. Cox
History of English Lit 236A
Study Guide #10: Behn, Manly, Fielding, & Burney
5. Fanny Burney’s journal description of her mastectomy is incredibly graphic. What role do doctors play and why offer such a narration of an illness like breast cancer? From Fanny Burney’s journal description, we learn that there were “7 men and a nurse” that surrounded her during her surgery (Paragraph 23). However, even with all of these doctors present, readers also learn that only one doctor, Dr. Larry, actually performs surgery on her. Burney states that she “literally felt” Mr. Dubois’s finger “elevated over the wound,… though he touched nothing” (Paragraph 26). This allows readers to understand that allow other doctors were present, …show more content…
This is a story that is, as the title states, about a woman undergoing a mastectomy. It is a very interesting, first hand account that Burney wrote herself regarding her mastectomy. This is so interesting for readers because the practice of actually having a mastectomy done was not common back in the days that this particular story was written. Although graphic, the story holds an interesting account that I truly believe our students would benefit from reading. The writing makes readers honestly feel her pain and anxiety as she prepares for, undergoes, and recovers from surgery. I believe that our students can draw from their own personal experiences and write, like Burney, a personal narrative for a project. Their own experiences may also help them to understand and relate to the story …show more content…
If anything, I simply enjoyed just seeing the smiling faces that surrounded me. I made small talk with nearly everyone around me and enjoyed hearing friends’ stories from their family trip the weekend before or hearing the Cross Country team talk to each other about how terrible the course was that they ran on the weekend before. Being a freshman in high school in the year of 2010 was hard enough, and I remember just wanting to keep the peace and be nice to everyone. Confrontation was something that I aimed to avoid at any cost. However, one autumn day, I found myself amazed at how the speech of one person could make my blood run cold and my face burn