From 1862-1890, German Chancellor and Prussian Statesman Otto Von Bismarck utilized a foreign policy known as Realpolitik. Realpolitik is politics/diplomacy based on practical and logical political possibilities that completely excludes morals and ethics from decisions. Bismarck utilized this foreign policy in order to expand Prussia’s rule over Germany while minimizing any casualties or war from Prussia itself by manipulating other countries and people in order to achieve certain goals. For…
Henrietta Lacks, originally named as Loretta, was the daughter of Eliza and Johnny Pleasant. After her mother’s death, Henrietta went to go live with her grandfather, Tommy Lacks, in Clover, Virginia. Tommy was a small tobacco farmer who had already taken in some of his other grandchildren. Additionally, Tommy and other Lacks lived closely together and the small area where they lived had become known as Lacks Town. As a beautiful young girl, Henrietta attracted many boys, including her cousin…
The answer to this perplexing question lies on how the French viewed the outside world. By turning Egypt into an object to be visited and observed, the event organizers created an image of Egypt as something set apart from Europe that could be acquired. In a very real sense, the exhibit made the French ponder how their own unique culture compared to that of the Egyptians. As a result, this had the unintended consequences of stirring French nationalism and a desire for empire, especially when…
Two of the greatest men in modern history, Otto von Bismarck and Adolf Hitler were determined to transform Germany into a great power. Despite being Prussian, Bismarck was nonetheless driven to unify Germany due to the fear of liberal ideology in a fragmented Germany. In essence, Bismarck was violent and would not stop at anything until his goals were realized with the eventual formation of a German state. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler, an Austrian, sought to rid the nation of any race that was not…
Skloot makes sure that none of the events shown in her book are her portrayals of each character. Their words are not interpreted or altered in any way and the voice of each character is raw and direct from the source. The characters are developed in two ways. From a third person point of view in which she describes the Lacks family’s past or by the direct dialogue between Skloot and the Lacks family. Also, the main rhetorical device to keep the rule of “show, don’t tell” is diction of the…
Is it possible to live forever? To many, the idea of being immortal is preposterous. But many have debated that the cells of Henrietta Lacks are immortal, and thus so is she. Her cells have lived long after she passed away in 1951. The historical nonfiction book The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot tells of a African-American woman named Henrietta Lacks who died from cervical cancer. Throughout her sickness her visits to the doctor can best be described as skeptical. Living in…
Though some might not know a thing about them, HeLa cells have affected an abundance of people. Original HeLa cells were cut from the cervix of the African American woman known as Henrietta Lacks. Born as Loretta Lacks, Henrietta was born in Roanoke, Virginia on August 1, 1920. At the age of 30, Henrietta was diagnosed with “Epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix, Stage I” (24). Her cancer could not be defeated and Henrietta died October 4, 1951. Before her death, Dr. George Gey of George Hopkins…
The medical field has evolved a lot since the 1950’s, nobody could argue against that. We’ve sent people into space, cloned organisms, and discovered a lot about how the human body works. Every one of those momentous discoveries was helped along by the discovery of “HeLa” cells. HeLa cells are named after a woman named Henrietta Lacks who died in 1951. She was not a genius researcher, nor was she a doctor. She was a simple, uneducated, black woman who lived well below the poverty level. She…
The panel discussion I attended was focused on the second ⅓ of the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The panel group discussed Chapters 12-16, seemed to have emphasis on unwritten consent, and how it is effective in current day, the suffering Henrietta Lacks endured alone, along with discussing the obstacles the author Rebecca Skloot had went through to find the true story of the HeLa cells. . Starting off on Chapter 12 ‘The Storm’ the discussion started off about whether the…
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Schlieffen Plan Germany’s Situation in Europe, 1914 The Ottoman Empire was crumbling, but new powers grew and prospered- The German Empire, The Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the largest of them all- The Russian Empire. Although these empires were flourishing and gaining many colonies- Europe was on the verge of a war with itself. Before 1870, Germany was a collection of small states- of which Prussia was the most powerful. In 1870, Bismarck, a…