The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

identity during that time period. Crèvecoeur claims, “ We are a people of cultivators, scattered over an immense territory communicating with each other…united by silk bands of mild government, all respecting the laws... We are all animated with the spirit of an industry which is unfettered and unrestrained”(Crèvecoeur 23). Crèvecoeur paints an ideal picture of America with the presumption that everyone will speak English. Communication would not be possible across the vastness of territory…

novel Julia catches Winston’s eye, he is delighted with her appearance, but is very questionable when it comes down to whom she actually is. Winston ruminates on the thought that she is spying on him due to the fact that he keeps seeing her around Oceania. One of the many encounters is when Winston is on his way to the lavatory; he sees Julia fall down and reaches her free hand to Winston to help her. While helping her up she slips a small piece of paper into his hand that read, “I love you”…

From my own experience as well as the discussions and readings from this class, I believe that all adoptive families must actively take part in the “pre-adoption” process where each family member must acknowledge the potential for their own personal forms of ethnocentrism. This way, prospective parents and families can gain awareness of the cultural sensitivities associated adoption and verify their own willingness to adopt. Slowly but surely, my family and I learned how to integrate Lydia’s…

the book consist of red, black, white and grey colors; very plain. The film uses a variety of fun and bright colors to portray the Who’s and to show their Christmas spirit in their crazy, colorful…

The African-American survived due to the fact they helped each other, they took care of each other not only blood relatives but others also. During slavery everyone helped to raise each other’s children especially when parents were sold to other slave owners, other adults in the slave community took care of the children left behind, many slaves protected each other in spite of tribal and language differences. The biggest fear of families then was the threat of a child being sold. Even today…

There will always be barriers that separate healthcare professionals from their patients; having the knowledge and skills to address such barriers while maintaining professionalism and the patient’s best interest in mind is critical in patient centered care. As a colorful nation comprised of people that come from diverse backgrounds with different cultures, beliefs and traditions, learning the skills necessary to become effective communicators is of essence. An effective communicator has the…

Of course, none of this is easy or will ever be easy. This is exactly the case with what the Lee family experienced and their journey with their daughter, Lia, in the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. With the large surge of Hmong moving into the town of Merced the hospital experienced a new wave of individuals, their beliefs and a huge language barrier. Although many Hmong did not use the hospital, the ones who did, required…

studying. Anne Fadiman and Joshua Reno both work to build relationships with the people they study through participant observation to gain trust and get an inside look into their social and cultural worlds. In the text The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman uses a qualitative method in order to…

poems. The event began with a current student’s introduction on Yusef Komunyakaa. I was unimpressed by her introduction, to say the least. She seemed to have difficulty connecting to the audience as she rarely looked up from her written speech. The you woman continuously stumbled over her words as if she had not read the introduction before that moment. She closed the introduction with a reference to Komunyakaa’s “Facing It”, but I saw no tie between her commentary on the poem and the…

In Western culture, comparisons are constructed in an almost natural manner as a way for people to form an understanding of foreign ideas and concepts. The diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses across the world vary from that of Western Culture; thus, it becomes difficult to define the nature of a disorder as it pertains to each individual culture. There is a tendency of miscommunication of the language as well as a variance in the causations of the disorders that create a cultural barrier…