Friday, January 31, 2020
A Review of Abraham Verghes’ My Own Country Essay Example for Free
A Review of Abraham Verghes’ My Own Country Essay Introduction            Nursing transcends cultures and geographical boundaries. With the emergence of a lot of medical conditions in the world, nurses and even doctors have a lot of stories to share with each other concerning the way they treat patients. Some of these stories are common while some are more peculiar than others. When those from the medical profession write about their experiences, those who read their work are bound to be immersed in their world and in their worldview.            Dr. Ambraham Verghese wrote about the emergence of AIDS in Johnson City, Tennessee during the time the HIV virus has not yet become as prevalent as it is now. Dr. Verghese chronicles his journey together with his patients and the way he struggled in balancing his medical profession and his personal life. As Dr. Verghese came in contact with the persons with AIDS, he had to confront his own stereotypes and see his patients for who they really are and not for the labels and the stigma directed against them by society. The families of the persons with AIDS also struggled in accepting their identity as homosexuals.            Verghese then spent time with these persons with AIDS, talked with them, listened to their stories, and went to their families so he can know them more deeply. By doing so, Verghese succeeded in presenting the humane side of persons with AIDS. The stories he told were filled with emotions and the experiences of people who have AIDS. He also looked at the health care system in the United States and the kind of health care service delivered to persons with AIDS. Apparently, there are incidences when patients are victimized, privacy problems are impinged on and confidentiality between doctors and patients are compromised. On top of this, a lot of people in the society still have their own prejudices, preconceptions and biases concerning AIDS. Verghese, Identity and AIDS            My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story is not only about the life of Verghese and his medical practice. It was a book about his awakening to the vocation of being a doctor. His book is a courageous look at a topic considered to be taboo by the rest of the society. It is revolutionary because during the 1980s, AIDS was slowly coming to the consciousness of the American society. Although he focused on Johnson City in Tennessee, his story dealt with the human condition and how love and fear can make changes in the lives of people.            The autobiographical work of Dr. Verghese talked about the importance of identity. The doctor, himself wrestled with questions about his identity and various influences. He is of Indian decent although with an Ethiopian birth. To confound things more, he was also a Christian. He speaks of being an outsider because of his ethnicity and the way he was labeled as an â€Å"outsider.†He also thought that he was only needed as a doctor and when there are no longer medical conditions he needs to treat, then the community will no longer need him.            Against the backdrop of race and his practice of profession, he managed to identify with the persons suffering with AIDS. He also explored how society gives identity to a disease and by association, such identity is imposed to the persons who are afflicted with such disease. To show this further, Dr. Verghese explained how society equated AIDS with homosexuality and sin. When morality comes in, the society looks at the labels and stereotypes instead of looking at the real identity of the individuals concerned. Because of this, Verghese managed to identify with the persons with AIDS and gathered their trust enough for him to help them reconstruct their identity and explore his own identity. Death, Illness and Narratives            One of the lost art of medicine that Verghese rediscovered is listening and telling stories and narratives. He wrote that through stories, the dignity of an individual can be reaffirmed. Through stories, too, such dignity could also be denied to a person. Through the book he has written, he showed the way that the narratives of his patients got intertwined with his. Along the process, he becomes changed and even relates the narratives from the family members of those persons with AIDS.            The reality of death is very much present in the awareness of the persons living with AIDS. Family members are also aware with the possibility of death. Yet, at first they cannot see beyond the stigma of AIDS. With narratives and stories, however, they get to be made aware of the real personality of the individual with AIDS and recall their love and care for them as family member. Verghese, through his direct interaction with his patients and even with their families learned as much how families react to impending death.  The price of his method of treatment, or rather his going out of his way beyond mere delivery of health care is the way in which he became an â€Å"outsider†from his colleagues from the medical profession. As the persons with AIDS deal with their own lifestyles and impending death, Verghese continues learning from the way they muster courage and inspiration to live. Personal Response            The approach of Verghese in dealing with his patients with AIDS is amazing. He went beyond the stigma of the society and the accepted way of doing things in his profession just to understand his patients and along the way, he managed to understand himself more deeply. What really touched me is the way that he spoke to persons with AIDS and listened to their stories. The benefit was not only for the patients. Verghese, himself benefited greatly from such an experience.            If I were in his situation, I might have stuck to the tried and accepted way of dealing with AIDS patients without going the extra mile for them. The example of Dr. Verghese is worth emulating. What he did transcended culture, social norms and stereotypes and eventually empowered the persons with AIDS. He was very brave in pursuing the questions he was asking himself. More than just providing them with health care services, he connected with them as a friend would. That is one thing that I could certainly use in my own medical career. Patients should not be seen as just one disease to be treated after another. Rather, the dynamics of human relationships and narratives should be utilized to the full. Implications to Advanced Nursing Practice            Narratives and stories are important means of connecting with a person and developing relationships with them. With the example shown by Dr. Verghese, narrative should be a part of the delivery of health care so that they will not only be treated for their medical condition but their treatment could be hastened with the sharing of stories and listening to the concerns of the patients. This may entail additional work for doctors but it is also worth pursuing because of its good effects to the patients and to the doctors and nurses.            Nurses tend to interact with patients more. As such, they need to learn how to interact effectively with their patients and share stories and narratives. It does not have to be very deliberate or contrived. Rather, it should be as natural as possible so as to encourage better interaction.            Nurses who provide care to patients in the hospital has to engage the assistance of family members too because they can greatly help in the treatment of the medical condition of the patients. Furthermore, as the family members and the patient interact more, they can be drawn closer together. Some nurses already practice this kind of meaningful interaction with patients. Yet as the need for nurses to engage in narratives and stories, they have to learn how to do this. Reference Verghese, A. (1994). My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Essay --
f your upper arms resemble bat wings flapping in the air, and if excess fat around your middle is accumulating, maybe it's time for a lifestyle makeover. Excess body fat, especially belly fat, can impact your health since it's associated to serious conditions, such as stroke and heart disease. (See References 1) Losing weight can better your health, and with some clever tips, you don't have to feel deprived or live in the gym. Lose Weight Gradually To lose weight from your arms and belly, you must lose it from your entire body. Rapid weight loss might be tempting, but isn't recommended, because of the extreme measures this requires that are hard to maintain. According to the Weight-Control Information Network, fast weight loss can trigger heart problems, gallstones and nutritional deficiencies. (See References 1) They recommend gradual, healthy weight loss at a rate of a 1/2 pound to 2 pounds a week. To accomplish this, a weekly caloric deficit of 1,750 to 7,000 calories is needed. You can reach this deficit through diet and exercise. Perform Quick Intense Workouts To lose weight, ...
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Dutiful Characters of Ibsen and Sophocles Essay
Nora of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, and Antigone of Antigone (by Sophocles) have all had circumstances pitted against them, yet within these unfavourable circumstances they have duties to perform. Their constraints as women or as people whose destinies are governed by fate have caused them to be without pleasing options in their situationsâ€â€and through the performance of their duties fate often does its work. They have both acted in ways that cause them to be viewed as the dutiful characters in their stories. Where there have been successes, the achievement of their goals against odds reveals them as hardworking characters who shift to accommodate and adjust to the vicissitudes of life, and who are able to defy hardship and even death to do their duties to those for whom they feel loyalty. The situation given Antigone is not one that can be taken lightly, as defiance of authority within that culture of ancient Greece had the ability to ruin an individual. Such an individual would have to be sure that he or she was acting in accordance with the wishes of the gods. In the play, Antigone is concerned that the lack of burial for her brother (who in her opinion had done no wrong) should be an affront to the gods. Even so, if it was not disliked by the gods, she was willing to defy them in order to satisfy herselfâ€â€for it was an affront to her and she considered it her duty to rectify the situation. It was a dangerous thing for Antigone to find herself in defiance of the gods (who control fate) and of the king Creon. Her father, Oedipus had in his day found himself on the wrong side of Fate and was ruined as a result (Oedipus, the King). As the daughter of a cursed man, Antigone knew that her fate could be an unfavorable one and that it would serve her best to act in accordance with the wishes of the gods. Yet her duty to her brother was stronger, and she acted as she wished and sealed her fate. In A Doll’s House, Nora’s duty is toward her family as Antigone’s has been, and she too defies odds in order to fulfill them. As Nora reveals her hardships to Mrs. Linde, it is evident that she has tried many ways to create favorable circumstances for her husband. As a dutiful wife, she has made many attempts to create a good home. In order to do this, she embarks on the business of borrowing money so that her family might be able to meet its obligations. She proves herself able to deny her wants in order to fulfill her own obligations to the debt. She uses all the devices she as a woman possesses toward the fulfillment of the goal. She proves herself better equipped than even her husband who, possessing the abilities and opportunities of a man, has not shown half the resourcefulness she has, nor has he accomplished as much. In examining the actions of Antigone, one can demonstrate precisely how she showed her dutifulness throughout the play. She begins by defying the decree of the king, who has denied burial to her brother. Antigone initially asks her sister to help with the burial, â€Å"Will you help these hands take up Polyneices’ corpse and bury it? †(lines 52-53). This plea for help demonstrates how natural Antigone felt her duty toward her brother to be. She expected her sister to share it without question. However, even after her sister refuses, she shows her duty in her ability to act given limited resources in her willingness to do all herself. Upon her sister’s refusal, she replies â€Å"I’ll do my duty to my brotherâ€â€and yours as well, if you’re not prepared to. I won’t be caught betraying him†(lines 56-58). Though she is not able to influence her sister, she is still demonstrates determination to perform her duty in her ability to create the situation she desires. It is also possible to track the areas in which Nora has shown herself dutifulâ€â€and in her duty, resourceful. In the years following the incident, she has managed to repay most of her loan without help, sacrificing the scant pleasures of her life. She relays this here: â€Å"It has been no joke to meet my engagements punctually. You must know, Christina, that in business there are things called installments, and quarterly interest, that are terribly hard to provide for. So I’ve had to pinch a little here and there, wherever I could. †This demonstrates the duty that she has to her husband, children and the service of her debt. She does not show the strain that must have been upon herâ€â€remaining strong to her children as a dutiful mother should. She succeeds in single-handedly turning around the fate of her family, while continuing. Her burden was often great, as she expresses, â€Å"sometimes I was so tired, so tired. And yet it was splendid to work in that way and earn money. I almost felt as if I was a man. †Her power of conformity allowed her to transform from passive wife to active and dutiful breadwinner, as she assumes a role generally reserved for those the opposite sex. In both A Doll’s House and Antigone, other characters’ failures in their duty serve to strengthen the effect of the duties performed by Antigone and Nora. Creon (the king) might be seen as dutiful because he carries out the decrees of his throne unrelentingly. Yet, in all his power and his attempts at duty, he fails in comparison to Antigone who braves death in her performance of her duty. All Creon’s power does not gain Antigone’s obedience, and though he declares of Polyneices, â€Å"He’ll be left unburied, his body there for birds and dogs to eat†(lines 234-5) his word is unheeded by Antigone so that what he says will not happen does in fact happen. Antigone’s sense of duty allows her the fortitude to face a king who is backed by an army. She knows that Creon is able to command the country’s armed forces and have her banished or killed for her deed, and yet her loyalty to her brother impels her toward committing the act of defiance. Antigone proves to be the writer of her own fate, and accepts death for the sake of her duty toward her brother. She says, â€Å"Take me and kill me†(line 565) demanding (and receiving) her own death. Ismene, like Creon, can hardly be considered dutiful in that she expresses no real wish to be loyal (at all costs) to her brother. Though she too loved her brother, she fears the power that Creon has to banish or kill dissenters. Her speeches are mainly questions and demonstrate no inclination toward action. She says, â€Å"What? You’re going to bury Polyneices, when that’s been made a crime for all in Thebes? †(lines 54-55). Here she subtly refuses to help Antigone and demonstrates even further the lack of duty she feels. Yet in the face of Antigone’s strong feelings of duty, Ismene cannot prevent the action. Much later when Antigone knows she will die, Ismene asks, â€Å"Even now is there some way I can help? †(line 631). She asks to help now, when she refused her help before, and this reflects not duty but an attempt to pretend loyalty when she knows that no help is now possible. She stands for very little, making very few statements or declarations, and proves herself to be among the least dutiful characters of the play. Again in Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Nora demonstrates her ability to perform her duties in her dealings with Krogstad. Here, though she is at a disadvantage, she still manages to a large extent to direct the courses of actionâ€â€showing that her resourcefulness comes to her aid in performing her duties. She is not afraid to stoop to manipulation in order that her obligations are fulfilled. She knows when to act and when to be still and let others do the acting for her. Though she appears not to, she directs Mrs. Linde to use her influence with Krogstad to help her in her situation. After pouring out her woes to Mrs. Linde, Nora makes a false attempt to deter her when she offers to talk to Krogstad. Nora says, â€Å"Don’t; he’ll do you some harm,†fully knowing it to be untrue. Nora’s follow up to this deterrent almost nullifies it: â€Å"Here’s his card. But the letter, the letter-! †This ability to manipulate people and situations is also evidence of the extents to which she will go in order to fulfil her duty to her husband. In contrast to this, Mrs. Linde’s attempt at dutifulness within her own marriage and after pale in comparison to Nora’s She has tried her hand at business, she says, â€Å"I had to fight my way by keeping a shop, a little school, anything I could turn my hand to. †However, this was to no avail. She is still without much money and, though she was married to a rich man, has accomplished not nearly as much as Nora has. Her duty appears to have been directed toward herself and her own enrichment via marriage to a wealthy man. She has demonstrated no strength in her duty toward him in maintaining (or even adding to) the wealth that they once possessed. Nora again proves herself more able even than her husband to control situationsâ€â€and the success she demonstrates a determination born of her dutiful characteristics. It is here, however, that her dutifulness shifts from her husband toward herself. Even though Torvald does find out about the loan, she discovers his true colors and is no longer led by his desires or taken in by his sweetness. He tempts her with all his charms and fails. He declares at first when the truth comes out, â€Å"you have inherited- no religion, no morality, no sense of duty,†yet a few minutes later when he receives the forged note he says, â€Å"I know that what you did was all for love of me. †He shows want of tact and quick-wittedness to effect a recovery, and Nora’s reason allows her to see this. Meanwhile, her new-found duty toward herself gives her the strength to leave him. She acts in her own best interest, though societal norms and her love for Torvald would have dictated that she remain. In the two plays, Nora and Antigone prove to be the most dutiful characters. While Creon, Mrs. Linde, Torvald and Ismene demonstrate very little (or selfish) duty, Nora and Antigone demonstrate a self-sacrificial duty that stems from loyalty and love of their families. They are willing to do what they feel they must, though odds are pitted against them, and they act even though they may fear the consequences. The events of the two plays Antigone and A Doll’s House are driven by the dutiful figures (Antigone and Nora) that are able to perform feats despite not having the real power to do so. Their duty drives them to accomplish these acts. Both leading characters’ unwillingness to allow events to deny them of their desires to help their family demonstrates the depth to which their loyalty ran, and they prove themselves more dutiful than others who accomplish less even with more resources. Works Cited Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House. Trans. By William Archer. http://academics. triton. edu/uc/files/ dollshse. html. Sophocles. Antigone. Trans. By Ian Johnston of Malaspina Nanaimo: University-College, Canada, http://www. mala. bc. ca/~johnstoi/sophocles/antigone. htm Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. The Harvard Classics. http://www. bartleby. com/8/5/
Monday, January 6, 2020
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