Assignment task:
Introduction
Please introduce yourself to the class here. Let us know your name (if you have a shorter or nick name version of your official name that you would like to be called, please share it here), your major, and anything else that you would like to share with the class. What's your favorite food? If you had a day off and could do anything, what would you do?
"On the Hospital"
In the poem "On the Hospital," Ellen Samuels begins with the lines, "When I say I'm at the hospital, everyone sits up and pays attention. The hospital is serious. The hospital means business." But the rest of the poem seems to challenge how other people think of the hospital. Samuels writes, "The hospital is not a building. The hospital is here, this pale inland sea." What does this mean? What do you think she is trying to explain in this poem?
Gender in "The Use of Force"
This prompt is an opportunity to discuss the role of gender in the relationship and the power dynamic between the older male doctor and the young female patient in the story "The Use of Force." What are some of the words the narrator uses to describe his patient? Do you think the young girl is sexualized by this language? Why or why not?
Professionalism and Respect for the Patient in "Use of Force"
Is the doctor's use of force in this story justifiable? What do you think of this doctor's behavior? Do you think he loses control or acts unprofessionally? Has he respected the patient's feelings and sense of autonomy? Why or why not? How does the doctor feel about the way he has treated his patient?
Abraham Verghese's "A Doctor's Touch
Do you think Verghese's approach is too old-fashioned? Why or why not? What does Verghese mean when he refers to the physical exam as a ritual? As a person who is sometimes in the role of a patient, how do you feel about Verghese's emphasis on the physician's touch? Is it as important to you as he asserts?
Please provide an answer to all headings listed above!