Fadiman

Lee’s took Lia home in order to have her “hu plig” which is a cultural birth ritual that “includes a sacrifice for ancestral soul to invite a soul into Lia’s body.” (Fadiman, 21) After some time, Lia becomes diagnosed with severe epilepsy by the doctors at Merced, where the Hmong call it “qaug dab peg” (aka the title of the book!) (Fadiman, 21). This is an example of medical anthropology because the Hmong see illness as something that is physical where the soul and the body are tangled or conflicted

When it boils down to what is most important, it is respecting the culture beliefs. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (Fadiman, 2012, p. 148) mentioned how a parent got upset due to a procedure that is done without their consent. Many Hmong believe that puncturing the spine can be crippling in this life, as well as future lives. This kind of procedure could save a life, but

Exploring Cultural Implications from the Hmong Perspective Justin D. Hawker Texas Christian University-Harris College of Nursing Abstract Cultural implications were evaluated from the Hmong perspective, using the book “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.” The assessment was based on the Hmong people and followed the Geiger and Davidhizar’s transcultural assessment model. Five areas were focused on in particular from their model: Environmental Control, Social Organization, Communication

met. An example of this guideline not being met in the ethnography was when a Hmong patient came to the Family Practice Center and complained of a stomach ache, what they were actually complaining of was “the entire universe was out of balance,” (Fadiman, 1997, p. 61). If the health care provider knew more about the Hmong culture he or she could have asked more questions to decipher what was truly going on in the patients life. Guideline four cross-cultural communication was not met. An example of

Cultures, Anne Fadiman exhibits a story about the collision between two cultures and the way things affected the character’s lives. The main character, Lia, is found grasped in a dilemma within her family’s culture and the American lifestyle. Since a baby, Lia suffered form epileptic seizures, which were viewed as a positive trait for the Hmong community; those people who suffered from seizures were credited to be a twix neeb, in other words, “a person with healing spirit” (Fadiman 21). Lia’s parents

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a piece of journalism that demonstrates the clash between western medical practices and that of the Hmong culture. Both the physicians and Lia’s family are trying to do their best to improve Lia’s medical condition but the two cultures’ idea of treating her epilepsy contradict each others. Additionally, western medical culture and Hmong culture have different definitions for Lia’s illness. The western definition of her illness is epilepsy meaning a disruption

The health care providers didn’t understand the Lee’s culture. The doctors never took the time to understand the Hmong culture and instead assumed that their practices may have been what was negatively affecting Lia’s recovery. According to Fadiman (2003), in the hospital they would call the shaman “witch doctoring” (p. 35). Many times the Lees wouldn’t understand the instructions of the doctors and I believe this also impacted the way that they thought of medicine. The doctors loved Lia and so did

“In the Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down”, Anne Fadiman explores the subject of cross cultural misunderstanding. This she effectively portrays using Lia, a Hmong, her medical history, the misunderstandings created by obstacles of communication, the religious background, the battle with modernized medical science and cultural anachronisms. Handling an epileptic child, in a strange land in a manner very unlike the shamanistic animism they were accustomed to, generated many problems for her parents

“How to Mark a Book” by Mortimer J. Adler Speaker: Throughout his essay, “How to Mark a Book”, Mortimer J. Adler makes it especially clear that to understand a book and make it a part of yourself, you would have to destroy it with love. His passion for reading is extraordinary. He includes examples of how he expresses himself in the book from “making a personal index on the back end-papers” to “outlining the book [as an integrated structure]”. He encourages everyone to write in between the lines

Superstition and Religion: How It Affects Western and Eastern Medicine My personal experiences with religion and superstition are skewed due to the evolvement of the way I perceive things today. Furthermore, I can easily realize that I do not have this one set mind where everything should revolve around God and the Catholic Church. Taking time to understand why certain things happen for a reason, and gradually becoming aware of what people choose to believe in shaped my personal views on religion