Brain on fire is a book about Susannah herself before, during, and after she gets a disease called Anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis. She is a twenty four year old writer for The New York Post. Her disease started out looking like bed bugs but once someone checks her house out they said that wasn’t it. She goes through many doctors telling her what she might have but then when the tests come back they say she’s fine when she’s clearly not. She went through different phases of downhill falls with this disease. At first all that was happening was she got very nervous and she had problems with certain lights and sounds. Shortly after that was happening she started experiencing seizures. Her mom and step dad and boyfriend take her to a hospital but as soon …show more content…
Her mom and dad didn't talk much before her disease because they had separated and had too many problems. Once she was starting to get the effects of the disease her mom struggled a lot becoming very overprotective and her dad tries to do as much as he can for her. Her step dad supports her mom and does anything he can to help. Her boyfriend spent his time with her as he could and he never once left her side even when she was at her worst. Many of her family and friends came to see her in her month at the hospital and didn't even recognize her but supported her and helped her as much as they could. Reading this book can open your eyes to the disasters that can start in your body and tearing you apart from the inside out. The things you discover will change the way you think about your own brain and what could happen if the slightest thing goes wrong. Don't underestimate your brain and the things it does for you. This book opened my eyes to how a problem with one person can allow lives to be changed everywhere and how what you may be going through may help so many other
Shawn Simons and Alvaro Llanos are extraordinary men. Together they faced tremendous obstacles in life and managed to overcome them and become the strong, courageous, survivors that they are today. It was January 19, 2000, when a fire (started by arsonists) tore through the freshman dormitory at Seton Hall University. Shawn and Alvaro were in their room sound asleep when Shawn woke up from the fire alarm going off. In the four months of college, the fire alarm went off every week.
“The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anna Fadiman tells the story of Lia Lee, a Hmong child with epilepsy, whose life could have been different if only her family was caught up in western medicine. This book reveals the tragic struggles between a doctor and patient because of lack of communication. When Lia was around three months old, her older sister Yer accidentally slammed a door and Lia had suddenly fallen into the floor. This is the first recorded time that Lia was experiencing an epileptic shock.
Sometimes events in your life can be difficult and frustrating but once someone of something helps you, you feel so much better. I think this book is such a moving story
This book, can relate to people who don't usually believe that they can make a change. That they have no effect on the world. This book, tells you straight up, that if you change yourself, you can change the world around you. This is very motivating, and a very awesome
In this roll, I often listen to people’s struggles and emotions and have to interpret them without judgement; however, it wasn’t until I finished this novel that I truly understood how
In literature, when an author is not a reliable source, which could happen when writing a fictional character with schizophrenia or a murderer, the words are not necessarily meant be held as fact in the world being created (What is an unreliable narrator?, 2016). Susannah’s book covers the entire length of her time while under the influence of a raw and mysterious illness, now known to be Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis, the scope of which is still not entirely known (Cahalan, 2012, pg.156). This disease attacks the NMDA receptors in the body, which are responsible for many aspects of memory and a person’s tenuous connection with reality (What is Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis?, 2016). In Susannah’s case, some of the events she has written involves information that is from people who witnessed her behavior during this time.
In the essay, “On Being a Cripple,” Nancy Mairs uses humorous diction and a positive tone to educate people about life as a cripple and struggles of people with disabilities. She does this to show how hard it is to be disabled and how it differs from the life of someone without a disability. She talks about the struggles and the fears that disabled people must deal with on a daily basis. Mairs use of rhetoric creates a strong sense of connection and understanding for the reader. Nancy Mairs is successful in using detailed imagery, diction, and tone to educate her readers about the difficulties of living with a disability.
She said, “My life now is not how I predicted it to be. I must rely on my family, especially my daughter, to help take care of my husband and I because I’m getting to where I can’t. If it wasn’t for her coming over every morning and night, I don’t know what we would have done. My son doesn’t live as close as she does, but he will help us by driving us to the doctor sometimes. We have both been to a nursing home in the past, and although they were good to us, it is nice to be home.
“Choices” Nikki Giovanni is a strong woman who expresses her emotions through the words she write. With every stanza or line that she wrote there was a significant meaning behind it. Giovanni used her words as a window to speak and inspire. This poem entitled “Choices” by Nikki Giovanni was written after her father’s death. Giovanni was very distraught by the sudden death of her father.
After reading the books, they opened a new pathway to relating to other people for me. Similarly, Malcolm X felt “months passed without even thinking about being imprisoned” due to the fact reading had changed his life (X, 3). The author and I related on an emotional level; therefore we are free with the newfound ability to use our dialog to
It taught me that strength and perseverance can make a significant impact in life. I also learned that forgiveness and the ability to forgive is much more powerful than I ever realized. This novel sucked me into the story and its characters and took me on an emotional ride of highs and lows. Finally, it forced me to reevaluate my previous judgement of the homeless.
Reading Gilgamesh was important because it gives the reader insight and an understanding of what was important to the people who lived during the time that Gilgamesh was written. It also allows us to see how things have changed from what we are used to reading to what we could have been reading before. Repetition in a story can sometimes seem a little annoying to the reader. However, I think it could be a very important characteristic when reading certain material.
The book is worth reading for students and for a class. When I started reading this book I just couldn’t put it down. I thought the book was a masterpiece. Once you start reading the book, you will not be able to put it down! It addresses some of the major themes in our lives such as love and betrayal, rape and father-son relationship.
When I first met someone who didn’t like the book I was beyond shocked. Right at that moment, I realized that reading has its own effects on me. Reading has changed my writing skills, it has improved my knowledge and lastly, it has helped me manage my stress while going through hard times. Without reading I wouldn’t be the person that I am today.
The novel I read for my science fiction book report was “Catching Fire.” “Catching Fire” is the second book in the hunger games trilogy. Some of the plot terms that were included in this story are protagonist, antagonist, dialogue, a conflict, rising action, and a falling action. All of these plot terms led up the to the climax of the story, the climax of the story is the turning point in the story where the protagonist finds a way to solve the conflict in a story.