ipl-logo

Rebecca Skloot Biography

478 Words2 Pages

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot has so far been very interesting to me. Even though I do not read often, the first fourteen chapters of this book have really made me want to know more. Rebecca Skloot has actually won many awards for the writing of this book. In 2010 she won the Chicago Tribune Heartland prize for nonfiction, the 2010 Wellcome Trust Book Prize, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Award for Excellence in Science Writing. The awards continued to come in 2011 when Rebecca Skloot won the 2011 Audie Award for best Non-Fiction Audiobook, and a Medical Journalists’ Association Open Book Award. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was actually featured on over 60 of the critics’ best of the year lists. I think for this being her first book and winning all of those awards is really fascinating and that she accomplished something really big. In this book she names a lot of people and it is hard to keep up with all of them, but a couple of people stand out to me. The first person who stood out to me would be her daughter, Deborah. The reason for this is because while she was being interviewed she mentioned everything that went on with her mother used to make her sick to where she would have to take medicine, …show more content…

As I continue reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks it makes me question why some of the people treated her the way they did. Like how Doctor Gey would only care about taking Henrietta’s cancerous cells for research rather than help her. It also has me wondering about what is going to happen in the remaining chapters and how everything will end up with Henrietta’s family. I think if Rebecca Skloot wrote another book similar to this I would read it because of how interested I am in this one. As for recommending this book, yes I would. I think this book is very interesting and informative with the things that went on in Henrietta’s

Show More
Related

  • Book Report On Unbroken

    369 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story and the characters really stood out to me. They really expressed themselves and the setting in the story was very cool to learn about. I enjoyed the pictures in the book because they guide the reader into the setting and the time period in the book. I recommend this book to people who are interested in learning about World War II and people who are interested in biographies and survival stories. One of my favorite quotes from the book was “A lifetime of glory is worth a moment of pain.”

    Read More

  • Henrietta Lacks Book Report

    2855 Words  | 12 Pages

    Skloot’s description of the entire book was well spoken so we can fully understand what the book will be about without confusing the reader. After reading the excerpt of Deborah, I get the impression that Deborah is a strong woman who is severe when

    Read More

  • Henrietta Skloot

    823 Words  | 4 Pages

    The biggest theme she really portrayed I believe was the Medical Developments that Henrietta’s cells helped with. During the 1900’s, the poliovirus was big, and deadly. With the help of HeLa, they created a vaccine for it. This saved many lives, and I feel was important to talk about in the book. Another very big medical development was being able to create the first immortal human-cell line.

    Read More

  • Henrietta Lacks Research Paper

    1362 Words  | 6 Pages

    I think that Deborah’s attitude changed so much since the first call, because her brothers told her that she should write the story herself, but the main reason was because a lot of people have come to “write the story” of their mother, but they always end up lying. After the responses from Deborah and Day, I was a bit surprised she kept going. In my mind I thought she would just give up, but she didn’t. It was like a obsession to know the truth about the real Henrietta Lacks, and her life. I don’t think that the Lacks family knew what the HeLa cells had done, because even Deborah asks for the truth about her momma’s

    Read More

  • The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks Essay Questions

    1444 Words  | 6 Pages

    Language Arts Question 4 In the beginning of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the author, Rebecca Skloot, stated her goal and reason of writing the book. Learning biology in college, her professor mentioned Henrietta and her cells very briefly. Fortunately, this was enough to catch Skloot’s curiosity. She desired to learn more about the woman responsible for so many scientific breakthroughs.

    Read More

  • Voices From The Civil War Summary

    493 Words  | 2 Pages

    The only thing I didn 't like about the book was how it was written. I think it would be way better if it was written as a story in 1st person about there life and not how it was written. The book didn 't really make me think differently about things because I know what I think about slavery and no one can change my mind

    Read More

  • Racism In The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

    743 Words  | 3 Pages

    Racism in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Imagine your mother, sister, wife, or cousin was diagnosed with cervical cancer and you believed the doctors were doing everything in their power to help her. Only later you discovered her cells were used for research without consent and she was not properly informed of the risks of her treatment due to her race. This story happened and is told by Rebecca Skloot in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot use of narrative and her writing style enhances the understanding of the story. Henrietta Lacks was a young black woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at John Hopkins Hospital.

    Read More

  • Henrietta Lacks Lack Of Education

    276 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, education plays a substantial role in what occurs throughout the book. Many major events are related to people not understanding what is happening to them. Skloot brings up the topic ’Lack of Education,’ frequently and this affected Henrietta's treatments, and how her family viewed the situation, and how the black community viewed scientist overall. In many occasions lack of education causes a major event to happen, “she didn't write much, and she hadn't studied science in school,”(pg 16) with little education Henrietta had no idea what was wrong with her. Without Henrietta or her family knowing symptoms of certain diseases Henrietta does not go to the hospital till the end.

    Read More

  • Henrietta Lacks Without Her Consent Essay

    663 Words  | 3 Pages

    Despite the wrongdoings Henrietta Lacks was put through her cells did a lot to help advance science. Her cells helped develop different types of vaccines, which such as her daughter faced. A lot of good and bad came out of Henrietta’s

    Read More

  • Henrietta Lacks Thesis

    1020 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta, an African-American woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line. Told through the eyes of her daughter, Deborah Lacks, aided by journalist Rebecca Skloot. Deborah wanted to learn about her mother, and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever. It is a story of medical arrogance and triumph, race, poverty and deep friendship between the unlikeliest people. There had been many books published about Henrietta’s cells, but nothing about Henrietta’s personality, experiences, feeling, life style etc.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis: The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

    989 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bushra Pirzada Professor Swann Engh-302 October 4th 2015 Rhetorical Analysis: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skloot tells the story of a woman named Henrietta Lacks who has her cervical cancer. It further goes to tell the audience how Henrietta altered medicine unknowingly. Henrietta Lacks was initially diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951; however, the doctors at John Hopkins took sample tissues from her cervix without her permission. The sample tissues taken from Henrietta’s cervix were used to conduct scientific research as well as to develop vaccines in the suture.

    Read More

  • Pride And Prejudice Syntax Analysis

    932 Words  | 4 Pages

    It is a great love story only enhanced by the outlandish characters and constant mockery. The pacing of the novel is slow at first until half way through the first volume. The plot then accelerates and by the third volume it is hard to put down. Characters such as Mr. Collins, Mrs. Bennet, and Lady De Bourgh were all hysterical caricatures meant that livened up the novel during times when the plot was thin. The novel would not have been as cohesive or interesting without characters to add comic relief.

    Read More

  • We Were Liars Chapter Summary

    598 Words  | 3 Pages

    Even though the ending of the book was tragic, I enjoyed the book very much and would definitely read it

    Read More

  • Lady Of Shalott Essay

    515 Words  | 3 Pages

    I am not a big fan of history and she made me want to know more about it in this book. She made it educational, while also making it very adventurous and romantic. I would still like to know though how the teacher knew that Ellie would help save Will. He barely knew her, but some how he knew that she would help him, and that confused me. Other then that i think she did a pretty good job with keeping you interested in the book.

    Read More

  • Dracula By Bram Stoker

    667 Words  | 3 Pages

    Your personal reaction to the book? I thought it was going to be a boring book but once I kept on reading it got interesting. It also got a little mysterious which I love and I had to keep reading.

    Read More

More about Rebecca Skloot Biography

Open Document