The credibility and trustworthiness of a person can be achieved through their achievements and titles. Writers have the ability of achieving this by appealing to the rhetorical strategy ethos. Rebecca Skloot’s inclusion of her knowledge in science to provide her credibility and numerous information of all her characters in the novel helps develop the rhetorical strategy of ethos. Skoot’s implementation of appealing to ethos aids in emphasizing on the credibility of both herself and all the other characters in the novel. She demonstrates this rhetorical strategy by indicating titles and achievements her characters in the novel. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot develops the rhetorical strategy of ethos through the use of her characters in the novel consisting of Skloot herself, George Gey, and the virologist Chester Southam.
A prime example of Skloot appealing to ethos in the novel is simply through her character. Skloot presents her vast knowledge in science in the novel countless of times. She displayed this by stating that she had worked on getting a bi...
In February 2010, author and journalist Rebecca Skloot published a book, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," which included the stories surrounding the HeLa cell line as well as research into Henrietta Lacks' life. In 1951 a poor young black women, Henrietta Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer and at the time was treated in the “colored ward” or segregated division of Johns Hopkins Hospital. The procedure required samples of her cervix to be removed. Henrietta Lacks, the person who was the source of these cells was unaware of their removal. Her family was never informed about what had been accomplished with the use of her cells. The Lacks family has not received anything from the cell line to this day, although their mother’s cells have been bought and sold by many. This bestseller tells the stories of HeLa and traces the history of the cell while highlighting the ethical and legal issues of the research.
Heinrichs begins by explaining the art of rhetoric and laying out the basic tools of argument. He emphasizes the importance of using the proper tense to avoid arguing the wrong issue. Furthermore, he introduces logos, ethos and pathos and shows how to “wield” each rhetorical tool. In Part 2, Heinrichs discusses common logical fallacies as well as rhetorical fouls. He remarks rhetoric’s single rule of never arguing the inarguable and demonstrates how ethos helps to know whom to trust. In Part 3, Kairos becomes an important tool for knowing the right time to persuade one’s audience. In Part 4 of the novel, the author provides examples of how to use rhetorical tools previously introduced in the
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta Lacks. In the early 1951 Henrietta discovered a hard lump on the left of the entrance of her cervix, after having unexpected vaginal bleeding. She visited the Johns Hopkins hospital in East Baltimore, which was the only hospital in their area where black patients were treated. The gynecologist, Howard Jones, indeed discovers a tumor on her cervix, which he takes a biopsy off to sent it to the lab for diagnosis. In February 1951 Henrietta was called by Dr. Jones to tell about the biopsy results: “Epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix, Stage I”, in other words, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Before her first radium treatment, surgeon dr. Wharton removed a sample of her cervix tumor and a sample of her healthy cervix tissue and gave this tissue to dr. George Gey, who had been trying to grow cells in his lab for years. In the meantime that Henrietta was recovering from her first treatment with radium, her cells were growing in George Gey’s lab. This all happened without the permission and the informing of Henrietta Lacks. The cells started growing in a unbelievable fast way, they doubled every 24 hours, Henrietta’s cells didn’t seem to stop growing. Henrietta’s cancer cell grew twenty times as fast as her normal healthy cells, which eventually also died a couple of days after they started growing. The first immortal human cells were grown, which was a big breakthrough in science. The HeLa cells were spread throughout the scientific world. They were used for major breakthroughs in science, for example the developing of the polio vaccine. The HeLa-cells caused a revolution in the scientific world, while Henrietta Lacks, who died Octob...
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: A Doctoring Lens Rebecca Skloot begins The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks with a quote from Elie Wiesel: Instead, we must see in every person a universe with its own secrets, With its own treasures, with its own sources of anguish, And with some measure of triumph. This quote centers Henrietta Lacks’ story around the same questions that have driven the Doctoring course: What does it mean to care for others? And how do we ensure that we care for our patients first as people, rather than as a disease? In many ways, Henrietta Lacks’ story is a textbook case in how not to be a good physician.
Words are powerful. As a result, changing one word in a sentence can make the biggest of differences. The quote above is part of a statement by Honorable Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. of the house of representatives commemorating Henrietta Lacks. Ms. Lacks was whom the HeLa cells that have been used since their discovery came from. The use of the word “provided” in Ehrlich’s statement is controversial, as Henrietta Lacks’ cells were taken from her and used regardless of her opinion. Her privacy was taken from her and used by the public without her consent. This turns attention to other women have had their privacy brushed aside, such as Frieda Kahlo. Lacks’ cells were made public, much like Kahlo’s diary was made public. The manner in which authors
What do you do when something gets stolen from you? You call the police, right? What about when you are in 1951, where segregation is still occurring, and where black people are being tested on without their knowledge, and getting their body stolen from them, and there is absolutely nothing they can do about it. Rebecca Skloot the author of, “ The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks” writes about the life of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman, who lives on a tobacco farm in Baltimore, Maryland. She was 30 years old the first time she went to John Hopkins to check about her lump, in January of 1951. The doctors had taken tissue from her cervix, without her knowledge, imagine if the doctors would have never of have done that? Would the Polio vaccine of ever have been created? Not only Polio, but the HeLa cells also helped breakthroughs of Leukemia, and influenza, and Parkinson’s disease. If the doctors would of have never taken the cells of Henrietta Lacks, we would of have never had those breakthroughs or those vaccines. Taking those cells of Henrietta were morally wrong, but in the end
There are many types of artifacts that can be analyzed which result in a better understanding of the artifact itself. A common type of artifact that is analyzed are speeches because they can be about various topics and given in different situations. With a rhetorical analysis, one can gain a better understating of why the speech was written and if there is an underlying meaning behind the message. During the annual Relay For Life Leadership Summit, Ann Marie Morse gave a keynote speech about how cancer has touched her life. A rhetorical analysis of Ann Marie’s speech would be beneficial to those who were in attendance at the summit because they would understand why she was chosen to give a speech and what her underlying message that she is trying to present. During this rhetorical analysis, I plan to first describe in depth the speech that Ann Marie Morse gave during the annual 2012 Relay For Life Leadership Summit. Secondly, I will describe Kenneth Burke’s pentad. Finally, I plan to apply Burke’s pentad to Ann Marie Morse’s speech to better clarify the meaning of her speech and why it was presented.
Would you allow someone to take advantage of your cells and not expect compensation for it? The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skoot is a story of a lady was taken advantage of without knowing it. The theme of this story is sorrow, the tells of Henrietta lacks is very depressing, for herself and her loved ones in this book. This happens to a black lady in the1940’s and she was oblivious to all of this and the tumor. Tell this day nothing was doing to help her nor her family that’s what I fell like the theme of this book is sorrow. She was in the doctor’s care when all of this had taken place. The doctors fell like they didn’t do anything wrong since Henrietta wasn’t paying for the treatments. The doctors felt like when
Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” takes place during the 1930’s in the fictional and quiet town of Maycomb, located in Maycomb County, Alabama. The town of Maycomb is described as a tired old town that moves very slowly and its residents have nothing to fear but fear itself. Being in set in the South during the 1930’s the story does tackle racism and inequality for African Americans as racism was becoming more and more prominent in the 1930’s. The fact that the story takes place in a backwater county in Alabama makes the the injustice even more prevalent. The story goes through the early years of the main characters Jem and Scout so the exact time is always changing, however, the more important and intense parts of the story takes place
Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the true story of one woman’s oblivious contribution to the medical world and the ongoing ethical controversy behind it. Henrietta’s cells, commonly called HeLa, have given rise to many scientific advancements; however many scientists still do not know who she was. Her family is also exploited by researchers and the media as they receive no information in return for their cooperation. Although the scientific community and the media view Henrietta and her family as abstractions and often misuse the help that they provide, Skloot provides an honest portrayal of both sides of the story, including the scientific perspective and the Lackses’ perspective.
Truly great literature appeals to emotions in order to be most effective. If the novel does not resound with the reader’s heart and soul, they will have no incentive to care or relate to the story. Thus, love and empathy for a character’s personality makes them infinitely more real. During the 1900s, ethically controversial studies were being carried out in the name of scientific progress. Rebecca Skloot investigates the thought process of the researchers and patients involved in these studies and brings a sense of humanity to their actions. In “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, Rebecca Skloot compels a sense of compassion far more effectively through pathos than she does through either ethos or logos. The author manages to bring Henrietta Lack’s personality to life through her motivations and goals, whereas Skloot’s credibility in the subject is weaker and the facts presented are not
"Physicians created a cell line with her cancer cells without her permission", stated my health disparities professor during our lecture on medical mistreatment on Black Americans. My hands began to sweat, my body became warm and I sunk in my chair. I thought to myself: "How is this even allowed?" I was a freshman in college unsure why people who look like me have to get treated like second class citizens. Once class ended, I went online to learn more about Henrietta Lacks, and ended up reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. When I discovered that the doctors were not thoroughly listening to her pain and demands, I wanted to be the physician to solve all of Mrs. Lacks problems. The novel fueled my drive to improve the lives of others
In this essay, King uses ethos throughout the entire essay. Ethos is defined as “An appeal to the trustworthiness or credibility of
For instance, Wiesel briefly reflects on his experience in the Holocaust with the use of an anecdote. Wiesel writes about himself, “I remember his bewilderment. I remember his anguish. It all happened so fast. The ghetto. The deportation. The sealed cattle car” (1). The fact that Wiesel lived through and survived the Holocaust already puts him in a position where one is able to immediately trust his word. Now, Wiesel is able to look back on and share his experiences with the world. The anecdotes from his past show the terrible acts of persecution that the Nazis inflicted upon Jews and will encourage people in today’s world to stand up against any current injustices. To add on, Wiesel’s credibility is drastically increased with the fact that he is receiving a Nobel Peace Prize. Wiesel acknowledges the audience by saying, “It is with a profound sense of humility that I accept the honor you have chosen to bestow upon me” (1). By winning a Nobel Peace Prize, one is able to tell that Wiesel is a trustworthy source. With his usage of inclusive diction, Wiesel shares part of his success with the crowd, making the audience feel directly affected and more compelled to his claim. Wiesel’s usage of ethos supports him in proving his
In efforts to become a successful writer, Jake wrote a book that was based on his conversations with Hugo, a friend he met in an experiment with the common cold. After discussing such deep ideas with Hugo, “He publishes them in a book he calls The Silencer, an ironic little twist, seeing that the book is a conversation about the truth,” (Hart 2). Jake struggles with the truth because he does not understand it needs to be expressed in a certain way, most difficult with words. It is essential for it to be expressed through silence, an arduous task for a writer to document. Jake’s book, however deep into theories, flops in the bookstores and not many have read it. In an excerpt from the book, “If by expressing a theory you mean that someone else could make a theory about what you do, of course that is true and uninteresting. What I speak of is the real decision as we experience it; and here the movement away from theory and generality is the movement towards the truth” (Murd...